I am planning a 20 day-long trip of Bangalore-New Delhi-Amritsar-Srinagar-Manali/Rohtang Pass-Shimla-Chandigarh-Haridwar-New Delhi-Bangalore in my Linea in August/September this year.

I would request the fellow-members to advise me on the following:

* Will it be okay to drive in my Linea to Srinagar and Rohtang Pass in August/first week of September this year? Will there be any issues like bottom-scraping of my Linea?

* Can I drive from Srinagar to Manali via Pathankot [674 km] in one day assuming that I leave Srinagar early in the morning?

* Do I have to take any special precautions while driving within J&K?

* This time, I want to take the North-South Corridor for my Bangalore-New Delhi stretch via Hyderabad/Nagpur/Jhansi/Gwalior/Agra on NH7/26/75/3/2 instead of GQ, which I did last year. Kindly enlighten me with the latest road conditions of this route.

* Advice on road conditions of New Delhi-Amritsar, Amritsar-Srinagar, Srinagar-Manali, Manali-Shimla, Shimla-Chandigarh, Chandigarh-Haridwar and Haridwar-New Delhi is also requested.

* Although I have MapMyIndiaLx130 navigator with v 6.0 maps, advice based on actual experience is welcome.

* Advice on vegetarian eateries along these routes and places of stay at Nagpur/Amritsar/Srinagar/Manali/Shimla/Chandigarh [budget: within Rs 3 k/night/room]

* I will be staying at Ginger Hotels, New Delhi [Vivek Vihar] and Haridwar.

Please advise me so that I can finalize the itinerary.

[EARTHed]

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[ampere]

Srinagar to Manali would be via Leh. I dont see that in your itinerary?
Any specific reasons for that?

But, let me finalize my trip schedule first. No answers for my queries, EARTHed?

Originally Posted by ampere

Srinagar to Manali would be via Leh. I dont see that in your itinerary? Any specific reasons for that?

After visiting Srinagar, I propose to drive down to Manali via Pathankot. I am still not prepared for Leh visit! Perhaps, in another couple of years, but not now.

[LongDrive lover]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

But, let me finalize my trip schedule first. No answers for my queries, EARTHed?

WOW!! fantastic trip planned. I'll throw some light on some of your queries in a day or so. Have traveled recently on some of the routes included in your itinerary.

Originally Posted by LongDrive lover

I'll throw some light on some of your queries in a day or so.

Thanks a lot, LongDrive lover. I am eagerly waiting for your inputs.

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

But, let me finalize my trip schedule first.

Some places got chopped off, some others added and the route changed. Here is the detailed trip schedule of my Linea's proposed Kashmir trip. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

[gajadonga]

That looks a fantastic drive.
My inputs would be from Mt.Abu to Jaisalmer Day-3.
I suggest the route via Dhanera - Tharad - Sanchore towards Jaisalmer that is a good route.
When I was travelling from Jaisalmer to Nasik I had taken this route
and the road from Sanchore to Dhanera without touching Tharad is bad.

Thanks, gajadonga and noted the route suggested by you. It is 60+ km more. But, neither Google Maps nor MMI suggest this Tharad route!

[issigonis]

>>>

J.Ravi,
Assuming that you are travelling with family, please double check the viability of days 2, 19 & 20 - these three days constitute very long driving distances. I would recommend alternate routes, especially for these days in case your preferred routes have any issues ( diversions, road widening, agitations et. al)

Regards

Thanks, issigonis, for kind suggestions.

Of course, I am travelling with my family. I am keeping the Day 19 & 20 open-ended, so that I can stay en route earlier than planned in case I get tired. But, I thought, if I leave Pune early in the morning, say 4 am, I can easily reach my destination in the evening/night on Day 2 or am I too optimistic?

[hvkumar]

Some quick observations on your route plan:

- Day 5 Jaisalmer-Amritsar will be a very long day, although it is not impossible. You want to consider halting at Bhatinda or Faridkot in case you are unable to make it the same day.

- NH20 between Palampur and Mandi was in a bad shape sometime ago

- Day 15, from Chandigarh best option is to go via Ambala and on NH1 till Thanesar/Kurukshetra and then go via Ladhwa to Yamunanagar, Saharanpur & Roorkee

- Day 19 from Delhi to Nagpur is impossible unless you are a driving maniac. And with the mess that Gwalior-Jhansi is now and also the detours between Jhansi and Laknadon due to road widening, you cannot reach Nagpur the same day. Ideally, I would halt in Sagra that day.

Will it be okay to drive in my Linea to Srinagar and Rohtang Pass in August/first week of September this year? Will there be any issues like bottom-scraping of my Linea?

No problems. Manali-Rohtang Pass road is yet to be seen how good or bad it is this year. But not really a problem.

* Can I drive from Srinagar to Manali via Pathankot [674 km] in one day assuming that I leave Srinagar early in the morning?

Not possible. Pathankot-Manali itself is a full day's drive. Budget for 2 days for Srinagar-Pathankot-Manali. NH20 is also in bad shape after Palampur towards Mandi.

* Do I have to take any special precautions while driving within J&K?

AS good as any other Indian state. Be careful of places where there is heavy army patrolling like the Banihal-Jawahar Tunnel-Qazigund stretch and be ready to stop for security checks. I advise sedate speeds of 60 - 80 kmph at all times.

* This time, I want to take the North-South Corridor for my Bangalore-New Delhi stretch via Hyderabad/Nagpur/Jhansi/Gwalior/Agra on NH7/26/75/3/2 instead of GQ, which I did last year. Kindly enlighten me with the latest road conditions of this route.

Incomplete still between Gwalior and Jhansi and Jhansi & Laknadon. Gwalior-Jhansi is in bad shape. Rest is good roads currently (but not assured after rains) although road widening means many detours and debris. Large sections are complete.

* Advice on road conditions of New Delhi-Amritsar, Amritsar-Srinagar, Srinagar-Manali, Manali-Shimla, Shimla-Chandigarh, Chandigarh-Haridwar and Haridwar-New Delhi is also requested.

On NH1 beyond Panipat, road widening is messy, slow speeds, lots of detours.
NH15 and NH1A from Amritsar to SRinagar is good. Avoid Jammu by turning off NH1A at Dyala Chak and going direct to Udhampur.
NH20 has bad sections between Palampur and Mandi.

Thanks a lot, for extremely useful and practical suggestions, hvkumar.

More drop-outs [MtAbu], more stays [Sagar/Hyderabad] and more fine-tuning! Here is my latest trip schedule.

I have already reserved our accommodation at Ginger Ahmedabad/Haridwar/VivekVihar, New Delhi, to avail of early bird monsoon offer of 40% discount with complimentary breakfast thrown in.

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

I have already reserved our accommodation at Ginger Ahmedabad/Haridwar/VivekVihar, New Delhi.

More drop-outs of places and people! I cancelled my hotel bookings and revised the entire schedule dropping Jaisalmer and Shimla. Now, only myself and my friend will be going in my Linea to Leh [or as far as my Linea takes us towards Leh!]. Recommendations for places of stay with facilities for car parking in Srinagar, Kargil, Leh, Nubra valley and Pangong Tso are most welcome.

[pawan_pullarwar]

I hope your journey was wonderful with lots of beautiful pictures to share with us