Weekend Getaway to Silvassa!!!

Its been over a year now that I visited Silvassa and Daman, though I had documented on Daman, Silvassa was left out for certain reason. So here it is.

Clock tower

Silvassa, the capital city of Indian Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli is around 3hours drive from Mumbai. You can plan a day trip to Silvassa or connect with Daman for weekend drive from Mumbai. We started off early morning and took NH8. After a short breakfast break and a visit to Simandaraswami Jinamadir, we reached Silvassa by 11AM. This small town has quite to offer, the tribal museum, a century old church, lion safari, deer safari and some beautiful nature trails.

We reached Silvassa, booked our room at Woodland Regency, our plan was to explore the city for the day and leave for Daman the next morning. Woodland Regency is just near Silvassa bus station and you have Tribal Museum and Church of our Lady of Piety at a walkable distance.

Tribal Museum

The tribal museum showcases the tribal culture of Silvassa through a collection of masks, musical instruments, traditional jewelery and hunting tools. There is also a souvenir shop which sells warli paintings, bamboo crafts, palm leaf mats, all handmade by tribes. You should definitely pick a warli paiting from here as a souvenir. The entry is free and photography is not allowed inside the museum. Just next to Tribal museum is Silvassa Art Gallery, a collection of warli Paintings for display and sale.

Paintings on the outer walls of the museum

Church of our Lady of Piety

Opposite to tribal museum is Church of our Lady of Piety. Built in 1897 by Portuguese the church is said to be one of the oldest standing buildings of Silvassa.

The interior too is very beautiful and painting of Last Supper on the curtains on one of the walls attracts your sight..

While Silvassa city preserves its history and tribal culture through the Church of our Lady of Piety and Tribal Museum, the city lives up to its name Silvassa, 'silva' meaning wood in Portuguese, with its surrounding greens. The place was also called Vila de Paco d'Arcos by Portuguese.

Vasona Lion Safari

We had heard about the Vasona lion safari which is around 5km from Silvassa town and headed to the safari, after our city tour. Unfortunately, the safari really doesn't have much to offer, but with kids, its a one time visit place. While we visited, there were just one lion and lioness which were in real bad condition. You are taken on a 10-15mins drive through the safari in a closed van with grilled window.

With the very bad safari experience at Vasona, we gave a second thought whether to visit the near by Satmalia deer sanctuary, which is around 5km from the Vasona. When we checked with the maintenance staff of Vasona, we were told Satmalia was very different from their's and there were more than 300 deers.

Satmalia Deer Sanctuary

We drove to Satmalia, the best part of this safari then was we could drive inside the park in our own vehicle, with the deers wandering around in the wide spread woods. 

But as per recent updates, you can't drive through the park in your own vehicle. Park provides you safari facility in gypsy vans, which is a half an hour drive  through the park. You find deers almost at every 2mins drive. There are 300+ deers, which include Nilgais, cheetals and sambar.

There is a watch tower near a lake inside the park, which gives a beautiful view of the park. Being summer, the park was mostly dry and the deers really looked very badly fed. 

Dudhni is around 30km from Satmalia and 40km from Silvassa and well known for its lake. There is boating and other water sports like water scooter, water jet, kayaks and canoes at Dudhni lake. Vanganga lake, which is around 5km from Silvassa is yet another lake which attracts most tourist for the Bollywood movies shot here. It was already 6PM by the time we were done with Satmalia and had to skip Dudhni and Vanganga and next morning we left for Daman.

Travel tips:

Location: Silvassa is around 180km from Mumbai, 130km from Surat and 30km from Daman

How to reach: 

• By Road: Gujarat State Transport Buses operate between Vapi and Silvassa at regular intervals. Driving direction: Drive on NH 8 from Mumbai, Surat and Daman.

• By Train: Nearest railway stations Vapi 18km and Bhilad 12km

• By Air: Nearest airport is Mumbai 180km

Accommodation: Silvassa has many budget, small hotels and luxury resorts, you can book according to your choice.

Vasona Lion Safari:
Timings: 9AM to 5AM
Closed on Mondays
Entry Fee:  Rs. 25 for Adult and Rs. 10 for kids
Satmalia Deer Sanctuary:
Timings: 7AM to 11AM, 3PM to 6PM
Closed on Mondays
Entry Fee:  Rs. 25 for Adult and Rs. 10 for kids(No extra charge for gypsy ride)