The single best day trip from Vadodara is Champaner-Pavagadh, about 50 km east on the NH48. The site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site: a remarkably intact Sultanate-era city built by Sultan Mahmud Begada in the late 15th century, now largely in ruins but with outstanding mosques, palaces, and fortifications spread across the countryside around the sacred Pavagadh hill. The hill itself is a Hindu pilgrimage site with a temple at the top; you can take a ropeway for most of the ascent. The combination of Islamic architecture and Hindu pilgrimage in the same landscape makes for an unusual and rewarding day.
Allow a full day: the archaeological area is large and the light on the stone is best in the early morning and late afternoon.
