Team-BHP - Chennai - Goa| Road trip Queries

Dear Members, we are planning for a road trip to Goa from Chennai sometime in Oct or Nov. I will do a stop over at Bangalore at in-laws and the journey will continue from there. While I have done a road trip to Goa from Bangalore some 4-5 years back, I don't quite remember the route choices we made back then and I wanted to know the best routes to take, routes to avoid etc in current times given the road conditions could have changed or improved.

Appreciate some guidance on the best route plan from members who took a trip in recent times/ or aware of the recent state of roads.

Also, how open/accessible is Goa at the moment ? All of us in the family are fully Vaccinated by the way.

Thanks!

Even without your stopover, there is no real choice apart from going via/bypassing Bangalore till Bankapur toll from Madras. The eventual route beyond will be decided on your destination in Bangalore and Goa. You can refer the latest posts in the below 3 threads where these 2 sections are discussed in mind numbing detail:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...e-queries.html
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...e-queries.html
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...e-queries.html

We are planning for a Goa trip in Sept from Chennai and was wondering if we should take the road or flight. I see the following pros and cons for the road trip but would like to have your valuable and experienced suggestions

Pros:

Less expensive: For 6 of us, the cost would be half if we go by road compared to flight
Local transport : I guess we will have more flexibility and it would be cost effective as well

Cons:

Will have to spend an extra day as we would need to take a break in between.
It could be bit tiring for aged people
There could be potential safety issues from locals as I will be using an outstation vehicle ??

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinucv (Post 5373882)

We are planning for a Goa trip in Sept from Chennai and was wondering if we should take the road or flight.

You should not be asking this question on Team -BHP!:D

Jokes apart, my vote is for driving to Goa. Road conditions on the Chennai - Bangalore - Goa route should be good for the most part, and the trip can be done with one halt at Bangalore. There are no safety issues w.r.t locals for out of state private cars. If you take a flight, you will have to hire a cab in Goa for sightseeing, and cab rates in Goa are ridiculously exorbitant, to put it mildly.

Bangalore to Goa route details can be read here:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ml#post5373873

Pish posh. Drive or fly he asks.

Unless you are going to subject the elders to some really bad physical difficulty (depends on your vehicle, your driving style or lack of breaks) or have someone who's got a bad case of motion sickness by all means drive. Don't worry about anything. . . make it an annual family ritual. Once you get hooked to really long drives with loved ones you'll never want to do vacations any other way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinucv (Post 5373882)

We are planning for a Goa trip in Sept from Chennai and was wondering if we should take the road or flight. I see the following pros and cons for the road trip but would like to have your valuable and experienced suggestions

Cons:

Will have to spend an extra day as we would need to take a break in between.
It could be bit tiring for aged people
There could be potential safety issues from locals as I will be using an outstation vehicle ??

Have done it by road 3 times and roads are the way to go. There are no issues of using an outstation vehicle as most of the vehicles are from neighboring states only :D. For the best route, depending on where you are headed to, please check the BLR-GOA and CHN-BLR threads!

Uber/Ola is not allowed in the state (the last time I went), so if you plan to travel a lot within, then it will end up being very expensive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb (Post 5373906)

Thank you

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ferruccio (Post 5375555)

Thank you. I will be driving an Endeavour 2.2 (without 4WD)

Quote:

Originally Posted by arvind71181 (Post 5375637)

Thank you. I would be heading to Margao

Bumping this thread to update my recent Chennai Goa roadtrip.

Onwards
Goa (Panjim) - Chennai
Day 1 : Goa to Bangalore
Day 2 : Bangalore to Chennai

Return
Chennai - Davanagere
Davanagere - Goa (Panjim)

Both side route was same

Goa - Ponda- Mollem - Ramanagar ( this section work is going on for bridge construction so expect few bad patches and narrow lanes) Join Pune Bangalore Highway at Dharwad - Dharwad ( worst traffic - truck wars in a tight two lane highway) Hubli - Davangare -Sira ( speed stretch low traffic 6 lane) - Tumkur - Bangalore ( usual crawl into city till you catch NICE road) NIGHT HALT

Bangalore - Krishnagiri - Ambur - Kancheepuram (heavy construction work of bridges going on in this stretch so took right towards Auto Corridor at Vallam and joined Chennai Trichy highway at vandalur to enter city through Bypass till Maduravoyal)

Return was smoother
Chennai - Thirumazhisai - Seiperumpudur (congestion had cleared by return date 10Jan23 but still slower moving) After this speed stretch till Krishnagiri - Electronic City - Bangalore bypass Tumkur - Sira - Davangare. NIGHT HALT @ Sri Sai International (best option for super hot water clean rooms and a nice restaurant with open air candle light setting- highly recommended for 3k/night)

Davangare - Hubli bypass - Dharwad Left towards Ramnagar to get on Panaji highway- Mollem national park Dudhsagar resorts on either side of border- Ponda -Kadamba Plateau - Panjim.

Both sides night halt was changed to Drive more on day 1 and comfortably reach destination next day afternoon.