Chennai to Baroda

[Dhanasekaran]

Hello there,

On 16th of November, I am planning to travel to Baroda with my Maruti 800 along with 2 additional passengers.

Route as; Chennai, Bangalore, Belgaum, Kolhapur, Satara, Pune, Nashik, Dhule, Surat, Bharuch & Vadodara.

I presume that the route falls in Golden Quadrilateral and hope the route should be fine.

Planning to halt in Bangalore, Pune and straight to baroda.

All I know is the distance from Maps of India is 1723 Kms and I have 2.5 days available to reach this distance.

Would appreciate team suggestions and comments about route, alternate route and rad conditions, pit stops and driving assistance,...

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[hvkumar]

Alternative route would be to go from Pune to Bombay and Surat on NH8 - this is the true GQ route. My rough calculation is that this route is shorter than the Pune-Nasik-Dhulia-Surat route and faster. Except for a small stretch between Ghodbunder and Manor which has rutted roads, the rest of the route till Surat is very good although Surat-Baroda is in a bad shape (road widening, flyover construction, etc).

Bombay can be bypassed without too much of fuss from New Bombay to Thane and Ghodbunder.

Unless you have any specific reason to halt in Bangalore, you could stretch Day 1 to Hubli/Belgaum, assuming you start early enough from Madras. Day 2 will be tight, but you could reach Baroda by the day-end.

BRoadly, the distances are: Madras-Bangalore 350, Bangalore-Bombay 1050 and Bombay-Baroda 400, or 1800 kms.

The route via Nasik/Dhulia goes through ghats in 3 sections and is much slower because it is on conventional 2 lane highway. You intercept NH6 at Dhulia to reach Surat.

[akbaree]

Originally Posted by Dhanasekaran

Hello there,
Route as; Chennai, Bangalore, Belgaum, Kolhapur, Satara, Pune, Nashik, Dhule, Surat, Bharuch & Vadodara.

AFAIK Pune - Nashik - Dhule - Surat doesn't fall on Golden Quadrilateral. Moreover the road is bad in patches. I had travelled on this route some 6 months back while I was coming to Bangalore from Ahmedabad. I will suggest that you don't take this route. From Pune you can take express way to Mumbai and then NH8 to Surat. Pune - Mumbai - Valsad - Navsari - Surat. This is the GQ route. Roads are pretty good (all along 4 lane) and shorter as well. You may get a lot of traffic on NH8 but it should be fine unless you are entering this stretch at peak hours say early morning or late evening.

[nitrous]

Instead of Bangalore, halt at Belgaum.
Its more appropriate.

[Dhanasekaran]

Thanks for the response. I am planning to leave Chennai around 1:30 PM in the afternoon on 16th November. Could anybody suggest the stretch I can make on that day and a possible halt in the night with moderate comfort.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by Dhanasekaran

Thanks for the response. I am planning to leave Chennai around 1:30 PM in the afternoon on 16th November. Could anybody suggest the stretch I can make on that day and a possible halt in the night with moderate comfort.

You should reach Bangalore by 630 pm, but wading through the ring road/Nelamangala road is quite an ordeal. If you can do a very fast and a late drive, you could even do Chitradurga by 11 pm. There are several hotels on teh bypass itself. Otherwise, stop by at Tumkur which you should reach latest by 9 pm. There are 2-3 hotels near the bus stand (can't remember the name) - go into town instead of taking the bypass, wasy to locate once you get to the bus stand.

This means, assuming you stop at Tumkur, Day 2 should take you to Bombay - maybe you should stay at the New Bombay hotels (on NH4), or at Hotel Fountain at Ghodbunder on the NH8. If you do very well that taht day, you could even go all the way to Vapi where there are some good hotels like Woodlands.

[Dhanasekaran]

Thanks for the response again.

Please give me feedback about the following routes;

1. Chittoor to Bangalore

2. Nelamangala to Chitrdurga

Road condition, pit stops and any other suggestions.

Other question I have is the number of tolls I must pass through from Chennai till Baroda.

Can you tell me the tolls and likely amount tobe spent for singleway.

[Dhanasekaran]

Hello Mr.Kumar,

I am eagerly waiting for your advice.

[akroy]

Originally Posted by Dhanasekaran

Thanks for the response again.

Please give me feedback about the following routes;

1. Chittoor to Bangalore

2. Nelamangala to Chitrdurga

Road condition, pit stops and any other suggestions.

1) Chittoor bangalore is an excellent 2 laned stretch...Food stop here is A1 Plaza-10km before Palamner (also there is a Mayura near Palamner as well)
Woodys - immediately before taking Kolar BP (if coming from Chennai, to your left)
Kamat Upachar - 15km after Kolar towards Bangalore side on your right

If you are starting in the afternoon better to take the chittor route because entering from Hosur can become taxing and you will loose time...take the ring road which starts immediately after the Cable stayed bridge (it is marked), next main stop is Hebbal flyover, keep going straight you will reach Tumkur road...it will be quick...

