[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by Rajesh K R

I am planning one more drive in July, want to try this route :

BLR - Bijapur - Solapur -Pune - Mumbai.

I am aware that BLR-Bijapur is good tolled road, but do not have any idea about Bijapur - Solapur - Pune section. Is that also a 4/6 Laned toll road ?

I drove Pune-Solapur-Bijapur-Bangalore in January, and enjoyed the drive. As Parag said, Pune-Solapur is a good 4-lane road. In fact, with Solapur bypass now ready (it is a beautiful 4-lane road that goes outside Solapur and bypasses the city), this whole road from Pune till Bangalore is a nice 4-lane highway that bypasses all cities and is a very good alternative to the usual NH48 (which has become very crowded now, especially in Pune-Kolpaur section).

However, sine your destination is Mumbai, and not Pune, I would give a word of caution. If you go via Solapur, you will end up in Hadapsar in Pune, and from there to reach Mumbai highway, you will have to cross entire Pune city which will be very painful and slow drive. You will lose about 1.5 hour minimum in crossing Pune city. It can be even worse if you land up there in peak traffic hours.

Therefore, unless you have some reason to be in Pune city or drive through Pune city, I would not recommend Solapur route if your destination is Mumbai. If you go by usual NH48, you have much better access to Mumbai highway and you will bypass Pune along the way.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by Rajesh K R

Query to the regulars like Parag who drive BLR - Mumbai.

I am planning one more drive in July, want to try this route :

BLR - Bijapur - Solapur -Pune - Mumbai.

I am aware that BLR-Bijapur is good tolled road, but do not have any idea about Bijapur - Solapur - Pune section. Is that also a 4/6 Laned toll road ?

Since the drive is in Monsoon time, I suggest to stick to the usual tried and tested NH48. Parag can add if the drive during Monsoons in the BLR-Solapur-Pune is comfortable as with NH48.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Since the drive is in Monsoon time, I suggest to stick to the usual tried and tested NH48. Parag can add if the drive during Monsoons in the BLR-Solapur-Pune is comfortable as with NH48.

Driving on Sholapur route is less stressful if destination is Aurangabad/Shirdi/Nashik and if one is contemplating on taking the Kolhapur route for this. This is because the Sholapur route witnesses less traffic over Kolhapur route and most importantly, one does not need to cross Pune city for this.

However, in this case, the destination being Mumbai, it makes no sense to consider Sholapur route. Crossing Pune is a nightmare in the absence of any ring road or easterly bypass (and I hope the 170 km ring road project moves beyond YouTube and becomes a reality).

In terms of road conditions, both are equally good and at par with typical NH/GQ standards and hence no issues there but for Mumbai as destination, this experiment with Sholapur route is not worth it only with the intent to avoid the expansion sections around Karad.

[Dieseltuned]

Does this route marked in Red looks like a good option to bypass pune city traffic and reach Mumbai highway at Katraj from hadapsar ?

[Rajesh K R]

Thanks Dr.AD.. That is exactly what Parag also mentioned. yes my destination is Mumbai, but my query was only to see, if i could avoid the road works in Karad and the 2 laned roads which are under road widening project.

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

I drove Pune-Solapur-Bijapur-Bangalore in January, and enjoyed the drive. As Parag said, Pune-Solapur is a good 4-lane road. In fact, with Solapur bypass now ready (it is a beautiful 4-lane road that goes outside Solapur and bypasses the city), this whole road from Pune till Bangalore is a nice 4-lane highway that bypasses all cities and is a very good alternative to the usual NH48 (which has become very crowded now, especially in Pune-Kolpaur section).

However, sine your destination is Mumbai, and not Pune, I would give a word of caution. If you go via Solapur, you will end up in Hadapsar in Pune, and from there to reach Mumbai highway, you will have to cross entire Pune city which will be very painful and slow drive. You will lose about 1.5 hour minimum in crossing Pune city. It can be even worse if you land up there in peak traffic hours.

Therefore, unless you have some reason to be in Pune city or drive through Pune city, I would not recommend Solapur route if your destination is Mumbai. If you go by usual NH48, you have much better access to Mumbai highway and you will bypass Pune along the way.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

Does this route marked in Red looks like a good option to bypass pune city traffic and reach Mumbai highway at Katraj from hadapsar ?

From Hadapsar, you have 3 choices to hit the Pune bypass.

