[kshastry]

Hi Experts,

I plan to take a trip to the following places from Pune (in the following order, if this is most efficient). Purpose is to visit temples in all these places.

1. Gondawale
2. Pandharpur
3. Solapur
4. Akkalkot
5. Ganagapura (KA)
6. Tuljapur

...and back to Pune.

We are a party of 4 adults including 2 Sr.citizens. I will be driving a rented 'self-drive' car (planning to rent at Pune airport). I will have 3 days and 2 nights (From Sunday 6 am through Tuesday 11 pm)

- Is it possible to cover all these places in the time I have?
- Please comment on best routing and road conditions
- Where to stop for 2 night halts?

Since its a rented car, it would be economical to keep total trip length to about 800 KM. Not sure whether it is possible.

PS : Before starting this thread I have searched other threads on similar topic. Information in them is either bit old or does not cover all these places.

[condor]

@KShastry - from Google maps :

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Pu...18.5204303!3e0


You can do it 3 days.
Day 1- try to cover Gondawale & Pandharpur. Halt at Solapur
Day 2 - Akkalkot and Ghangapur. Halt at Solapur.
Day 3 - Solapur to Tuljapur & back to Pune.

Distance will be a little more than 800 km

Solapur has some places for stay. Else even Akkalkot has the rooms near the Kshetra. These rooms are basic.

Regarding the roads:
For Pune - Solapur, pls check updates on other threads, which discuss this stretch.
Search for Solapur / NH-9 / Pune-Hyderabad


For Akkalkot - Ghangapur section:
There is a sugar factory at Dudhani. So you will find many tractors loaded with sugarcane going towards Dudhani (esp from Akkalkot onwards). Due to the load, these tractors will not move from the centre of the road, so you will have to navigate around them. The road surface in this area has also deteriorated, but manageable.

Pls carry a light sweater for the evening/ night. Though day time will be quite warm.
You can also do Pune - Satara - Gondawale.

Not much options for food at Akkalkot & Ghangapur.

[condor]

@KShastry, you can also try this for Day 2:

Morning: Solapur - Ghangapur - Akkalkot - Solapur.
Break for about 1 hour in the afternoon at your hotel.
Evening: Start at about 4 pm & go to Tuljapur.
Night Halt at Solapur.

Solapur- Tuljapur should take max 1 hour, including the city part of the travel.

Day 3: Start early for Pune. Visit some of the temples in Pune itself in the evening - Temples like Dagdu Shet etc.

[kshastry]

Thanks Condor for your reply. Much appreciated.

1. How tough it will be for a Pune-newbie to find road to Satara from airport? Are the roads properly marked once we exit the airport?
2. How is the condition of Satara-Koregaon-Mhaswad-Gondavale stretch and Akkalkot-Ganagapur stretch?
3.

[condor]

1. Simple - Just ask directions regularly !
I have not been to Pune much, so cant help on that.

2. Satara - Gondavale - not familiar.
You could ping AshishPTraveller (Ashish Pallod) here or on FB
I suggested Pune - Satara since you will be on the NH for that section.

3. Akkalkot - Ghangapur, I have provided the details. Average roads, light traffic. Dont wait for tractors to go to the side, but just check, watch & overtake safely.

[Musaafir]

@KShastry,

For going to Satara from Pune airport, you need to come to Vadgaon where Sinhagad Raod (coming from City) meets NH-4 (Pune Bangalore Bypass as it is called). You have to cut through the city. You would find traffic during rush hours. Ideally you should use a GPS guiding device like Google Maps on mobile.

[yogee]

Originally Posted by kshastry

Hi Experts,
.......
4. Akkalkot
5. Ganagapura (KA)
6. Tuljapur

...

Hi Kshastry,

I recently covered these 3 places on 2nd Jan 2015. I started from Tuljapur to Akkalkot and then to Ganagapura on my way to Hyderabad. Tuljapur to Solapur is very good road, onwards to Akkalkot is little patchy but the worst part is Akkalkot to Ganagapur. I followed the route shown by my GPS and travelled through Afzalpur. The road from Afzalpur to Ganagapur is virtually non- existent. Its complete off-roading. Road work was going on on this entire stretch and it took me almost 3 hrs to cover this stretch of around 60 km. So avoid Afzalpur at any cost.

-Yogee

[kshastry]

Thanks Yogee for your valuable inputs. There seem to be a road from Akkalkot to Ganagapur via Dudhani. I will try my luck there... and report the outcome.

[yogee]

Dudhani you can't avoid anyway. Its only after Dudhani instead of heading towards Afzalpur, you can take the route through Revoor-Sidnoor-Bhognalli which google maps suggest below.



This is the condition of Afzalpur- Ganagapur road on 2nd Jan 2015.

[kshastry]

I have since returned from the trip. I covered above mentioned places in 3 days (taking advantage of the republic day long weekend).

Day 1 : Pune - Gondavale - Pandharpur :

I took Pune - Satara - Koregaon route to Gondavale. Due to holiday rush, Pune - Satara road was very busy. There was a traffic jam in ghat section (1 way road) which held me up for almost 2 hours. Overall road condition was good.

Day 2 : Pandharpur - Solapur - Akkalkot - Ganagapur

Pandharpur to Mohol road is a toll road and is in fairly good condition. Solapur-Akkalkot road is also a toll road. However in this particular season, we will encounter slow moving sugarcane laden carts, tractors and trucks which will reduce the speed greatly. After Akkalkot, road condition starts deteriorating. Roads are somewhat OK till Karnataka border right after Dudhani. In Karnataka side, roads are non-existent. As it was already dark when I crossed into Karnataka, It took me almost 2 hours to reach Ganagapur. I was extra careful not to have a hole in the tyre.

Day 3 : Ganagapur - Solapur - Pune

Return journey upto Solapur was same (bad roads upto Dudhani). So called Pune-Solapur expressway seem to be not complete in stretches, especially in the town of Tembhurni. Except this, roads are superb till Pune sub-urbs. It took me about 3.5 hours to reach Pune.

[Musaafir]

Thanks for the update kshastry. What are the stay options in Ganagapur? How good are they and their approx. tariff?