[paragsachania]

Stick to the route Ranjitp1 mentions or NICE. Wondering if anyone knows how bad can the Railway crossing get at Goreguntepalya with that ROB work in progress right now and many trains arriving/departing to Yeshwantpur station at this hour or the day.

The Jalahalli-HMT road is wonderful now- Widened and fully asphalted all the way till it hits NH4 (barring just 100 meters). This is THE Choice if you need to skip the ROB section of ORR.

For someone like me who takes NH4 and NH48 almost every alternate weekend, I would advise with the City road or NICE in the interest of saving time.

City road if you follow maps (like others suggested) would never confuse you and lead you straight to NH4 via IISC and Yeshwantpur. In fact, CNR Rao underpass is Signal free and so is Mathikere Junction after the recent changes by BTP.

So essentially, it's signal free right after Sankey Tank Junction.

[wanderer4x4]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

I too stay near Bellandur and after trying all three options (through town, ORR & NICE road) I find taking NICE road the stress free and faster option to hit NH 4.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Stick to the route Ranjitp1 mentions or NICE. ........City road if you follow maps (like others suggested) would never confuse you and lead you straight to NH4 via IISC and Yeshwantpur. In fact, CNR Rao underpass is Signal free and so is Mathikere Junction after the recent changes by BTP.

So essentially, it's signal free right after Sankey Tank Junction.

Eh, then shall I take the NICE road?:what:

I think I'll then go ahead with the NICE Road option, which seems to be the tried and tested route.

Oh, I'm loving this confusion even before the trip has started.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by wanderer4x4

Eh, then shall I take the NICE road?:what:

I think I'll then go ahead with the NICE Road option, which seems to be the tried and tested route.

Oh, I'm loving this confusion even before the trip has started.

Stick to the NICE Road,and drive along it all the way to the NH4.

https://goo.gl/maps/MbGS3

[HighOctane]

Originally Posted by sswaroop

The only place to worry on this route is the railway crossing just before entering NH4 at that end of the ORR with a flyover construction going on.

Its better to avoid ORR as this junction is slow at morning with trucks starting in the morning. Once I had to spend half an hour at 5 am at this junction.

[asinghal]

I drove BLR-karwar on 25th morning and returned on 28th evening. Took the route through the city (left at 4.45) as I stay in city center. There was small backup on the tolls but not too bad. Took the at BLR-Davengere-bankapur-mungod-yellapur-ankola-karwar route. The road from Bankpur is in decent shape, and parts of it have been re-laid. As others have noted earlier, its a narrow road. To our surprise, there was lot of police around Mungod as Dalai Lama is staying there till 30th. No entries were allowed.
On way back, took the Yellapur-Hubli route. The Bankapur road is slightly faster now than the longer Hubli route (but not by much). There is 2-3 km route, where its just packed mud (think road is being built). On way back Sunday evening around 4.30-5 reached outskirts on Bangalore, checked the traffic and there were no significant backups so took the route through Yeshwantpur and other than a small backup, no hassles getting to MG Road.

[rajshenoy]

Guys, planning a Goa trip in Feb second week. I think most of the route details are pretty clear thanks to the active discussions but i am clueless about where to stay.

Typically i stay in Ponda(temple premises) so have no idea about the hotels and resorts in Goa

But this time i am travelling to the coastal Goa like a tourist and I know there are plenty of choices so i am confused.

I am looking for 2 nights stay in a comfortable resort with family(Parents and two little kids).
Access to Beach(walk), Good food (inside and near by), and comfortable stay is what i am looking at.

Please suggest some options (Budget 5-8K per night). A less crowded beach for kids(not really the adventure sports one) attached to the resort will be perfect.

[deadguy25]

Got back form Goa three days ago.

Route taken: NICE road from bannerghatta - Nelamangala-Chitradurga-Hubli-Dharwad-Mollem-Colva.

Roads are awesome, please be cautious as there were numerous interceptors after Chitradurga upto Hubli.

Speedbreakers spring-up suddenly.

The final stretch before entering Goa is pretty bad.

Once you cross the border, the road is awesome again.

The weather was slightly humid.

The tolls tend to burn you a bit.

stick to your lane while driving on the ghat section\turns. Saw a couple of accidents wherein people were trying to overtake in the curves or strayed-on-to the opposite lane.

[deadguy25]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

Guys, planning a Goa trip in Feb second week. I think most of the route details are pretty clear thanks to the active discussions but i am clueless about where to stay.

Typically i stay in Ponda(temple premises) so have no idea about the hotels and resorts in Goa

But this time i am travelling to the coastal Goa like a tourist and I know there are plenty of choices so i am confused.

I am looking for 2 nights stay in a comfortable resort with family(Parents and two little kids).
Access to Beach(walk), Good food (inside and near by), and comfortable stay is what i am looking at.

Please suggest some options (Budget 5-8K per night). A less crowded beach for kids(not really the adventure sports one) attached to the resort will be perfect.

My 2 cents:

Royal Haathi Mahal - this place is good. I have stayed there. Approximately About 15 minutes walk from the beach.

Naanu resort - this place looked good from outside. I have not stayed there. This is on the beach.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

Guys, planning a Goa trip in Feb second week. I think most of the route details are pretty clear thanks to the active discussions but i am clueless about where to stay.