• Hadapsar - Swargate - Shinghad Road - Navale
• Hadapsar - Swargate - Shinghad Road - Rajaram Bridge - Karve Road - Warje
• Hadapsar - Swargate - Shinghad Road - Shastri Road - Paud Road - Chandni Chowk

Ideally, each of these routes will have there pros and cons and going by the order, each one will put you onto Pune bypass at locations that succeed each other by a distance of at least 2-3 km.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

From Hadapsar, you have 3 choices to hit the Pune bypass.

• Hadapsar - Swargate - Shinghad Road - Navale
• Hadapsar - Swargate - Shinghad Road - Rajaram Bridge - Karve Road - Warje
• Hadapsar - Swargate - Shinghad Road - Shastri Road - Paud Road - Chandni Chowk

Actually if the destination is Mumbai (I assumed so from the earlier posts in this conversation), then the best option is Hadapsar - Shivaji Nagar-Baner-Wakad and join highway to Mumbai. That is a reasonably fast route except for the peak hours when it will get jammed.

Wakad is the closet point on Mumbai highway towards Mumabi side. Whereas Katraj is good only if someone wants to drive south towards Bangalore. Else no point going toward Sinhagad Road/Katraj if the destination is Mumbai.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Actually if the destination is Mumbai (I assumed so from the earlier posts in this conversation), then the best option is Hadapsar - Shivaji Nagar-Baner-Wakad and join highway to Mumbai. That is a reasonably fast route except for the peak hours when it will get jammed.

Wakad is the closet point on Mumbai highway towards Mumabi side. Whereas Katraj is good only if someone wants to drive south towards Bangalore. Else no point going toward Sinhagad Road/Katraj if the destination is Mumbai.

Agree but my reason to suggest Warje or Chandani Chowk is for the following reasons:

• You hit the bypass faster and then travel on the NH
• You avoid the congested areas from Hadapsar to Wakad
• Progress on the bypass after Chandini Chowk is steady with Chandini Chowk work nearly completed.

You may not need to hit Shivajinagar and instead reach Bremen Chowk after Khadki. This will help you avoid the traffic congestion that is witnessed regularly around the University flyover.

[RaviKancha64]

Dear Fellow BHPians. Greetings. I am driving down from Pune to Bangalore. Seeking guidance and help best routes to take from Hubbali to Ranebennur. Also seeking help in locating a good restaurant with amenities en route.

Thanks all in advance.

Thanks BHP for this support.

[jkrishnakj]

OT perhaps, but still wanted to put it out here.

On my trip to Kolhapur two weeks ago, we had taken a break after Dharwad, near Tru Dharwad Peda outlet. Tbis comes on the right, enroute to Pune.

I was inside the car when one guy was asking me to lower the window and pushing in an Apple product. He said that he has a couple pieces left and wants to give away. I don’t pay much heed to it since we started off on our drive.

Yesterday, I was driving towards Pune and we took a break at the exact same place. This time I indulged him, what he was peddling was the Apple Air Pod2 that retails 20k+. He was willing to give it away at 3k. He was pushing me to buy two of those. Was very confident when he said he’ll open and make sure it connects etc etc.. I told him that if he tells the truth on how he got such original pieces, I’ll buy. He gave a story on how some TN driver flipped out a carton of those over night to Mumbai and that’s how he got those. He’s now so desperate that he was willing to give me 2 brand new original Apple AirPod 2 for 6k.

Meanwhile, my wife came in and made sure I leave that place and my ears got busted for indulging in such kind of chats with that fellow who was peddling it.

I ignored, we were back to music and conversations etc.

Today, I was diving back, and just near the Dharwad toll, there was another guy trying to stop cars and showing off something in his hand. It’s the AirPod 2 again. I’m now really puzzled. I only saw the box in his hand, given that I was trying to speed away from the toll.

For sure these must be counterfeit ones. Apple isn’t stupid to be losing stuff in their supply chain like this, and even if there was pilferage, Apple will have mechanisms to trace these down.

Curious, I asked my wife to google ‘Apple AirPods being sold in Pune-Bangalore highway’, and she saw a couple of videos and one of those was ranting on how he paid 10K and how he got scammed etc.

Did any of our bhp’ians encounter this on that highway? Very curious. If yes, this seems to be an open scam happening in broad day light. I wonder how many folks using this road have got scammed already.

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Did any of our bhp’ians encounter this on that highway? Very curious. If yes, this seems to be an open scam happening in broad day light. I wonder how many folks using this road have got scammed already.

