[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by ash_blore

This is my preferred route from panjim to goa as well. However, has anyone tried NH4A to belgaum then NH4 all the way to blore recently? Any update on this route as compared to the one above?

NH4A is potholed and is best avoided.stick to the nh17 nh 63 nh4 combo.If you mist touch belgaum then take the amboli belgaum route.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ash_blore

This is my preferred route from panjim to goa as well. However, has anyone tried NH4A to belgaum then NH4 all the way to blore recently? Any update on this route as compared to the one above?

Its the worst possible road. If you plan to go to South Goa take the regular via Ankola.
If its north Goa, go via Belgaum/Amboli.

[ash_blore]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

NH4A is potholed and is best avoided.stick to the nh17 nh 63 nh4 combo.If you mist touch belgaum then take the amboli belgaum route.

Originally Posted by ampere

Its the worst possible road. If you plan to go to South Goa take the regular via Ankola.
If its north Goa, go via Belgaum/Amboli.

Thanks guys. WIll stick to the known route. Karwar here I come!

[NPV]

Notes/Log from my recent trip to Karwar:
Blr-Karwar
Route via NH4 (Chitradurga-Davanagere-Hubli), NH63/67 (Yellapur-Ankola), NH17 (Karwar)

Start from home (C V Raman Nagar) 5:15am
Breakfast stop @Sri Kottureshwara Benne Dosa, Davanagere - 282Km 8:50-9:50am (almost 1 hour due to crowd)
Reach Sterling Emerald Bay, Karwar 601 Km, 1:30pm

Excellent roads, 8 diversions on NH4 past Tumkur due to bridge constructions & 6 laning work. NH63/67 is superb with hardly any traffic. NH17 stretch also in great condition.

Karwar-Blr
Route via NH17 (Ankola-Kumta-Honnavar), NH206 (Sagar-Shimoga-Tumkur), NH4 (Bangalore)

Start from Sterling Emerald Bay, Karwar 7am
Breakfast stop @Kamat Upachar, Ankola 7:30-8am
Stop at Sharavathi Valley view point on ghat road - 9:35-9:50am View was beautiful but mist and fog was a dampener for photography
Stop at Jog falls 10:15-11am. Very less water but still worth a stop.
Stop at Lion & Tiger Safari, Tyavarekoppa - 12:30-1:40pm
Lunch stop @Samrat Ashok, Shimoga 1:45-2:30pm
Reached Tumkur NH4 toll plaza at 6pm

Good roads overall, narrow but scenic roads in the ghat stretch between Honnavar-Sagar, be alert and watch out for cattle and humans crossing the road between Shimoga-Tumkur.
Tyavarekoppa - last safari before lunch time is around 12:40pm. Closed for lunch between 1:30 and 2:30pm. Plan accordingly.

As always thanks to @Fauji sir for great recommendations

[ampere]

Originally Posted by NPV

Start from home (C V Raman Nagar) 5:15am
Breakfast stop @Sri Kottureshwara Benne Dosa, Davanagere - 282Km 8:50-9:50am (almost 1 hour due to crowd)
Reach Sterling Emerald Bay, Karwar 601 Km, 1:30pm

- That is good average speed
- How did you get on to NH4. Was it the regular route via Yaswantpur?
- If yes any traffic out there at the entry to the elevated high way?
- How was truck traffic till Davanagere?

[NPV]

Originally Posted by ampere

- That is good average speed
- How did you get on to NH4. Was it the regular route via Yaswantpur?
- If yes any traffic out there at the entry to the elevated high way?
- How was truck traffic till Davanagere?

- I took the route through the CBD - Shivajinagar, Cunningham Road, Race Course Road, Sampige Road, 17th Cross, Goraguntepalya onto NH4.
- The truck and bus traffic did slow me down and there are few diversions due to Metro construction till the entry to elevated toll road. After getting down the elevated road at the toll plaza it was mayhem since cars were cutting in from the left and right to get onto the correct toll booth lane. The same was the story at the next 2 toll plazas.
- Truck traffic was not dense that morning, but they mostly slowed us down at the diversions after Tumkur.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by NPV

- I took the route through the CBD - Shivajinagar, Cunningham Road, Race Course Road, Sampige Road, 17th Cross, Goraguntepalya onto NH4.
- The truck and bus traffic did slow me down and there are few diversions due to Metro construction till the entry to elevated toll road. After getting down the elevated road at the toll plaza it was mayhem since cars were cutting in from the left and right to get onto the correct toll booth lane. The same was the story at the next 2 toll plazas.
- Truck traffic was not dense that morning, but they mostly slowed us down at the diversions after Tumkur.

@NPV,

I was just trying to evaluate whether its worth getting into NICE for people in south Bangalore.
And looks like it is! Thats why I wanted to know.

But good to see that in spite of these deterrents, you got good timings.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by ampere

@NPV,

I was just trying to evaluate whether its worth getting into NICE for people in south Bangalore.
And looks like it is! Thats why I wanted to know.

But good to see that in spite of these deterrents, you got good timings.

