[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by sary

, I'm looking for exit near Dharwad which leads to Alnavar-Ramnagar-Mollem.

In addition to directions mentioned by Parag, you can keen an eye for a railway underpass. Few KMs after the underpass on Hubli-Dharwad byepass you will see the exit to the left.

[revival]

Dear All

I am planning to drive down to goa on the 22nd night(Friday) from Bangalore . Planning to take a zoomcar . My destination is south goa. Suggest regarding the safety of driving at night. It would be just two of us , me and my wife . Also suggest on the route keeping in mind the nightime

[NPV]

Originally Posted by revival

Dear All

I am planning to drive down to goa on the 22nd night(Friday) from Bangalore . Planning to take a zoomcar . My destination is south goa. Suggest regarding the safety of driving at night. It would be just two of us , me and my wife . Also suggest on the route keeping in mind the nightime

For South Goa, it may be best to keep to Bangalore-Tumkur-Davanagere-Hubli (bypass) on NH4, then go via Yellapur-Ankola and turn right on to NH 17 towards Karwar and Goa. I don't think there are any problems with night driving on this route.

[hothatchaway]

The above route is just perfect, I did the route a couple of weeks back and the tarmac is like a dream. If one leaves at around 3 (I left at around 2:30am) expect to enter palolem by 12 noon with short breaks thrown in between

[itwasntme]

Goa trip coming up next weekend. North Goa so it's going to be Chorla. Will try the Alnavar exit from H-B bypass given that the road is better now.

Had tried Belgaum (2014) and wasted 1 hour in city traffic although lunch and the break was good. Earlier try (2012) was Kittur Beedi Khanapur with a good shortcut but terrible roads.

Pondering on Yellapur Ankola Karwar but hesitant due to destination being North plus maybe getting stuck behind slower traffic on the undivided highway.

Will update once back.

[Prashant Shenoi]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Goa trip coming up next weekend. North Goa so it's going to be Chorla. Will try the Alnavar exit from H-B bypass given that the road is better now.

Had tried Belgaum (2014) and wasted 1 hour in city traffic although lunch and the break was good. Earlier try (2012) was Kittur Beedi Khanapur with a good shortcut but terrible roads.

Pondering on Yellapur Ankola Karwar but hesitant due to destination being North plus maybe getting stuck behind slower traffic on the undivided highway.

Will update once back.

Hubli - Alnavar is the shortest. Roads are pretty good. Upto Londa, patchwork on the Karnataka stretch which is manageable even in a sedan. Roads in Goa in excellent condition, even in the ghats. Chorla option is also a good one.

Yellapur Ankola is much longer and cumbersome if your destination is north Goa, given that you have to traverse through south to north in moderate to heavy Goa traffic past Madgaon.

[itwasntme]

Many thanks Prashanth for your inputs.

Will take Chorla as I liked the narrow curves and relative isolation. Plus the Londa route invariably has the Volvos (road hogs on the curves) and the irritating trucks (road hogs always).

[drhoneycake]

Just back from a trip to Goa. Took the usual Hubli-Ramnagar-Mollem-Ponda route. Stayed in Calangute. Took about 9 hours to reach, starting from JP Nagar.

1) Bengaluru to Hubli - Excellent roads
2) Hubli - Dharwad - just two lane, but great roads none the less, truck drivers drive like maniacs on this stretch
3) Dharwad - Ramnagar - beautiful wide two lane roads
4) Ramnagar to Mollem - Transitions between good and patchy roads (mostly patchy)
5) Mollem to Ponda - Great roads again
6) Ponda to Panaji - Great roads except a few stretches where road works are being carried out
7) Panaji to Calangute - Good city roads of Goa

Hope this helps anybody who is travelling.

[itwasntme]

Can anyone suggest a scenic spot between Bangalore and Goa to do divide the journey in two and also see/stay in a 'new place'? Going to be next weekend so no scope for waterfalls. Also, not interested in temples either :-)

While the con is of course the added night's cost, there are multiple pros with a divided journey, peaceful arrival in Goa the next noon just in time for the hotel room etc etc.

Immediate answer is Karwar but is it worth it?

[Travelator]

You can try a detour to Murudeshwar or Gokarna. If you are lucky, you may still get to do some water sports in Murudeshwar apart from liking the gigantic Shiva statue.
Gokarna is all about Om beach, Kudle beach and awesome food at Namaste cafe and its surrounding joints.
Waterfalls are indeed a big no in this season. I speak of it through experience as I went though Jog falls last year, only to find water trickling through some crevices :banghead:

Enjoy the ride

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Can anyone suggest a scenic spot between Bangalore and Goa to do divide the journey in two and also see/stay in a 'new place'? Going to be next weekend so no scope for waterfalls. Also, not interested in temples either :-)

While the con is of course the added night's cost, there are multiple pros with a divided journey, peaceful arrival in Goa the next noon just in time for the hotel room etc etc.

Immediate answer is Karwar but is it worth it?

Dandeli, although this too won't be centrally located between A and B.

From here you can take the Joida Kaiga Sadashivgadh NH17 Goa.

