Bhavnagar is a Saurashtra port city with a stronger identity than its industrial first impression suggests. It was the capital of a princely state, an old trading town on the Gulf of Khambhat, and one of the places where Mahatma Gandhi's student life briefly touched Gujarat before he left for London.
The city is not as immediately seductive as Ahmedabad or Bhuj, but it rewards a day of looking around. Takhteshwar Temple gives the best view over the city and gulf, Gandhi Smriti and Barton Museum anchors the civic centre, and Victoria Park is a rare old urban forest inside a Gujarati city.
Bhavnagar also works as a practical base for bigger excursions, especially Velavadar Blackbuck National Park and Palitana, but it should not be treated only as a gateway. Stay in town long enough to walk by Gaurishankar Lake, eat ganthiya, and let the older princely-city pieces show through the traffic.