[Amarjeetphukan]

Hi All

Planning to do a solo drive from Mumbai to Delhi around 24th of August. I am inclined to travel via Nashik - Indor - Noida. Let me know what you guys think and if there is an alternate route.
Also what places to stay do you guys recommend.
FYI - I plan to drive 6am - 6 pm.
Thanks

[blitzkrieg]

I recently did the drive. I took Bombay - Nasik - Ratlam - Kota - Gurgaon. Stayed the night in Ratlam (I found a hotel just off the highway so didn't have to go into the city).

Here's a link to the drive from Ratlam to Gurgaon

https://youtu.be/g_CUsq1mPW0

[tanwaramit]

Originally Posted by blitzkrieg

I recently did the drive. I took Bombay - Nasik - Ratlam - Kota - Gurgaon. Stayed the night in Ratlam (I found a hotel just off the highway so didn't have to go into the city).

Here's a link to the drive from Ratlam to Gurgaon

Thats an 8 hr long video, wow.

What's the dashcam and how did you manage to superimpose the google maps video with car moving along path on the video ? Did you also upload Mumbai to Ratlam section?

Will be traveling from Delhi to Mumbai in November, need to understand the suggested roads and the Delhi Mumbai expressway. Anyone having latest update, kindly do share.

[Archisman]

Planning on Vadodara-Dehradun road trip with the wife and two kids. Planning to take night halts at Kota and Delhi.
Need suggestions for good moderately priced hotels (~Rs 3000 ish) at Kota and good places to see at Kota in the evening.
Are there decent resting places on NE4 between Kota and Delhi?

[PGNarain]

I am planning a trip from Navi Mumbai to Haridwar and back to Mumbai during the upcoming Christmas and New Year Week. Have read several option here and planning to take the Mumbai > Nashik > Indore > Guna > Agra > YE > Delhi EPE > Meerut > Haridwar Route.

Anyone who has done this route recently and any inputs are welcome.

Originally Posted by rd_maverick

...
I took the Mumbai-Nashik-Indore-Agra-Dehradun route last year and i think that will be my route of choice when i make this trip again in July....

Did you (or anyone you know) make this trip and would love to hear your experience.

[Rahkehs]

Mumbai > Nashik > Indore > Guna > Agra > YE > Delhi EPE > Meerut > Haridwar Route.

Anyone who has done this route recently and any inputs are welcome.

I did Pune-> Dehradun in January 24 and took Nashik-> Dhule-> Left turn at Manpur towards Ratlam-> DME-> EPE->Meerut->HW->Dehradun.
Night Halt was in Ratlam. This route will take lesser time.

[abhinavsri01]

Originally Posted by PGNarain

I am planning a trip from Navi Mumbai to Haridwar and back to Mumbai during the upcoming Christmas and New Year Week. Have read several option here and planning to take the Mumbai > Nashik > Indore > Guna > Agra > YE > Delhi EPE > Meerut > Haridwar Route.

Anyone who has done this route recently and any inputs are welcome.

Mumbai - Nashik route is under construction & may take up a lot of time. Couple of months back it took me 4 hrs to reach my place in Powai from Nashik.
From Nashik to Agra, you get good 4 laned highway for most of the stretch. It passes through a lot of populated areas, so you can expect average speed of not more than 70kmph (in my opinion). When I travelled last year, I found a lot of stray animals in the MP stretch.
From Agra (YE) - Noida - EPE - Delhi Meerut expressway - Meerut is a great road to drive & you can do 120kph with ease. But since you'll be traveling in December, be prepared to get foggy conditions & drive with caution. YE is infamous for crashes during foggy conditions. The visibility literally drops to Zero.
Meerut - Haridwar is again good 4 laned road for most part.

Have a safe trip.

[Archisman]

Just back from a Vadodara-Kota-Gurgaon-Dehradun round trip taken over the lst two weeks. Some views of the roads
1. Vadodara to Thandla is through a mix of SH and NH through some town and bypasses. road conditions are ok but slightly congested because of heavy vehicles and bad rash driving lighter vehicles. In general most drivers in Gujarat feel that they are driving a cycle even though they are driving a Creta Baleno or a Thar (Some offence intended)
2. Thandla to Chehchat via NE4 is pure bliss. Just put your car on cruise control and forget it. If you pass more than 20 cars, you are lucky. No wayside amenities open except the occasional food court. Don't count on them for refreshments. Toilets are good but carry your food and water.
3. Thandla to Kota is through SH and NH. Again congested and dusty. Watch out for traffic in Dara pass.
4. Kota to Sawai Madhopur is also similar. Slightly better drivers
5. Sawai Madhopur to Gurgaon on NE4 is again bliss. Traffic is more after Dausa. Wayside amenities are good with major fast food joints operating at most wayside rest areas.
6. Gurgaon to Dehradun via EPE, Meerut Expressway and NH is good. Better road but horrible congestion in most cities. Bypasses are crowded especially Meerut and Muzzafarnagar. Bad traffic management in places. Dehradun Delhi Expressway will be a game changer once it opens.

