[devyaaniverma]

Hello Guys,

Read a lot about the possible route options to south goa. A close friend is driving on the 22nd to Goa from Bangalore. The vehicle is a Honda City.( Mention of the car since some roads are mentioned as very narrow and may be bumpy). Considering the posts above I have some queries so as to pass on an update.

1) Start time for him won't be before 6 AM. In which case what route is best suited?

2) Is reaching Hubli, then taking the Yellapur--Karwar route really help? (timewise or KM wise)

3) He might be traveling with a senior citizen so which route is less tedious?

4) How many diversions does the NH48 have now, between Chitradurga and Hubli? I saw other posts of Bangalore Mumbai route threads and that number keeps changing.

5) Is there covid related checking etc in Goa at this point?

I know most people have suggested routes in above posts, but considering the scenarios I just need to know what best can be done. Any inputs will help.

[shamanth]

Originally Posted by devyaaniverma

2) Is reaching Hubli, then taking the Yellapur--Karwar route really help? (timewise or KM wise)


4) How many diversions does the NH48 have now, between Chitradurga and Hubli? I saw other posts of Bangalore Mumbai route threads and that number keeps changing.

5) Is there covid related checking etc in Goa at this point?

2) Yellapur-Karwar is good road, no issues. Bankapur-Mondgod-Yellapura is narrow road fit for single car only not ideal for Honda city, to avoid this someone suggested to go through Yellapur - Kalaghatgi - Tadas - Bankapur, Going through Hubli is not required, but you can go through Hubli also might take 30 mins extra.

4) I think diversions are around 10-20, not sure, but it does slow down the travel time a lot.

5) No Covid checking anywhere.

[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by devyaaniverma

4) How many diversions does the NH48 have now, between Chitradurga and Hubli? I saw other posts of Bangalore Mumbai route threads and that number keeps changing.

• Diversions between Chitradurga and Hubli keep changing as the work on the entire stretch is not done in one go. So number keeps changing. But safe to assume around 10 diversions at any point of time. My last travel on this stretch was on 30th Dec.
  
• There are small speed breakers/rumble strips, probably done by villagers, especially near Haveri. Farmers, cattle, tractors cross across the highway around here. Maybe there were accidents and hence these rumble strips were put there I guess. Fair enough - so need to be careful.
  
• On diversions, I drive at around 40 kmph on my i20. Trucks moving at 10 kmph are the main cause for slowdown but the number of trucks are far too few between for the slowdown. I have seen cars going along these diversions at 90 kmph also.

[sushantk]

Originally Posted by devyaaniverma

1) Start time for him won't be before 6 AM. In which case what route is best suited?

2) Is reaching Hubli, then taking the Yellapur--Karwar route really help? (timewise or KM wise)

3) He might be traveling with a senior citizen so which route is less tedious?

4) How many diversions does the NH48 have now, between Chitradurga and Hubli? I saw other posts of Bangalore Mumbai route threads and that number keeps changing.

5) Is there covid related checking etc in Goa at this point?

1>2>3> I would suggest to avoid Bankapur-Mondgod-Yellpura stretch considering low ground clearance vehicle and presence of senior citizens. I do not have first hand experience of driving on the alternate but suggest you to follow as others have suggested and avoid Bankapur-Mondgod-Yellpura.

4> May be around 10, but I think diversions are not much of headaches if driven peacefully. [I drove on 3rd Jan]

5>No Covid checks anywhere in the trip Banaglore-Goa-Bangalore. On return journey, police stopped us on the Goa-Karnataka border for liquor check which I politely said that we do not have. He did not bother to check further.

[Freebird82]

+1. I have stopped here a few times now and has become one of the "stretch the legs" point. Simple and tasty food with very good coffee. Male Rest rooms are okayish. No idea about female rest rooms.

Originally Posted by Arjun Reddy

On the topic of food, on my recent drive to Goa in November, I stopped at Mysore Cafe, just beyond Chitradurga. Very tasty food, clean as well.Perfect driving distance too around 200 kms for a break.

