You can buy cheap flights to Ahmedabad from many of the major airlines. Ahmedabad is a cosmopolitan Indian airport hub that offers Ahmedabad flights leaving from Dubai, as well as most major cities in Europe, East Asia and the Middle East. The cheapest domestic flights can be found through SpiceJet, JetLite and IndiGo airlines, with airfares only slightly higher on the major carriers like Air India. For local Ahmedabad flights, Mumbai, directly south, is the closest big city. Make sure to avoid travelling during the hajj when cheap tickets are impossible to find and traffic is so heavy that passengers have to spill over into the third terminal.

Driving in Ahmedabad is highly discouraged due to the heavy traffic in the city, but a good taxi or car and driver will get you wherever you need to go in a hurry. To avoid paying overly high taxi and car driver prices, ask the locals or hotel staff to recommend the most reliable transportation. In addition, agree on a fee with the driver before you depart for your destination. Small trips are much faster and cheaper with a cycle-rickshaw that darts around traffic. Don't worry about finding a rickshaw. They will find you and follow you everywhere. Even walking can be tricky business in this city built for horses and dominated by cars. Buses are really for the locals, so you may want to learn basic travel words in Gujarati if you intend to use them.

Don't leave India without arranging a side trip to the India-in-microcosm of Ahmedabad. This ancient city was founded in the 15th century when the legendary Sultan Ahmed Shaw first camped by the river Sabarmati. Through a kind of grudging respect, the Hindus, Muslims and Jains have found a way to live together in this mystical city, the fifth largest in India. Tourists must see the jaw-dropping Jama Masid, which is a mosque built at the founding of the city that looks like a movie set from the late medieval period.

Use some of the money you saved from your cheap flight to Ahmedabad to spoil yourself with many of the fine gifts you can purchase in this city. The shops at Shyamal and Bhumika are used to tourists shipping home a plethora of saris and upscale clothing. To support the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), drop by Hansiba for crafts and gifts you won't find anywhere else on Earth.

There's no question that Ahmedabad is a city that offers fine dining and enjoys, or at least tolerates, a party. The Lotus Pool is a swim-and-dine fine restaurant inside a boutique hotel called the House of MG. After sundown, Shah's Water City is a club/bar/miniature city where the nightlife never really stops.