[narayans80]

Originally Posted by TechLiveMANA

One should take the Nashik Road instead which as per a couple of friends who travelled is in good shape.

The tarmac is always darker on the other side

Pune-Sangamner atleast is nothing to write home about. There are so many potholes in the 4-lane section which was brand new during the holiday season of 2017 (exactly 3 years back). The untouched 2-lane sections are in much better shape than the 4-laners.

The only difference is, you are looking at rim breakers on this stretch compared to suspension breakers in the Nagar-Shirdi strecth.

I travelled from Pune to Bhopal mid November using the Ahmednagar - Shirdi - Malegaon - Dhule route

Did you really travel this stretch on a Beat?

[TechLiveMANA]

Originally Posted by narayans80

The tarmac is always darker on the other side

The only difference is, you are looking at rim breakers on this stretch compared to suspension breakers in the Nagar-Shirdi strecth.

Did you really travel this stretch on a Beat?

Yes, if the road has even a little bit of Tarmac, it would definitely be darker that the Ahmednagar - Kopargaon stretch. It was literally a torture driving on that road.

Yes, I currently own a 2010 Beat LT which was the ride for this trip.

[suchetd]

I will be travelling from Pune to Indore via Pune-Nashik highway and then via NH3 sometime in February 2021. 2 families are travelling together. Are there any restrictions due to Covid at the state entry in MP?

Also what is the current condition of NH3 from Nashik to Indore? I couldn't find good restaurants or places for a break with good toilets for Ladies between Nashik and Indore (Beyond Dhule preferably or 3-4 hours from Nashik).

How much time it takes from reach Indore post lunch if we take halt for Lunch (near highway near Nashik road Station. We wont enter Nashik City but will bypass it to go via State Highway 60).

[ObsessedByFIAT]

This is my usual path -

I stay in Chinchwad and connect the Pune-Nasik road at Chakan chowk.
I start very early in the morning, between 2 and 3 am. I take the Sangamner > Shirdi > Dhule route. I am comfortably at Shirdi around 6:00 am and take a tea break there. There decent and clean hotels around. We also get blessings from the Mukh darshan.

The next stop happens around Dhule, where we connect to the Agra > Mumbai Highway. Here we have breakfast. There are decent hotels on the highway itself. With a heavy breakfast for the family ( I usually eat light on long drives to avoid sleepiness) we are sorted for atleast 6/7 hours. In between, family has the dry snacks which we carry from home. Energy bars, fruit juice, biscuits, chips etc. keep the kids busy.

We then stop at Indore for a late lunch, if at all anyone is feeling hungry, or else stop for a quick tea break and proceed for the further journey.

The rationale behind this stop pattern is, there are not too many decent places to stop between Dhule and Indore. There a few road side Dhabas along the way, but nothing great.

Also, the Dhule > Indore section is a fast road and you can comfortably maintain decent speeds and cover good distance. Be careful of the speed breakers till Maharashtra border and the rumble strips at the Sendhwa ghat section. These are literally suspension breakers.
Last I traveled up North was in late December 2019. There were a few surprise pot holes / broken / uneven road at a few places.

I am not aware of any covid restrictions. A close friend returned from Bhopal around mid December and did not face any issues. Though you might want to enquire this further.

[suchetd]

Originally Posted by ObsessedByFIAT

fast road and you can comfortably maintain decent speeds and cover good distance. Be careful of the speed breakers till Maharashtra border and the rumble strips at the Sendhwa ghat section. These are literally suspension breakers.
Last I traveled up North was in late December 2019. There were a few surprise pot holes / broken / uneven road at a few places.

Thank you for your reply. We plan to leave around 6 am from Pune. I have travelled to Nashik many times , so familiar with that route and stops in between. From some other forums, I found that The Orchid at Dhule and Hotel Agrawal Midway near Sendhwa may be some rest stops worth considering for decent toilets.

The road trips in India would be much better if we have good rest stops along major highways with clean facilities just like many western countries.

Thanks once again.

[naren_gs1]

Heard Shirdi Malegaon road is not in good condition.

Couple of colleagues went all the way till Nashik and thereon to Dhule ... No issue reported ...

A relative recently went via Aurangabad and Dhule ...Again no issue reported ...

[amit_purohit20]

For Pune to Indore, it seems taking the route Pune Ahmednagar Shirdi Malegaon is not an option at all due to bad roads.

Pune Sangamner Nandur Shingote Pangri Vinchur Lasgaon Chandwad route is also not in good shape.

Hence Pune Nashik and then join Agra Bombay Highway to get a smooth sail till Indore is the best option.

Any more inputs are welcome

[amit_purohit20]

Road status as on last week of Jan 21.