Hotel Mysore Cafe
n h 4 seebara, near S Nijalingappa Memorial, Chitradurga, Karnataka 577501
099018 20389
https://goo.gl/maps/eSKiSSaT5E8T17V5A

[rakirank]

Drove to South Goa this morning.

Started from Bangalore post midnight.
The diversions are a pain if you are driving at night. There are speed-breakers in the diversion (where it probably intersects a village road).

Difficult to look out for these at night with heavy vehicles around.

Took the Tadas to Kalaghatgi road. I was driving a sedan and was not happy with the road condition. While it's definitely wide enough to accommodate a car and a heavy vehicle, too many speed-breakers and bad patches ruin the drive.

From Kalaghatgi to Goa, no issues.

Will probably try the Ankola-Shimoga-Blr road on the way back.

[shamanth]

Originally Posted by rakirank

Will probably try the Ankola-Shimoga-Blr road on the way back.

Could add 1-2 hours to your journey, but you can have a stop at Jog-Falls on the way.

[Bhodrolok]

Originally Posted by rakirank

Will probably try the Ankola-Shimoga-Blr road on the way back.

I did do that, halted at Shimoga and then took the Hosadurga, Hiriyur, Bangalore route. Roads a good all through, some diversions after Karwar but nothing that's difficult to navigate.

[cool_dube]

Quick update on my drive to/from South Goa:

• Took NH-48, diverted at Tadas and connected to the Hubli-Ankola road (NH-52) at Kalaghatgi
• Quite a few diversions between Chitradurga and Davangere - while nothing worrisome, can be annoying, especially if one is driving through at night.
• The Tadas-Kalaghatgi stretch (SH-1) is quite good and I did not perceive any issues for a low-GC car. Took this route over the Bankapura-Yellapura one primarily to minimize travel on interior roads.
• Roads are good all the way from thereon, with some ongoing road-widening work near Karwar.
• No checks pertaining to Covid-19 observed at KA-GA border
• Took at break at Apoorva Resorts, on the outskirts of Davangere, as suggested by TBHP-ians. While food was average, the coffee was good and most importantly, nice open area to stretch your legs.

Hope this helps!

[devyaaniverma]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

Quick update on my drive to/from South Goa:

• Took NH-48, diverted at Tadas and connected to the Hubli-Ankola road (NH-52) at Kalaghatgi
• Quite a few diversions between Chitradurga and Davangere - while nothing worrisome, can be annoying, especially if one is driving through at night.
• The Tadas-Kalaghatgi stretch (SH-1) is quite good and I did not perceive any issues for a low-GC car. Took this route over the Bankapura-Yellapura one primarily to minimize travel on interior roads.
• Roads are good all the way from thereon, with some ongoing road-widening work near Karwar.
• No checks pertaining to Covid-19 observed at KA-GA border
• Took at break at Apoorva Resorts, on the outskirts of Davangere, as suggested by TBHP-ians. While food was average, the coffee was good and most importantly, nice open area to stretch your legs.

Hope this helps!

This is a very detailed update. So thumbs up for that.

So when you mentioned you diverted at Tadas, possible to share the exact route map? I am presuming you went closer to Hubli and did this? Little confused about this hence asking. Thanks in advance.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by devyaaniverma

So when you mentioned you diverted at Tadas, possible to share the exact route map? I am presuming you went closer to Hubli and did this? Little confused about this hence asking. Thanks in advance.

Here you go:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/BCvcvifiY6cco99w6

[rustyg]

Folks,
Will be travelling to Goa (Benaulim) end of Jan with family - we two, 2 kids of 6 and 10 respectively in our Vento.

Planning to take Day 1- Bangalore (Domlur) --> Tumkur --> Shimoga --> Jog -(Stay Overnight - at Mayura ???) --> Day2- start for Goa --> Detour towards Murdeshwar Shiva Statue Visit --> Back on track --> Kumta --> Karwar --> Benaulim....

