Route update: Mumbai to Delhi via Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Nathdwara & Kota

The Mumbai to Baroda/Ahmedabad stretch remains challenging, especially the MH leg. Can't wait for the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway to open and hopefully ease the process a bit.

BHPian VT-RNS recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Hi Folks,

I did a long drive after almost 2/3 years so here we go with the update.

I will make two posts as the route taken to Mumbai-Delhi differed for 80% of the route in both directions.

Post 2 will cover Delhi NCR to Mumbai, while this post, will cover Mumbai to Delhi NCR. Here we go!

Mumbai to Delhi NCR (Vaishali at the Ghaziabad/Delhi border)

Overview: Mumbai - Ahmedabad - Udapipur - Nathdwara - Kota - Delhi NCR

We did this over 3 days, with the detour to Kota and stayed there for family reasons. You can easily do it over 2 days (like we did in the return).

Day 1: Sunday, 3 Nov 2024

We left home in the western suburbs of Mumbai at 5.10 am

Took us 3 hours to reach Valsad and take our first stop. This is at least 30 mins to 40 mins longer than usual. The stretch, though improved from the recent mayhem, has pathetic road quality. And it’s yet to finish!

The whole ‘concretization of the road’ idea is absolutely mindless and devoid of logic. Perfectly good roads are hammered & enough spoken on the forum as well.

Even the NH in GJ isn’t great! NHAI needs to pull up its socks. For the toll charged, the roads are in poor condition in the Vapi-Valsad-Surat stretch too, though not as bad as what we see in MH. Traffic is rising rapidly!

If you, like me, think DME will solve the issue, read on!

We decided to try out the relatively new section of the Delhi Mumbai Expressway NE4 that opened up from Bharuch to Baroda and onwards to Ahmedabad via NE1

It meant crossing Bharuch city, which today, being a Sunday, was empty due to the holiday & morning timing. Else, I believe it would be super tricky in rush hours.

First impressions of NE4—wide roads! That’s a relief.

Mainly cars for now. Less traffic. Dad picks up the drive so he can actually enjoy driving. Soon enough, the real ride quality is visible. Patches. Bumpy rides. The second half of the Bharuch to Surat section was especially pathetic. Dad, wisely, kept the speed around 90 kmph only.

Once on NE1, big kudos to the agency running the Baroda-Ahmedabad Expressway. Incredible ride quality! What a pleasure after driving 5-6 hours on bad roads.

Yes, traffic is super busy & vehicles zig-zag a lot. I am sure am echoing many others when I say, that NE1 needs an extra lane ASAP!

We reached Ahmedabad quickly, and after an excellent Kathiyawadi lunch in Ahmedabad, we were back on NH48 towards Udaipur.

Initially concrete, it later gets a beautiful black top that is butter smooth & with less traffic; we feel nostalgic when all roads in GJ were great!

Overall, the drive to Udaipur is great. Road is wide, good quality and less traffic. It was my first time on the new Udaipur bypass such that we didn't even have to enter Udaipur. Meant some extra toll, but good roads.

We finished Day 1 at Nathdwara, just ahead of Udaipur. Place was jam-packed due to it being Bhai Dauj.

Day 2: Monday, 4 Nov 2024

It’s a short drive (260 kms) to Kota today, as we plan to meet up with a family friend. Not our usual route to Delhi, but that’s the fun when you have a car.

Route was Nathdwara - Bhilwara - Kota. Expected it to be light traffic on the road, but it was fairly busy!

NH758, that takes a horizontal branch from NH58 at Rajsamand is an excellent 4-lane highway till Bhilwara. Bhilwara bypass route taken by GMaps is short but messy. The city has money, what houses!

Good lunch at Pooja Resort just after crossing Bhilwara and some fresh Water chestnuts from the farms in one the lakeside villages. Do stop & enjoy it!

NH758 then merges with NH27, an epic East-West highway, possibly the longest in the EW direction & connecting two extremes of India. Concrete in parts, tar in some. Solid highway along stone mining areas that took us to the coaching capital of India— Kota.

Good roads, and sparse traffic. Highways in RJ are great!

Day 3: Tuesday, 5 Nov 2024

Left Kota at 8 am, after being packed a good breakfast by family friends. Instead of driving directly towards NE4, we are advised to take the NH towards Jaipur & take the Lalsot turn to join the NE4 there. This is because our uncle says the road is 4 lane and good quality (which is true!), while the other link is 2 lane and stressful driving through villages & towns. (PS: on our return trip, we didn't do this and actually took the other link from NE4 to Kota, so read on to know how that compares!)

Once we join the NE4 at Lalsot, Dad takes over & enjoys the expressway drive. After crossing Dausa, the traffic picks up (Jaipur effect). Amenities are more visible now. 100 kmph speeds sustained. We see bumpy sections are being redone (work going on in patches). You make quick time here to reach the peripheral expressway junction!

Since we have to reach Vaishali at the Delhi/UP border near Akshardham, we are advised by GMaps to take the 148NA tolled highway from the peripheral highway junction. Smooth & no traffic till you hit the crazy roads of NH44 just before Faridabad.

Welcome to NCR and madness! Lol!

From here on, it is a slow crawl despite it being afternoon just after Diwali, and we make our way till Sarai Kale Khan - A royally screwed up junction as many lanes become few, and folks drive like it's drifting time!

After the junction madness, we take the flyover and the small drive on Dehradun highway and we reach Vaishali in 8 hours from Kota.

To wrap up the Mumbai to Delhi NCR leg:

All in all, we took a different route to go from Mumbai to Delhi this time around. My slowest and easiest drive thus far, covering over 3 days. But that's how my dad & parents liked, and we were not in a rush. The Mumbai to Baroda/Ahmedabad stretch remains challenging, especially the MH leg! Can't wait for the DME to open and hopefully ease the process a bit.

Now, let's go to the next post to cover the return journey back to Mumbai. Let's see how it goes!

PS: In case you want to see some photos & videos of the roads/journey, I posted them on Twitter. I am not a content creator, and in no way am I trying to promote my account. It's purely for the videos/photos.

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