[Fauji]

Originally Posted by ravi_23

Hello, fellow thpians

I am also planning a trip to goa from bangalore, but I am a bit confused about the route to take. I have two options:

Please note that I will be planning the trip on a bike with my fiancee so I want the roads to be safe and not very deserted. Planning to leave blore by 5am and reach calangute by 7pm

Ravi,

Just to add what Ampere has rightly pointed above

a) On Hubli bye pass after you cross toll gate you will see prominent siganage for Karwar. Follow that.

b) Roads are pretty safe. Just dont worry. Be very careful on entering Goa. Roads become narrow and there may be blind spots. Don't drive in haste and try unnecessray overtaking.

The complete stretch from Yallapur till Calangute is a pretty drive and you can comfortably reach destination by evening. Enjoy the scenery and drive safe.

[ravi_23]

@Ampere and Fauji, thanks for the quick replies. Even I had almost decided on the same route via hubli, just needed the confirmation How safe would it be traveling a bit early, say around 4am on the NH4 as it will be still dark till about 6am. Earlier I used to go to the CCD in tumkur road for night rides in wee hours, but I suppose that if I start at 4am I will cross that point before sunrise and may reach close to Sira. I am planning to start 1hr ahead of 5am so that I can spend some time in karwar. Karwar always looked great from the bus and the pictures posted by fellow members in this thread has tempted me to stop there for about an hour. So, is it advisable to start at 4am/3am or should I stick to my earlier plan of starting at 5am?

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by ravi_23

@Ampere and Fauji, thanks for the quick replies. Even I had almost decided on the same route via hubli, just needed the confirmation How safe would it be traveling a bit early, say around 4am on the NH4 as it will be still dark till about 6am. Earlier I used to go to the CCD in tumkur road for night rides in wee hours, but I suppose that if I start at 4am I will cross that point before sunrise and may reach close to Sira. I am planning to start 1hr ahead of 5am so that I can spend some time in karwar. Karwar always looked great from the bus and the pictures posted by fellow members in this thread has tempted me to stop there for about an hour. So, is it advisable to start at 4am/3am or should I stick to my earlier plan of starting at 5am?

You can definitely leave at 4 AM and i don't think there will be any safety issue. But it will be pretty cold at that time. You should spend sometime in Karwar. But the issue is it will be very hot in the aftrenoon there.

Even if you leave at 5 AM, you can still take some time out at Karwar. I would suggest that you stick to 5AM which will allow you to get some sleep on the previous night.

[byzantine]

Originally Posted by Fauji

You can reach Gokarna in one day with comfortable driving even if you are driving Alto. With K10, you will enjoy driving on these roads!!. I am not sure of SH 66 and 48 conditions. Having said that, just follow NH 206 till Honnavar and turn right towards Karwar. After Kumta you will see clear siganage for Gokarna which you will not miss. Distance wise, there is hardly iny difference at all.

See my post as well as Karthik's below. The road conditions are excellent. It does not get better anymore with hardly any traffic. Unless, you want to stay in Shimoga for valid reasons, there is no need to stay there.

You can definitely spend half hour in Jog falls - which is just three KMs off the highway - and ten minutes on the ghat at the view point to have a look at awesome Sharavathi valley.

Thanks Fauji and KarthikK. My plan changed for the better. Managed leaves on Wednesday and Thursday, and with Friday being a holiday, wife and I are making it into a Bangalore>>Goa>>Gokarna trip. Here is how it looks.

1. Wednesday 4 AM - leave for Palolem Beach in South Goa on NH4 via Bankapur>>Mundgod>>Yellapur>>Karwar. Reach sometime in the afternoon with 2 breaks totalling 60 mins.
2. Check in @ The Nest on the Palolem Beach - saw good reviews of the place
3. Friday noon - leave for Gokarna
4. Sunday - leave for Bangalore via NH 206

Any suggestions on the plan?

Thanks.

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by byzantine

1. Wednesday 4 AM - leave for Palolem Beach in South Goa on NH4 via Bankapur>>Mundgod>>Yellapur>>Karwar. Reach sometime in the afternoon with 2 breaks totalling 60 mins.
2. Check in @ The Nest on the Palolem Beach - saw good reviews of the place
3. Friday noon - leave for Gokarna
4. Sunday - leave for Bangalore via NH 206

Any suggestions on the plan?

Thanks.

Looks Good. Any reason for going via Bankapur - Mundgod? I would recommend you to stick to Hubli - Yallapur - Karwar - Palolem. Road condition is excellent and you will enjoy the drive.

[byzantine]

Originally Posted by Fauji

Looks Good. Any reason for going via Bankapur - Mundgod? I would recommend you to stick to Hubli - Yallapur - Karwar - Palolem. Road condition is excellent and you will enjoy the drive.

Was just getting greedy about saving 40 Kms as mentioned in post # 1757, but if that is what you recommend, I'll go with that .

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ravi_23

How safe would it be traveling a bit early, say around 4am on the NH4 as it will be still dark till about 6am. Earlier I used to go to the CCD in tumkur road for night rides in wee hours, but I suppose that if I start at 4am I will cross that point before sunrise and may reach close to Sira.

