[fjcruiser08]

Hi TBHP,

My fiancée and I are planning a road trip - from Ahmedabad to Calcutta - for late January ’22. I am kinda new to India (Indian but didn’t really live much here) and she’s an Indian Army officer but with zero road travel and civilian life experience - so, essentially, we both are noobs at road-tripping in India. Also, we don’t have a lot of time to plan ahead. So I thought may be the experienced folk on here could help us out a bit with the itinerary and suggestions, since we don’t have as much of a clue where to visit.

Here’s a few considerations:

We don’t have an exact date for departure from Ahmedabad, nor for arrival in Calcutta - tentative departure is towards end of Jan (22/23/24).

We can be on the road for up to 15 days depending on how well we plan this.

We intend to slow-travel with multiple stops on the way at areas of interest (mostly nature reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, historical places, anything that’s not too touristy/crowded).

A major consideration is we need to plan our overnight stays at Indian Military Cantonment facilities as much as possible for safety reasons as well as to make this cost effective.

Our idea is to drive during daytime and spend the night at the Officers’ Mess, visit nearby areas of interest the next day, spend another night back at the Mess, then hit the road again the day after; rinse and repeat till we make it to Calcutta.

It doesn’t matter if this requires us to travel extra miles out of our way or spend more days on the road than necessary - because getting to Calcutta isn't the primary objective.

We would prefer to stick to major highways and avoid back roads as much as possible.

If the itinerary calls for a stay at a private hotel or resort for a night, that’s not a deal breaker.

It will be just the two of us in a 2021 Mahindra Thar, if that matters.

...and that, I believe, is about it; feel free to ask any questions if I left out any pertinent info.

With your help, we hope to be able to come up with a safe workable plan for our trip.

Thanks in advance (and I hope am not posting this in the wrong place).

TL;DR: Mostly inexperienced couple seeking help plan a road trip across India that is optimised for overnight stays at Military/Defence/Central Govt. facilities and hit as many visit worthy places along the way as possible.

[TorqueMonster]

Why not visit the North East states and then come back to Calcutta. Sikkim and Assam are 2 areas which you can visit and have a great time. You will also have army cantonments in these states due to the relatively high military presence. You own a Thar so the car is certainly more than capable for almost all terrain. 15 days are more than enough to cover all major areas.
There are countless travelogues in this forum that tell in detail about how to travel the North East. I'll link 2 which I found to be very detailed and which covered a lot of areas.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...0-km-ride.html (Amazingly magnificent & enchantingly awesome North East India - A 10,000 km Ride!)

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ir-cousin.html (To escape in-laws, I became an outlaw and fled to the waiting arms of the 7 sisters…and their cousin)

These threads cover multiple areas, out of which you can visit at least quite a few places over a period of 15 days. You can see which all areas have a cantonment and decide your plan. But for your plan, the North East seems totally fit. You can check cantonment availability and other factors and chart out a plan.

[fjcruiser08]

Originally Posted by TorqueMonster

Why not visit the North East states and then come back to Calcutta.

Thanks for the feedback; we certainly plan on doing the NE Indian states later this summer from Calcutta (which will be our base for the year). Right now we are driving the Thar down to Calcutta (instead of shipping it, like we did her car) on a one way trip so as to get our feet wet.

[Geo_Ipe]

Not trying to be a killjoy here, but expect interstate travel restrictions to come in soon! Omicron is picking up in India and fast.

[VT-RNS]

Hello,

Here is an itinerary that comes up:

Day 1: Ahmedabad to MHOW (Indore). Big Army Center, situated outskirts of Indore.
Day 2: MHOW (Indore) explore Maheshwar, Omkareshwar
Day 3: MHOW (Indore) explore Mandu, Ujjain & Indore city itself (great food, some good history)
Day 4: Travel to Panchmarhi (hill station) or in the Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR)
Day 5: Safari in STR or enjoy hill station
Day 6: Safari in STR or enjoy hill station
Day 7: Drive to Jabalpur (Big Army base)
Day 8: Enjoy Bhedaghat
Day 9: Enjoy Kanha Tiger Reserve
Day 10: Drive from Jabalpur to Panna National Park or Khajuraho (you can make either one of them as base to explore both).
Day 11: Explore Khajuraho temples; they are brilliant and should not be crowded. Best weather too! Couple of other things nearby to explore.
Day 12: A day of Safari at Panna National Park.
Day 13: Drive to Prayagraj (Has AF if not Army)
Day 14: Drive to Varanasi (Has some presence of Defence but not sure which)
Day 15: Drive to Bodh Gaya / Gaya for the Buddhist Temples & History
Day 16: Explore the temples and enjoy the peace
Day 17: Drive to ShantiKiketan
Day 18: Explore ShantiNiketan
Day 19: Arrive in Kolkata