I happened to travel from Pune to Indore via. Nashik. Normally I take the Pune- Ahmednagar City (Not By-pass) - Rahuri - Shirdi - Kopargaon - Manmad - Malegaon -Dhule- Indore route. But as this route is bad from Ahmednagar onwards to Shirdi I preferred to drive via. Nashik.

Well Pune- Alandi - Chakan - Manchar- Sangamner- Sinnar - Nashik and then take the Bombay - Agra Highway upto Indore.

Pune to Alandi is full of speed breakers but road is good. Alandi - Nashik road faces heavy traffic although road is good, hence would recommend to start early.
Road work is going on after Narayangaon so you may face diversions and be careful of these diversions from highway as you would be driving at good speeds. Road is mostly with divider but at some places its a two lane road. While coming back be careful on joining the right road, many vehicles were found taking the wrong road and hence entering the highway on the wrong side of the divider!

Be careful not to enter Nashik city but take the by-pass other wise you would land up spending 45 mins navigating city traffic.

Nashik to Indore road is National highway and is overall good in condition. Beware of rubmblers as its very natural to miss them. Some places there are pot holes inspite of good roads so drive at limited speed unless you see the road clearly. Chandwad to Nashik road construction is going on and you might find fresh tarmac without a single pot hole! Be careful of divider roads converging into two lane at only one place.

While going to Nashik from Pune, do not take the diversion as suggested by Google from Nandur Singhote to Chandwad, as this road is single lane road with lots of potholes and will slow you down terribly.

In short any one wants to travel to Indore using own vehicle, go via. Nashik only.

Be sure to have Fast Tag otherwise be ready to wait 20 to 30 mins at each toll paying by cash. Even if you have fast-tag there is chaos on each toll as vehicles without fast-tag enter the wrong gate and they are not allowed further and have to reverse, leading to a big inconvenience to all cars behind.

I saw one toll which was unmanned and had Fast tag, I was pleasantly surprised.


If you want to travel from Indore to Kota, do not take the route via Ujjain - Agar - Jhalrapatan at any cost. Repeat do not take this road at any cost. The road from Agar to Jhalrapatan is single lane road with lots of curves. Heavy trucks use this road and you will find yourself stuck behind trucks.

Overtaking is big risk and you will often find locals coming parallely towards you and they would not brake at any cost! You have to get down from the road which at many places if half feet below the road level. This road faces regular accidents due to risky overtaking moves by the locals. A 100 km distance from Agar to Jhalrapatan took me nearly 4 hours.

Do not try any other route like Agar-Susner-Dug - Bhawani Mandi - Ramganj Mandi - Kota. The road conditions might be good but they are all small lane roads with many turns, pass through villages are infested with potholes and heavy traffic of slow moving trucks.

Hence any person travelling from Indore has to go via - Betma (Indore by pass road is in bad condition for nearly 3 kms) - Badnawar - Ratlam - Jaora - Neemuch - Nimbaheda- Chittorgarh bypass - Ladpura - Kota.

Even the Rawat Bhata road is single lane and in bad condition.

Above road mentioned is excellent and you can drive at speeds excess of 100 kmph.

[amit_purohit20]

Originally Posted by amit_purohit20

For Pune to Indore, it seems taking the route Pune Ahmednagar Shirdi Malegaon is not an option at all due to bad roads.

Pune Sangamner Nandur Shingote Pangri Vinchur Lasgaon Chandwad route is also not in good shape.

Hence Pune Nashik and then join Agra Bombay Highway to get a smooth sail till Indore is the best option.

Any more inputs are welcome

Road status as on last week of Jan 21.

I happened to travel from Pune to Indore via. Nashik. Normally I take the Pune- Ahmednagar City (Not By-pass) - Rahuri - Shirdi - Kopargaon - Manmad - Malegaon -Dhule- Indore route. But as this route is bad from Ahmednagar onwards to Shirdi I preferred to drive via. Nashik.

Well Pune- Alandi - Chakan - Manchar- Sangamner- Sinnar - Nashik and then take the Bombay - Agra Highway upto Indore.

Pune to Alandi is full of speed breakers but road is good. Alandi - Nashik road faces heavy traffic although road is good, hence would recommend to start early.
Road work is going on after Narayangaon so you may face diversions and be careful of these diversions from highway as you would be driving at good speeds. Road is mostly with divider but at some places its a two lane road. While coming back be careful on joining the right road, many vehicles were found taking the wrong road and hence entering the highway on the wrong side of the divider!

Be careful not to enter Nashik city but take the by-pass other wise you would land up spending 45 mins navigating city traffic.

Nashik to Indore road is National highway and is overall good in condition. Beware of rubmblers as its very natural to miss them. Some places there are pot holes inspite of good roads so drive at limited speed unless you see the road clearly. Chandwad to Nashik road construction is going on and you might find fresh tarmac without a single pot hole! Be careful of divider roads converging into two lane at only one place.

