[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by DheerajNK

We have an Octavia joining us now & we have 3 kids below 5 in the group So just to be on the safer side, we have decided to take the Karwar route, that too with a stop over in Haveri. I will post my updates once we reach Goa.

Thanks,
Dheeraj

Even I am keeping my options open(subject to rains just before the weekend etc) . I have done the same route via anmod last august and had to literally get down from my car 2-3 times to assess how to tackle the bad roads. Heavy rains mask the potholes and make it difficult to navigate. At least for my route, south Goa will easily add 45 min extra

[DheerajNK]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

At least for my route, south Goa will easily add 45 min extra

Yes, I have always travelled through Anmod or Chorla for all my North Goa trips and last year was the first time I took the Karwar route to travel to North Goa. Only thing is you get slowed by the local traffic in this route while you travel from South to North depending on what time of the day you are travelling. Since we are staying in Colva this time, Karwar route is an easy choice to make (keeping aside the urge to show off my newly acquired power of not needing to worry about the ground clearance )

[chorispao]

The status of the Chorla side is not too good too. Link below to an article by The Goan. The picture of the potholes says it all!

https://www.thegoan.net/goa-news/mot...la/102390.html

[Nightmare]

Originally Posted by chorispao

The status of the Chorla side is not too good too. Link below to an article by The Goan. The picture of the potholes says it all!

https://www.thegoan.net/goa-news/mot...la/102390.html

The Chorla side road was not recommended in HighRevving's original post also.

From his post: "Multiple craters are sometimes next to each other and it is impossible to navigate the car without dropping it in some scarily big ones"

He recommends Amboli route.

If someone can provide a comparison between Karwar route and Belagavi-Amboli route then that will be great.

Otherwise last option is anyways Karwar route for North Goa also.

But Google Maps show the Amboli route to be 800 kms which is approx. 150 more than the Karwar route :(

[paragsachania]

Given the deteriorated conditions of Anmod & Chorla, I had recommended Karwar option even for North Goan destinations few months ago when I had posted this update:

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Bangalore - Varca - Bangalore Updates - April 2023

• With Zuari Bridge opened and the super long elevated section completed, driving from south Goa to North is cakewalk except little traffic you may face around Madgaon (we did Varca to Panaji in less than 50 minutes)

Trust me, driving from South to North even via Karwar route is no longer as painful as it used be when road expansion work was going on. Today it is a much peaceful affair because Zuari Bridge is open and so is Atal Setu.

Originally Posted by Nightmare

But Google Maps show the Amboli route to be 800 kms which is approx. 150 more than the Karwar route :(

If you are driving from Bangalore, you are thinking too much. Just stick to Karwar route for your destination. Driving via Amboli only because your destination is North Goa is not worth the extra km.

[KageSama]

Hey Guys,

I'm also going to Goa this long weekend (12th to 15th).
I'll be in a silver XUV700. I'll keep an eye out for you guys on the road!

BLR TO GOA

Based on what everyone is saying, BLR>Hubli>Yellapur>Ankola>Karwar seems to be the best way even though it adds a little extra time (about 30-40min as per the map, but I've previously done this and the net difference is about 15 min like someone mentioned but definitely worth it given the state of the interior roads).

Plan is to break at Apoorva for breakfast around 9:30-10 and then straight to Karwar.

GOA TO BLR

For my route back, I am really tempted to take Anmod ghat. The route is absolutely gorgeous! Definitely beats the Karwar route (for the view and if you love driving through the clouds, definitely not for the roads).

Originally Posted by pypkmsrikanth

Had made a trip by KSRTC Bus between Hubli & Ponda a couple of weeks back. This was just after the last spell of heavy rains over the Ghats. The route was via Dharwad, Alnawar, Ramnagar, Anmod Ghats. While overall the stretch is mostly good the stretch is bad a little after Ramnagar (just after the Londa - Castle Rock railway line crossing) and just before Anmod. As @chorispao points out it took me roughly 30 minutes in the bus to cross the bad stretch. Except for one or two places which could be tricky for Low GC cars it is not very bad though at times of heavy rains one needs to be extra careful.
In this video of mine you can see from 11:52 the bad section

https://Youtu.be/C2ONGuw-GOk

OP, thanks a lot for this video! Very thoughtful to put the full thing rather than just the snippet. Gives a much better idea about the full route.

I had done this stretch in November last year. The same stretch seems to be of concern. Water filling up does seem to be a problem as it reduces visibility. But if you have company (some truck or lorry), it becomes easier to judge if they are ahead. Also the connecting road to the highway is also bad on this route. I'll be starting from Panjim after lunch on 15th.

I'll keep an eye here. Unless something major comes up, I may take this route and spend some time along the way to take in the view.

rajshenoy, Shenoy maam, kuldevak ve?

[sou_3749]

I have taken the Anmod route today morning. The route is in good condition apart from 5-10km of bad roads, but not that bad. If you are in a sedan, then keep the speeds a little slower for those patches and you will be ok.

For information, I was travelling in Carens. So, these road conditions were handled with ease. However 10km of bad roads out of 180km from Dharwad to Candolim is not a bad deal which took me a little less than 4 hours. If you are travelling to north goa then, the karwar route doesn’t make sense.

[Nightmare]

I took the Karwar route yesterday for Bangalore to Calangute and it took me total 13 hours.

I started at 5:30 am and reached hotel at 6:30 with 2 breaks of 45 and 60 mins each.

The road between Hubbali and Karwar is not great and one can manage average of 70 kmph. The ghat section has too many potholes and it takes a toll on you.

While returning i will try Anmod route.

Karwar route is not a breeze as has been mentioned in some posts.

