[RJ2285]

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

Since you are a solo driver, then you can do it in 3 breaks. Start early AM on the first day and stretch till sunset. You should reach somewhere ahead of Ahmedabad. Halts depends on your families capacity and of course your driving capacity.

No point in staying at Kullu. Drive straight to Manali. Also watch out for roads from Bilaspur to Manali. They are pathetic.

Thank you for the heads up for the Bilaspur to Manali stretch. We have done multiple trips from Mumbai to Coorg and as suggested by you I can start early AM and drive for 16 Hours on day 1.

I will just have to look out for good stays, most importantly safe and hygienic.

[camitesh]

Originally Posted by RJ2285

We have done multiple trips from Mumbai to Coorg and as suggested by you I can start early AM and drive for 16 Hours on day 1.

I will just have to look out for good stays, most importantly safe and hygienic.

The route suggested by Ruzbehxyz is quite good. Avoids Udaipur (through mehsana sirohi pali route) and Delhi (take EPE before Delhi) which will save you quite some critical time.

About the stay for day 1, on my drives to HP / Uttarakhand in 2018 and 2019, I have done Mumbai - Ajmer on day 1 twice and Ajmer - Mumbai once quite comfortably within 15-16 hours every time being a solo driver. (although due to some personal reasons I had to go through Halol Modassa Udaipur route which had terrible patches near Udaipur). I have stayed in Paradizzo resort or The Chitvan Resort in Ajmer which are very close to the highway and pretty convenient. Ajmer - Chandigarh is a very comfortable 10-12 hours drive next day. Chandigarh and Manali has excellent stay options all year round based on your budget and preference.

But be prepared for crazy infamous traffic in and around Manali, especially this year since lots of people have missed their traditional Manali/Shimla trip in 2020 due to Covid. We originally planned to drive to Manali in June 2019 but looking at the latest traffic situation back then, we rerouted to Uttarakhand last minute. Don't mean to discourage you but driving three days and 2000 kms just to be greeted by crazy traffic (which we have quite aplenty in Mumbai) is hearbreaking so do keep a tab on traffic condition around few weeks before you drive up hill.

Good luck with your drive

[RJ2285]

Originally Posted by camitesh

Chandigarh is a very comfortable 10-12 hours drive next day. Chandigarh and Manali has excellent stay options all year round based on your budget and preference.

So you suggest Ajmer to Chandigarh instead of driving through Panipat and staying there?

[camitesh]

Originally Posted by RJ2285

So you suggest Ajmer to Chandigarh instead of driving through Panipat and staying there?

Right. No reason to stay at Panipat, start from Ajmer take a sumptuous break at one of the famous dhabhas at Murthal right on your way and then push to Chandigarh. Considering the real time traffic situation near Manali/Shimla and available days in your hand, you may relax in Chandigarh for a day and explore around before you move to hills.

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by camitesh

Right. No reason to stay at Panipat, start from Ajmer take a sumptuous break at one of the famous dhabhas at Murthal right on your way and then push to Chandigarh. Considering the real time traffic situation near Manali/Shimla and available days in your hand, you may relax in Chandigarh for a day and explore around before you move to hills.

At Murthal, you can visit Garam Dharam dhaba, owned up by none other than He-man Dharmendra.

There are various dhabas, but the one at Murtha is pure veg.







GPS position: Garam Dharam Hotel
Tajpur - Murthal Rd, Murthal, Haryana 131039, India
https://maps.app.goo.gl/boAwQheMyEG68bbY9

[Axe77]

Guys - toying with the idea of a biking trip later this year from Mumbai to Shimla.

Objective: No sightseeing for this section. Idea is to get from Mumbai to Shimla, point to point, as efficiently as possible.

The route we had in mind (from blind google maps only, without human input) is as follows. The reason I chose this is it doesn’t exceed 750 kms on any given day so accounts for any small incident and also gets us to destination well before sun down, perhaps leave some time for urgent work calls at the end of day and allow us an early tuck into bed for the next day’s ride. There are no break days within this 3 day ride.

Day 1 (Thu): 4 am dep
Mumbai --> Udaipur (~731 km)

Day 2 (Fri): 4 am dep
Udaipur —> Panipat (~746 km) [/ Chandigarh possibly?]

Day3 (Sat): 9 am dep after full night’s sleep and easy breakfast.
Panipat —> Shimla (~260 km). [/ dep from Chandigarh possibly?]

Questions

1. Does this make sense. Any alternative that does not require us to push excessively on any given day. I am conscious we could also attempt Chandigarh as the destination on Day 2.