I have personally not driven from Khajuraho onwards to Prayagraj/Varanasi/Kolkata. So Day 13 to Day 19 is more of a plan in my head than first hand experience. That said, many travelogues cover these areas and am sure you can find enough info.

Happy to discuss more via DM.

Honestly, depending upon your preferences, another adventure could be to move from Jabalpur to Vizag/East Coast of India and explore AP, Orissa coasts and then reach Kolkata. But I expect that to increase the number of days (and add many Kms too, though I doubt that to be a deterrent)

Keep us posted on your final itinerary and look forward to reading a travelogue!

Cheers!

[aargee]

First of all congratulations, but, going with the prevailing situation, be it Covid third wave or omicron or whatever the next one is named, the night curfews are already in place for MH, KA & MP AFAIK. This is the situation as of date & we're getting to hear TN is soon to join this saga of night (or day) curfew as well followed by several other states in the forthcoming weeks (or might get delayed by babus as usual as well). Even if the ID card rescues at borders, virus does not know any of this. I'm very positive your fiancé knows the game of rules especially if cantonments allow people from other cantonments or are there any severe protocols to be adhered to.

My point is - The PAN India road trip (during the pandemic) is awesome in Dec 2021!! Now, all I can say is, stay safe & advance congratulation for your wedding.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by fjcruiser08

My fiancée and I are planning a road trip - from Ahmedabad to Calcutta - for late January ’22.

As other people have already mentioned, the only big potential blip in the radar is going to be how severe this ongoing 3rd wave of covid will be, how much the panic, and what restrictions will be enforced. So better wait and watch and be prepared to change plans.

Other than that- the vehicle is sound, roads are great and there is plenty of information and guidance available online. Plus the very useful fact that your spouse is an Army officer and will have access to cantonment facilities en route makes things much easier.

If you're going across MP- nothing like visiting the Tiger reserves of Bandhavgarh and Kanha on the way. Khajuraho, Varanasi and Bodh Gaya will be worth a detour as well.

You can also go across RJ- then there are several well-documented tourist spots at Jaipur, Udaipur, Bundi, Chittogarh, Jhansi, Orchha, perhaps even a detour to Gwalior.

Hope your trip goes on and goes well. And a Thank You to your fiancee for her service to the nation.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by fjcruiser08

...road trip - from Ahmedabad to Calcutta - for late January ’22.
...
We can be on the road for up to 15 days depending on how well we plan this.

If intensive sightseeing is your purpose, 15 days are fine. If it is a matter of enjoying the drive with limited sightseeing where you stop for a couple of nights, 5 days or a week would be more than enough.

...she’s an Indian Army officer...
...help us out a bit with the itinerary and suggestions, since we don’t have as much of a clue where to visit.

That I-card would help - no tolls to be paid, no harassment, no Covid-related restrictions on travel, since you would be travelling together on official transfer.

We would prefer to stick to major highways and avoid back roads as much as possible.

GMap shows 3 options:
1) Via Indore, Bhopal & Rewa, connecting to NH19 near Varanasi (https://goo.gl/maps/KAR4ysu71yMyj4ji6);
2) Via, Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Jhansi, Chitrakoot, connecting to NH19 at Prayagraj (https://goo.gl/maps/3LDanGAEvdvwzK6W7); and
3) Jaipur, Agra, Agra-Lucknow Expressway, Purvanchal Expressway, connecting to NH19 at either Varanasi or Mohania (https://goo.gl/maps/zdXjVq7gN3Dadr2C6).

Option 1 is the shortest distance, but runs through some parts of the country that are not too populated, and also not unknown for law-and-order issues. The road surface, till you connect to NH19, would be questionable in certain sections too, since there's no expressway.

Option 2: Jhansi to Allahabad is a poor section of highway, the last I knew about it.

