[hrman]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Returned to Bangalore from Pune yesterday. Total 12 hrs travel 11 hrs driving time averaging

In short people travelling from Mumbai to Bangalore ...... should be taking a break at Belgavi (exact mid point) as it is exhausting to drive through the stretch now with so many diversions. .

The time taken is pretty good. 11 hours driving including the innumerable diversions is commendable.
Based on my most recent experience, I endorse the need to take a break mid way. The roads become too tiresome between Karad and Belagavi due to the conditions and diversions. I'm guessing these should take another 2 years at least to get completed, including the 4 lane bypass between Dharwad and Hubbali.

I am also looking forward to the Bangalore-Pune Expressway project to kick off. Its supposed to bring travel time to 7 hours (highly doubtful but even 8-10 hrs Blr to Pune and another 2 hrs to Mumbai will be certainly doable in a day at one go.
Till such time, mid journey break is the way to go.

[TROOPER]

Guys, we'll be leaving for Mangalore early morning on Friday, from Mumbai, around 2-3 am.

Any good restaurant recommendations in the Satara-Kolhapur stretch? We usually halt at Abhiruchi (kind of bored now) and then Amar, but since we'd be leaving early instead of the usual 4.30 am start, would like to get some recommendations.

[napster]

Thanks to the admins for approving my account, this is my first post on the forum so kindly excuse me if there are any rookie mistakes in the post.

I recently did Pune -Bangalore - Pune journey using both the route Options (Onward via Kolhapur/Belgaon and return via Vijaypura/Solapur).

I travelled from Pune to Bangalore on 23rd December. Started the from Hadapsar, Pune at 5:30 am but encountered a significant traffic all the way due to holiday rush. The Journey from Karad to Belgaon as everyone pointed out was very painful with many diversions and it slows you down significantly. The Road after Belgaon till Tumkuru is still pretty smooth (except for Hubballi-Dharwad bypass). Overall the drive time was 14 hours and breaks of almost 3 hours.

I returned from Bangalore to Pune on 7th January. For the return journey I was in dilemma whether to stick to the regular route or try the new route via Solapur. My preference was to have a peace of mind in the journey considering the horrible time I had while coming via Belgaon, and since we were carrying food I thought of taking the plunge and took the route via Hospete-Solapur. We had started from Bangalore at 5 am and managed to cover the distance till Chitradurga till 8:30 am where I had to decide which route to go for. Overall as many people have mentioned the eatery options are less on this route, the road is 4 lanes throughout till Pune (except for a couple of bypasses which are 6 laned). The road condition is pretty good and the less traffic on this route till Solapur helps you not miss the 6 laned road on the existing highway till Belgaon.

• Chitradurga - Hospete :

Probably the best road on this route option. You just cruise through the road with absolutely no issues regarding the road surface while enjoying the nice scenery and large number of wind mills on both side of the road. The Bypass for Hospete is 6 lanes, though not the smoothest surface but still you can cruise just around 3 digit speed.

• Hospete - Vijaypura :

Again a 4 laned road, however there are speed bumps at many intersections, the worst part; A few of these speed bumps are absolutely unmarked and would take you by surprise. Though you can still cruise on this section, but you need to be watchful of these speed bumps appearing suddenly. I observed that the road section near these Speed bumps is relatively darker than rest of the road so that kind of helped predict the approaching speed-bumps and slow down the vehicle.

• Vijaypura - Solapur:

Last section where you can cruise through without much of an issue due to low traffic. The road is in better condition and the Speed bumps are gone so you are not caught off guard because of that in this section.

• Solapur - Pune:

This road needs to be expanded to 6 lanes. The current road though pretty smooth cannot take the huge volume of traffic. The drive from Mohol all the way till Pune is bit painful as the entire stretch is full of reckless drivers which would give you tough times and to make matter even worse, there are few diversions due to ongoing bridge work which leads to congestion. Overall this stretch you can compare with Tumkuru-Nelamangala section albeit for more than double the distance though!

Overall the drive time was 12:30 hours and 3 hours of stops. Personally I would prefer to use the Solapur road for any journey to Bangalore till the time Option 1 gets to the better condition as it was around an year ago!

Note:

1. Option 2 is suitable only if you intend to go to any eastern part of the Pune, otherwise you may need to traverse through entire Pune city.
2. Limited food options available throughout the route between Chitradurga-Solapur.
3. Though there are ample number of Petrol Pumps on this stretch throughout, if you are looking for any specific branded fuel (XP95, SPEED, POWER) then there availability is sparse on this route. I couldn't find XP95 on any of the Indian Oil fuel pumps, including an IOCL COCO right outside the IOCL Depot!