2. Any recommended stay options at Udaipur, Panipat / Chandigarh that don’t stray far from the route. Should provide safe parking for the bike and good clean rooms to stay overnight.

3. Any specific route preference within this broad route map that should be kept in mind. Google maps needn’t be blindly followed and any actual experience based inputs will be appreciated, specially keeping in mind that we are on fast bikes.

Thank you.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Day 1 (Thu): 4 am dep
Mumbai --> Udaipur (~731 km)

Day 2 (Fri): 4 am dep
Udaipur —> Panipat (~746 km) [/ Chandigarh possibly?]

Day3 (Sat): 9 am dep after full night’s sleep and easy breakfast.
Panipat —> Shimla (~260 km). [/ dep from Chandigarh possibly?]
.

UPDATE:

Having spoken to someone, I believe its preferable to try and stretch day 2 to Chandigarh only. Will create a relaxing day 3 before our main ride starts in Himachal Pradesh.

Trip will be in end May / early June in case that’s relevant.

Thank you.

[RJ2285]

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

Mumbai - Ahmedabad - Mahesana - Beawar - Western peripheral expressway - Panipat - Manali.

This route can be done in 24 hours with two drivers.

Hi,

We are travelling next month. Which route do you suggest we take from Beawar to Western Peripheral expressway? Ajmer - Kishangarh - Jaipur? Or some other route?

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by RJ2285

Hi,

We are travelling next month. Which route do you suggest we take from Beawar to Western Peripheral expressway? Ajmer - Kishangarh - Jaipur? Or some other route?

Yes. That's the NH48 route (Old NH8 route). Beawar - Ajmer- Kishangarh - Jaipur - WPE. Jaipur onwards there is heavy traffic. Be careful on Jaipur bypass stretch for policemen with speed cameras. Also around Kotputli.

[RJ2285]

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

Yes. That's the NH48 route (Old NH8 route). Beawar - Ajmer- Kishangarh - Jaipur - WPE. Jaipur onwards there is heavy traffic. Be careful on Jaipur bypass stretch for policemen with speed cameras. Also around Kotputli.

Thanks a ton! We will be heading to shimla. and plan to halt at Zirakpur, Chandigarh. In that case, the best route is WPE - Rohtak - Panipat - Karnal - Ambala - Zirakpur? Would you know the road condition on this stretch?

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Guys - toying with the idea of a biking trip later this year from Mumbai to Shimla.

Day 2 (Fri): 4 am dep
Udaipur —> Panipat (~746 km) [/ Chandigarh possibly?]

Day3 (Sat): 9 am dep after full night’s sleep and easy breakfast.
Panipat —> Shimla (~260 km). [/ dep from Chandigarh possibly?]

Google maps needn’t be blindly followed and any actual experience based inputs will be appreciated, specially keeping in mind that we are on fast bikes.

Originally Posted by RJ2285

Hi,

We are travelling next month. Which route do you suggest we take from Beawar to Western Peripheral expressway? Ajmer - Kishangarh - Jaipur? Or some other route?

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

Yes. That's the NH48 route (Old NH8 route). Beawar - Ajmer- Kishangarh - Jaipur - WPE. Jaipur onwards there is heavy traffic. Be careful on Jaipur bypass stretch for policemen with speed cameras. Also around Kotputli.

Originally Posted by RJ2285

TWe will be heading to shimla. and plan to halt at Zirakpur, Chandigarh. In that case, the best route is WPE - Rohtak - Panipat - Karnal - Ambala - Zirakpur? Would you know the road condition on this stretch?

Please do not follow google maps on this route, like this -

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Kish...30.6679559!3e0

Basically, do not follow any directions leading to Highway - 152-D. It's a brand new road but under construction with missing bridges and completely unmotorable sections:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans–Haryana_Expressway

For some reason, Google is suggesting this road. A few days back, we took this road while coming from Chandigarh to Gurgaon and it took us some good off-roading and 7 hours to do a distance that normally is 4-5 hours.

You need to follow Kotputli - Neemrana- Bawal- Jhajjar- RohtakBypass- Gohana- Panipat - Ambala- Chandigarh. This is the route to be taken.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Kotp...393132!3e0!5i1

[RJ2285]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

You need to follow Kotputli - Neemrana- Bawal- Jhajjar- RohtakBypass- Gohana- Panipat - Ambala- Chandigarh. This is the route to be taken.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Kotp...393132!3e0!5i1

Thank you for your guidance. We plan to drive from Ajmer to Chandigarh the same day.