Option 3 seems to be the best, since you'd be using extended lengths of newly built expressway, the roads are safer, and there are many Cantonments for you to stop. Despite Option 3 being almost 300 km longer than Option 1, GMap shows the travel time to be the same as of the time of writing, i.e. 38 hours.

[fjcruiser08]

Originally Posted by VT-RNS

Hello,

Here is an itinerary that comes up:

Wow! You seem to know your way around here! Thanks for the feedback and the detailed well informed suggestions. We looked up the route and your suggested stopovers and we like it. We made some modifications to the later part, not because we didn't like it but mostly cos we couldn't find suitable stops.

7.5 hrs to first stop Mhow Cantt (2-3 nights): Explore Indore and surroundings
8.5 hrs to second stop Panchmarhi Cantt (2-3 nights): Explore Satpura
6.0 hrs to third stop Jabalpur Cantt (2-3 nights): Explore Kanha, etc.

After this though we are hitting a wall We can't seem to figure out (just yet) where to stop by... because Jabalpur to Varanasi Cantt is gonna be 10+ hrs and that seems a lot (for me) to cover in a days time. We very much like the idea of spending a couple days at Panna but guess we need to do some more homework to find a nearby Mess/Circuit House or even a suitable hotel/resort around there.

Assuming we are able to make arrangements for the fourth stop near Panna, then:

8ish hrs (from Panna) to fifth stop at Varanasi Cantt (2-3 nights): Explore around
8.0 hrs to sixth stop Ramgarh Jharkhand Cantt (2 nights): TBD, no idea what to do there
8.0 hrs to destination

This of course will change as we research further and begin making some calls and reservations, but this is what we are going with as our starting blueprint.

Thanks a ton bruh for getting us rolling!

Originally Posted by am1m

If you're going across MP- nothing like visiting the Tiger reserves of Bandhavgarh and Kanha on the way. Khajuraho, Varanasi and Bodh Gaya will be worth a detour as well.

Yes, we are gravitating towards planning something on those lines based on the valuable feedback we have received here. Thanks for your input and your concern.

We are travelling on an official transfer for my partner and are being told that we should be covered with appropriate paperwork and permits from the Ministry of Defence to make this trip. So we hope we dont land in trouble

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

Not trying to be a killjoy here, but expect interstate travel restrictions to come in soon! Omicron is picking up in India and fast.

Thanks for your input and your concern. We understand the uncertainty around this and plan/hope to stay outta trouble. We are travelling on an official transfer for my partner and are being told that we should be covered with appropriate paperwork and permits from the Ministry of Defence to make this trip. So we hope it works out.

[Romins]

Originally Posted by fjcruiser08

Hi TBHP,

My fiancée and I are planning a road trip - from Ahmedabad to Calcutta - for late January ’22. I am kinda new to India (Indian but didn’t really live much here) and she’s an Indian Army officer but with zero road travel and civilian life experience - so, essentially, we both are noobs at road-tripping in India. Also, we don’t have a lot of time to plan ahead. So I thought may be the experienced folk on here could help us out a bit with the itinerary and suggestions, since we don’t have as much of a clue where to visit.

If you are looking for professional help, please check this website : http://www.hivayking.in/

HV Kumar is a veteran when it comes to Indian roads and he will hand-hold you throughout your trip.

Disclaimer: I am not associated with this service in any manner and I don't benefit in any way for recommending this.

[cpabhijit]

Hi,

I did Ahmedabad Calcutta in December 2020. With some sightseeing, I did it in 6 days. You can try this route -

AMD - Udaipur
Udaipur - Jaipur
Jaipur - Bharatpur (perfect season for bird watching) - Agra
Agra - Varanasi
Varanasi - Hazaribagh Wildlife Sanctuary - Gaya (Bodh Gaya)
Gaya - Calcutta

For one, the roads on this route are fantastic. You can read my travelogue here -

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...oda-karoq.html (Ahmedabad to Calcutta road-trip in a Skoda Karoq)

[Amukherjea]

Hello,
Being a long distance traveller and an AirForce veteran I thought I would add my bit.

After Jabalpur I Would suggest Bandhavgarh. Only place where you will not get military accomodation. But there are nice Lodges and hotels which are reasonable. Try the MP tourism Lodge Called White Tiger. You must do the Safari. Most likely to sight some wild life. I have done both the dawn and dusk safaries.