While going to Nashik from Pune, do not take the diversion as suggested by Google from Nandur Singhote to Chandwad, as this road is single lane road with lots of potholes and will slow you down terribly.

In short any one wants to travel to Indore using own vehicle, go via. Nashik only.

Be sure to have Fast Tag otherwise be ready to wait 20 to 30 mins at each toll paying by cash. Even if you have fast-tag there is chaos on each toll as vehicles without fast-tag enter the wrong gate and they are not allowed further and have to reverse, leading to a big inconvenience to all cars behind.

I saw one toll which was unmanned and had Fast tag, I was pleasantly surprised.

[riddlealmeida]

We did Pune - Ratlam (95% same route as Indore, diversion from Manpur) on Feb 28th, 2021.

Route taken - Wakad -> Sangamner -> Nashik-> Chandwad -> Malegaon -> Dhule -> Sendhwa -> Dhamnod -> Manpur -> Nagda -> Ratlam.

Started : 8.30 AM
Reached : 8.30 PM

Total breaks - 30 minutes

Google maps had suggested a right at Nandur Shingote to avoid Nashik all together. Highlighting the same in the image below. Our friends had taken that route few months back and had advised against it as it goes through villages and has unnecessary delay causing elements. We, hence, decided to continue on NH160 and covered the route through Nashik, which as per Google was only 10 minutes slower.

The route is pretty good, first 200 kms have some 2 lane stretches, beyond that it is totally 4/6 laned.

There was massive jam near MP border as there was ongoing work on a stretch of the road and it was a minor ghat section and all the trucks were really crawling at snail's pace. It ate up around 20-25 minutes for around 1 km.

On Covid front : We encountered no checking anywhere.

[armumbai]

What are the maximum speeds you can drive at on the Nasik- Indore (Manipur) stretch. As Pune -Nasik would almost be the same in terms of driving time as Mumbai-Nasik (from Santacruz West) how much is the drive time Pune-Manpur and how long you reckon it’s from Manipur-Indore. I want to drive Mumbai-Bandhavgarh and need to break in Indore for a night before going onwards

[INJAXN]

I am travelling to Pune from Indore this Friday with a night halt at Malegaon.
Which route is best to follow Malegaon onwards:

1) Malegaon -> Sangamner -> Hadapsar, Pune ( 6 hrs 30 mins)
2) Malegaon -> Shirid-> Hadapsar, Pune ( 6 hrs 50 Mins)
3) Malegaon -> Nashik -> Hadapsar, Pune ( 6 hrs 40 mins)

I think Nashik highway would be better, please suggest.

[Trojan]

Originally Posted by INJAXN

Which route is best to follow Malegaon onwards:

1) Malegaon -> Sangamner -> Hadapsar, Pune ( 6 hrs 30 mins)
2) Malegaon -> Shirid-> Hadapsar, Pune ( 6 hrs 50 Mins)
3) Malegaon -> Nashik -> Hadapsar, Pune ( 6 hrs 40 mins)

I think Nashik highway would be better, please suggest.

Route No.3 Nashik, without a doubt!

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by INJAXN

I am travelling to Pune from Indore this Friday with a night halt at Malegaon.
Which route is best to follow Malegaon onwards:

1) Malegaon -> Sangamner -> Hadapsar, Pune ( 6 hrs 30 mins)
2) Malegaon -> Shirid-> Hadapsar, Pune ( 6 hrs 50 Mins)
3) Malegaon -> Nashik -> Hadapsar, Pune ( 6 hrs 40 mins)

I think Nashik highway would be better, please suggest.

I too would suggest route via Nasik.

And if you leave Indore in the morning (need not be early in the morning), you can reach Pune without needing a night halt.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by amit_purohit20

If you want to travel from Indore to Kota, do not take the route via Ujjain - Agar - Jhalrapatan at any cost. Repeat do not take this road at any cost. The road from Agar to Jhalrapatan is single lane road with lots of curves. Heavy trucks use this road and you will find yourself stuck behind trucks.
..

Do not try any other route like Agar-Susner-Dug - Bhawani Mandi - Ramganj Mandi - Kota. The road conditions might be good but they are all small lane roads with many turns, pass through villages are infested with potholes and heavy traffic of slow moving trucks.
..
Hence any person travelling from Indore has to go via - Betma (Indore by pass road is in bad condition for nearly 3 kms) - Badnawar - Ratlam - Jaora - Neemuch - Nimbaheda- Chittorgarh bypass - Ladpura - Kota.
..
Even the Rawat Bhata road is single lane and in bad condition.

This is one I was keen to see developments happen. Hopefully few of these sections will see upgrade thanks to the new Mumbai-Delhi expressway.