Vadodara to Gurgaon driving time is around 11 hours now. This will come down substantially once the NE4 open fully. Easily drivable if there are two drivers. One driver can do it but will be tough if rest not taken well.

Kota has good hotels and is a underrated tourist spot

[tanwaramit]

From what I have been hearing, Mumbai to Bharuch roads are bad and under construction. Mumbai to Nashik also roads are bad.

Mumbai is a critical city to have good good connectivity, such pathetic roads are quite disappointing. Both the access roads from Delhi are in poor condition for several hundreds of kms.

Don't think there is any other route to reach Mumbai via Delhi except these two. If there's any better route, then kindly share.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by tanwaramit

Don't think there is any other route to reach Mumbai via Delhi except these two..

In the medium term, the final section of Samruddhi Mahamarg to Amane will be open. The ramps are done, but tentative inauguration does not happen before holiday season.

Once open, one can do Sinnar-Nasik-Dhule.

[VT-RNS]

Hi Folks,

It has been a while since I have been active on T-BHP (apologies), primarily because driving has reduced and work has picked up.

But, I did a long drive after almost 2/3 years so here we go with the update.

I will make two posts as the route taken to Mumbai-Delhi differed for 80% of the route in both directions.

Post 2 will cover Delhi NCR to Mumbai, while in this post, will cover Mumbai to Delhi NCR. Here we go!

Mumbai to Delhi NCR (Vaishali at the Ghaziabad/Delhi border)
Overview: Mumbai - Ahmedabad - Udapipur - Nathdwara - Kota - Delhi NCR
We did this over 3 days, with the detour to Kota and stay there for family reasons. You can easily do it over 2 days (like we did in the return).

Day 1: Sunday, 3 Nov 2024

We left home in the western suburbs of Mumbai at 5.10 am

Took us 3 hours to reach Valsad and take our first stop. This is at least 30 mins to 40 mins longer than usual. The stretch, though improved from the recent mayhem, has pathetic road quality. And it’s yet to finish!

The whole ‘concretization of the road’ idea is absolutely mindless and devoid of logic. Perfectly good roads are hammered & enough spoken on the forum as well.

Even the NH in GJ isn’t great! NHAI needs to pull up its socks. For the toll charged, the roads are in poor condition in Vapi-Valsad-Surat stretch too, though not as bad as what we see in MH. Traffic is rising rapidly!

If you, like me, think DME will solve the issue, read on!

We decided to try out the relatively new section of the Delhi Mumbai Expressway NE4 thats opened up from Bharuch to Baroda and onwards to Ahmedabad via NE1

It meant crossing Bharuch city, which today, being a Sunday, was empty due to holiday & morning timing. Else, I believe it would be super tricky in rush hours.

First impressions of NE4—wide roads! That’s a relief.

Mainly cars for now. Less traffic. Dad picks up the drive so he can actually enjoy driving. Soon enough, the real ride quality is visible. Patches. Bumpy rides. The second half of the Bharuch to Surat section was especially pathetic. Dad, wisely, kept the speed around 90 kmph only.

Once on NE1, big kudos to the agency running the Baroda-Ahmedabad Expressway. Incredible ride quality! What a pleasure after driving 5-6 hours on bad roads.
Yes, traffic is super busy & vehicles zig zag a lot. I am sure am echoing many others when I say, that NE1 needs an extra lane ASAP!

We reach Ahmedabad quickly, and after an excellent Kathiyawadi lunch in Ahmedabad, we were back on NH48 towards Udaipur.
Initially concrete, it later gets a beautiful black top that is butter smooth & with less traffic; we feel nostalgic when all roads in GJ were great!

Overall, the drive to Udaipur is great. Road is wide, good quality and less traffic. It was my first time on the new Udaipur bypass such that we didnt even have to enter Udaipur. Meant some extra toll, but good roads.

We finished Day 1 at Nathdwara, just ahead of Udaipur. Place was jam packed due it being Bhai Dauj.