Then Go to Allahabad via Rewa. Large Cantt area. Lots of Messes. Split your 2 3 days at Vanarsi to Alld and Vns Worth visiting the Sangam. Fort, also the other cultural and historical buildings. Try the electric autos. Bargain like hell.

Leave in good time to get to Varanasi Cantt. then hire a local electric Auto to do the newly done up Vishwanath Mandir area in the evening along with the Ganga Arati, The Sarnath complex is also worth a visit.

The road out of Varanasi all the way upto Mohania on the NH is horrific as far as jams and truck traffic is concerned. Cater adequate time for it. Suggest look at all recent writeups in TeamBHP about that route and the best time to cross etc.

For next stop I would suggest Ranchi. Huge army base. Also has plenty places to see nearby. Good town growing rapidly.

Then Kolkata is about 400Km. easy days drive via Jamshedpur.

Just to give you an idea what I did 2 years back was Mumbai Shirdi Khandwa Jabalpur Allahabad Bodggaya Kolkata. Took 6 days.

And returned by Kolkata Aurangabad Allahabad Jabalpur Panchmarhi Maheshwar Mumbai. Over nine days including sight seeing etc. We dont drive at night unless close to big cities like Mumbai Kolkata Allahabad etc.

I have done all of India in bits and pieces over the years. Have used the Military Messes or MES/Circuit/Daak/Forrest Bungalows to stay most of the time. Also I find that most of Govt tourism lodges/resorts/hotels are safe and has lots of parking, also located nicely close to the attractions. The food may not be best tasting or the bedsheets may not be muslin but they are clean.

As some one suggested HVK is an excellent source and he does handhold you through out the trip.

Wish you best of travelling. Hope to read about it sometime.

[Sandy Damodaran]

Originally Posted by fjcruiser08

8.5 hrs to second stop Panchmarhi Cantt (2-3 nights): Explore Satpura
6.0 hrs to third stop Jabalpur Cantt (2-3 nights): Explore Kanha, etc.

Originally Posted by fjcruiser08

Assuming we are able to make arrangements for the fourth stop near Panna, then:

8ish hrs (from Panna) to fifth stop at Varanasi Cantt (2-3 nights): Explore around

I just completed a trip from Pune To Satpura (Madai, not Pancharhi) and from there to Panna.

So Satpura is like my second home and is a place I cannot get enough of. Will get to that in a bit.
As far as Roads are concerned, The road from Madai=>Pipariya-> Linga->Sagar->Chatarpur->Panna are Amazing save for a few patches where there is a rush of tractors for cane crushing.

The Linga->Sagar part is a proper NH with medians etc, Post sagar the Road conditions are great but they aren't divided Highways.

I also took the Panna ->Sihora->Jabalpur->Nagpur->Pune on the way back. Panna

The Panna -> Sihora road i took is breath taking and you are essentially riding through the forest for over 3/4 hours. I spotted a couple of Jackals, Sambars and Crested Serpent Eagles and Peacocks on the road. Sihora onwards its one awesome road till Jabalpur where you can easily maintain great speeds.

I'am extremely biased towards Satpura, so please do take it with a pich of salt, but IMHO, there is no better forest in India than this. I'd suggest skip Pancmarhi, which is more or less a typical hill station and go to Madai, there are enough resorts there (Let me know if you want any opinions).

Plan for a 2 day Stay in Madai,
1) Day-1: Buy 2 tickets for morning and evening safaris and combine it to do the Churna round. Essentially they take you deep inside forest across varied topography, with basic lunch in the FRH in Churna and back by Noon Safari.
2) Day-2 :You can do a morning walking Safari in the core zone (No kidding!!) Return and Post lunch do a evening safari to Parsapani Buffer and Stay in the FRH in Parsapani.
Parsapani FRH has a few rescued blackbuck and can be petted. There is also a trail where you can walk and check out a few rock paintings etc . Sloth bear sightings are pretty good here.

3) Day-3 Checkout from Parsapani GH and move to Panna. It took me around 10 Hours on my bike from Madai to Panna, but then on a car it would be much longer. So plan your exit from Parsapani accordingly.

