[ritayan]

Guys

I am moving to Pune for a couple of months and am looking for your advice on the best route as I am planning to drive down. Time is a constrain and I will be the lone driver, rather the only person traveling. Also I will be traveling in my year old Marina LS with 14K on the ODO. Any tips on vehicle checkup before the trip.

Pune Guys, any pointers on the preffered Tata Service station in Pune as I will be spending 3~4 months there.

[hvkumar]

Best route is NH8/GQ/NH4. Delhi-Jaipur (take Bypass)-Kishangarh (go off NH8)-Chittorgarh-Udaipur (NH8, take bypass)-Himmatnagar-Ahmedabad (take bypass)-Vadodara (Expressway)-Surat (bypass)-Vapi-Thane (bypass Bombay)-New Bombay-Kalamboli-Pune (Expressway).

The road is outstanding. You can easily cruise at 100 kmph. I am a very fast driver,so I drive Bombay-Delhi morning (300 am) to evening (800 pm), 17 hours, all 1445 kms of it, so you can imagine how fast the roads are. In case you want to take breaks 9assuming still that you are a fast driver), you can make it to Ahmedabad the same day from Delhi (or Udaipur if you are slow) and the second day, make it from Ahmedabad to Pune. Bypassing Bombay is not a difficult task if you take the Ghodbunder-Thane-Airoli-Turbhe (New Bombay)-Nerul route.

Facilities are good all along - Reliance petrol pumps, hotels, dhaabas, puncture shops, etc. Traffic is good (but can be bad in the Vadodara-Surat sector), and the Ahmedabad-Vadodara expressway is one of teh best roads in India (make sure that you bypass Ahmedabad by gettng into the Ring Road/Expressway 15 kms before the city.

[moralfibre]

Hi Ritayan,

The following links will be helpful for you:

Mumbai - Delhi drive 1

Mumbai - Delhi drive 2

[sportive_guy30]

Hello,

Thanks for the route explaination. First week of May I am planning to drive in Honda city from Pune to Ahmedabad. In order to avoid heat I will start my journey by evening 5-6 from Pune and will take over night halt near Ghodbunder. Next day morning by 6 will start journey to Ahmedabad and expect to reach by 11.

Can anyone suggest good family hotel for overnight stay at Ghodbunder? Also let me know good fuel stations on the route till Ahemdabad. Through other posts I have read about Reliance outlets are good. Kindly also note any other thing I should consider as on this route as I am travelling for the first time on this route.

Thanks & Regards.

[Pacifica]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Best route is NH8/GQ/NH4. Delhi-Jaipur (take Bypass)-Kishangarh (go off NH8)-Chittorgarh-Udaipur (NH8, take bypass)-Himmatnagar-Ahmedabad (take bypass)-Vadodara (Expressway)-Surat (bypass)-Vapi-Thane (bypass Bombay)-New Bombay-Kalamboli-Pune (Expressway).

The road is outstanding. You can easily cruise at 100 kmph. I am a very fast driver,so I drive Bombay-Delhi morning (300 am) to evening (800 pm), 17 hours, all 1445 kms of it, so you can imagine how fast the roads are. In case you want to take breaks 9assuming still that you are a fast driver), you can make it to Ahmedabad the same day from Delhi (or Udaipur if you are slow) and the second day, make it from Ahmedabad to Pune. Bypassing Bombay is not a difficult task if you take the Ghodbunder-Thane-Airoli-Turbhe (New Bombay)-Nerul route.

Facilities are good all along - Reliance petrol pumps, hotels, dhaabas, puncture shops, etc. Traffic is good (but can be bad in the Vadodara-Surat sector), and the Ahmedabad-Vadodara expressway is one of teh best roads in India (make sure that you bypass Ahmedabad by gettng into the Ring Road/Expressway 15 kms before the city.

Dear HVK,

Many apologies for raking up a 5 year old thread. However, I am planning to drive Delhi (Noida) to Pune over the New Year and since this thread exactly describes that, I reopened it.

I am relocating to Pune. My family (wife, 10 month old son, and dog) and I will be driving down in our 2008 Hyundai Sonata Embera A/T (petrol).

Initially our plan was to split the drive across three days as follows:
D1: Noida to Udaipur (700 km) - 12 hours. Start at 6AM and reach by 6PM.
D2: Udaipur to Surat (500 km) - 8 hours. Start at 6AM and reach by 2PM.
D3: Surat to Pune (450 km) - 8 hours. Start by 6AM and reach by 2PM.

We had budgeted a longer drive on day one as we would be freshest then, and after that we wanted to keep the travel time down to 8 hours a day. Also, we feel that it would be easier on the baby and the dog.

However, my wife feels that a better schedule would be:
D1: Noida to Bhilwara (530 km) - 8 hours. 6AM to 2PM.
D2: Bhilwara to Vadodara (520 km) - 8 hours. 6AM to 2PM.
D3: Vadodara to Pune (550 km) - 9 hours. 6AM to 3PM.

She feels this way we would have sufficient buffer for delays, etc. en route.

Could you please advise which of the two would be more feasible? I think her itinerary is very sensible but I am not sure about accommodation etc. at Bhilwara. Udaipur, Vadodara, Surat, etc. are all big cities where accommodation shouldn't be a problem, but I don't know about Bhilwara.