Typically i stay in Ponda(temple premises) so have no idea about the hotels and resorts in Goa



But this time i am travelling to the coastal Goa like a tourist and I know there are plenty of choices so i am confused.



I am looking for 2 nights stay in a comfortable resort with family(Parents and two little kids).

Access to Beach(walk), Good food (inside and near by), and comfortable stay is what i am looking at.



Please suggest some options (Budget 5-8K per night). A less crowded beach for kids(not really the adventure sports one) attached to the resort will be perfect.

At 8k,you can easily stay at the Park Hyatt.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

At 8k,you can easily stay at the Park Hyatt.

Are you sure about it ? Pretty much all the travel websites show me 14-15K per night.

[rajivtelang]

Visited Goa on 25th and returned back on 28th. Routes taken
Bangalore - Tumkur via NICE road- Dharwad - Mollem - Quepem (620KM)
Quepem - Ankola - Hubli - Tumkur - Bangalore via NICE road (680KM)

Route taken to Goa has bad roads between Ramnagar and ghat section of Karnataka. Goa side of ghat is smooth.

Interesting part of travel, while going to Goa was caught for overspeeding at 85KMPH . Also the cop asked for 500/- and refused the receipt. Upon insisting returned 200/- but finally gave a receipt of 300/-. This is stupid enough and appeared as if they were short of funds and were very strict on the speed limit (80 Vs 85) This is a story on Davanagere bypass.

Not sure what care needs to be taken here, cannot drive at 80 since it is too slow and slowing down enough may always not be possible.

[bsdbsd]

Returned from Goa on 30th evening. Std route taken: BLR-YELLAPUR-KARWAR-VARCA.

Important tips for travelers:

1. Nasty road humps near a town called Kiravatti, after passing Hubli, before Yellapur. Please, please take care.

2. Keep the change ready at toll booths. All toll booths not charging round figures have resorted to cheating. If the toll is 118, they will take 120, and wont return 2 Rs change. The first culprit is NICE road. ALL toll booths indulge in this practice. If you dont know, ASK the fare, then pay exact change. This is not a question of money but getting cheated.

3. Please dont drive between Chitradurga-Tumkur-Bangalore, and between Karwar-South Goa during night. Between Chitradurga and Tumkur, the highway is six lanes, but so unscientifically constructed...leaving everyone unable to maintain lanes at high speeds. Insane weaving traffic moving at 120-150 kms/hour. The left lane gets blocked every 2-3 kms. Disconcerting.

Karwar-Goa, single lane narrow roads, sleep deprived, egoistic taxi drivers will make life a living nightmare, trying to overtake in turns. A few private car owners also did this to my dismay.

Also, avoid varca-panjim on NH17, as they have perennial traffics jams lasting for hours due to "traffic control" at rounds-abouts leading to Dabolim and Vasco and beyond.

Sad that I aborted my trip to Panjim for the THIRD TIME in last 3 visits due to this traffic jam. Margaon insides are hopelessly jammed. I was stuck for an hour inside the town and traveled about 1km during that time.

Other than the above, everything else is very pleasant, lots of sunshine and party atmosphere on Goa.

The best place for shopping: Yellapur! There is a shop attached to Hotel Shanbag, which has lots of goddies. Try for yourself.

[sumannandy]

Just back from Goa. While going, took Bangalore-Hubli-Ramnagar-Panjim route, while coming back, came through Ankola, Hubli.

The return route was smooth except a number of unmarked speedbreakers, even on NH4.

The onward journey was also good except for a very bad stretch of about 30 kms. But this route is faster if you would like to go to North Goa.

While coming down from Panjim, we took NH17B through the Naval museum This road passes by the beaches and you can avoid traffic jams in the city.

Beware of unmarked speed breakers between Chitradurga and Hubli, both ways. An otherwise nice drive is ruined because of the unmarked speed breakers. Overall we jumped three-for speed breakers.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

Beware of unmarked speed breakers between Chitradurga and Hubli, both ways. An otherwise nice drive is ruined because of the unmarked speed breakers. Overall we jumped three-for speed breakers.

Documented here -
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3597839.

Only thing that requires change is the zero point for return leg since Goa return traffic torches NH4 either at Belgaum or Hubli.

[sourav21]

Returned from Goa just now. Onward journey on 25th December. Overnight stay at Hans hotel Hubli. Next day took the Dharwad - Ramnagar - Mollem - Ponda route. Destination Varca. Didn't take the Hubli bypass, but the other road connecting Hubli - Dharwad where the hotel is located. It was a mistake. This road is busy and I got flagged down by an interceptor for overspeeding. Speed limit is 50. I was doing 72. Was asked to dish out 300 for overspeeding and 1000 for not having a pollution certificate. Finally settled for 500. Route is good except for the stretch from the end of the toll road till Goa border which is very bad.

Return journey via Karwar - Ankola - Yellapur - Hubli route. Absolutely butter smooth tarmac all throughout and no toll except for some unmarked speedbreakers somewhere after Yellapur.

In Goa, did Varca - North Goa twice (Reis Magos and Mapusa) on NH17, no traffic issues. However on 30th night was caught in a hellish traffic jam on the Fort Aguada road near Candolim. Except for that stretch, did not find traffic issues inside Goa.