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Did a Pune Bengaluru round trip. There’s a new scam being done. Almost at every toll plazas from Kognolli, I was being approached by shady people who tried to sell me a brand new unopened box of AirPods. The box looked genuine and were being sold at super cheap prices. Looks like a bunch of thugs who might have looted a consignment. Thought of reporting to Police, but then better sense prevailed. Pretty sure they too might be getting a cut, so are the employees of the toll plaza since this entire racket was being done under their nose.

Yes, in fact I had mentioned about it in this thread itself. I encountered this while I drove to Bengaluru from Pune to attend the Aeroshow in February. I simply refrained from talking to them.

[pratik_2810]

Hello BHPians,

I am planning a trip from Bangalore to Rajkot on 16th June. I will be doing the trip in my XL6 car along with my wife, mother and my 7 month baby. Wanted to get the most recent updates from the group on the route as well as the road conditions these days. Also, some places to take small breaks for food and fuel.

I plan to start at 4 AM and reach Pune, night stay planned in a hotel near expressway. Next morning start again at 4 AM and try to cross Mumbai in the early hours of the day to avoid the rush. Appreciate any inputs regarding the same.

[jyodwi]

Originally Posted by pratik_2810

Hello BHPians,

I am planning a trip from Bangalore to Rajkot on 16th June. I will be doing the trip in my XL6 car along with my wife, mother and my 7 month baby. Wanted to get the most recent updates from the group on the route as well as the road conditions these days. Also, some places to take small breaks for food and fuel.

I plan to start at 4 AM and reach Pune, night stay planned in a hotel near expressway. Next morning start again at 4 AM and try to cross Mumbai in the early hours of the day to avoid the rush. Appreciate any inputs regarding the same.

Hi Pratik, just completed a Bangalore Mumbai trip today. Roads all along were quite good except for a couple of minor stretches that are under construction and hence time consuming. Started from Bangalore at 6 am and reached Kolhapur by 6 pm with lunch @ Roti Ghar (just beyond Dharwad). Food was decent. Used the list provided by Parag Sachania (good compilation with GMap links).

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by pratik_2810

I plan to start at 4 AM and reach Pune, night stay planned in a hotel near expressway. Next morning start again at 4 AM and try to cross Mumbai in the early hours of the day to avoid the rush. Appreciate any inputs regarding the same.

You can consider one of these: they're right on the highway so you don't have to take any detour.

https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/ramada...ewadi/overview

https://sayajihotels.com/our-hotels/sayaji-pune/

https://www.orchidhotel.com/pune/

[jigar1791@gmail]

Originally Posted by pratik_2810

Hello BHPians,

I am planning a trip from Bangalore to Rajkot on 16th June.

Hi Pratik.
I have an upcoming trip from Mumbai - Shankheshwar/Mahudi/Vijapur/Aaglod planned from 17th -20th June.
We (parents, wife,15 month old son and myself) plan to leave from Borivli (our residence) by 6/7 AM and reach Sankheshwar by 8 PM.

My 2 cents on eateries, road conditions and traffic on NH48 - once you join at Thane from Ghodbunder Road onwards to A'bad -
Eateries : Plenty of them, you can start your day with Jalaram Kathyawadi at Dahanu (~10 kms after Charoti Toll Plaza), followed by lunch somewhere at around Surat (Sugar n Spice, Palsana) and decent pure veg/Jain restaurants all along until A'bad.
Road Conditions : NH48 is a driver's paradise, with smooth tarmac (recent re-surfacing works seem to have been completed) and lot of truck traffic to keep you occupied all along.

I will be doing the trip in my XL6 car along with my wife, mother and my 7 month baby.
I plan to start at 4 AM and reach Pune, night stay planned in a hotel near expressway. Next morning start again at 4 AM and try to cross Mumbai in the early hours of the day to avoid the rush. Appreciate any inputs regarding the same.

Planning 2 back to back early morning starts at ~4 AM with a toddler is very ambitious. All of our starts have never been that early ever since we've welcomed our son. It does get delayed. Please plan the pit-stops accordingly.

Aso, it'll be a tiring day for your wife and your mother, since they'll be managing the kid all throughout. They do deserve equal rest as does your toddler

Since you also will be on NH48 on 17th, do DM me to ensure fellow Bhp-ians are in sync on the same route. Always helps