[Knox88]

Originally Posted by TROOPER

Any good restaurant recommendations in the Satara-Kolhapur stretch? We usually halt at Abhiruchi (kind of bored now) would like to get some recommendations.

You can try Marathi dishes here for a change!

Hotel 8/A Pure veg

It was open when we reached there around 10.15 AM.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by napster

I couldn't find XP95 on any of the Indian Oil fuel pumps, including an IOCL COCO right outside the IOCL Depot!

Are you referring to this bunk ?

[napster]

Yes the one on Vijaypura bypass. The earlier IOCL Petrol Bunks informed me that you'll the get the XP95 fuel only at the IOCL COCO at Vijaypura but they also didnt have it.

[reverse_gear]

Originally Posted by TROOPER

Any good restaurant recommendations in the Satara-Kolhapur stretch? We usually halt at Abhiruchi (kind of bored now) and then Amar, but since we'd be leaving early instead of the usual 4.30 am start, would like to get some recommendations.

On our early morning starts from Mumbai, we usually prefer a breakfast stop at a reasonable hotel where family can use washroom, stretch their legs and take a proper break. Maybe a little more expensive than a quick dhaba stop, but worth it for the first stop on a long drive. Look for Preeti Executive in Satara right along the highway (opp the Fern, if I am not mistaken). It's nothing fancy, but offers decent food, good washrooms and relatively reasonably priced.

After you cross Satara, I don't think there is anything good till you reach Kolhapur, so better to have a stop at Satara I think.

[javageek]

Thanks Dear Friends for keeping this thread "Live".
Based on suggestions, I drove from Wakad to Bengaluru yesterday and don't regret having taken the Kolhapur route.
Conditioned to expect some bad traffic jam, the drive was quite smooth and fast.

Sharing my drive details for reference should it help any one planning the same route ( in a small hatch back ). I can now understand why the new age SUVs are able to cover this distance so fast, the power they have is overwhelming, once they overtake there is no point even trying to catch up!

Total Kms 886
Total Time 14:01
Driving Time 11:37
Vehicle Wagon R VXI ABS , 2011

[TROOPER]

Started for Mangalore at 2.40 am from North Mumbai.

Route taken was Home>Atal Setu>Old Pune Highway till Lonavala>Hubli Bypass

Was amazing to drive on Atal Setu post 3 in the morning. Was completely empty. Must have seen just another 4 cars at most. Was amazing to be the only car for certain sections at a stretch, VIP feel

Post that had checked Gmaps and it showed Eway Lonavala ghat section to be a mess, so took the old highway which was a breeze to drive on and joined the Eway post Lonavala. Caught a nice glimpse from the old highway of a complete jam on Eway ghat section.

Satara to Kolhapur was covered quickly. The diversion service roads surface is good.

Karnataka border to Belgaum wasn’t a similar experience. Thanks to all the speed breakers on service roads lost count.

Halted at Amar, Tavandi for breakfast. Mentioning this because we noticed the quality to have taken a hit.

For those travelling towards Bangalore I’d recommend to get an early head start. Won’t be easy covering these stretches during daytime with local traffic joining in. Also noticed truck drivers being a tad bit indisciplined on service roads driving in the middle and not letting private vehicles by.

Will be taking the Mangalore-Goa-Anuskura Ghat-Karad-Mumbai route while returning. The speed breakers on the Karnataka leg of diversions are a big pain for me to navigate. Not worth it.

[zodiac01]

We are planning for a Bangalore - Pune - Mumbai - Nasik - Bangalore road trip in March. In the past, we have tried the Nasik - Pune - Bangalore route.

G-maps is showing a new route option for the Nasik - Bangalore route. The best option suggested is Nasik - Aurangabad (via Samruddhi Expressway) - Solapur - Vijapur - Hospete - Chitradurga - Bangalore

While I am excited to try this new route, especially the Samruddhi expressway part, I have concerns about Aurangabad - Solapur route condition. Kindly share if anyone is aware. Or should I still stick to the Nasik - Pune - Bangalore for the return trip?

@napster, Thanks for sharing the Chitradurga - Solapur road condition, I am looking forward to it; though we would be on a return journey, I presume it would be more or less the same.

