[traveller_riz]

Hello @daredaemon,

Extremely sorry to hear about your loss. Please accept my condolense.

If you are in a hurry, I suggest to take a flight to either Goa or Managalore and then bus from there. Fight tickets are very cheap these days, just check it out on sky scanner.

Thanks,
Syed

[paragsachania]

On last Sunday, we took Anuskura Ghat when driving to Bangalore from Ganapatipule. We had always planned to take Anuskura and glad that we did.

The conditions of road in the entire ghat section was excellent and spotless. Soon after descending the ghats, we were in for a surprise as the right turn that would take us to Kolhapur via Karanjfen Koparde was blocked.

With no other option for us, we turned left here and started to drive towards Malkapur and join the Amba-Panhala road to reach Kolhapur and it turned out to be a superb decision again. This stretch connecting the base of Anuskura to Malkapur was also in extremely good condition and spotless. It was only after we joined Amba route at Malkapur, we faced regular traffic and some patchy roads but otherwise, nothing to complain about this route at all.

For anyone driving down from Pune/Mumbai, Karad-Malkapur-Anuskura route would make great sense for now. Also, the NH66 where Anuskura Ghat meets is all good towards Sawantwadi since the WIP section is more around Hathkhamba section towards Ratnagiri and less towards Goa.

[vinit.merchant]

Did a same day Pune-Kolhapur-Pune on 27th.

Apart from the Malkapur jam, the NH in general is in extremely bad shape.
I was able to easily spot the HUGE potholes on the fast lane during day time, but unfortunately, during my return leg it was already dark. Add to that the rains, due to which I couldn't spot any of the potholes. Car hit a couple of real bad patches at speed of 70-80.
These pop up all of a sudden, right in the middle of a smooth path and take you by surprise.

All those who want to do this path, my suggestion is to avoid doing this in the dark.

For some reason the Maharashtra NHs, especially this stretch, are under construction perpetually.

[traveller_riz]

Plus 1 to vinit.merchant.

I just completed Mumbai to Satara drive and the roads are exactly as decribed by Vinit. The roads are drivable during the day but one has to be very careful due to stray pot holes which appear suddenly and become unavoidable

Definately not advisable to drive is the nights / heavy rains.

[traveller_riz]

Hello Friends,

I just completed the drive from Satara (Fern Residency) to Goa (Ibis Calangute). I took karad-kokrud-malkapur-amba-oni-rajapur-calangute route. Took a total of 8 hours with a 30 mins lunch break (so total drive time was 7.5 hours). Here is my experience :-

- Satara to karad
Almost 90 percent of this stretch is very good. Last 10%, specially when I reached karad and before taking the turn to SH 144, the road was a mess. Would have easily added 20-30 mins to my overall time
-karad to kokrud/malkapur
Excellent roads, and very picturesque too. Love driving on this road. SH 144 is a breeze to drive
-Malkapur-amba
SH 166 is in bad bad shape. There might be atleast 10-15 sections which have big pot holes. This would added atleast an hour more to my drive. SH 166 becomes quite good between Amba ghar section, otherwise it is real bad.
-Amba-Oni-Rajapur
SH 175 is again a breeze to drive. All the way till it joins NH 66

And then NH 66 was mostly good, only a very few bad sections. Quite strangely, I found 3-4 very high speed breaker on the high, one of which i badly missed. I hope my car shockers remain intact.

Nice drive all in all. Planning to try Anuskura route while going back to Mumbai. Will share my experience, till then !

[vivek95]

I too drove from Mumbai to Belgaum recently on 27th July and here are my observations on road conditions in these monsoons. Being a regular on this route, I quickly pick up the differences. Started at 4:30pm from Chembur, Mumbai and drove in the dark after Pune till Karad. Halted for the night at Karad at friend's place and continued to Belgaum next day morning.

1. Mumbai--Pune Expressway :- 21 years now for this awesome piece of a road, consider the brunt it has faced in the form of heavy rains and heavy traffic for two decades, the expressway remains in very good condition. Surface is very smooth all throughout. Hotel "Udupi 2 Mumbai" is my regular stop on Expressway foodmalls ever since they opened up since 2 years ( I have tried all of their outlets in and around Mumbai. There are 3 on Mumbai--Pune Expressway itself, 2 on Mumbai--Nasik NH3 )

2. Pune city bypass :- -Good roads, but it took full 2 hours to cross the 36 kms stretch because of evening bumper to bumper traffic and some construction work near Warje bridge.

3. Pune--Satara :- To be honest, the surface is over 90% very good. Undulations exist but the ride is decent and fast. Lighting on the flyovers is working at most places. Here are there, some odd potholes are scattered in all the lanes but at only 2 stretches - one between Kapurhol and Shirwal and then over the last 6-7 kms nearing Satara. These potholes aren't that deep too, like the dangerous ones that are occasionally seen on the brand new Hubli--Davangere 6 lane road ( I am driving Belgaum--Bangalore with a pit stop at Davangere currently ). Khambatki ghat top to bottom is excellent. Surely Pune--Satara is best avoided for night for occasional travellers, but most regulars like me, @paragsachania @comfortablynumb and many others will find it easy during night too because we have seen the worst days of Pune--Satara, so the present version seems 100 times better and fast.

4. Satara--Karad--Kolhapur -- excellent 4 lane road except for the diversions. The jam at Karad city diversion ( Malkapur) is very time consuming but other diversions were better.

5. Kolhapur--Belgaum :- Many diversions due to 6 laning work that slows down traffic, these diversions have good surface though. Bumpy ride between Nipani and Hattargi continues. All the other untouched segments have very good roads.

