[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

Guys, which would be the quickest route right now?

1. Tumkur-Chitradurga-Hubli-Yellapur-Karwar
or
2. Tumkur-Arsikere-Shimoga-Honavar-Karwar

How is the road condition with option 2?

Apologies if its a repeated a question here.

Route 1 would be the fastest and excellent road conditions as well.NH4 till Hubli.From there onwards all the way till Ankola on NH63-wide road(an unofficial 4lane width).From there via NH17 onwards to Karwar-Madgaon.

[filcord]

Slightly offtopic perhaps.
I need to drive from Goa to Vellore (VIT) as my son will be joining there. Would it be better to take the normal Goa-Bangalore road and then Kolar-Palamaner-Chittoor. Another alternative suggested by Google maps is to take a left at Sira, to Gaunbidanur-Chintamani- Palamner-Chitoor.

Which is the smoother road?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by filcord

Slightly offtopic perhaps.
I need to drive from Goa to Vellore (VIT) as my son will be joining there. Would it be better to take the normal Goa-Bangalore road and then Kolar-Palamaner-Chittoor. Another alternative suggested by Google maps is to take a left at Sira, to Gaunbidanur-Chintamani- Palamner-Chitoor.

Which is the smoother road?

What you can do is:

Take deviation at Dobbaspet and continue of NH207 till Dobddaballapur-Devanahalli-Hoskote and then continue on NH4, Its hardly a 20-30km
difference but you get good roads, But do also note, that the the route via Hosur/Krishnagiri is also of almost similar distance, So its actually worth
taking that route. Its 4 lane all the way: See the difference in distances for yourself : (The second option gives you 4 lane all the way,
in spite of constructions on Bangalore-Chennai sector, its still worth.

Via Chitoor
Via Hosur

[nirmaljusdoit]

Originally Posted by ampere

The conditions have improved drastically and you wont find any mining trucks nowadays.
.

Originally Posted by sureshurs

I have done this route in end May. .

Originally Posted by shenoytech

Mining lorries are gone,

.

Thanks guys, i did the stretch from Blore-Tumkur- Davangere-Hubli bypass-Yellapur-Karwar-Goa in about 14 hours with couple of stops & driving shared between myself and a friend. Left Blore at 6 am & reached Goa around 9 pm (Candolim) It was really comfortable.

This included an hour for breakfast at Davangere, an hour of breaks along the way and getting lost while inside Goa ! Road conditions are excellent and yes we do need to watch out for diversions till Chitradurga.

The Goa roads are just awesome, well marked & with superbly designed & executed speed breakers. Never once did i bottom out ! They have improved tremendously from the last time i was there in 2008. Had to really search hard to find a bad stretch of road even inside the villages.

The awesomest part was the Yellapur ghats which are simply amazing roads to drive through, very scenic and well laid out.
The worst part of the journey was reentering Blore roads

Edit : This was in a 225 bhp V6, which allowed us to maintain respectable speeds throughout but had to slow down for the ghat roads.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

I believe the Sirsi - Kumta road is WIP. THe ghat section is under repair and only vehicles from one direction are allowed at a time for a certain section of the ghat. I had to do Sirsi - Honnavar recently and was advised to take the Sirsi - Siddapur - Honnavar route instead of Sirsi - Kumta - Honnavar. The roads were in excellent shape generally and the beautiful scenery was a sight for sore eyes .

I wish I had read your post more clearly; somehow I thought you had mentioned Kumta - Siddapur route (instead of Sirsi - Siddapur route). Just went via the earlier route, it turned out to be a single lane, broken down hilly road that is meant only for off-roading SUVs and bullock carts!

Just an update - I took the route Goa - Karwar - Ankola - Siddapur - Sagara - Shimoga - Tumkur - Dobbspot - Doddaballapur - Hoskote (destination). This took a massive 11 hour duration with quite a few adventures. Will be sharing the same with details on a TL later.

Thanks for all the inputs I got here from @ampere, @santoshbhat, @comfortablynumb & others!

[filcord]

Apropos my earlier post about driving Goa-Bangalore-Vellore. I wanted to bypass Bangalore after Nelamangala, as I don't want to waste time in the city. Is the detour/bypass route suggested in the attached map something feasible?
How do I exit from the National Highway and onto the suggested bypass road?

[mb_jg]

Any updates on the road conditions (Amboli-Sawantwadi), any reported landslides? Planning in hitting Goa on the 1st from Pune.

[maheshramaling]

Originally Posted by filcord

Apropos my earlier post about driving Goa-Bangalore-Vellore. I wanted to bypass Bangalore after Nelamangala, as I don't want to waste time in the city. Is the detour/bypass route suggested in the attached map something feasible?
How do I exit from the National Highway and onto the suggested bypass road?

Yes - this is correct. As you come from Hosur and touch electronics city, watch out for the road sign near Electronics city gate for Mysore towards your left which is NICE road and will bypass bangalore and take you till Nelamangala. If you are passing through during the day - traffic scene would be bad - so keep to your left - since this junction is tricky and easy to miss.