[napster]

Originally Posted by zodiac01

While I am excited to try this new route, especially the Samruddhi expressway part, I have concerns about Aurangabad - Solapur route condition. Kindly share if anyone is aware. Or should I still stick to the Nasik - Pune - Bangalore for the return trip?

I am from Aurangabad though have never used Aurangabad-Solapur highway, I checked with a friend of mine who is frequent traveller on this stretch. The entire road stretch is 4 laned between Aurangabad-Solapur and road condition is good. You should be able to cover the Aurangabad-Solapur in 4-4:30 hours. Just that there may not be lot many great eatery options.

[Knox88]

Hi All,

I would like to narrate the incident happened with one of my friend while returning from Gujarat to Banglore, via a stop in Pune. He is a frequent traveller between Nasik-Anand (GJ)-Ahmedabad route and a very experienced driver. I had asked him to go through this thread for his Journey from Banglore to Ahmedabad via Mumbai and return.

The incident happened on a Pune-Banglore highway around 1.30 PM on 2nd Jan, 2024 near Jambhulwadi lake after Pune. He drives Ford Ecosport Diesel (GJ Passing).

"I was driving from Mumbai to Pune with my wife and a kid. A biker drove parallel to my car on highway (After crossing Pune) and started indicating something.The bike tried to stop on the bridge claiming there is a puncture which I did not feel as I was cruising. When I stopped on the bridge, I heard the air hissing out. I couldn't find anything stuck in the tyre. But there were multiple punctures. I stopped right after the bridge near NH4 tea stall where there was a makeshift puncture shop located very conveniently with few bikers (not professional bikers) resting. It was all set up. The puncture shop guy did not have a jack even and asked me to open the trunk searching for some "tools".

When I told them there are so many punctures, lets just change with stepney. However, they were reluctant and were pushing for a sale of solvent. This is the location of [Puncture Shop -Scam]

There's one more puncture shop a couple of hundred meters away from this is also run by the same group of people. I sensed something is off and got away with this; finally stopped after 5 km near one garage.The mechanic there confirmed that it's a very common experience for the other state vehicles especially if they're travelling with family. The gang wont repair punctures but try to sale the sealant which repairs multiple punctures. He couldn't find any reason for the punctures in my the tyre.

He mentioned that some drivers filed police complaints as well but the gang operating this change their place of operation every now and then."

The location of the incident happened highlighted in below image.

Has anyone heard of such incident? What could be the cause of multiple punctures? Please be cautious!

[VWguy]

Originally Posted by Knox88

Has anyone heard of such incident? What could be the cause of multiple punctures? Please be cautious!

I've experienced similar bikers around the same area last year in September.

Fortunately, I decided to not stop immediately, but after a few kms. Thankfully, my tires were alright.

Maybe they have dropped multiple nails just after the bridge on the leftmost lane, expecting drivers to stop there after the warnings from the bikers. I survived, as I stopped on the left lane much later after the gestures from the bikers.

I think ignoring them is the best way possible and once you see them, try to drive in the rightmost lane to avoid any punctures.

[lionell]

Absolutely right. I have travelled frequently via this route from 2020 to 2022 and just after crossing Pune there is a toll booth, the bikers operated before the booth and after.

As described, the biker would ride parallel to the car and indicate that my wheel was wobbling with hand gestures or keep pointing to the front tyres. Since I've lived in Pune before I know of these incidents having heard them many times from fellow motorists. Some naive folks stop ahead and fall prey.

I suggest to zoom forward, show them the finger and take a wise decision. If you feel there is something wrong, it's best to stop much ahead at a pump and check.

[maheshm619]

Originally Posted by Knox88

Has anyone heard of such incident? What could be the cause of multiple punctures? Please be cautious!

Happened to me back in 2016. I think the area was the same. Is the puncture shop located at a slight incline and has a few tin sheds made side by side ?

In my case , I had multiple punctures in one tyre. The scammer was adamant in selling a sealant product as he claimed it will seal from inside. Their modus operandi is to lure the prey to one corner, while an accomplice sneaks to another side of car and pokes multiple holes to tyre. This all happens very quickly. A video of this incident is available in youtube when a biker got all of this recorded in a helmet action cam.

I was a new car owner and stupid at that time to realize all of this was a scam and lost money equivalent to a new tyre price.In addition to this I had parked the car , in morning , at a place where there were sharp pieces of windshield glass from an earlier accident , which made me believe all of it was real.