[VJ_MAVRICK]

Originally Posted by abhishek_rait

hi

i just travelled from belgaum to bombay, the roads are absolutely fantastic till pune . u get to face some traffic in pune . from belgaum to pune u would approx take 5 hrs. u could eat at all A1 Plaza's from Reliance . Many petrol Pumps Accept Credit Cards. try to fill on the highway i dont know why petrol is cheaper by approx a rupee. u can stop at a place called Karad after kolhapur. two hotels that are good there one Sangam( good food) and the other Pankaj ( Only Veg) but u need to take care of the overbridges built u hve to go down to enter the city. u can practically drive at + 120 on the roads. from belgaum to Bombay. thanks to 4 laning of the roads.

Thanks Abhishek for the update and info and am planning to start around in between 2 AM to 3 AM and then hit belgaum in about 8 to 10 hours as its approx 500 Km from Bangalore. I mostly fill up Shell superunleaded and do these highways have any shell bunks ?...just a query and it dont matter however if there is'nt any as well.

[Sankar]

I did Bangalore - Belgaum on my Bullet in October. There were approx 50km of bad roads in total of the entire distance. I managed to do it in 9 hours including stops for Breakfast & Lunch. You should be able to do the distance to Mumbai in well under 15hours in a car.

I started at 6am from BG road and reached Blgm at 1515. There was a nice traffic jam near Peenya so early in the morning an i didn't expect it.

I suggest you start at around 4am rather than 2 or 3.

I couldn't spot any Shell bunks en-route till Belgaum. But there ought to be on the highway. You could rely on Reliance though.

Shell in India - Shell Station Locator

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Thanks for the info Sankar and I should be aiming the same amount of time as well.

[ramkya1]

Hai Mavrik,

It's doable under 15 hours, I did that section on 28th Nov but
took a break @ Satara. A friend of mine went that way in a
Scorpy to Kerala 4 days back and said except for the 70-80 kms segment
around Chitradurga the roads are superb.

If you want to know my timings, road conditions and exact
distances, you can visit this linky.

http://www.arkzsol.com/Abad-Tvm-Abad07.htm

Happy Driving,

--Ramky

[VJ_MAVRICK]

@ Sankar ..Thanks Sankar and supposedly there are not much shell bunks enroute and moreover on the bypasses or highways i suppose so will be filling up in other bunks

@ ramky ..Thanks for a detailed report of your trip and surely that will help and enroute there are toll booths is it where one has to pay the toll

[Jaggu]

ideally break your trip at belgaum unless you are in a hurry, check evil twins trip for more info and a great deal to stay at blegaum. roads are 80% great but remaining 20% is.. what roads!!

[Selective]

I am driving to Belgaum from Bangalore tomorrow with my wife and daughter. Planning to start early in the morning at 5AM from BG Road.

I will not be pushing myself too much to cover the distance in 8 hours or so. I am planning to take frequent breaks so that my daughter doesnt get bored sitting in the car for long.

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

ideally break your trip at belgaum unless you are in a hurry, check evil twins trip for more info and a great deal to stay at blegaum. roads are 80% great but remaining 20% is.. what roads!!

@ Jaggu ! Sure will check the evil twins travelogue and certainly not in a hurry and will check landscapes if its worthy of a wait and watch.

@Selective ...I am also travelling but since its Mumbai planning around 3AM and have a nice drive and safe one..

[sreenidhibr]

While traveling along NH4 (Tumkur section), I prefer to take the route through the Tumkur town, instead of the bypass. This route is much shorter, similar road conditions and no traffic in early mornings - before 7am.

The entrance to Tumkur comes approx 2-3 kms after the toll road ends. Take this road, go past S.I.T (engg college) which comes on the left. At the next traffic signal, there is a fork - take the right branch here. Continue on this road past the lake, which comes on the right side. This is the SIRA route, and it meets the NH4 again after a very short distance.

Folks,
for Chitradurga and Davanagere towns, the bypass seems to be in a bad condition. So, is it better to go through the towns also in these cases as well? If so, what is the route?

[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by sreenidhibr

While traveling along NH4 (Tumkur section), I prefer to take the route through the Tumkur town, instead of the bypass. This route is much shorter, similar road conditions and no traffic in early mornings - before 7am.
.....................

Folks,
for Chitradurga and Davanagere towns, the bypass seems to be in a bad condition. So, is it better to go through the towns also in these cases as well? If so, what is the route?

On my travel from Bangy to Stara, I accidentally went thro the Tumkur town, I think. There was a huge Hanuman statue on the road side..... then turned around and hit the highway.

As far as I know and from reports of people who have accidentaly gone thro chitradurga and davangere towns, the time taken inside the town and the mess that ensures in finding out roads etc., its better to endure the hellish BP. If you take it nice and slow and if you have time, the BP can be negotiated patiently.

Would recommend to avaoid going thro. town.

--Ramky

[prabuddhadg]

I did Bombay-Belgaum-Dandeli and back in September October. The NH4 was superb. Not having ventured this way before, I was really pleasantly surprised. Not only are the roads great, the signages too are very informative and well placed. Refuelling is never an issue, either for man or car. But if you want card payment accepting pumps, try ones closer to towns. I came across only one pot hole, somewhere close to Satara, on my way back, and was lucky to have missed it, for it was huge and could have inflicted major damage to any vehicle. I hope they have repaired it by now.

Happy driving.

[Dhanasekaran]

I would say take this route
Blr-Chitradurga-Davengere-Haveri-Ranebennur-Hubli-Dharwad-Belgaum-Nipani-Kolhapur-Karad-Satara-Talegaon-Nerul-Mumbai

Route from Chitradurga-Davengere-Ranebennuris worst and would kill the time.

Have a safe trip.

[VJ_MAVRICK]

@ Ramky -----yea ramky ..i guess bypassing the routes is what i am looking for and not get entangled...

@ prabhuddha -----thanks for the pointer....and surely will look out for the pothole

@Dhanasekaran -----Yes buddy even i am planning to ply that route and once again..thanks a lot for all your pointers...

will write a decent travelogue as and when time permits..

cheers and have a wondeful holidays and will keep updating from Mumbai as well

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Hi Guys!!
Bangalore -Mumbai trip was done as per planned in 15.5 hours with the roads being excellent EXCEPT for DEVENGARE to RANI BENNUR a stretch of about 120+ Kms I suppose. I made up for the time lost in the sector from RaniBennur onwards towards Hubli and Belgaum.First time clocked 140 kmph and the mumbai pune expressway too was awesome. Well! For a first timer it was awesome . I will update the round trip in a separate travelogue.
Guys thanks once again for all the inputs and will update later on as per convenience.

cheers:

[Minardi]

Am planning to go to Bangalore this April end. Any updates on the GQ? I mean where all is it incomplete, and the 'time-consuming' stretches?. Am well-versed with the Mumbai-Hubli section, so it is primarily the Hubli-Bangalore section that i want info on.

Also, am planning to break the journey at Chitradurga, so next day we can see the Fort in the morning before proceeding to Bangalore. So any decent budget hotel info (at Chitradurga) is also welcome

Thanks!