[gvasant]

Hi All
After my tour in 2009 (which was largely guided by hvkumar & longdrive lover), i am again gearing up for a trip to Mumbai and further down to Mangalore. Can you guide me on the current situation of the SHivpuri-Indore-Nashik section?? and also has the stretch from Nagpur-Lakhnadon-Sagar-Jhansi improved??
Regards

[hvkumar]

Shivpuri-Indore-Nashik:

Continues to be 2-laned from Shivpuri till Dewas. Roads will crack up once the rains start.
From Dewas to MP border it is fantastic 4-laned road, bypassing Indore.
MP-MH border is in a mess with chronic traffic jams.
Road widening from MH border all the way to Dhulia, not in good shape.
Lovely 4-laned road from Dhulia till about 20 kms before Nashik.
Road widening causes disruptions in the last few kms into Nashik.

Nagpur-Laknadon-Sagar-Jhansi:

Road widening from Nagpur towards Kamptee.
Conventional 2-laned roads through Pench WLS till some distancve before Seoni.
4-laned lovely roads to Laknadon.
4-laning almost complete between Laknadon & Sagar va Narasinghpur, with diversions in some places and work in progress.
Roads bad between Lalitpur and Jhansi.

Alternative:
Shivpuri-Kota-Chittorgarh-Udaipur-Bombay
or
Shivpuri-Kota-Chittorgarh-Neemuch-Ratlam-Indore

[Vipin Kumar]

Which will be the best bet for Lucknow to Mumbai/Pune these days, provided one has got two full days' time at disposal, and avoiding late-night drive?
Vip.

[Vipin Kumar]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Alternative:
Shivpuri-Kota-Chittorgarh-Udaipur-Bombay
or
Shivpuri-Kota-Chittorgarh-Neemuch-Ratlam-Indore

Apologies for citing from an old post. Any update on the Lucknow - Indore - Mumbai route sir? Which will be the best and fast one for a two-day dawn to dusk drive?

And mods, this has become a back to back post. Could you merge them?
Vip.

[autorahul]

In my opinion, the ideal and most comfortable route, though not the shortest would be:

Lucknow-Agra-Bharatpur-Chaksu-Chittorgarh-Ratlam-Dhule-Malegaon.

After Malegaon, you can turn toward Pune or continue onwards to Nashik for Mumbai.

This route has fantastic roads starting with Lucknow-Agra expressway. You can have an overnight stay at Chittorgarh/Ratlam. The entire road is 4 laned except for roughly 70-80 km between Deoli and Chittorgarh and even that is of good quality, with low traffic.

[ashtrix]

Originally Posted by Vipin Kumar

Apologies for citing from an old post. Any update on the Lucknow - Indore - Mumbai route sir? Which will be the best and fast one for a two-day dawn to dusk drive?

And mods, this has become a back to back post. Could you merge them?
Vip.

I made a Mumbai - Lucknow - Mumbai trip in May 2017.
Day 1 I took Mumbai - Nasik - Dhule - Sendhwa - Indore and stayed overnight at Indore. Entire stretch from Mumbai to Indore is good. It was an easy drive and took us about 11-12 hours to cover the distance.
Day 2 I took Indore - Bhopal - Vidisha - Sagar - Chhatarpur - Mahoba - Kanpur - Lucknow. This stretch was covered in 13-14 hours. Bhopal to Mahoba is 2 lane state highway which is not bad except a few bad patches here and there but then there is no toll and its a smooth drive.

On return I took Lucknow - Kanpur - Jhansi - Shivpuri - Baran - Jhalawar - Ujjain - Indore. This stretch was faster and it took us about 12 to 13 hours. Lucknow to Baran is fantastic East - West corridor but from Baran to Ujjain its a long 2 lane state highway.

I had to make this trip via Indore otherwise the best route from Lucknow to Mumbai is Lucknow - Kanpur - Jhansi - Shivpuri - Baran - Kota - Chittorgarh - Udaipur - Ahmedabad - Baroda - Surat - Vapi - Mumbai. This route is longer but entire stretch is four lane. Udaipur can be the night halt on this route.

PS: Do not take NH 3 from Indore to Shivpuri via beaora - Guna as this is the worst road, all 2 lanes with full of potholes and miles and miles of trucks.

[Vipin Kumar]

Originally Posted by ashtrix

I made a Mumbai - Lucknow - Mumbai trip in May 2017.

On return I took Lucknow - Kanpur - Jhansi - Shivpuri - Baran - Jhalawar - Ujjain - Indore. This stretch was faster and it took us about 12 to 13 hours. Lucknow to Baran is fantastic East - West corridor but from Baran to Ujjain its a long 2 lane state highway.

I had to make this trip via Indore otherwise the best route from Lucknow to Mumbai is Lucknow - Kanpur - Jhansi - Shivpuri - Baran - Kota - Chittorgarh - Udaipur - Ahmedabad - Baroda - Surat - Vapi - Mumbai. This route is longer but entire stretch is four lane. Udaipur can be the night halt on this route.

PS: Do not take NH 3 from Indore to Shivpuri via beaora - Guna as this is the worst road, all 2 lanes with full of potholes and miles and miles of trucks.

I was actually wondering why nobody suggested the Shivpuri-Guna route. Assumed it would be really bad.

Now, I too have made the Lucknow Mumbai Pune Lucknow trip in November/December 2018.

I took the Lucknow - Kanpur - Jhansi - Shivpuri - Baran - Jhalawar - Ujjain - Indore - Nashik route, except for that my point of break was at Ujjain.

I left Lucknow at 5.25 AM and reached Baran at 1.50 PM covering a distance of 558 kms. It was superfast.

Then I was slow. The road from Baran is also good though single-lane all the way till Ujjain. But once enter Madhya Pradesh, there are potholes which one can avoid easily given that one drives with care. I was slow after Baran and reached Ujjain only at 9.20 PM (though I could have made it earlier). At Jhalawar, there are some patches where road work is going on and you may become slow.

I left Ujjain at 7.25 AM next day, wasted a lot of time at Indore and Nashik en-route and still managed to reach Navi Mumbai via Thane at 10.00 PM.

I took the same route when I returned also.

Vip.

[ashtrix]

Originally Posted by autorahul

In my opinion, the ideal and most comfortable route, though not the shortest would be:

Lucknow-Agra-Bharatpur-Chaksu-Chittorgarh-Ratlam-Dhule-Malegaon.

After Malegaon, you can turn toward Pune or continue onwards to Nashik for Mumbai.

This route has fantastic roads starting with Lucknow-Agra expressway. You can have an overnight stay at Chittorgarh/Ratlam. The entire road is 4 laned except for roughly 70-80 km between Deoli and Chittorgarh and even that is of good quality, with low traffic.

I think the route suggested by you is worth a try since Agra Lucknow Expressway has become operational. Please tell more about the route between Chittorgarh and Agra. Thanks