Day 2: Monday, 4 Nov 2024

It’s a short drive (260 kms) to Kota today, as we plan to meet up a family friend. Not our usual routing to Delhi, but that’s the fun when you have a car
Route was Nathdwara - Bhilwara - Kota. Expected it to be light traffic on road, but it was fairly busy!

NH758, that takes a horizontal branch from NH58 at Rajsamand is an excellent 4 lane highway till Bhilwara. Bhilwara bypass route taken by GMaps is short but messy. The city has money, what houses!
Good lunch at Pooja Resort just after crossing Bhilwara and some fresh Water chestnuts from the farms in one the lake side villages. Do stop & enjoy it!

NH758 then merges with NH27, an epic East-West highway, possibly the longest in EW direction & connecting two extremes of India. Concrete in parts, tar in some. Solid highway along stone mining areas that took us to the coaching capital of India— Kota.
Good roads, and sparse traffic. Highways in RJ are great!


Day 3: Tuesday, 5 Nov 2024

Left Kota at 8 am, after being packed a good breakfast by family friends. Instead of driving directly towards NE4, we are advised to take the NH towards Jaipur & take the Lalsot turn to join the NE4 there. This is coz our uncle says the road is 4 lane and good quality (which is true!), while the other link is 2 lane and stressful driving through villages & towns. (PS: on our return trip, we didn't do this and actually took the other link from NE4 to Kota, so read on to know how that compares!.

Once we join the NE4 at Lalsot, Dad takes over & enjoys the expressway drive. After crossing Dausa, the traffic picks up (Jaipur effect). Amenities are more visible now. 100 kmph speeds sustained. We see bumpy sections are being redone (work going on in patches). You make quick time here to reach the peripheral expressway junction!

Since we have to reach Vaishali at Delhi/UP border near Akshardham, we are advised by GMaps to take 148NA tolled highway from the peripheral highway junction. Smooth & no traffic till you hit the crazy roads of NH44 just before Faridabad.

Welcome to NCR and madness! Lol!

From here on, it is a slow crawl despite it being afternoon just after Diwail, and we make way till Sarai Kale Khan --> A royally screwed up junction as many lanes become few, and folks drive like its drifting time!
After the junction madness, we take the flyover and the small drive on Dehradun highway and we reach Vaishali in 8 hours from Kota.

To wrap up the Mumbai to Delhi NCR leg:
All in all, we took a different route to go from Mumbai to Delhi this time around. My slowest and easiest drive thus far, covering over 3 days. But that's how my dad & parents liked, and we were not in a rush. The Mumbai to Baroda/Ahmedabad stretch remains challenging, especially the MH leg! Can't wait for the DME to open and hopefully ease the process a bit.

Now, let's go to the next post to cover the return journey back to Mumbai. Let's see how it goes!

PS: In case you want to see some photos & videos of the roads/journey, I posted them on

Twitter. I am not a content creator, and in no way am I trying to promote my account. Its purely for the videos/photos.

[VT-RNS]

This post documents the Delhi NCR to Mumbai return leg of the journey.

Overview: Delhi NCR - NE4 (Sawai Madhopur) - Kota - NE4 (Ratlam) - Dhar - via Agra-Mumbai NH - Dhule - Nasik - Thane - Powai - Mumbai Western Suburbs

Day 1: Saturday, 16 Nov 2024
Started at 9.30 am, after packing up the house in Vaishali area on Delhi/UP border at Ghaziabad.
For the last couple of days, smog was building up in the morning & temp had dipped. So the late start was also to avoid this early morning smog & low visibility.
It being Saturday meant less traffic, and we hit the expansive Delhi-Dehradun expy. Moving traffic all along.
Note: as you join this expy, there is MCD booth to charge commercial vehicles some Delhi Govt Tax.
Even on Saturday, it creates traffic jam and dangerous driving by all motorists. Absolutely pathetic scenes. Loss in oil is way more for sure! As usual, inefficiency in gov ops come forth!

Anyways, once you cross Yamuna River, it being Saturday meant less traffic, so we crossed Sarai Kale Khan fairly quickly & reached Ashram signal. We then take left to join the road that becomes Delhi-Agra-Chennai highway.
PS: Flyover signs are confusing in many parts of Delhi! Stop & Go at dividers by many cars, including yours truly.

A few mins after you cross Ballabhgarh metro station & the toll naka, you will reach a junction where GMaps indicates you to take a turn for the link road to KMP / Peripherial / DME Expressway. The junction isn't done well and not clear how to access the road. It took me wrong way to join it :-( Kept it very slow behind a car ahead. Not my proudest moment.
Thereafter, its a breeze to drive. Barely any traffic on this connector since link till Badarpur border is not open yet. When fully complete, it will truly be a DND-KMP link expressway.
Pay the toll as you approach DME & off you go towards Mumbai.