Absolutely ! I took the CBD route only because I'm located on the Eastern side and I started early.
Especially if you're in and around Hosur Road/BTM/Bannerghatta Road/Electronics City, makes lot of sense to use NICE road to get onto NH4, but it is expensive at Rs.100+ (NH4 to Link road itself is Rs.107 so NH4 to Hosur Road must be even more).

[ash_blore]

Originally Posted by ash_blore

Thanks guys. WIll stick to the known route. Karwar here I come!

Did my return trip last thursday. Started at 7:15AM from Panajim and reached bangalore exactly at 5:20PM. That is 10hrs and 5mins. The route taken was

Panjim -> Margoa -> Karwar -> hubli -> Nelamangala -> NICE -> Kanakapura -> Jayangar 8th Block.

Total distance 710 KMs.

Breaks -> 1 break at Hubli to topup fuel (15 mins) and one more near Tumkur for coffee (15 mins).

Key take aways

a) Since it was a working week day, there was a lot of traffic until Margoa. Infact it took me almost 2hrs to reach Karwar.

b) The roads are excellent through out.

c) For folks in South Bangalore, Nice road helps. I decided to take this as it was evening time and I didnt want to get stuck in Bangalore traffic around 5PM.

Overall excellent drive considering I had taken my 8+ year old accent. It gave me a mileage of 15KM/L with 50% AC. I almost never exceeded 100KM/Hr and tried to maintain speeds between 80-100.

[ArjunVS]

Dear Ash_Blr,

One of the main frustrations of drives in india is city traffic and thus where one can and where office or young kids is not a constraint - leave as early as possible.

In the case of Goa, we do the drive perhaps 2-3 times a year to Varca - and leave BLR at 0400-0420 in the morning - which puts us at Hubli just before 0900 and in Varca about 1230. Fast perhaps but not furious.

On the way back - leaving from Varca allows us to avoid Margao, but we still set out at 0600-0615 and are able to get in to Bangalore by about 1415 or so. The new flyover/elevated road obviously has made it a lot simpler.

We often drive back on a sunday so the draffic has not been bad. The sad part of the above is that the drive is all about the destination and little about the journey now.

I have done the forrest drive often between Bankapur and Yellapur and that road for the most is very good and has a new bridge but dont be suckered by the map and an apparently shorter distance as the time is longer.

Would of course love to take the road from Yellapur through the Kali valley to Karwar.............one day perhaps.

Happy driving
Arjun

[condor]

Did BLR-Hubli today afternoon.

Just as we had begun to relax about the incomplete sections now being completed, they have started fly-overs at major towns between Chitradurga and Tumkur. Also, at least 3 more Toll-booths coming up between Tumkur and Haveri - each of which is likely to charge Rs, 50 per pass-through.

[TracerBullet]

Planning to go to Goa in couple of weeks. Google maps shows blr-hubli-dharwad (N48) - take a left towards Nandgad (SH56) and join NH 748 to Panjim. Is this a fast route?

The plan is start early so that cover as much distance as possible before the summer heat kicks in.

I had driven to Goa 5 - 6 years ago and had gone through the Shimoga route(wanted to go to Jog falls). I feel this route doesn't make sense now.

Or should I stick to blr-hubli-karwar-margoa-panjim?

Thanks in advance

[musafir_blr]

Planning to go to Goa in couple of weeks. Google maps shows blr-hubli-dharwad (N48) - take a left towards Nandgad (SH56) and join NH 748 to Panjim. Is this a fast route?

The plan is start early so that cover as much distance as possible before the summer heat kicks in.

I had driven to Goa 5 - 6 years ago and had gone through the Shimoga route(wanted to go to Jog falls). I feel this route doesn't make sense now.

Or should I stick to blr-hubli-karwar-margoa-panjim?

I would suggest to take the ruote Hubli (NH4) -> Karwar -> Goa route. I went to Goa last October and at that time this was the best one. I covered the distance (till Panjim) in around 9 hours with few short breaks.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by TracerBullet

Planning to go to Goa in couple of weeks. Google maps shows blr-hubli-dharwad (N48) - take a left towards Nandgad (SH56) and join NH 748 to Panjim. Is this a fast route?

The plan is start early so that cover as much distance as possible before the summer heat kicks in.

I had driven to Goa 5 - 6 years ago and had gone through the Shimoga route(wanted to go to Jog falls). I feel this route doesn't make sense now.

Or should I stick to blr-hubli-karwar-margoa-panjim?

Thanks in advance

Dharwad-Alnavar-Goa route is best avoided.
You are advised to take the NH63 route from Hubli via Yellapura to Karwar

[ampere]

Originally Posted by TracerBullet

Planning to go to Goa in couple of weeks. Google maps shows blr-hubli-dharwad (N48) - take a left towards Nandgad (SH56) and join NH 748 to Panjim. Is this a fast route?

Its a pathetic route. Roads around Alnavar are always dug-up.
Not at all worth it.

I had driven to Goa 5 - 6 years ago and had gone through the Shimoga route(wanted to go to Jog falls). I feel this route doesn't make sense now.

Or should I stick to blr-hubli-karwar-margoa-panjim?

It is still worth going via Jog, during monsoons (Shimoga/Honnavar/Karwar) as the
scenery is beautiful. Now the roads (NH73) are also in mint condition.

The fastest is still Hubli/Ankola.