[abirnale]

After a quick drive to Goa, my route updates:

Took Tumkur - Hiriyur - Haveri - Tadas - kalaghatagi - Haliyal - Catslerock - Mollem - Tambadi Surla - Pissurlem - Sanquelim. Roads throughout are great. No serious potholes - even a low-slung sedan can do this. It is a very scenic route, with narrow lanes after Tadas all the way up to Mollem with some wider roads in between. The road from tadas to Sanquelim is without a median - so exercise caution. There are no checks en route except at the border about alcohol.

This route is must-do if it's raining!

I am taking the same route back with a quick overnight break at Dandeli for birdwatching.

[Freebird82]

This is an interesting route. How is the road condition/width between Kalghatgi - Castlerock ? Is it similar to Bankapur-Mundgod-Yellapur or more like Kalghatgi-Yellapur ?

I am driving down tomorrow with family (1 small kid) and planning to take Hubli-Alnavar-Anmod-Mollem route but would be game to give this route a shot if advisable to travel with family. We are going in a sedan.

Thanks

Originally Posted by abirnale

After a quick drive to Goa, my route updates:

Took Tumkur - Hiriyur - Haveri - Tadas - kalaghatagi - Haliyal - Catslerock - Mollem - Tambadi Surla - Pissurlem - Sanquelim. Roads throughout are great. No serious potholes - even a low-slung sedan can do this. It is a very scenic route, with narrow lanes after Tadas all the way up to Mollem with some wider roads in between. The road from tadas to Sanquelim is without a median - so exercise caution. There are no checks en route except at the border about alcohol.

This route is must-do if it's raining!

I am taking the same route back with a quick overnight break at Dandeli for birdwatching.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by Freebird82

This is an interesting route. How is the road condition/width between Kalghatgi - Castlerock ? Is it similar to Bankapur-Mundgod-Yellapur or more like Kalghatgi-Yellapur ?

I am driving down tomorrow with family (1 small kid) and planning to take Hubli-Alnavar-Anmod-Mollem route but would be game to give this route a shot if advisable to travel with family. We are going in a sedan.

The road condition is good - nothing to worry about. But the widths are narrow at places when the truck comes in opposite direction, you need to slow down and take it easy. In some places, it's very narrow. Especially while entering the Castlerock section. most of the time the road is a decent state highway with a good surface. A couple of villages in between have crowded interactions that may take a few minutes extra. And definitely, a good road to be with family - I went with my family. Took a break at Dandeli for some birdwatching on our way back.

This is the section of the route I took - https://goo.gl/maps/vuNbigpKpEipCohk9

[Freebird82]

Thanks, appreciate the inputs.

Originally Posted by abirnale

The road condition is good - nothing to worry about. But the widths are narrow at places when the truck comes in opposite direction, you need to slow down and take it easy. In some places, it's very narrow. Especially while entering the Castlerock section. most of the time the road is a decent state highway with a good surface. A couple of villages in between have crowded interactions that may take a few minutes extra. And definitely, a good road to be with family - I went with my family. Took a break at Dandeli for some birdwatching on our way back.

This is the section of the route I took - https://goo.gl/maps/vuNbigpKpEipCohk9

[ampere]

Originally Posted by abirnale

The road condition is good - nothing to worry about. But the widths are narrow at places when the truck comes in opposite direction, you need to slow down and take it easy. In some places, it's very narrow. Especially while entering the Castlerock section. most of the time the road is a decent state highway with a good surface.

To add: The roads around Dandeli/Joida/Ramnagar are a part of Anshi and surrounding ghats. Once you reach Haliyal, you can then go towards Ramnagar bypassing Dandeli/Joida. This route takes you around the Kali backwaters at Ganeshgudi. There on; one can head to Castlerock bypassing Ramnagar. One route from Haliyal leads to Joida via Dandeli and goes via Anshi to Kadra/Karwar. Its a beautiful route but full of ghat section.

Also to note: Castle rock is a part of the Belgaum-Londa-Madgaon railway line which took quite many years to go commercial. The famed Delhi-Goa Goa Express originally was diverted to Hubli from Londa as that section from Londa to Madgaon was not approved. And then finally it made its way to Madgaon via Castle rock. Have fond memories of waiting at Londa jn for hours either for train or road transportation!

[goandude]

Originally Posted by abirnale

After a quick drive to Goa, my route updates:

Took Tumkur - Hiriyur - Haveri - Tadas - kalaghatagi - Haliyal - Catslerock - Mollem - Tambadi Surla - Pissurlem - Sanquelim. Roads throughout are great. No serious potholes - even a low-slung sedan can do this. It is a very scenic route, with narrow lanes after Tadas all the way up to Mollem with some wider roads in between. The road from tadas to Sanquelim is without a median - so exercise caution. There are no checks en route except at the border about alcohol.

This route is must-do if it's raining!

I am taking the same route back with a quick overnight break at Dandeli for birdwatching.

Would be great if you could share your timings on this route. Distance wise it seems similar to the Dharwad Ramnagar Anmod route.

[MorePower]

I plan to drive to Candolim over the weekend. Have a question about vaccination certificate check at the Goa and Karnataka borders. Some posts have mentioned no checks being conducted at all, some suggested certificates are being checked. I'm travelling with a 12-year old kid who is unvaccinated. No clarity anywhere online about whether a RT-PCR test is needed for unvaccinated children. Would anyone, who has travelled recently with children, please advise about this?

Also, any speed checks in Karnataka, especially between Chitradurga - Davanagere?

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by MorePower

Would anyone, who has travelled recently with children, please advise about this?

Also, any speed checks in Karnataka, especially between Chitradurga - Davanagere?