Is the below route doable? I thought Ajmer - Chandigarh would be a 12-hour journey at max. Google maps shows 14 hours for the below route.

Is the below route correct?

Ajmer - Kishangarh- Jaipur - Kotputli - Neemrana - Jhajjar - Rohtak bypass - Gohana - Panipat - Ambala - Zirakpur

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by RJ2285

We plan to drive from Ajmer to Chandigarh the same day.

Ajmer - Kishangarh- Jaipur - Kotputli - Neemrana - Jhajjar - Rohtak bypass - Gohana - Panipat - Ambala - Zirakpur

Correct, this is doable. Try to leave early. Good food is plenty on Jaipur until you turn towards Jhajjar and thereafter Panipat when you join GT road. Do stop for the famous Gohana Jalebis with Tea

[tazmaan]

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

This is the route I took in Oct. 2020.

Mumbai - Ahmedabad - Mahesana - Beawar - Western peripheral expressway - Panipat - Manali.

This bypasses Udaipur and the bad roads around. Roads from Bilaspur to Manali are in bad shape.

This route can be done in 24 hours with two drivers.

I am driving to Manali in first week of May.

Itinerary
Car: Isuzu V-cross

2nd May : Mumbai to Ajmer Via Ahmedabad and Udaipur.
3rd May: Ajmer to Chandigarh
4th May: Chandigarh to Kullu after picking up family from the Airport
5th May to 8th May : Explore around with Kullu as the base
8th May to 13th May Manali : Explore around With Manali as the base
14th May return via same route with drop off at Chandigarh Airport.

I will be driving Solo till Chandigarh and back.

Would like to know if its possible to reach Kullu before Dark if I leave Chandigarh airport 12 noon. (Kids have motion sickness so have to drive slow around mountains)

Also is it easy to obtain permit for a Day trip to Rohtang from Manali and the process for the same. If not Rohtang what other day trip can I do for snow.

Any other tips to explore around Kullu/Manali for day trips are welcome.

[VT-RNS]

Originally Posted by tazmaan

Would like to know if its possible to reach Kullu before Dark if I leave Chandigarh airport 12 noon. (Kids have motion sickness so have to drive slow around mountains)

Also is it easy to obtain permit for a Day trip to Rohtang from Manali and the process for the same. If not Rohtang what other day trip can I do for snow.

Any other tips to explore around Kullu/Manali for day trips are welcome.

Hi Tazmaan,

I did the the Mumbai-Manali route in Feb as part of an extended trip. Still writing the TL so can't share the link to it, but let me share response to your above queries.

1) It will be dark by the time you reach Mandi, or just about sunset. We left from Chandigarh at 1 pm and we were at Bilaspur by sunset (did get 45 min traffic jam due to a Heavy vehicle breakdown). We were at Mandi at 8 pm. Had dinner there.
After that, coz its night, you dont take the NH3 (which is in very bad condition), but you will take the old route via IIT Mandi, Kamand, Kataula, Tihri and join back the NH at Bajaura. The road itself is very good. Nothing to worry.
We had left Mandi by 9 pm and reached Manali by midnight. Expect drive frm Mandi to be 2 to 2.5 hours to reach Kullu.

There was hardly any vehicles on the stretch, and you have to be careful, but its doable. Since kids have motion sickness, be careful as this road is quite winding.

2) Given how crazy the traffic is in these tourist places, I would recommend just take local transport/car hire and keep your car safe. In Feb, due to snow, many private cars were damaged, while we took car hire and were able to enjoy stress free (even simple thing like Parking is an issue in own vehicle)

3) Other places: Solang Valley (Again, take cabs). I would suggest even Keylong/Sissu. This allows you to drive through Atal Tunnel (if its open for visit in May, hopefully it is).
I really enjoyed drive & views of Kasol/Tosh. Yes, people go there for many reasons, but as a nature lover, the drive to Tosh via Kasol was brilliant, and then the walk around Tosh and visit to Pinki Didi cafe and the views from there was something to cherish.

PS: Glad you taking the Ahmedabad-Abu Road-Pali-Beawar route if the idea is to reach Ajmer on Day 1.
The roads are 4 lane at a minimum, and after the sun sets, its very peaceful to drive. I did Abu Road to Kishangarh in 5 hours in a very comfortable drive (7 pm to midnight) with barely any car traffic. And trucks were very disciplined, also tons of space.

Enjoy and have a great time!
Cheers!!