We stopped once just after toll on 148NA (the connector link) — lack of washrooms is a pain! Not even at toll booth.

We make our first pit stop is near Alwar. Till Jaipur/Dausa, there is plenty of traffic & rest stops. Should only get better from here. Road quality is good. We keep ourselves in 2/3 lane and at 100 kmph.

Given the quick progress we were making, we decided to skip Kota and zeroed in on Ratlam for the overnight halt. The Lalsot exit (NH23 crossing that goes to Tonk) approaches quickly, where we had joined last time around when coming from Mumbai. Let's see this other way to reach Kota this time around.

A quick word on this crossing as it was a weird one where everyone was asked to exit the Expy & rejoin again if going towards Baroda.
On the Twitter thread, I have posted the map which exhibits how one pays an exit toll once, takes the roundabout & then scan the tag again to join the #NE4 100 mts ahead! When asked, they said it’s two different contractors & to track better. Short term solution I believe!

The NE4 was brilliant from here on & devoid of traffic! Worth the minor inconvenience I guess
As the traffic really thins out, some "fancy" cars zoom past, most likely on way to Ranthambore.
This stretch of NE4 is till Sawai Madhopur exit only and we halt for lunch at Sharma's Dhabha, soon after exiting. You won't have much options, and this place suffices.

From here on, its pretty much a two lane non-divided SH all along. First its SH1 & then you join SH29 at Indergarh onwards to Kota outskirts.
Dunno why take the toll, road is nothing to speak about (its not bad!), & lots of speed breakers. Toll disease is too much! Sigh!
This also explains why my uncle had suggested the alternative route via Tonk to join at Lalsot junction of NE4 on our way to Delhi. It is a tad bit longer, but driving is comfortable.

Since it was Sat afternoon, GMaps showed same time via Kota city as against the NH27 bypass to reach the Jhalawar road NH52 exit. This NH52 to Jhalawar road is concrete, good, but also very busy. Lots of truck traffic. We crossed Mukundara Hills ghat at sunset, just in time if you ask me. I won't want to be driving there late at night even if you can expect traffic here at this crossing always.

Just after the ghat, GMap shows an alternative route, strictly for (small) cars in my opinion, through villages Pipalda & Bholoo. We went through in the dark as we were convoy of cars.
But, I suggest to take NH52 & take right towards Morak & Modak as its a proper NH & join NE4 again.

The NE4 Delhi Mumbai Expressway from here is basically empty, incredibly smooth & a joy to drive. Stick to your lane, keep an eye for stray animals (yes, they do come!) and the occasional 2W from the villages nearby.
We made quick time here & reached Ratlam exit by 9 pm! Our stay for the night was at Balaji Central Hotel.
Considering Ratlam, it was a very nice room! Paid a high price (4k) as it was sat night & wedding season. But theek hai, dinner & breakfast was yum (b/f included). I had poha with accompaniments that you only get in this part, so very good!

Day 2: Sunday, 17 Nov 2024

After a good night's sleep, it was time to head home to Mumbai (Western Suburbs). We re-looked at the options from here on google maps.

Option 1: Dhar -Sendhwa - Dhule - Nasik - Mumbai on Agra-Mumbai Road

Option 2: Dahod (via NE4) - Godhra - Baroda - Mumbai through the super busy & dense highway, plus the misery of work on MH side

My last drive via Sendhwa - Dhule - Mumbai was 2 years ago, and I remember roads were not busy till Nasik.
Baroda route would mean super busy roads & also the madness once we enter MH given the construction work.
So we decided on Option 1, for the relatively stress-free driving!


The initial part of the drive went really well (you can see where its going!!??!!)
Drive through MP via Dhar was spectacular. Rich farmlands. Green fields. 2 lane road, but good quality. No complaints.
Dhar was impressive. Big town. Mainly farming business. Lots of banks for lending. Pvt Included. Good roads. MP is a gem, having travelled extensively across it in the last 3-4 years.
You are then on NH347C through a nice ghat section till you hit NH52 to Mumbai.

Once you join NH at Sirsodiya, its a proper NH and roads are good but also expect lots of movement (esp Trucks).
Familiar road for me, and we cross the Narmada River without much traffic (thank god!). Rest of the MP section is in great shape. No complaints till now!

Enter MH:
Its always nice to come back to your home state. There is a sense of security. MH car is in MH state. Or whatever you wanna say. Familiarity sets in.
Alas, the familiarity of bad roads also sets in the moment we entered Maharashtra.
No change from 2 years ago! Sigh!