2) Neelamangala - Chitradurga is an excellent and fast stretch...except of Tumkur BP, entire Part of the GQ is done...so u can easily do it quite fast, Chitradurga A1 Plaza to Home (in bangalore), i did in less than 3 hours in my Alto while returning from Goa...Neelamangala to Chitradurga should be easily doable in 3 hours or less...
At the start of Chitradurga BP, there is a A1 Plaza in the right (it is open till 11:30PM)
Before Tumkur, there is a A1 Plaza and a Kamat Upachar, both are good but you have to take a U turn because it is on the other side of the 4 laned highway....

For hotels near chitradurga, Davangere, Ranibennur pls contact Kumar....

Abhi

[Dhanasekaran]

Thanks for your response.

Any idea of tolls between Chennai-Blr-Belgaum-Pune-Baroda One way.

While returning I need to attend customer in hyderabad.

Advise me on the route to Pune-Hyderabad-Chennai as well and likey tolls in this route.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by Dhanasekaran

Thanks for the response again.

Please give me feedback about the following routes;

1. Chittoor to Bangalore

2. Nelamangala to Chitrdurga

Road condition, pit stops and any other suggestions.

Other question I have is the number of tolls I must pass through from Chennai till Baroda.

Can you tell me the tolls and likely amount tobe spent for singleway.

As Abhi mentioned, road conditions between Chitradurga and Hubli are not in the best shape but OK. Speeds slow down a bit and night driving is to be avoided. On the Chitradurga bypass, there are about 4 hotels offering rooms at different budgets - try them.

Tolls - lots of them. Since you asked, let me list them down!

Bangalore-Bombay:

Nelamangala, Rs 21, 25 kms from Zero Point Bangalore/Yeshwantpur
Hubli-Dharwad ByPass, Rs 23, 418 kms
Kognoli, Rs 25, 590 kms
Kini, Rs 41, 647 kms
Tasawade, Rs 41, 709 kms
Anewadi, Rs 25, 765 kms
Khambatki Ghat Tunnel, Rs 13, 796 kms
Shivapur, Rs 45, 846 kms
Pune-Bombay Expresway, Rs 118, 892 kms
Bombay Airoli, Rs 25, 1007 kms
Bombay Mulund, Rs 25, 1012 kms
Rs 402, total

Bombay-Baroda:

Bombay Mulund, Zero Point
Ghodbunder, Rs 15, 25 kms
Vasai, Rs 30, 56 kms
Charoti, Rs 25, 108 kms
Bagwada, Rs 30, 175 kms
Boriach, Rs 25, 237 kms
Bharuch, Rs 13, 348 kms
Total Rs 139

which means Bangalore-Baroda toll will be Rs 541.


I have no idea about Madras-Bangalore, not having driven through GQ after toll roads were completed.

I have posted a mail somewhere in the forum on the Reliance petrol stations between Bangalore-Bombay-Baroda.

[hvkumar]

I found the hotels on the Bangalore-Kolhapur stretch a littlempoor but once you cross into Maharashtra, you have lots of choices of eateries on the highway itself. Same situation in South Gujarat (Bombay-Vapi), but after that, quality of hotels is not great. Tyre puncture shops are aplenty. Petrol stations (especially Pure & Sure, Club HP) are also all over the place. All towns are bypassed. Road signages are good, there is no scope for confusion, it is one road all the way, after you leave Bangalore - first NH4 (except on Pune-Bombay expressway) and NH8 from Ghodbunder.

Bypassing Bombay through New Bombay (Turbhe) through Airoli, Mulund and Thane, is not a complicate dthing - you should take 1 hour for that, although you do have a couple of slow patches that can delay you by 15-30 minutes. I can guide you there in detail through PM.

[Proxima]

hvkumar and akroy, you seem to know a lot about routes. Impressive indeed.

[Dhanasekaran]

Thanks for your reponses. Very informative. Just collcted the toll info from Chennai to Bangalore.

Sriperumbudur - 25.00

Ranipettai - 35.00

This is NH4 route and not through GQ.

[madan80]

Originally Posted by Dhanasekaran

Thanks for your reponses. Very informative. Just collcted the toll info from Chennai to Bangalore.

Sriperumbudur - 25.00

Ranipettai - 35.00

This is NH4 route and not through GQ.

After ranipettai,
vellore toll- 25
vanyambadi - 35
krishnagiri - 25

(I might be off a bit here and there, but its within 200 bucks)
If you are taking the chitoor route- you just have two toll booths.
If time is a constraint, I would suggest the GQ through via hosur to bangalore. Its faster, and a better road. The route via chitoor goes through several towns and villages and this can slow you down.