[sumukha]

Originally Posted by blackfog

Folks, I too am doing a road trip next week from Bangalore to Indore. What's the issue with Kannad? Google Maps is showing the fastest route via Kannad but now I am wondering why to avoid it.

I travelled from Bangalore to Indore back during July 2023.

Left Yelahanka Bangalore on 11 th July @ 5.00 am, took Chitradurga - Vijayapura NH 52 , reached Vijayapura by 12 noon for lunch. Stayed at FERN RESIDENCY.

The road was excellent, Very less traffic and the drive was very comfortable.You will encounter huge trucks carrying windmill blades measuring 80 meters all through. Be watchful. The hotel was worth the money, very neat and clean, fresh linen. However has to go out for lunch and dinner as the hotel was serving Non vegetarian too with a common Kitchen.

Left Vijayapura next day early morning again at 5.am took a break in Aurangabad as I had a friend to visit, stayed @ Ambassador Hotel. The road again is excellent. However the Hotel was average and food was not good.

Started from Aurangabad @ 5.00am. the road up to Kannad Ghat was very good, You need to be driving very carefully in the ghat as you have to navigate sharp bends with huge trucks coming in the wrong side to navigate the curves. As I was driving my BMW-7 series which being 18 ft long, in some places it was scary, but ok. If you are a good and confident driver nothing to worry. The only worry is in case there is an accident, you are struck for hours. This will be true in any route you take.

Trouble started after the ghat. The new high way in still under construction, and had to drive in a very bad patch as I followed Google and entered Chalisgoan town , instead of taking the bye pass. Advice you to take Bye Pass and DO NOT enter the town.

Once you pass Chalisgoan, the road till Dhule is not all that comfortable with too many deviations. This bad patch will be around 25 KMs and it is doable though. Luckily this is the only Bad patch you will get in the entire trip from Bangalore to Indore otherwise the road is excellent.

From Dhule it is Bombay-Nashik-Indore-Delhi NH 52. Decent road with reasonable truck traffic. Reached Indore by 11.00 am. On our return trip it was only one halt @ Vijayapura. The one way distance was 1425 KMs and I being the single driver 71 years young enjoyed my Beamer a lot.

A word of caution : There are no good vegetarian hotels in the entire route, No fuel stations when in need. Fill your tank at the first sight of a bunk carry a tyre inflator as the majority of the fuel stations bluntly refuse to check/fill the air. You have to solely depend upon the road side puncture shops and their calibrations.Please have a checked spare tyre ready and puncture kit. DO NOT drive during NIGHT. The road will be empty and you will not get help in case of emergency unlike Bombay Nashik highway.

All said and done, I have done Bangalore- Indore many times Via PUNE BOMBAY. Comparatively via Vijayapur- Aurangabad- Dhule -Indore is less stress full and safe to drive. Loved this trip.

Have a wonderful and Safe trip.

[prakhar1710]

Hi all,

Recently did Bangalore to Indore trip via Solapur-Aurangabad route on 4th Nov. Started from Kadubeesanahalli in Bangalore at 4.30AM and reached Anand Vihar near Chitradurga at 8.00AM. Roads till Anand Vihar were all good with nothing much to highlight.

Had a decent 30 mins breakfast. The place is hygienic and good quality food. Post Chitradurga it’s all 4 lane road with a few instances of getting stuck behind two slow moving trucks. Reached Osmanabad at around 1 pm and had lunch at Spice Restaurant (old name MH25 Food Mall). Left at around 2pm and reached Aurangabad by 4 pm. Thereafter, Kannad ghat was quiet and peaceful. As mentioned above by someone, please take Chalisgoan by-pass and do not enter the town. This should save you atleast 10 mins. Roads between chalisgoan and Dhule is under construction and require extra caution especially during evening time and gets difficult to spot craters with no highway lights to help. Please avoid this section post 5 pm as finding help in case any assistance is required will be difficult. Reached Dhule by 7 pm and decided to take a halt. Hotel Rutruraj Residency was a decent option and within 1/2 kms from main highway. Day 1 summary - 1100 kms in 14.5 hrs.

Started at 7.30 am from Dhule to cover the remaining 270 kms. Reached Indore by 11 am with a 30 mins breakfast break in between. There were long queue of trucks near MP-Maharashtra border due to checking because of upcoming state assembly elections. Not much trouble for passenger vehicles.

