[hondadude]

Originally Posted by shamanth

While coming back took, Karwar-Yellapura-Mundgod-Bankapura-Haveri-Chitradurga-Bangalore, took this route as suggested in my MapMyIndia, and avoided Hubli. Made it in 10 hours from Baga, 30 mins for petrol queue 30 mins for lunch.

Road between Yellapura to Haveri was good, and completely empty between very thick forest. Was a good experience .

This sounds interesting. How bad is Yellapura-Mundgod-Bankapura road? Since you have taken this route recently, your inputs would be appreciated.

[shamanth]

Originally Posted by hondadude

This sounds interesting. How bad is Yellapura-Mundgod-Bankapura road? Since you have taken this route recently, your inputs would be appreciated.

Last 20 kms in this road is not so good, rest of the road is pretty good. If you wish to drive through very thick forest you may. You might not save time due to last 20 kms bad roads, else hubli is better.

[ravibhat]

Recently I drove Sirsi-Hangal-Bankapura-haveri-Chitradurga-Bangalore, Excellant road with just 25km extra compared to direct road between hangal-haveri and I could avoid terrible road between hangal-haveri. Near Mundgod-yellapur one can spot elephants if lucky. Very soon that 20km bad stretch will be repaired I heard.

Ravi.

[anantu2001]

Hi guys,

We are leaving to Goa this weekend in a Tempo Traveller and would like to know which of the two routes is better. Our destination is Margaon.





Regards,
Anant

[hondadude]

Anant,

You answer is in posts immediately preceding yours. Also please read previous page as well.

[shishir_bn]

Any info on roads from

1. Haveri-->Bankapur-->Mundgod-->Yellapur( after this the road upto karwar and Goa is good), but wanted info from Bankapur to Yellapur instead of going upto Hubli.
2. Hubli-->Haliyal--Anmod-->Ponda(Goa) --> Is this road doable. I mean This will reduce the kms in the total travel by upto 80kms.

[rajivtelang]

Hi,

Planning to visit Goa by November end but need to visit Honnavar in between. Looking at all posts it appears that Bangalore-Shimoga-Honnavar route is completely broken. I have Maruti Estilo, certainly not a car for broken road. Bangalore-Hubli-Ankola road appears to be better. Any other suggestion? How does the Haveri-Sirsi-Devimane ghat to Kumta look like?

Regards,
Rajiv

[condor]

@Shishir, pls go via Hubli, instead of via Bankapur. No clear information that the Bankapur section has improved.

[diwa]

Originally Posted by condor

@Shishir, pls go via Hubli, instead of via Bankapur. No clear information that the Bankapur section has improved.

@Condor I am driving down to Goa this month end. Would you recommend Bankapur route in a Safari?. From one of the previous post only 20 KMS is bad, must be doable in a Safari. I like the idea of driving through the forest than to go via Hubli.

[pranava999]

@Anant take route 2. I recently relocated to Panjim and took this route. It's way better than the other routes in terms of road conditions. NH4 and then NH63 to Karwar and from karwar onto Goa.

[condor]

@Diwa, good to hear from you again. About your query .. what can I say when you bring a Safari into the picture ? Give it a shot. Like you said, going via Hubli is going to on the highway. Though the section from Hubli to Karwar is quite picturesque, with an un-divided 2 lane highway.

If you do go via Hubli, you can also go to Magod falls near Yellapur.

[diogo]

Any one has done the ambolim ghat to Goa recently? What is the update on the road

Hope to travel end of this month to north goa.

[Arion003]

My post is just a brief update on the condition of the Bangalore-Hubli-(almost) Ankola-Karwar-Goa route. I travelled between the 3rd and 7th of November.

The drive to Goa (Candolim) from JP Nagar took around 10hrs including a 1 hour break for lunch. The drive back took around an hour less with a similar break for lunch.

The Nh-4 section from Bangalore to Hubli is excellent both ways. On the way back on Nh-4 there is a slight diversion through a small town around 18km short of Davangere, so watch out for that. Took us about 4hrs to complete the Hubli-Bangalore section both ways.

The route from Hubli to the Ankola intersection is in great shape. Its a scenic drive through the forest and the ghat section is quite pretty as well. It is a divider less regular 2 lane road however, speeds of about 100km/h (in a Fiesta) can be maintained throughout on account of sparse traffic. It gets a little patchy in places but not for any significant distance and not particularly bothersome. It took us around a couple of hours to complete this section.

The Karwar-Goa road as far as the surface goes is terrific. However, this section will take time as the road is narrow and traffic, especially upon entering Goa is heavy. It took us more than 3 hrs from Karwar to Goa because of traffic, especially around Margao and a smaller place before Margao. On the way back however we shaved nearly 45 minutes off this as traffic was thinner.

There was a little incident on the way back when we were stopped at the Goa-Karwar checkpost and the chap who takes down details of vehicles entering Karnataka asked me for a bribe as "entry fee". I did really blow my top and shouted the roof down at his little checkpost. He was pretty terrified and requested me to carry on. Subsequently I complained to the SP at Karwar about this fellow. The SP was quite responsive and promised to take action. So a word of advice to fellow travellers coming back in to Karnataka, watch out for this particular brand of bribe takers and DO NOT oblige them if you can help it. The SP's number is 08282226303. Report such incidents so that the state machinery becomes more responsive to such petty corruption.

[diwa]

Originally Posted by condor

@Diwa, good to hear from you again. About your query .. what can I say when you bring a Safari into the picture ? Give it a shot. Like you said, going via Hubli is going to on the highway. Though the section from Hubli to Karwar is quite picturesque, with an un-divided 2 lane highway.

If you do go via Hubli, you can also go to Magod falls near Yellapur.

Thanks Condor. Maybe on the way back will do Karwar - Hubli. This trip is only Goa (my first) and am not planning any other place en-route.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Arion003

The Nh-4 section from Bangalore to Hubli is excellent both ways. On the way back on Nh-4 there is a slight diversion through a small town around 18km short of Davangere, so watch out for that. Took us about 4hrs to complete the Hubli-Bangalore section both ways.

That is really fast! 400km in 4 hour is an average of 100 km per hour!
You must be on 3 digits all the time! When did you start from Bangalore and how
much time did it take to get on to the elevated NH4?

Because usually folks get stuck at Yashwantpur. Or did you take NICE road?