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-   -   Hyderabad - Goa : Route Queries (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/16444-hyderabad-goa-route-queries-64.html)

Always puzzles me why Bijapur is not suggested as a stopover, in spite of being exactly in the middle of the journey, both in time and in distance.
Also, driving till Belgaum takes at least 9 hours which is a tough ask especially for someone who plans to take a break.
It works out better even if anyone plans to avoid driving in the night.
In my past trips, I always started around 1pm, reached Bijapur by 7pm with a break at Gulbarga. Then started at 6 am next day and reached Goa by 12pm check-in, including a breakfast stop at Belgaum. Takes 6 hours in each leg and is least tiresome.
Hyd----3 hrs---->Gulbarga----3 hrs---->Bijapur (next morning) ---3 hrs---->Belgaum----3 hrs---->Goa
Can't have a more evenly spread out route than this.

I mostly plan the stopover at Belguam for onward journey (Hyd->Goa), but then my start times are early in the morning.
Nevertheless the main reason is to drive through the ghat section early in the day, I find the views most captivating around that time.
I am sure others should have more practical reason :)

Bijapur was always the choice for travelers departing from Hyderabad in the afternoon. There are posts in this forum a decade ago when members stayed overnight there. Zappo is one that I remember...

But most travelers try to cover Goa in a single day, and start early in the morning. In such cases, if one is exhausted, Belgaum is the best place to relax.

We too stayed overnight there on our return from Calangute in 2009. Very good range of options to stay, and also worth a visit to Gol Gumbaz.

I agree that if one is starting in the afternoon, then Bijapur is probably the only option to stop over. But in case of a early morning start, I would believe that driving all the way to Belgaum is preferable.

As regards the range of options to stay in Bijapur, I beg to differ. As a fellow BHPian delicately put it, all the places are just lodges.

We stayed at Hotel Pearl, which is one of the better 'hotels', in February this year on the way back from Goa. At around 3.00 am we found big fat bed bugs crawling all over sheets. We quickly changed and made a hasty departure.

If you want to see the Gol Gumbaz, which is worth a visit, it would be better to stop over for a hour or so at Bijapur on either the onward or return leg.

Wow. 12 hours including enroute halts for fuel, toilets, food, etc. needs spirited driving.
14 hours is what it would take any sedate and cautious driver.

I was referring to overnight stays only. Perhaps 'lodges' would have been a better word. But frankly, wouldn't we all stay in a lodge that is easy on the pocket when the intended destination is elsewhere?

I've stayed in a lodge beside the Solapur highway, and it was decent. I am not sure of the one you stayed in.

Bijapur has a wider range of options to stay when compared to Bagalkot. Belgaum however has a better range.

Agree, who wouldn't like to minimise costs. Having said that wouldn't you also like a good night's sleep.

As mentioned in my post, we stayed at Hotel Pearl in Bijapur, which is one of the better hotels in that place. And we couldn't really sleep because the bed was infested with bugs. We checked out in the middle of the night and started for Hyderabad.

After that experience, I realised why a fellow BHPian had advised me against stopping over at Bijapur.

Not only very spirited driving but also a SUV type vehicle to fly through the bad patches and pot holes that you invariably encounter at some point on Indian roads.:D

He stayed overnight in Belgaum and traveled the next day if you missed noting that.

My best timing to Goa was 10 hours, 30 minutes from Hyderabad.

Heck, we did Hyderabad to Goa in 14 hours on the motorcycle in March 2017 :D

But, those days were different and was pretty much straight forward route via. Solapur, Gandhiglaj-Amboli and then Goa.

Now we have to contemplate between these 2 routes always and choose the one that is better at that point of time of the year

I think I am going to disagree with you here. We stayed at Hotel Pearl for a night and we didn't have any issues with the bed bugs but there was this signature smell (probably from the cleaning chemicals they use) which was hard to get used to. It was all over the hotel. The Hotel Pearl is the best rated hotel in Bijapur because it's dirt cheap. We paid 990/- for a night for Non-AC room while all other hotels were like twice that price.

Another hotel we stayed in Bijapur was Hotel Madhuvan International. Nice spacious rooms, smaller baths though, really clean. We liked the food there and they have open-to-sky dining space which was really nice for a small town like Bijapur. Well trained staff as well.

Now, the unfortunate part. While en-route Goa, I tried booking a root at Hotel Pearl but it wasn't available so I was forced to book a room at Madhuvan International. It turned out good and we liked it but while returning, I fell for the reviews of Hotel Pearl and its on-the-highway location and booked a room there instead. Can't really express my feelings :uncontrol You know those days when you think you were going to die but your wife chooses not to kill you. stupid:

I have posted the latest route updates in the link https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post4279973.

Last year I travelled to Goa via Pargi-Sedam-Gulbarga. But looking at the reviews here and also through my colleague who stays is Gulbarga, the best route is via Zaheerabad-Humnabad-Gulbarga. It seems they were able to cover Gachibowli-Gulbarga in 3 hrs. Planning to take this route to Goa on Nov 1st and will be starting around 2 AM from Hyderabad.

I was wondering if the Hyderabad Goa route is safe enough for a single driver, was planning to cover the route in the day-time. I did non-stop runs from Pune to Goa with friends quite a few times but from hyderabad it would be a first. My wife would have been a co-passenger but unfortunately she will not be able to come due to some family emergency. I had been planning this trip for days at end and had spruced up my car along with bracing up my prep with the road-trip guidelines from the relevant threads in team-bhp. The "safe enough" remark was related to the general road conditions and suitability for a 9 year old Alto to be able to embark on this.

No safety issues on this route.Roads are average to good.No 4lane anywhere.Single driver can easily do it.We used to do it in a M800 about 5 years back.Fuel stations are easily available.There are some lonely stretches but no safety issues heard of till now.As for the car condition,you would be the best judge of that.Service centers are available in all the towns and considering its a Maruti,breakdown assistance shouldnt be a major issue.

Many thanks ranjitp1. The car is in good shape and is driven sedately. Got a general check-up done over the last weekend as well in anticipation of the trip.

The route should not be a problem for a single driver in a well maintained car. Though I've not driven alone in this route, have done 3-4 drives to Goa from Hyderabad. Do keep in mind that it would not be a drive where you have day light all throughout since a typical Hyd-Goa drive would take around 13-14 hours with 2-3 stops of half hour each, if driven at sane speeds. Hitting the final ghat sections before Goa is best done before 6PM since it can get really dark and deserted post that. So to hit the ghats early you need to start really early from home, say 5-6am.

If you're a driver who has done such extended periods of driving alone, without fatigue, then it shouldn't be a problem. If not, you can have a much more relaxed drive by breaking your journey at Bijapur or Belgavi. Both places have stay options. If I were to take on this trip strictly during day, I would start early at around 6am from Hyderabad, stop over at Bijapur or Belgaum, have a good night's sleep and then start to Goa after an early breakfast. Belgavi is much closer to Goa, in case you want to have a short drive for the 2nd day compared to Bijapur, which is more like a mid point for the entire drive.