Car - Ford Freestyle diesel - Titanium
Avg. mileage - 18 kmpl (couldn’t extract much due to bad driving style).

Overall experience - much easier and faster drive as compared to Pune-Nashik route. Limited food options so need to be precise in stoppages. Plenty of fuel options. Also, due to heavily loaded truck traffic, the roads are a bit undulated. So need to hold the steering very tight at 80-90+ kmph.

PS- It is my first post on this forum so please do provide feedback if any.

[mayukh42]

There are 2 alternatives to Kannad-Chalisgaon highway - now that we have the Mahamarg. One is exit at Kopargaon then meet NH52 at Malegaon through Manmad, and the other is exit at Sinnar and meet NH52 at Nashik itself.

The latter is a stretch in terms of distance as it increases it to almost double, but based on Google Maps and my own experience that matches it, the average speed is fastest in this. If starting from Aurangabad for Indore, this will be much less stressful than uncertainty on Kannad Ghats until the road is complete. This is because most of the extra distance is on the Mahamarg itself, and entire route is divided.

[prakhar1710]

Did the return leg from Indore to Bangalore on 1st Dec.

Paid the most surprising traffic fine before Kannad ghat. Policeman stationed near Chalisgaon bypass just before Kannad ghar stopped to check the documents. After realizing everything is in place, he asked me to step out of the vehicle and took me to his patrol car. Then started issuing a slip for “Carrying luggage in passenger cabin instead of truck” with a fine amount of Rs.1200. The trunk of the car was packed with big suitcases and a couple of small bags and laptop bags were kept on rear seat. Didn’t manage to convince the cop to let go and had to pay up.

This is the most absurd fine that I have ever been held for in my entire life. This incident ruined the joy of driving on empty for the remainder of the trip.

Please be careful on this route if you have a non MH registered vehicle. You will be stopped multiple times along the way.

[sumukha]

Did my road trip from Bangalore to Indore on 8th dec, this is my second trip of the year. Left Bangalore by 4.00 am and reached Aurangabad by 3.30 pm Via Vijayapura. Excellent road all through. Stayed @ Ajanta Ambassador.

Second day, Left Aurangabad by 5.00 am and reached Indore @ 11.00 am. Kannad Ghat is now free of heavy truck traffic as they they are not allowed. A big relief indeed. Road from Chalisgaon till Dhule is yet to be completed and approximately 25 KM's is a pain, but doable.

Drove the distance in my VOLVO XC 60. Enjoyed it.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by sumukha

Left Aurangabad by 5.00 am and reached Indore @ 11.00 am

Am I day dreaming? Is it really that fast now?

Originally Posted by prakhar1710

Please be careful on this route if you have a non MH registered vehicle.

This disease is across multiple stretches in MH. Have never faced such nonsensical fines, although they reluctantly wave me away after seeing all originals.

[prakhar1710]

On my return trip we started from Indore at 5 am and reached Ellora Caves before 10 am with a Vada Pav break in Challisgaon.

[BG96]

Planning from Bangalore to Indore in July.
Assuming monsoon must have arrived by then. What would be the ideal route. I will be on my Slavia.

1- Bangalore - Aurangabad - Kannad- Dhule- Indore( How is Kannada ghat in July? And are the roads from Kannada to Dhule done now? )

2- Bangalore - Aurangabad bypass - Mahamarg-Sinnar-Chandwad-Malegaon-Indore

3- Vaijapur - Yeola - Malegaon - Dhule - Indore route ( Avoiding Kannad Ghat)

4- Not planning for Hyderabad - Nagpur- Indore as I have plans to stop for Kailasa Temple for 2 hours.

Kindly suggest

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by BG96

Planning from Bangalore to Indore in July.
Assuming monsoon must have arrived by then. What would be the ideal route. I will be on my Slavia.

1- Bangalore - Aurangabad - Kannad- Dhule- Indore( How is Kannada ghat in July? And are the roads from Kannada to Dhule done now? )

I took this route last November(Indore-Dhule-Chalisgaon-Aurangabad-Solapur-Hyderabad-Bangalore), the Dhule - Chalisgaon had construction work going on. Overall, this route was fast. You can check my below post,

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5672945 (4332 Kms road-trip from Bangalore to Udaipur & Jawai in a Jeep Compass (#JeepLife))

[bimal_67]

Originally Posted by BG96

Planning from Bangalore to Indore in July.
Assuming monsoon must have arrived by then. What would be the ideal route...

