Hi Fellow BHPians,

I'm planning to travel from Ranchi to Mumbai on the coming weekend i.e 12th Sep'20.
Planning to take the route via Simdega-Rourkela-Sambalpur-Raipur-Nagpur-Aurangabad-Nashik-Mumbai. Please suggest on the route & road condition and impact of monsoon if anyone has recently travelled any part of this route.

Also, as I'm planning a solo travel. Please let me know if anyone is planning to travel in the same stretch.

Thanks

The routing is correct. Quite many sections are 4-lane. I have no idea about recent conditions on these stretches though.

Road between Simdega to Ambapani (on NH where you turn to Kutra) was bad in December 2019. You may take Kutra route instead of the longer Rourkela (Ved Vyas jn) one. Kutra road is good except that culvert work was going on at some places. If not over then those might have become bad patches during monsoon. Pls confirm prior.
On touching Rourkela highway either through Ved Vyas or Kutra, the section Sambalpur - Raipur - Nagpur is very good. Look out for stray cattle / dogs jumping onto the road. Also you will not find good restaurants on the highway. Plan for entering the cities/towns for refreshments.
Nagpur-Wardha section is under construction I guess. Pls check. Alternate route is through Amravati (don't know its condition). Both will join near Washim. Then till Aurangabad, it is average road, mostly w/o divider.
I think you can cut on to Nashik on reaching Aurangabad. I have not tried this route. Instead, I have headed to Pune through Nagar which is a 4 lane good highway.
Happy journey! Do share the experience.

Hello BHPians,

Hope you all are doing good and are safe.

Just checking if anybody did Ranchi-Pune trip recently? Actually, I was planning to travel to Pune in first week of November with my family. Our shih tzu will also be travelling with us. I will be grateful if someone can help with below questions since I haven't made many long journeys yet:

1. Please suggest if its ok to go ahead with the route suggested by google maps:



2. Any pet friendly hotels on the way where we could check in? I understand most of the hotels are not very accomodating if we bring our pets but my shih tzu will be in her crate mostly (one used during air travel) and she is a small breed (hardly weighing 6 kgs).

3. In case #2 doesn't work out, I am thinking of staying with her in car which would be in car parking of respective hotel where my family is staying. The car would be an Ertiga so I think I will be able to adjust. Any thoughts on this please?

4. Any other tips that can be useful for us since this will be sort of my first long distance ( > 1000 kms ) ride


Many thanks in anticipation

I did a Raipur-Pune in mid March.
Accordingly, Raipur - Nagpur - Amravati is good. Amravati - Jalna is good in some sections and patchy in some. Jalna - Aurangabad - Ahmednagar - Pune is good again. Be sure of speed violation cams in Ahmednagar - Pune route.

No idea about the pet query

Hi All,

Planning to do in October, Bangalore to Ranchi via Nagpur->Raipur->Jharsuguda->Ranchi

I do not plan to take any hotel for stay rather would stay in car during night next to a fuel station or a 24 hour restaurant. Do not plan to drive at night anyway.
Is it safe to stay this way? Has anyone done this in the past especially on this route after Nagpur? If yes, which spots or locations are safe?

Hi rkw,

Completed my trip from Ranchi to Mumbai in two days, only day drives between 6 am to 9 pm both days. The road between Simdega to Ambapani as you said was awful with potholes as deep as the size of the car. From the joining NH till Raipur-Nagpur the road was a breeze. Halted on Nagpur for the first day covering a distance of about 900 Kms. The second day started from Nagpur at 5.45 am and reached Thane (my residence) by 9 pm. Nagpur Onwards road condition was not good till Aurangabad, Aurangabad to Nasik the stretch was good however it was a two way road (but broad enough). Nasik to Thane is anyways a very good 4 lane. Need to be careful of the Traffic vehicles parked besides the highway which keep on checking the vehicle speed limits.

I'm again planning to go back to Ranchi via Indore in the coming weekend i.e. Thane to Indore on Thursday. Halt at Indore for a day. Start from Indore to Raipur on 10th Oct & Raipur to Ranchi on 11th Oct. I need to explore if there are any better alternative roads to avoid Ambapani - Simdega stretch.

Will keep posted post my travel.

Thanks!

Hi Sinnit,

Even I'm planning a trip from Indore - Nagpur - Raipur - Jharsuguda - Ranchi route on 10th Oct. I'm planning to halt at Raipur in the night besides a Fuel Pump. I've stayed like this earlier and if you ahve the necessary arrangements, you would not face much challenges.

Thanks!

Thanks & wish u a happy-safe journey! Would like to know about the alternate route that you plan to take. I don't think there is any other route skipping Simdega if you take Raipur-Sambalpur section.

Hey!

I can answer one of the questions you've posted. Which is Yes, you can travel using the google suggested route. I did this exact same road in July this year. There were two bad patches; one post bhilai and the other one around aurangabad but nothing concerning really. The rest was mostly a breeze (mind you the two lanes though). The roads are safe

About the pet, its great that you are taking a small one. I had a fully grown golden retriever which caused some trouble, but never was denied entry to the hotels I had booked. I would still recommend you to talk to the hotels that you are booking beforehand!

Hi Vishal,

Where did you stay at Raipur? Which filling station did you stay at?

What necessary arrangements do you suggest?

I am planning to start from Bangalore to Ranchi on 16th October. First night halt at Nagpur, most probably at the IOCL before I take the NH53(for Nagpur-Ranchi) stretch. Second half is still open for me, but mostly will do at Sambalpur.

How was your travel? would you please update on the road condition specifically Sambalpur to Ranchi section.

-Pramod

Travel was good Pramod. Bangalore to Ranchi via Nagpur road condition is superb.

To your question: Sambalpur to Ranchi. I took the Simdega-Kolebira road to reach Ranchi. The stretch between Simdega and Kolebira is extremely bad. About 30kms of no road. Huge pits on the road and you will have to drive mostly on first/second gear. Except that 30 kms, the road condition is good.

Thanks, I travelled on the same route, nothing changed

-Pramod