What is surprising this time around, is the increased no of vehicles (which could partly be attributed to the MH elections to be held in 3 days) -- but also more restaurants along the highway. That too before Dhule, which is the usual lunch place due to lack of options.

I guess we were hungry already as we entered MH, and spotted this nice looking restaurant while driving down a flyover. Happy to report Veg Aroma Shirpur was nice. Don’t remember seeing it before on my drive, but on a hunch we decided to dine here as Dhule was another 1.5 hour or so away!

After a sumptuous lunch of dal tadka & Baigan Bhartha (MH style!), we hit the road. And this is when the pain gets real. Throughout the drive now (basically once you enter MH), the road quality is basic at best, & bad very often. Many diversions as work is happening (like always), and traffic!

Except for one junction where we got stuck, it was moving slow traffic at most other junctions.
Why there are no flyovers on such key junctions, or why were the flyovers planned in weird designs, I don't know! But driving till Ojhar was not the smoothest. Bad road noise inside the car too as the tarmac is very rough!

The work at the Ojhar flyover, where the concrete section begins, is still on-going. I have a feeling it was on-going 2 years before too.
From here, the traffic picks up and doesn't subside till anywhere until I reach home.
Yep, that's how busy this Mumbai - Nasik highway is.

I have to be grateful now --> things could have been worse! Like others mention on the Mumbai-Nasik thread, I have seen worse on this highway.
But mentally, I was prepared & grateful that the drive till we entered MH was very good!
Despite all the hiccups, I still think it was much better than the mess that is the Mumbai-Vapi section.

Literally, no highway that connects Mumbai is good !! FFS!!

Relatively, faced less traffic once I neared Kalyan. Given the past horrors (I avoid driving on this highway nowadays), we did okay until we entered Mumbai.
Even then, Powai stretch was moving, and just a bit of hiccup where JVLR meets WEH. JVLR is a mess in general, no?

And with that last stretch on WEH went relatively okay, and we were home after driving for 13.5 hours for 650 kms.
For contrast, the previous day, we drove 750 kms in 12 hours (a lot of which was on 2 lane roads).

Main culprit was obviously Mumbai, but also MH roads! Hopefully that changes soon!

To conclude,
1) DME NE4 Expressway is a game-changer! Can't wait for Delhi-Baroda stretch to open at the earliest, while we wait longer for the Baroda-Mumbai section.

2) Hate to say, but MH has the worst roads. This wasn't the case before, but has been for the last 5 years for sure.

3) Dear NHAI, go ahead & take toll, but give good roads!

The End

PS: Here is the Twitter thread for photos & videos

[sahil624]

Originally Posted by VT-RNS

To conclude,
1) DME NE4 Expressway is a game-changer! Can't wait for Delhi-Baroda stretch to open at the earliest, while we wait longer for the Baroda-Mumbai section.

Hi, first of all what a detailed account of your travel. Thank you for this as I am due to travel on this route in coming days.

Any idea when this Delhi-Vadodara stretch will be open? Is it expected anytime soon?

Originally Posted by VT-RNS

Hi Folks,


Overall, the drive to Udaipur is great. Road is wide, good quality and less traffic. It was my first time on the new Udaipur bypass such that we didnt even have to enter Udaipur.

Has Udaipur bypass road has opened recently, any idea? Also, Google Maps shows this Udaipur bypass route by default?

Thanks

[VT-RNS]

Originally Posted by sahil624

Any idea when this Delhi-Vadodara stretch will be open? Is it expected anytime soon?

Has Udaipur bypass road has opened recently, any idea? Also, Google Maps shows this Udaipur bypass route by default?

Thanks Sahil -- thought I will add some more context to the routes taken & road experiences so others can benefit from it.

The Delhi - Baroda stretch will still take 6 months to a year I think. Just this weekend a tunnel u/c near Kota collapsed, unfortunately.

As for the Udaipur bypass, yes, it was showing up as default in Gmaps if you are going ahead of Udaipur.

Have a good drive & look forward to reading about it!

[tanwaramit]

Originally Posted by VT-RNS

Literally, no highway that connects Mumbai is good !! FFS!!

Thanks for the detailed thread. The best part is that you have covered both the routes and the saddest thing is what you have quoted above.

I am not sure if this is answered here earlier, with the DME, will it bypass Baroda - Ahmedabad Expressway with a separate road for DME Or will the Baroda Ahmedabad Expressway become a subset (part) of DME once DME is opened ?