I took the route at Option 1 last week on my return drive from Kerala. I did Bangalore to Indore with overnight halt at Solapur. Started from Bommasandra at 0545 hrs and reached VIP Road Solapur by 1700hrs same day having driven 638 Kms. Started from Solapur next day morning at 0525 hrs and reached Vijay Nagar Indore by 1815 hrs that day driving 729 Kms. You may check the following posts: -

1. https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ml#post5779057 (Road-trip query: Delhi - Kerala - Chennai)

2. https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ml#post5787481 (Road-trip query: Delhi - Kerala - Chennai)

The road section after Kannad Ghat till Dhule (including the Chalisgaon Bypass) is under re-pavement work and repair. In the full trip, this is the only section where I encountered bad patches. As advised by many in this forum, I took the Chalisgaon bypass where also work is in progress and no toll collection. I had considered and ruled out the other two options indicated in your post for my trip also, due to the travel time as indicated by GMaps.

[revhappy]

Hi All,

I am originally from Bangalore and I plan to relocate to Indore and live there.

I plan to travel to Bangalore like once in 2-3 months and prefer driving. Is this feasible?

Do people drive this much distance in India frequently?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by revhappy

Do people drive this much distance in India frequently?

People can do anything! Question is what you would like to do!

It's about 1400km one way. That would mean 2 days of driving one way. I definitely dont think you should drive for necessity. It can be for fun once in a while. You should alternate between air and road.


The standard routing would be : Bangalore-CHitradurga-Vijaypura-Solapur-Osmanabad-Beed-Aurangabad-Dhuie-Indore.

[revhappy]

Originally Posted by ampere

People can do anything! Question is what you would like to do!

It's about 1400km one way. That would mean 2 days of driving one way. I definitely dont think you should drive for necessity. It can be for fun once in a while. You should alternate between air and road.


The standard routing would be : Bangalore-CHitradurga-Vijaypura-Solapur-Osmanabad-Beed-Aurangabad-Dhuie-Indore.

Thanks mate! I love driving. Not a fan of air travel. I plan to retire in Indore, so I will have a lot of time on my hands . Can do train journeys too.

[BG96]

Thanks. I took this route few days ago and can attest exactly what you just suggested. Brilliant roads all through out except after Kannada ghat. The patch is even worse now in monsoons with no major work progress. It's very difficult to traverse esp after rains. That's a pain for 30-40 mins, post which the roads gets excellent.

[sumukha]

I took this route on 4th of September. Me and my Best half ( both aged 71+ and I being the only Driver).

Left from Silver Springs on AB bypass INDORE at 5.00am driving my trusted Volvo XC 60 and reached Vijayapura by 6.00 PM taking required breaks.The road from Indore NH 52, till MP border check post was though vide and smooth but with plenty of surprise POT HOLES ( Rather drum holes) right in the middle having perhaps 1 ft in dia and 6"in depth. You can not zoom thinking that the road is great. Requires a careful navigation, lest your tyres and even the rim will get damaged.

From this point till Dhule, the roads are good. The new road from Dhule to Chalisgoan is almost done and I am sure you will enjoy the drive. kannad ghat is safe to drive as all the heavy vehicles are diverted and not allowed, but please be vary of TWO WHEELERS who are regular travellers and simply navigate the curve at high speed. Constant honking is necessary. Reached Vijayapura for a night halt by 6.00 Pm covering a distance of 820 KMS.
Stayed at The Fern Residency, a reasonably good hotel and is my regular ( not for food only stay).

The next day (5th sept) started at 5.00am and reached Mysore by 1.00 pm, after a lunch break drove onwards to my HOME HOME, Pulpally in Wayanad, Kerala, reached by 3.00 pm. Covering a total distance of 1640 kms with one halt. enjoyed the driving. All through excellent road.
Planning to drive back to Indore on 24th of Oct. this time in my BMW 530d, M sport. For sure take the same route back as it is good and safe.