[kshivaa]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

We were just 3 guys out there in Mumbai and somehow decided to take a different route just for fun as we had no time constraints in terms of reaching back to Bangalore.

The exact route that we took was as below:

Thane-Mumbai-Panvel-Vadkal Naka-Khed-Chiplun-Sawantwadi-Panaji-Margaon-Karwar-Ankola-Yellapura-Sirsi-Sagara-Shimoga-Tumkur-Bangalore

EDIT: One of my friends recently took the Bankapura-Yellapura road on his way to Goa just a week before and was telling me that the road conditions were good. During the same trip to Goa a week before, I took Belgaum-Chorla to reach Goa.

Thanks paragsachania , I am taking NH 17 out of Mumbai since road conditions are good . As I am time bound to reach Chennai on Sunday night and would need a break on Saturday (driving solo), thinking of taking a break at Belgaum or Hubli. Hence, planning to exit NH17 after sawantwadi or at mapusa and take the Chorla route to reach Belgaum.

Is that road condition also good? Approx how long would it take to reach Belgaum if I were to take this roue?

thanks
Siva

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by kshivaa

Thanks paragsachania , I am taking NH 17 out of Mumbai since road conditions are good . As I am time bound to reach Chennai on Sunday night and would need a break on Saturday (driving solo), thinking of taking a break at Belgaum or Hubli. Hence, planning to exit NH17 after sawantwadi or at mapusa and take the Chorla route to reach Belgaum.

Is that road condition also good? Approx how long would it take to reach Belgaum if I were to take this roue?

thanks
Siva

Please do not take the Chorla Ghat route. I took this to Goa 2 weeks back (Onward and Return) only because I had to drop my mother in Belgaum. Though the entire stretch of Chorla is in good shape, there is an almost 4km of non existent road nearing KA-GA Border. There was massive work in progress in terms of repairing the roads and laying fresh layer of asphalt but looking at the progress just 2 weeks before I am very sure the case would not have got any better.
My Suggestion : Continue on NH17 till Karwar and deviate towards Ankola-Yellapura and reach Hubli. Definitely a better option if you ask me.

[goandude]

Originally Posted by kshivaa

Thanks paragsachania , I am taking NH 17 out of Mumbai since road conditions are good . As I am time bound to reach Chennai on Sunday night and would need a break on Saturday (driving solo), thinking of taking a break at Belgaum or Hubli. Hence, planning to exit NH17 after sawantwadi or at mapusa and take the Chorla route to reach Belgaum.

Is that road condition also good? Approx how long would it take to reach Belgaum if I were to take this roue?

thanks
Siva

If you are time bound, NH4 should be the only option. It is fast 4 laned throughout and with no deviations till Chennai. You could take a break at Belgaum (Sankam) or Devangere (sai international).

[kaushik60]

Hi!
I'm going to be on the NH4 for a trip down south from Pune. I'm looking for a decent place to halt overnight at Dharwad. Can anyone help me with hotels near Dharwad? Not looking for anything too poch, it should just be decent and have basic facilities. Needed only for overnight stay before continuing journey the next day. Would prefer it if I can find a hotel on the highway itself.
Thanks in advance,
Kaushik

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by kaushik60

Hi!
I'm going to be on the NH4 for a trip down south from Pune. I'm looking for a decent place to halt overnight at Dharwad. Can anyone help me with hotels near Dharwad? Not looking for anything too poch, it should just be decent and have basic facilities. Needed only for overnight stay before continuing journey the next day. Would prefer it if I can find a hotel on the highway itself.
Thanks in advance,
Kaushik

Ideally, stay in Hotel Ayodhya, Hubli town. Just 2-3 kms inside town. No hotels on Hubli-Dharwad bypass

[kaushik60]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Ideally, stay in Hotel Ayodhya, Hubli town. Just 2-3 kms inside town. No hotels on Hubli-Dharwad bypass

hvk sir thanks for your suggestion!
Actually, we are heading to Gokarna from Pune, we will leave Pune by 4 PM. The reason we are staying at Dharwad overnight is because we are on 3 bikes, and we had reservations about doing the Dharwad-Kalghati-Yellapur-Gokarna stretch at night. So, I was hoping to get a hotel before the turn off from Dharwad to Kalghati. In any case, I will check out Hotel Ayodhya.
Sir in your opinion, is it risky to do the Dharwad-Gokarna stretch at night on bikes? If it is ok, it will save us a lot of trouble, as we already have accommodation at Gokarna.
Thanks for your help!

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by kaushik60

hvk sir thanks for your suggestion!
Actually, we are heading to Gokarna from Pune, we will leave Pune by 4 PM. The reason we are staying at Dharwad overnight is because we are on 3 bikes, and we had reservations about doing the Dharwad-Kalghati-Yellapur-Gokarna stretch at night. So, I was hoping to get a hotel before the turn off from Dharwad to Kalghati. In any case, I will check out Hotel Ayodhya.
Sir in your opinion, is it risky to do the Dharwad-Gokarna stretch at night on bikes? If it is ok, it will save us a lot of trouble, as we already have accommodation at Gokarna.
Thanks for your help!