It was my first visit to Panna, and it's breathtakingly beautiful. I'm sure there are more people here with more intimate knowledge of Panna, but I would urge you to do the Night Safari as well there, although due to some new rules the exit for the same is from the panna village and you'd be in an open gypsy on highway on the return. I skipped Khajuraho so no Idea about that, although my friends who did visit it were raving about it.

I would skip Panchmarhi, as I find it a typical hill station (although super pretty), and I'm more of a forest person. The Safaris from Panchmarhi gate too isn't great for sightings as the topography is hilly.

The solo tigress is from Satpura, the one with 2 cubs is from Panna as is the Sloth from the Night Safari there. They were on the other side of Ken river. not so great images with my basic 55/250 lens.

[evil_grin]

Originally Posted by fjcruiser08

Hi TBHP,
My fiancée and I are planning a road trip - from Ahmedabad to Calcutta - for late January ’22. I am kinda new to India (Indian but didn’t really live much here) and she’s an Indian Army officer but with zero road travel and civilian life experience - so, essentially, we both are noobs at road-tripping in India.

A long drive is a great way to know more about each other. But for those who are new to long drives, I wouldn't recommend a 15 day long drive to them as their first drive. 2-3 day long drives are tiring enough. Plus the Thar is an off roader. It's not designed for grand touring in comfort. And there are couple of things you learn as you drive. For us, that was packing our own meals, reminding ourselves to drink a lot of water and not trusting Google maps for starters. It might different for you.
The saving grace is one of you is in the army so will be used to prolonged hardship.

I strongly recommend you do at least one 2-3 day drive before your big drive so that you learn your lessons when the stakes are low.

[Neversaygbye]

Originally Posted by fjcruiser08

7.5 hrs to first stop Mhow Cantt (2-3 nights): Explore Indore and surroundings
8.5 hrs to second stop Panchmarhi Cantt (2-3 nights): Explore Satpura
6.0 hrs to third stop Jabalpur Cantt (2-3 nights): Explore Kanha, etc.

After this though we are hitting a wall We can't seem to figure out (just yet) where to stop by... because Jabalpur to Varanasi Cantt is gonna be 10+ hrs and that seems a lot (for me) to cover in a days time.

I can help you with this section, having done the exact route Jabalpur to Calcutta back in 2014. You have two options - either go to Bandhavgarh from Jabalpur (not recommended if you have already seen a tiger in Kanha) or go to Khajuraho from Jabalpur via Satna (not the best roads, but easily doable in half a day). In my case my route was Calcutta-Varanasi-Bandhavgarh-Jabalpur-Khajuraho-Varanasi-Gaya-Calcutta so I had gone to Jabalpur from Bandhavgarh and not the other way round. Roads on both the Varanasi - Bandhavgarh stretch and the Jabalpur - Khajuraho stretch were atrocious but this was 7 years ago.

If you choose Khajuraho, you can either drive down directly to Varanasi from Khajuraho via Allahabad (which is what I did) or take a break at Allahabad if you think the direct drive is too long. You should spend 2 days in Varanasi at the minimum to do justice to the ghats, sarnath, shopping, et al and then you can stop again at Bodh Gaya. One clear day in Gaya is usually enough to see all there is to see. Thereafter you can drive down to Calcutta directly (which is what I did) but again its a very long drive. I would suggest that you stay at the military base at Panagarh instead which is about 3 hours away from Calcutta at the best of times (a lot lot more in the worst of times). You can also choose to stay at Asansol which is about 4 hours from Calcutta. You have a few interesting options in terms of day trips from Panagarh if you want to explore some other places. The first option is Bolpur/Shantiniketan which has a great weekend local market (Shonajhuri Haat) plus the Vishwa Bharati campus (all museums are closed though) and it is more of an art and culture hub with excellent handlooms and kantha stitch work available at the Haat. The Haat is closed now due to Covid so do check on the latest status should you plan your trip around it. The second option is Bishnupur which has Terracotta temples that are pretty unique. Apart from this, if you choose to stay at Asansol, then Garhpanchkot is also an easy drive from there. Depending on how much time you have in hand you can decide. You can reach Calcutta the day after you have completed your day trips - just ensure you start in the morning and not after lunch, if you want to beat the rush of trucks and possibly getting stuck in a jam for hours.

Hope this helps and all the best for your journey!