[manim]

Originally Posted by filcord

I wanted to bypass Bangalore

The NICE road is a dream-road!
I too by-passed Bangalore on my trip from Hosur to Hubli in May.

I agree that it is a bit hard to find the exact turns, if you miss one you have to take a long detour.

I used Google-maps and Sygic-maps on my android as help.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by filcord

How do I exit from the National Highway and onto the suggested bypass road?

Originally Posted by maheshramaling

Yes - this is correct. As you come from Hosur and touch electronics city, watch out for the road sign near Electronics city gate for Mysore towards your left which is NICE road and will bypass bangalore and take you till Nelamangala. If you are passing through during the day - traffic scene would be bad - so keep to your left - since this junction is tricky and easy to miss.

Here's how you can get onto NICE road in both directions for your Goa-Vellore and Vellore-Goa trip:
i)From Nelamangala to Hosur (Goa-Vellore) - After the Tumkur toll, proceed straight and just before you reach the next toll, get onto the service road and take the turn off for NICE Road towards Mysore/Bannerghatta/Hosur. Get onto this, pay the toll of ~Rs.140 to Hosur Road and keep going all the way on NICE Road till it ends at Hosur Road and you're now on NH7 near Electronics City (Take the exit for the Hosur direction since the other exit at Hosur Road will take you back towards Bangalore city).

ii)From Hosur to Nelamangala (Vellore-Goa) - After the Krishnagiri toll your next toll is at Attibele (Karnataka border). Once you pay this, proceed straight for about 10 Km, then you will see an elevated tollway - do *not* get onto this elevated road, instead keep going straight below the elevated road and in about 2-3 Km you will see a turn off to the left for NICE road towards Bannerghatta/Mysore/Tumkur. Get onto this, pay the toll of ~Rs.140 to Tumkur Road and keep going all the way on NICE Road till it ends at Tumkur Road and you're now on NH4 near Nelamangala.
Hope this helps.

[filcord]

Thanks NPV. that is most detailed. Looks like a toughie, as far as finding the exact exit, but I will follow your instructions religiously. Perhaps carry a good detailed roadmap printed out (I'm a novice with Android GPS)

[ampere]

Originally Posted by NPV

i)From Nelamangala to Hosur (Goa-Vellore) - After the Tumkur toll, proceed straight and just before you reach the next toll, get onto the service road and take the turn off for NICE Road towards Mysore/Bannerghatta/Hosur.

Originally Posted by filcord

Thanks NPV. that is most detailed. Looks like a toughie, as far as finding the exact exit, but I will follow your instructions religiously. Perhaps carry a good detailed roadmap printed out (I'm a novice with Android GPS)

Do note that the the service road has lots of truck traffic. Its good to take the elevated road at the Neelmangala toll (the one after Tumkur toll). Go about 6-8km and turn-off to NICE is on the left.

The only caveat is that you will not see any signs earlier warning you of the approaching exit. The sign is right where the exit it (Its a fairly big board though).

So its good to be on the left side of the elevated road so that you dont lose the exit.

[blue_pulsar]

Hello T-bhpians, I need to travel to Panjim starting from Bangalore this month end. It would be of great help if I find some options:
1. I'm looking for the fastest and least stressful route.
2. I'm starting early morning from Bangalore and hope to reach Panjim by late evening.
3. I'm taking my new Ritz car. So hoping to travel on best roads.

Please help me with the route, folks.

Also, while coming back, plan is to leave from there early in the morning. I plan to visit Doodhsagar falls. I'm told to drive to Collem and catch a Jeep from there on. Any better ideas? What route would I be taking on my way back?

Thanks in advance!!!

[narayans80]

From Hosur, once you find yourself in a maze of flyovers above you, keep the left lane. There's a signal just before the NICE exit, you'll have to fight your way through service lane traffic to get yourself on the NICE which is 100 m away from the signal.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by blue_pulsar

Hello T-bhpians, I need to travel to Panjim starting from Bangalore this month end. It would be of great help if I find some options:
1. I'm looking for the fastest and least stressful route.
2. I'm starting early morning from Bangalore and hope to reach Panjim by late evening.
3. I'm taking my new Ritz car. So hoping to travel on best roads.

Its the standard route:

Bangalore-Hubli-Ankola-Karawar-Madgaon-Panjim

Also its very very advantageous to leave Bangalore by 4AM. That way,
you can zip through the diversions (which you find till Chitradurga) before the six lane work for the day begins.

Also, while coming back, plan is to leave from there early in the morning. I plan to visit Doodhsagar falls.
I'm told to drive to Collem and catch a Jeep from there on. Any better ideas? What route would I be taking on my way back?

If on the way back you plan to cover Dudhsagar, I not sure it you can make till Bangalore during day time. By the time you are done with
the falls, it would be easily past noon. The route to Hubli from Kulem, goes via Castle Rock/Ganeshgudi/Dandeli. These are heavy ghat sections.
Hence I would say plan for one more day.