The best place to turn off NH4 is at Hubli - onto the Karwar Road or NH63 - and more often than not the Dharwad-Kalhatagi road is narrow and in bad shape, so avoid this short-cut and take the Hubli-Kalhatagi NH63.

NO safety issues at night. It is a lovely road to drive in. D go on till Gokarna same night if you can.

[kaushik60]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

NO safety issues at night. It is a lovely road to drive in. Do go on till Gokarna same night if you can.

Will surely do this. Thanks a lot sir!

[hrman]

Looks like there are lesser people travelling the Bangaore-Mumbai route this time compared to last time.

I exhausted most of my holidays this year, and with my new role, cannot take the liberty of one week's off this time like I usually do.

It would have been a pleasure to blast through the trail with the Rapid. Maybe next time.

[dish]

Did the Bangalore - Mumbai route on 26 Nov as part of the roadtrip to gujarat. Took 10 hrs to reach navi mumbai. Started at 4 am from malleswaram. Two snack breaks - one at McDonald Kholapur and the other at Datta snacks after Panvel. Roads are good through out. Did the trip in a Ford Endevour

[Selective]

Just a word of caution:

If anyone is entering Belgaum on the way to Mumbai or Bangalore, Belgaum traffic cops have stationed the speed interceptors just when you get off NH-4. Please remember, the speed limit is 40 KMH. When we are cruising at 80-100 on highway, suddenly cutting the speed to 40 is highly unlikely. Make sure, you reduce the speed to 40 on the service lane before taking turn towards the city. Hope this helps.

PS: The fine collected is 300 Rs.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by dish

Did the Bangalore - Mumbai route on 26 Nov as part of the roadtrip to gujarat. Took 10 hrs to reach navi mumbai. Started at 4 am from malleswaram. Two snack breaks - one at McDonald Kholapur and the other at Datta snacks after Panvel. Roads are good through out. Did the trip in a Ford Endevour

WOW!!! 10 Hours to do a Distance of 975 kms (From NTBL Toll booth) converts to an average of 97.5 Kmph which is Phenomenal average considering that:

• Starting from NTBL, 16 Toll booths till Pune-Mumbai Expressway (at least 20 minutes for all)
• At least 19 Diversions from Tumkur till Chitradurga
• 2 Diversions Between Satara and Pune
• The crawling 30-40kmph speeds at various sections of Pune Bypass itself
• 2 Breaks that you took for snacks at Kolhapur and Panvel (20 minutes each, converts to 40 minutes in all)

So your actual driving time was almost 9 hours in which you have clocked 975 kms!!

[dish]

So your actual driving time was almost 9 hours in which you have clocked 975 kms!!

Sorry, my bad. It should have read 10 hours of driving time (not including the breaks)- as measured by the GPS. That said, the Pune bye pass was very peaceful without any blocks / slow moving traffic.

[kshivaa]

I finally came back to chennai via NH17 and NH4. Started from Bandra at 5 am and took NH17 upto ratnagiri. after ratnagiri, took the highway to kolhapur and from there on NH 4. Roads were in good condition throughout. Reached Bangalore by 10 PM for a halt at a relative's place.

Loved the drive on NH17 and I feel if one does not try overspeeding, it is a lovely and safe drive. Planning to one day do entire panvel-cochin on nh 17 - May be in Thar or on Thunderbird. Thanks to everyone's comments on the road condition, I chose to take NH 17. was worth it and interesting drive, rather than the straight 4-line NH4 (provided one has the time)

[nileshch]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

So your actual driving time was almost 9 hours in which you have clocked 975 kms!!

Originally Posted by dish

Sorry, my bad. It should have read 10 hours of driving time (not including the breaks)- as measured by the GPS. That said, the Pune bye pass was very peaceful without any blocks / slow moving traffic.

That's doable very much because the average speed drops down drastically only in high traffic areas like Pune bypass and entry to Mumbai. If you are able to pass these areas at the time of relatively low traffic, it is a breeze!

I averaged about 93kmph in one of my drives from Bangalore to Mumbai. I left at 3:15 am and touched Pune at about 1:00 pm and Navi Mumbai at 2:30pm. At these times, the highways are almost empty and I crossed both easily, touching Mulund in about 12 hours, including 3 breaks totaling 1 hour 15 minutes. One thing though -- for these times, you have to be constantly driving at ~110-120kmph for most of the journey.

Originally Posted by kshivaa

Thanks to everyone's comments on the road condition, I chose to take NH 17. was worth it and interesting drive, rather than the straight 4-line NH4 (provided one has the time)

I suspect we all have the time but not the patience! You took about 4 hours more than the usual NH4 route and that's not bad at all given the fun you had on NH17.