No checks for RTPCR or vaccination certificates. Kids are expemted anyway from vaccinations, so no issues at all.

There would be one mobile interceptor sometimes around davangere area - thats white tata winger with rear doors open facing the oncoming traffic. When everyone is slow, you too should slow down and not zig-zag overtake immediately without seeing further 2 km ahead

There are bunch of new cameras on the road too - mostly defunct or inactive or used only to monitor traffic flow and congestions. Nothing to worry.

[Freebird82]

Update : Did the Bangalore-Hubli-Ramnagar-Alnavar - Anmod - Mollem route on Saturday (2nd Apr). Bangaloreans leaving for Ugadi meant we encountered relatively heavy traffic (started at 6 am) till Tumkur but after that, the traffic was the usual Blr-Pune highway (M&HCVs with cars darting in and out). Overall had a very pleasant drive, took 10 hours to reach Cavelossim with ~ 1.5 hours of breaks.

Summary of road conditions :

1. Blr - Hubli : Smooth tarmac till Hubli (2 diversions on the way), the Chitradurga bypass especially is a breeze to drive (I suspect it cuts down journey time by 15-20 mins atleast)

2. Hubli - Alnavar - Anmod - Mollem : Apart from the railway crossing (3 if i recall) + some sections in between, the road is complete (~ 95% of the route). The edges are slabs hence sharp so need to be careful especially on the narrower parts in the ghat section.

Special Note : Look out for the nasty dip after the Castlerock railway crossing (if coming from KA), comes up about 5-7 min after the railway crossing. If coming from Goa, the dip comes about 4-5 mins after crossing Anmod village. As a good practice, best to cover this stretch at a cautious pace till you cross the dip.

Roads from Goa checkpost onwards are asphalt and super smooth. I did not encounter any speed guns. No RTPCR/Vaccine checks on the border as well



Will be taking the same route back.

[MCR]

I have a trip to Varca, Goa coming up. I have planed a stay over at Dandeli so that the entire trip is not tiring for the kids.

I have checked this thread and understood that the below route is the most optimum:

Bangalore - Dharwad - Haliyal - Dandeli (Overnight Stay) - Ganesh gudi - Castle Rock - Mollem- Varca.

The return would be non-stop and we would like to take the same route back to Bangalore.
Hope the route is good. Suggestions welcome.

[MorePower]

Drove the Bangalore - Dharwad - Ramnagar - Mollem - Panaji - Candolim route and back last week.

Left JP Nagar at 5 am, reached Apoorva resorts for breakfast at 8.30 am. Excellent Benne Doses here. The beautiful Chitradurga bypass has cut down at least 15 minutes of drive time in this stretch. Up until Hubli, the drive is a breeze on the 6-laned highway. Once you get off the Bangalore - Pune highway at Dharwad and join NH 67 to Ramnagar, the road condition varies, from no road in a 500m stretch close to the first railway crossing to patchy tarred surface to beautiful 2 lane highway. Reached Candolim by 3.15 pm.

Watch out for the sharp edges of the concrete roads on this stretch, especially on the curves in Anmod ghat. No RT-PCR or document checks at the Goa border. No speed checks anywhere in Goa during my drive.

During the return journey, the infamous dip in the road, pointed out in the previous posts, almost caught me my surprise. Managed to brake just in time to avoid a nasty impact. This appears 5-7 minutes after the excise check post for alcohol on the Karnataka side. Go slow since it appears after a curve and will catch you by surprise.

[niks4568]

I am planning a trip to Goa with family (including a 2 year old kid) in the first week of June. I have never been there in monsoon so I need a few inputs before I plan:

1) How is the road condition of the ghats when it rains?
2) When is the typical onset of Monsoon in goa? Does it rain bad enough to spoil a trip early June?
3) Considering if it rains, is it better to stay beach-side or inlands?
4) Are the shacks open in June? I heard and read few threads where it was mentioned they close by May end.
5) I personally like South Goa. But considering it might be off season (is it?), is it worth considering Calangute, Candolim, etc?

[electro-monk]

News from 5 days back:

Excerpt from https://www.newindianexpress.com/sta...r-2443011.html:
Over 40 taxis were held up at the Mollem checkpost in Goa since Thursday, M Ravi, vicepresident, Karnataka Tourism Forum, told The New Sunday Express on Saturday. Normally, the special permit costs Rs 100 or Rs 200 and it is paid at the RTO office at Shanthinagar in Bengaluru and other RTOs in other parts of the state. Many taxi drivers had gone to the Goa border, thinking that they could get the permits at the checkpost as the service was available till recently. But it has been stopped since April 1, he said.


This steep penalty is applicable only for Taxis/buses who didn't take the permit it seems.

Those who are hiring taxis to enter Goa should beware.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by niks4568

2) When is the typical onset of Monsoon in goa? Does it rain bad enough to spoil a trip early June?

Past 2 years what I've seen is that there will be some rain end-May and early June, but not the 'rain-everyday-all-day' kind of monsoon. That usually kicks in mid-June. But it will be as hot as heck and humid!

Shacks- Usually they start dismantling shacks by end-May. Some may extend for a week or so, but by mid-June, the beach shack scene is desolate. But there are usually permanent resorts just behind the shack zone on almost every popular beach and those will be open. During the full monsoon, the sea itself will be too rough to swim in and high tides will be higher during the monsoon, bringing in all sorts of garbage on the beach. But again, early June should be ok.

[Aviator_guy]

Came across this news about entry permit issue. Is it also applicable for pvt cars or only for taxi? Rental cars like zoom car would also need this permit?

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Unaware tourists who were looking to enter Goa from Karnataka were fined about Rs.10,000 as they had to get a special permit to cross into Goan territory.
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