So, have few queries -
1) We are over skeptical set of folks , who have rarely ventured out of our front door in 9 months. So , will be travelling with pre-prepared food. And will source Hot water to get Ready to Eat things set for food.
Is Mayura @ Jog safe option ? We will sanitize using spray but still....
2) Or shall we evaluate Shimoga instead? Any safe suggestion
3) Advisable to take detour to visit Murudeshwar?
4) Is it advisable to take another detour to visit Om beach , Gokarna. is it worth in this rushed visit , especially as we will be hitting it during afternoon time in Jan end Heat.
5) Overall is the road condition good for above plan?

Sorry for loaded Query post and if you are not by now, do let me know,

[Ashkait Kapoor]

Did Bangalore-Goa on the 9th and Goa-Bangalore on the 12th of this month. Here's my ride experience along with 2 fellow riders.

Onward Itinerary: Bangalore-Tumkur-Chitradurga-Davangere-Hubli-Belgaum-Chorla-Goa

Left from South Bangalore at 5 in the morning and stopped for a short daylight transition and hydration break after ~150kms, a few kms ahead of Sira.
Next stop after ~80kms was at Chitradurga for breakfast, stopped at Khrisna Bhavan a pure veg restaurant that had decent food to offer.
3rd stop after ~100kms, again a short hydration break somewhere near Ranebennur.
Another short break ~115kms later at Hubli bypass.

Except for the occasional diversions, NH48 up untill now was a breeze to sail through!
From here on the 70 odd kms before reaching belgaum, yes the single carriageway, that stretch is a busy one and has some impatient drivers!

It was at 2.30 in the afternoon when we reached our pre-decided place of lunch at Native Lounge in Belgaum.
Now the sole reason for us to go via Belgaum was to refresh some college memories and catch up with a friend over lunch.
Ended up spending 2 hours at Belgaum, which turned out be a bad idea as we soon found out.
It got dark before we reached Chorla Ghats. Having ridden on Chorla Ghat many a times in the last couple of years, this was by far my worst experience.
A few kms ahead of Delta point at Chorla is one of the worst 20-22kms rough patch of broken roads I have ridden on and coupled with the fact it was dark,
We had to be really cautious and slow. This slowed us down to an extent where we reached our place of stay at Siolim in North Goa at ~8.30 in the night.



Somewhere at NH48.



Managed to catch a beautiful sunset near Jamboti before entering Chorla.

Originally Posted by bsdbsd

I found a great restaurant in heart of Panaji called Route 66 - American cuisine and others. A fantastic place.

Happen to pass by Route 66 and recalled someone mentioning it on this thread so decided to drop by, the manager Clive, nice lad I must say.
Great food and experience overall.



My Blue Stallion somewhere near Route 66 in Panaji.

Return Itinerary: Goa-Anmod-Ramnagar-Dharwad-Hubli-Davangere-Chitradurga-Tumkur-Bangalore

Left post breakfast from Goa at 11 in the morning but since we'd cover Anmod Ghat and the single carriageway up untill Hubli in day light, it was not a problem.
Anmod-Ramnagar-Dhardwad-Hubli is a much better option in comparison to Chorla at present.
A few kms of rough patches in between but nothing compared to the nightmare that Chorla is at present especially from a biker's point of view.
From Hubli, the rest of NH48 is again smooth sailing with the ocassional diversions which is less of an issue for us folks on 2 wheels as we don't have to
trail behind the slow moving lorries on these diversions.
All in all took one lunch break before hubli and three small hydration breaks post that before reaching bangalore.
Reached home in South Banglore before expected at 12.30 in the night.

Overall distance covered: 1419 kms.





Somewhere at Anmod Ghat.

[smukherjee]

Returned from North Goa to Hubli (for an overnight stopover onwards to South Bangalore) last night - a long weekend trip. Posting some good and bad bits about the route.

