[NSK123]

Pics attached. Don't miss the test car - Does anyone know this? & Punto's evening shot.

[lazybrain]

Guys

I have planned for Bangalore - Shirdi - Bangalore. Driving from Bangalore on 14th August an and coming back on 17th August (Sunday late in the evening). When i searched for the route on google maps, its showing me the following route:

Google map Bangalore to Shirdi

Since i will be able to start from Bangalore only in the afternoon of 14th August, i will be taking a halt at Hubli and starting from Hubli on 15th August early morning so that i can reach Shirdi in the same evening.

I do not have any other visiting places in the itinerary and the purpose is to take darshan at Shirdi temple.

I have already booked the hotel stay at hubli for 14th night and at Shirdi for 15th and 16th

On the way back i may probably halt at Kolhapur to visit local places and enjoy local food.

Please suggest if the route plan i have opted is correct?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by lazybrain

I do not have any other visiting places in the itinerary and the purpose is to take darshan at Shirdi temple.
I have already booked the hotel stay at hubli for 14th night and at Shirdi for 15th and 16th
On the way back i may probably halt at Kolhapur to visit local places and enjoy local food.
Please suggest if the route plan i have opted is correct?

No you dont go via Daund, but via Pune. Much better roads. The route via Daund is not that great.

Route Link


Also by any chance if you can extend your drive to Belgaum on Day 1 that would much better. Else you drive a much longer distance on Day 2.
Also you may want to add Shani Shignapur. Its on the way.

[narayans80]

I agree with ampere, I once started from Hosur at 1545 and entered Hubli from NH4 at 2150.

If you are starting much earlier from Bangalore then you might be able to cover more ground.

[condor]

Originally Posted by ampere

.. extend your drive to Belgaum on Day 1 that would much better. Else you drive a much longer distance on Day 2.

More so because of

1. the excellent stretch between Dharwad / Hubli & Belgaum
2. You will spend a lot of time going into and coming out of Hubli (from the highway). On the other hand, Hotel Sankam (for eg) in Belgaum is adjacent to the Highway.

[lazybrain]

I guess now its too late for me to change the halt destination from hubli to Belgaum since i have already booked a room in hubli through yatra with no refund policy on cancellation

Originally Posted by condor

2. You will spend a lot of time going into and coming out of Hubli (from the highway). On the other hand, Hotel Sankam (for eg) in Belgaum is adjacent to the Highway.

In any case i will be leaving for shirdi from Hubli the next day around 5 AM so i believe going out of hubli wont be a big problem since there wont be much of city traffic at odd hour

[Waxeloquent]

Originally Posted by NSK123

All,


Day 4: Visited Ellora & Ghraneshwar jyothirling and returned back to Shirdi for stay

NSK thanks for the excellent photos and post! A quick question on road condition between Shirdi and Ellora and Ghraneshwar. Good, average or bad? Thanks! Planning a trip in Sep except may take a halt at Pune and do a Lonavla.
Cheers

[NSK123]

Originally Posted by Waxeloquent

NSK thanks for the excellent photos and post! A quick question on road condition between Shirdi and Ellora and Ghraneshwar. Good, average or bad? Thanks! Planning a trip in Sep except may take a halt at Pune and do a Lonavla.
Cheers

The road is very bad. Please plan a day. We got delayed due to bad road & need to drop the Pandharpur visit next day.

Any idea which test car is that?

[JoseVijay]

Originally Posted by NSK123

Any idea which test car is that?

That is DC Avanti Sports car.

Check out the review by GTO in the below link:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super-...po-2012-a.html

[kirantp]

Originally Posted by ampere

I would say dont drive it in a single day. Later in the day, it becomes quite a bad ordeal. You may be able to do it, but to me its not worth the effort. You can break at Kolhapur for the first day (thats what I did too). And what you get in return? That day evening you can visit the Mahalakshmi temple.
(You can drive till Pune and break too)


Similarly I drove back to Belgaum Sankam, where I holed out for the night.
As far as roads are concerned, there are three parts.
- Amazing 4-lane till Pune.
- Painfully crossing Pune (Parag gave me a perfect way to cross Pune. It would easily take 1-2 hours)
- And the last 200 km (Pune-Nagar-Shirdi).

Its the last stretch that takes away the pleasure of driving. Pune-Nagar is worse than Bangalore-Mysrore. Its another 90 km from Nagar. And the roads are pathetic when you near Shirdi. Amazing pot-holed 4-lane! Never seen such a road. Pune-Nagar is very good, but has lots of traffic.

So if you combine all, then we are talking 12-13 hours to Pune another 4 hours to Shirdi and another 2 to cross Pune. Thats why I said, not worth it to drive in a single day.


If you plan to visit Aurangabad/Ajanta/Ellore, be prepared for another round of bad roads. Though I read recently that the Aurangabad-Vaijapur-Kopargaon section has been fixed.


Hotels: Kamats galore on NH4 (Dobbaspet/Ranebennur/Hubli/Dharwad.
Stay Part: Opal/Raysons in Kolhapur, Sankam in Belgaum
Smilestone near Shirur just before Nagar. Nice food court with a Coffee Day.

I have booked for evening aarti coming Sunday. Any idea whether it will be crowded for Aarti on Sunday evening and how long it might take overall?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by kirantp

I have booked for evening aarti coming Sunday. Any idea whether it will be crowded for Aarti on Sunday evening and how long it might take overall?

If its a Thr or if its a public holiday, it would be crowded. Else its the regular queue. Surely the crowd is not like Tirupathi!

[kirantp]

Originally Posted by ampere

If its a Thr or if its a public holiday, it would be crowded. Else its the regular queue. Surely the crowd is not like Tirupathi!

However, I purchased aarti pass online from the website. Aarti passes have specific number of people that will be allowed right. So based on that I hope it will not be crowded for aarti.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by kirantp

However, I purchased aarti pass online from the website. Aarti passes have specific number of people that will be allowed right. So based on that I hope it will not be crowded for aarti.

It works. You dont have to be in a regular queue. Even I had purchased the second day of my visit. But we ended visiting the first day itself!

[kirantp]

Originally Posted by ampere

It works. You dont have to be in a regular queue. Even I had purchased the second day of my visit. But we ended visiting the first day itself!

What would be a good time to start from Kolhapur to Shirdi? I have booked for evening aarti at 5PM this Sunday.

The map says it would take 7.5 Hrs to do 441KMS (the same one which you had suggested earlier) and if we are to start from Kolhapur around 6AM / 7AM we would be missing our breakfast at the hotel. Is there a good place enroute Shirdi where we can stop for BF?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by kirantp

What would be a good time to start from Kolhapur to Shirdi? I have booked for evening aarti at 5PM this Sunday.

The map says it would take 7.5 Hrs to do 441KMS (the same one which you had suggested earlier) and if we are to start from Kolhapur around 6AM / 7AM we would be missing our breakfast at the hotel. Is there a good place enroute Shirdi where we can stop for BF?

The earlier the better. Here are some notes:

- Dont start after breakfast. Start earlier... say 6/6:30?
- Have breakfast some where on the way. (Anywhere before Pune. Karad bypass has Annapurna, Point B)
- Dont stop at hotel in Pune. Cross it one shot. (Crossing route link shown below)
- A good place for break (late lunch) is Smilestone. (Point G)
- Take the Nagar bypass.
- If you dont get stalled at that bridge on river Pravara (point I), you should be there by 3:30.


Route Link