Also, is the route you have posted still the best way to drive Delhi to Pune? Based on your advice we will be booking hotels en route, planning our breaks, etc.

My wife and I would take turns driving. The only thing is that night driving is out of the question. All travel has to be done in the day only. Ideally we want to start early in the mornings to avoid traffic, and reach our destinations in the afternoon before the evening rush hour starts.

[Pacifica]

Dear HVK,

I followed the route you had recommended and it was great. Thank you very much for the guidance.

Although I missed the Jaipur bypass and wasted one hour navigating rush hour traffic in Jaipur, the rest of it was all as per your directions.

The road conditions were excellent throughout - no bad patches at all. Lots of tolls, but at least the roads were very good.

I drove solo, we decided that it would be too tiresome for my wife and 10-month old son. My dog was my sole companion for this road trip.

For anyone else planning to drive Delhi - Pune, I can whole-heartedly endorse the route recommended by HVK.

Thanks again.

[S_U_N]

Perhaps the right thread to bump up.

I need to drive down from Vadodara to Pune after a couple of weeks. Question is how much time should I expect to complete the 550 KM track. I assume the Narmada bridge condition is the same (and hence I will take the Golden bridge alternative).
I have been on this route one year ago, so I am not sure of current road conditions.

I cannot leave from Vadodara before 3 PM (Sunday) and target is to reach Pune as early as possible.

[abhijitvp]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

Perhaps the right thread to bump up.

I have been on this route one year ago, so I am not sure of current road conditions.

I cannot leave from Vadodara before 3 PM (Sunday) and target is to reach Pune as early as possible.

Roads are excellent throughout. Take Bharuch-Ankaleshwar route to avoid traffic on BP.

Expect some traffic at Fountain Hotel Juction at the start of Ghodbandar road and near thane where some flyovers are under contruction.

Sunday afternoon start is not ideal time to leave towards Mumbai. You will face a lot of traffic as you come closer to Mumbai. Please account for 8-9 hours of driving time at least.
1. Vadodara - Fountain Hotel (Ghodbandar Road) 5 -5.5 hours
2. Fountain Hotel - Turbhe via Thane, Kalwa, Airoli - 1 hour
3. Turbhe - Outskirts of Pune via express-way - 1.5 hours

[S_U_N]

Thank you for the inputs.
I am OK if I reach by midnight or by 1 AM. Beyond that will be difficult for me to drive.

[sushil.raddi]

Guys,
I plan to travel from Pune to Delhi on 24th December. How is the condition of NH3 now, or is it still better to take the GQ?

I have traveled Pune Delhi by GQ a couple of times, and was thinking of exploring via NH3. Google shows NH3 to be faster and shorter, however your suggestions please on the current road situation.

2 regular drivers - Chevrolet Captiva.

Rgds
Sushil

[Wanderers]

Originally Posted by sushil.raddi

Guys,
I plan to travel from Pune to Delhi on 24th December. How is the condition of NH3 now, or is it still better to take the GQ?

Hi,

I would suggest you to stick to Mumbai Expressway and GQ combination. Not only you would get the best roads, this route has better options for food, stay and car service.

I recall that couple of dealerships of Chevrolet are located on the GQ itself.

[Krishnan V G]

Dear friends, we (wife and I) are driving from Gurgaon to Pune, leaving on the 30th March and have to reach Pune the next day. What is the best route to take? Can leave early in the morning on both the days. Please do suggest options to stay on the night of the first day. We can drive up to Ahmedabad and stay close to Ahmedabad Vadodara expressway to leave the city quickly the next morning. Please share your views. Thanks

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by Krishnan V G

Dear friends, we (wife and I) are driving from Gurgaon to Pune, leaving on the 30th March and have to reach Pune the next day. What is the best route to take? Can leave early in the morning on both the days. Please do suggest options to stay on the night of the first day. We can drive up to Ahmedabad and stay close to Ahmedabad Vadodara expressway to leave the city quickly the next morning. Please share your views. Thanks

Hi Krishnan,

The route is the "standard" NH8:
Gurgaon - Jaipur / Jaipur bypass - Kishangarh - Chittorgarh (NH79) - Udaipur - Shamlaji - Himmatnagar - Ahmedabad - Vadodara - Bharuch - Surat - Vapi - Turbhe - then Mumbai Pune Expressway.

Emailed it to you as well

[Krishnan V G]

Thanks a lot for sharing the details almost immediately. Appreciate that. Any suggestions/recommendations for the night stay in Ahmedabad? Just close to the Ahmedabad Vadodara expressway so that I can get out of the city quickly and early.

[subbaraomr]

Gurgaon to Udaipur is about 9 hours. Getting out of Gurgaon can be messy till you are 30-35kms out because trucks create a mess parking. I tried leaving later but that doesn't work either. Thereafter the route via Chitorgarh is great. Bit of a stretch driving to Ahmedabad since it will be another 4-5 hours but you could try if both of you drive. My wife and I have driven Baroda to Pune in about 11 hours at comfortable pace and could have managed from Ahmedabad. We being senior citizens take it easy and were staying a night in Jaipur, Udaipur, Baroda. You will be better off with a two night break