1. Did Bangalore- Hubli - Belgaum (had some work at VTU and stayed overnight at Regenta resort Belagavi) - Chorla Ghat - Calangute. The Chorla ghat section was terrible for about 15 kms that took approx 1 hr to navigate in my I20. The NH48 section upto Hubli was a breeze and could maintain 100+ speeds almost throughout. After Hubli, we had the single lane roads upto Belgaum bypass with fairly heavy goods traffic.
2. On the return journey, took the Calangute - Ponda - Mollem - Anmod - Tinai - Alnavar - Dharwad - Hubli. The route post Anmod ghat to Tinai was terrible. Made the mistake of hitting the forest check point post Karnataka RTO after 6 pm, so the forest route was closed and had to take this under construction/repair NH748 patch. My i20 bottomed out a couple of times on the moon sized craters and was very scared till we crossed Alnavar bypass - was completely dark by then. Before we hit this patch though, Google took us through a fantastic scenic detour through Sancordem upto Mollem - take the SH33 left post Piliem.

Having said that, this route will still be considered marginally better than the Chorla Ghat route that we had taken from Belgaum to North Goa. About 15 kms on that route was continuously pathetic. At least the Anmod route had tarmac interspersed with craters. Both the routes are very scenic though, a welcome relief after the monotonous but easy highway driving on NH48.

Another tip - we stayed overnight in President Hotel at Hubli, but ensure you select 'The President Hotel' with correct address on maps. We ended up in some residential area in Hubli as maps pointed to a wrongly marked hotel.

Stayed in Regenta Resort in Belgaum, this would be highly recommended. Had read some not so good reviews about the Marriott and hence chose this place, turned out to be really good choice.

Overall, lesson learnt- not doing a late check out from North Goa till these Karnataka roads improve.

Sharing a few images from the route, Regenta Resort and the forest themed restaurant at the President that my 3 yr old really enjoyed

[devyaaniverma]

Hello Everyone,

Posting this update as the trip for which I made a query few days back was completed yesterday. Details are as mentioned below.

* Date of journey towards South Goa was 22nd January. Start from Bengaluru at 6:45 AM. Reached South Goa (Agonda) at 6:40 PM. This included 2 breaks of 30 mins each approx.

* Point of contention was the diversions on NH48. The road condition is much better now. You will find about 3-6 diversions between Chitradurga, Davangere and Hubli. Nothing to be hassled about, especially if you travel during the day, night will be tricky. Diversions and speed breakers become more painful as you close on Hubli. Still Bengaluru to Hubli is easily doable in about 7 and a bit hours, at normal pace. Attached a pic of how the built stretches' look on NH48.

* Even if you reach Hubli and take the conventional route to Karwar it is in good condition overall. Once on the karwar route, till Kalaghatgi the road is a little bumpy and patchy so drive carefully. Also some road concreting work is ON near Hubli, but once you pass Kalaghatgi road becomes far better and your pace can increase. Although the speed to maintain stays around 80 to 85 for the most part. Speed Breakers near towns can surprise you so maintain a steady pace, not very fast.

* Quite a bit of road widening work is going on near Karwar so this will slow you down. Yet this is not painful, cause by this time you are close to Goa.

* Hotel Indraprashta at Yellapur is a good stop for food, tea break and has good washrooms. While heading towards Karwar it is on your right side. Easily searchable on Google.

* The return journey was with a halt in Hubli. Choice of stay was Hotel Naveen Lakeside. From what I got to know this place is super clean and highly recommended for a stay if you need one. Food is another plus.

* Return journey from Hubli to Bengaluru took almost same time of around 7-8 hours with 2 breaks. Diversions are slightly troublesome on the way to Bengaluru. Yet nothing too dangerous.

If you are traveling to South Goa, considering all that I heard, the Karwar route is the best option. Time taken is manageable and not too many hassles. I hope this post will help some who are planning a tour soon.