Overall, added 2 hours to my usual timings. Was caught up in bad jam at Pune city bypass, Karad and Vantamuri ghat near Belgaum.

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

the NH in general is in extremely bad shape.

For some reason the Maharashtra NHs, especially this stretch, are under construction perpetually.

Just today morning I noticed a bubble on the front tyre of my car, thanks to those superb & well maintained pot holes !
Now I will need to check all the tyres of the car for bubbles and replace them.

The trip proved to be costly.

[traveller_riz]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

On last Sunday, we took Anuskura Ghat when driving to Bangalore from Ganapatipule. We had always planned to take Anuskura and glad that we did.

The conditions of road in the entire ghat section was excellent and spotless. Soon after descending the ghats, we were in for a surprise as the right turn that would take us to Kolhapur via Karanjfen Koparde was blocked.

With no other option for us, we turned left here and started to drive towards Malkapur and join the Amba-Panhala road to reach Kolhapur and it turned out to be a superb decision again. This stretch connecting the base of Anuskura to Malkapur was also in extremely good condition and spotless. It was only after we joined Amba route at Malkapur, we faced regular traffic and some patchy roads but otherwise, nothing to complain about this route at all.

For anyone driving down from Pune/Mumbai, Karad-Malkapur-Anuskura route would make great sense for now. Also, the NH66 where Anuskura Ghat meets is all good towards Sawantwadi since the WIP section is more around Hathkhamba section towards Ratnagiri and less towards Goa.

Hi Parag,

Where exactly did you connect from NH 66 towards Anuskura ? I connected at Kharepatan y'day and the roads were nightmere till the base of Anuskura. It became excellent as you mentioned as soon as I entered Anuskura all the way upto Malkapur.

Sad to hear that Vinit. I came back to Mumbai via the same road last evening. I have the exact same experience. Still gathering courage to check my tyres.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by traveller_riz

Where exactly did you connect from NH 66 towards Anuskura ?

We exited NH66 from Pachal Kolhapur Phata here.

I connected at Kharepatan y'day and the roads were nightmere till the base of Anuskura. It became excellent as you mentioned as soon as I entered Anuskura all the way upto Malkapur.

I believe you ended up taking this one because you were driving from Goa side (South) and maps took you off from NH66 much earlier. In fact you can notice below the difference between the route you took (and what we took).



You will realise, there is only a difference of 15 km but the route via NH66 and Pachal Phata is only 5-6 mins extra!

[traveller_riz]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

We exited NH66 from Pachal Kolhapur Phata here.

I believe you ended up taking this one because you were driving from Goa side (South) and maps took you off from NH66 much earlier. In fact you can notice below the difference between the route you took (and what we took).

Attachment 2485043

You will realise, there is only a difference of 15 km but the route via NH66 and Pachal Phata is only 5-6 mins extra!

That is true. Thanks Paras for the insight. I have saved the route for the next time. Have a wonderful day ahead

[apk96031]

Hello All,

I am planning a drive from Mumbai to Goa - Thursday (10th) - planning to start in the afternoon and stay over at Fern Residency Karad and then head to Goa - Mapusa - friday morning from Karad. as per the recent posts in the forum, I am planning to take the route from Karad to Goa via the Anuskura Ghat - instead of going to the Kolhapur - Amboli Ghat route.

I am still a bit confused about the route to take - As per gmaps - this is showing
Karad - Malkapur - Anuskura - Paratwali - Kharepatan - Kankavli - Kudal - Banda - Mapusa

Is this a convenient route with decent roads? Any recent suggestions welcome.

Thanks
AP

[traveller_riz]

Hello AP,

I would suggest you take the below route

https://goo.gl/maps/aXJ4kZND4ZzzRtiZ7

it is basically - Mumbai -> TheFern, Satara -> Malkapur->Pachal Kolhapur Phata-Panjim.

Strickly avoid kharepatan in your route as mentioned by you above. I was stuck on that route for about 2 hrs y'day with bad roads.

Have a safe trip

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by apk96031

I am still a bit confused about the route to take - As per gmaps - this is showing
Karad - Malkapur - Anuskura - Paratwali - Kharepatan - Kankavli - Kudal - Banda - Mapusa
AP

This should be your route:

Karad - Malkapur - Anuskura - Pachal Kolhapur Phata - Kankavli - Kudal - Banda - Mapusa

[naadopaasaka]

Planning to drive to Belagavi from Bengaluru soon and do some sightseeing with Belagavi as the hub and fun driving as the intent. We will be in an F30, so low ground clearance. We intend to go to Tambdi Surla from Belagavi.

The standard route would have been Belagavi - Desur - Halakarni - Khanapur - Honakal - Shiroli - Rangarook - Akheti - Dudhsagar temple - Mollem - Tambdisurla.

But the Chorla Ghat route seems the more engaging drive. That would be Belagavi - Jamboti - Kankumbi - Chorla ghat - Gonteli - Arvalem - Pissurlem - Padeli - Dhamshem - Cotorem - Tambdisurla.

(1) Is that route doable in this car?
(2) Assuming nothing goes wrong with the weather all of a sudden, will the road conditions be okay in the next couple of weeks?
(3) Any alternative routes?
(4) Any other sites to be seen en route?

Thanks in advance. Will post about the drive on this thread once done.

[HalfOctave]

Thanks traveller_riz, paragsachania for the recent travel inputs. All these inputs are so valuable for folks like me who are planning to travel soon. With monsoon and road conditions always being in a questionable state, all these posts help a lot.

I am planning to take the route mentioned here on 9th Aug for my travel from Pune to Candolim. Appreciate if someone can guide if this is the preferred route.
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/fPX8xNucJGb44TPk6

I'll post my experience once I reach back Pune.