4AM departure from Bangalore is perfectly fine. No issues at all. In fact its better.
Since you are on a bike, it would actually be good to cross the brown region (BLR-Hubli )
before it gets heated up.

Originally Posted by byzantine

Was just getting greedy about saving 40 Kms as mentioned in post # 1757, but if that is what you recommend, I'll go with that .

As Fauji said you wont save at all. In fact you may spend time trying to steer through these roads.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by ampere

4AM departure from Bangalore is perfectly fine. No issues at all. In fact its better.
Since you are on a bike, it would actually be good to cross the brown region (BLR-Hubli )
before it gets heated up.

Just be cautious about dense fogs that will appear out of nowhere till about 8 AM. And of course, some stationary trucks without any indicators

[a*ed]

Originally Posted by ravi_23

How safe would it be traveling a bit early, say around 4am on the NH4 as it will be still dark till about 6am. Earlier I used to go to the CCD in tumkur road for night rides in wee hours, but I suppose that if I start at 4am I will cross that point before sunrise and may reach close to Sira. So, is it advisable to start at 4am/3am or should I stick to my earlier plan of starting at 5am?

@ravi_23 - Traveling on the NH4 around 4 A.M should be totally fine. When i went to Goa in August 2011, i left from E-City around 4.15 A.M. Didn't face any issues whatsoever and traffic too was pretty thin. Was able to reach Chitradurga by around 8 A.M.

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by a*ed

@ravi_23 - Traveling on the NH4 around 4 A.M should be totally fine. When i went to Goa in August 2011, i left from E-City around 4.15 A.M. Didn't face any issues whatsoever and traffic too was pretty thin. Was able to reach Chitradurga by around 8 A.M.

Took 3.45hrs to reach Chitradurga? I assume you were you riding bike. Am i correct?

[a*ed]

Originally Posted by Fauji

Took 3.45hrs to reach Chitradurga? I assume you were you riding bike. Am i correct?

@Fauji Sir, Don't remember exactly how long it took me to reach Chitradurga Did it in my A-Star. Since it was my first long drive, we did it at a pretty sedate speed considering the perils of our highways.

[ravi_23]

Hello, as per the route I have divided it into sections and assigned approx time to each section.

Start from blore at 4am


blore-tumkur = 85km = 2hrs, 6am

tumkur-chitradurga = 145km = 3hrs, 9am

chitradurga-davangere = 70km = 1hr 15 mins, 10:15am

davangere-haveri = 75km = 1.5hrs, 12pm

haveri-hubli = 90km = 1.5 hrs, 1:30pm {lunch break, 1hr} start from 2:30pm

hubli-yellapur = 72km = 1.5.hrs, 4pm

yellapur-karwar = 100km = 2hrs, 6pm {1hr break in karwar}, start from 7pm

karwar-margao = 75 kms = 1.5 hrs, 8:30pm

margao-baga = 50 kms = 1hr, 9:30pm


Till sunrise i intent to keep my speeds to around 70-80kmph, after that I will try to maintain 90-100kmph depending upon road conditions. I guess as tiredness will creep up my speeds will get lower n small 5-10 mins breaks will come after every 40-50kms. I want to reach karwar by 4pm so that I can have more time for some photography. 6pm will be too late and daylight will be less.

Regulars in this route please help me plan to reduce the time in the above sections, also let me know which sections are the best, where I can hit speeds of upto 110kmph. I will be riding on a ZMR with a pillion.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ravi_23

Start from blore at 4am

blore-tumkur = 85km = 2hrs, 6am
tumkur-chitradurga = 145km = 3hrs, 9am

My guess is that you yourself will find out that the above two stretch combined you would be done
in 2-3 hours max. That would save you quite some time.

[a*ed]

Originally Posted by ravi_23

let me know which sections are the best, where I can hit speeds of upto 110kmph. I will be riding on a ZMR with a pillion.

The stretch after Nelamangala till Hubli would be the 4-laned NH4, so you can hit good speeds on this stretch and cover max distance in less time.

The stretch from Hubli till Karwar would be part ghat section or single lane roads without any divider so just be alert while overtaking trucks.

Once you enter Goa, the roads would be narrower but hey, you are in Goa !!

My suggestion would be, if you haven't already booked your rooms then why don't you stay in South Goa for a night because you would be so tired by the time you enter Goa.

Drive Safe and do write a travelogue

[ravi_23]

Originally Posted by ampere

My guess is that you yourself will find out that the above two stretch combined you would be done
in 2-3 hours max. That would save you quite some time.

Agreed, even I am thinking the same now. Whatever time I have to save, I will have to save it till hubli. Roads will be good and I will be relatively fresh too.

Originally Posted by a*ed

My suggestion would be, if you haven't already booked your rooms then why don't you stay in South Goa for a night because you would be so tired by the time you enter Goa.
Drive Safe and do write a travelogue

Thanks for the advice, really practical but I have been staying in a resort in tito's lane every time I visit goa. So will spend the night there, also a nice dinner with chilled beer in britos will help side away some of the tiredness