[ashis89]

Took the Bangalore - Hubbali - Karwar - Palolem route earlier today. Started around 3:40am and reached the destination by 1PM. Breakfast break at Ganesh Hotel (thanks to Parag for the suggestion) before Hubbali which I reached by 8:30. Took a couple of coffee breaks too.

Roads till Hubbali are excellent except for a couple of small stretches after Haveri which are slightly broken. Hubbali to Kalaghatgi is good. Kalaghatgi to Ankola has several broken patches and occasional but big potholes that one needs to be careful about. Overall this route is in a far better shape than it was exactly a year ago.

[KageSama]

A quick update:

Hubali to Yellapur stretch is alright, the Yellapur to Ankola stretch is filled with potholes in the middle of the road like Ashis89 and Nightmare mentioned.

While coming back from Goa, I took the Anmod Ghat route, apart from the same patch that had issues earlier (and pointed out in the video above), the road is really good. Would definitely recommend this route.

[Nightmare]

Originally Posted by KageSama

A quick update:

Hubali to Yellapur stretch is alright, the Yellapur to Ankola stretch is filled with potholes in the middle of the road like Ashis89 and Nightmare mentioned.

While coming back from Goa, I took the Anmod Ghat route, apart from the same patch that had issues earlier (and pointed out in the video above), the road is really good. Would definitely recommend this route.

Took the Anmod Ghat route yesterday.

Apart from the bad patch, this route is much better than the Karwar route.

Took 3 breaks and got stuck in 2 traffic jams before bangalore and still managed to take 45 mins less than the Karwar route.

Also, It has much less trucks on it. Karwar route between Hubbali and Ankola had too many trucks plus road is filled with potholes.

The bad stretch hardly lasts for 20 mins and that too not continuously. Saw Sonet, Ertiga, Carens, Duster, Fortuner, Venue, Creta and many more cross it easily.

Sedans and low GC cars can although have some trouble but not Impossible.

Would recommend this route over Karwar any day if you are going to North Goa.

Also its more scenic.

NOTE: It had rained well till Anmod while returning but luckily not on the Anmod section. The rain on good goa roads made the drive more fun.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by ashis89

Took the Bangalore - Hubbali - Karwar - Palolem route earlier today.

Retraced the route yesterday, starting from Palolem at 9am and reaching home at 9:30pm. Drive time of 10 hrs 11 mins for the 618 kms. One lunch break at Aishwarya Recidency before reaching Hubbali and a couple of tea breaks along the route. Also includes a couple of congestions on the roads, one at the flyover diversion at Chitradurga and the other before Dobbaspet.


On the return leg, I saw a Crysta with a busted front alloy near Yellapur, right after a deep sharp pothole. One has to be extra careful to avoid them. I had stopped at the ghat area between Yellapur and Ankola. I clicked some pics where the potholes can be seen.


The guy seen in the pic was picking up metal pieces which might have fallen off vehicles due to the state of the road

[DheerajNK]

Route update Bangalore - Goa - Bangalore:

Travelled on 12th Aug to Goa and returned back on 15th Aug. Took the Bangalore - Haveri - Hubli Bypass - Kalghataki - Yellapur - Karwar - Canacona - Utorda route and came back in the same route.

The road condition is good till Hubli bypass. First few kms from the bypass, the roads are 4 laned. After that for few kms, few deviations are present due to the ongoing 4 lane work. The Kalghataki - Yellapur - Karwar stretch is a mix of good and rough roads. When I say rough, it has worn out rough tarmach stretches and some sudden potholes. But overall in decent shape. No need to worry if driving in a high GC vehicle and need to be a little careful if you drive a low GC vehicle.

We took 2 cars, Scorpio N and Octavia. Even the Octavia didn’t have any bottom scraping instances but had to be careful at few of deep pothole filled stretches. After Karwar nice roads till Margao and Utorda.

The above route doesn’t come as an option in google maps, we need to manually select this. Thanks to Parag for recommending this route. I had travelled through Haveri - Mundgod - Yellapur last year and felt it didn’t save a lot of time. So opted for this route this year.

Took a left after Tumkur and entered Yelahanka through the inner roads for Hesaraghatta and avoided all the traffic after Nelamangala as it was long weekend traffic.

Thanks,
Dheeraj

[ankan.m.blr]

Bangalore - Goa route update

Date : 12 aug 2023 / 15 Aug 2023

Route Taken :
Onward journey : Bangalore - Dharwad - Khanapur - Rangrook - Mollem
Return journey : Mollem - Rangrook - Tinai - Ramnagar -Dharwad - Bangalore

Status : Bangalore - Dharwad - MK Hobli usual NH 48 ; MK Hobli - Khanapur has sporadic bad sections (marked in red); Khanapur - Hemmadaga has sporadic bad sections (marked in red). These sections are all small and not difficult and can be done in any car ; Hemmadaga - Rangrook has gravel on top of old road surface (marked in yellow), no potholes . From Rangrook to Mollem good roads.

Return journey : Mollem - Anmod ghat - Rangrook - took the Tinai ghat diversion (marked in blue). Super road through dense forest. Lots of twists and turns. Very narrow and completely deserted. Barely space for 2 hatchbacks to pass. Not recommended to drive on this road after sunset. Tinai ghat - Ramnagar - Dharward is good.

[Rony2207]

Bangalore - Goa route query

We are planning our road trip from Bangalore to Goa (North) on 25th Aug. Given multiple posts on the routes, and I am confused about which way is with the least potholes. Usually, we take Dharwad - Alnavar - Ramnagar - Mollem route for North or South Goa visits.

My questions:

1. Which route will be good at this time of the year (we have Nexon)
   
2. I heard some rumor about charging some tax at the Goa border for people coming from Bangalore - I didn't faced any such thing last year June, did some new rule go into effect?

Kindly forgive any redundancy in these inquiries.