Dandeli should have good resorts to stay as well.

For this you will also have to take a different exit that leads Haliyal and then reach Dandeli.

Must say that this route too is fantastically scenic and passes through some beautiful section of western ghats.

Icing on cake - Almost Nil traffic till you actually hit Sadashivgadh on NH17.

[subbu567]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Can anyone suggest a scenic spot between Bangalore and Goa to do divide the journey in two and also see/stay in a 'new place'? Going to be next weekend so no scope for waterfalls. Also, not interested in temples either :-)

While the con is of course the added night's cost, there are multiple pros with a divided journey, peaceful arrival in Goa the next noon just in time for the hotel room etc etc.

Immediate answer is Karwar but is it worth it?

Hi similar thought here. Though not in the centre of the journey. Here is what I am doing

1. 15th Morning-5 am start-planned arrival at Old magazine house Ganesh Gudi @1 pm. The route planned is Blr-Dharwad Exit-Alnavar-Ramnagar-Old magazine house ~ 500kms. Ramnagar OMH stretch is unknown but it is only 22 kms so I am hoping its manageable(read good reviews about OMH in Trip advisor as well as here,this is also a truce between my children who want to go to Goa and my missus who wants to see a hill and jungle )

2.1 7th morning-OMH-Ramnagar-Mollem-South Goa -about 120 KMS - should take about three hours in the ghats and patchy roads

Though there are alternative and shorter routes to OMH am taking this as I have done Alnavar Londa North Goa 3 times so far and is the shortest to GOA from Bangalore.

If there are better alternatives for the routes-Distinguished fellows-Kindly advise

Safe drive!
Subbu

[itwasntme]

Back from our hurricane BLR-GOA-BLR trip in my Cruze. Mileage was 13.53 km/hr with some hard driving with an outbound journey time of 8 hours 15 minutes (left BLR at 0430) and return time of 9 hours 15 minutes (left Candolim at 1000).

Only one close shave where a XUV descending Chorla Ghats was totally on my side on the road and I was forced onto the hard shoulder at 50 km+ while the XUV violently swerved back onto it's side. Luckily ABS saved the day and I retained control.

Following drhoneycake's format for my weekend trip from Yelahanka to Candolim (Fort Aguada):

1. Yelahanka to Dabspet (Nelamangala) via NH 207:
2 lane 'normal' highway with mixed road surfaces with a lot of ongoing roadwork. Before dawn so took it very easy.

2. Dabspet to Tumkur:
Good roads but heavy and somewhat indisciplined truck traffic

3. Tumkur to Chitradurga:
Dream 6 lane road with excellent surfaces, correct cambers, limited and clearly marked openings and fenced to avoid cattle.

4. Chitradurga to Hubli:
Excellent roads although nearing Hubli some of the curves (especially) are rutted due to overloaded trucks. Avoid changing lanes on the sweeping curves as it can unsettle your vehicle. Hiriyur 'bypass' has some sweeping but dangerous flyovers and curves. A couple of them are double apex ones which never seem to end so watch out, reduce your speed and avoid braking hard while on them

5. Hubli to Dharwad (Alnavar / Madgaon exit):
2 lane, deceptive, smooth, treacherous and known terrible accident zones, so just chill during this time! I personally have seen near-fatal incidents every time I use this road. This time 2 ongoing concurrent overtakings on either side of a blind summit meant 6 vehicles racing towards each other. God only knows how all managed to get out in one piece!

6. Dharwad to Alnavar:
Lovely wide two lane roads but with speedbreakers at each village (nearly all well signposted). 2 level crossings

7. Alnavar to Khanapur:
Medium wide good two laner. Watch out for pedestrians, cyclists and the state buses!

8. Khanapur to Jamboti:
Beautiful single laner which gets very narrow at times with steep drop-offs. Shoulders have been recently repaired but still overall narrow. Do not relax too much as there are a few tipper trucks about!

9. Jamboti to Sanquelim (via Chorla/Surla Ghats):
Lovely drive but watch out for oncoming traffic which can easily run wide on the corners and hairpins. Switch the music off, lower the windows and honk BEFORE each turning. Oncoming experienced drivers will honk back! Keep in mind that there are multiple 'blind summits' and 'blind humps' i.e. the road ahead looks straight and totally clear but can easily hide a significant downward undulation with soeeding vehicles in it. Reduce speed, honk hard and stay as much as you can to the left in these cases. Remember, it only needs another guy just like you thinking, 'come on, no one will be doing these speeds at this time of the day from the other side'

10.Sanquelim to Candolim:
Mostly frustating slow traffic especially through towns like Assonara. Look carefully for the signposts if first time. Do not hurry by thinking you're so close to your destination etc.etc. This is probably the ideal time for tiredness to creep in, combined with an urgency to reach quickly plus irritable kids (and wife :-).

Originally Posted by drhoneycake

Just back from a trip to Goa. Took the usual Hubli-Ramnagar-Mollem-Ponda route. Stayed in Calangute. Took about 9 hours to reach, starting from JP Nagar.

1) Bengaluru to Hubli - Excellent roads
2) Hubli - Dharwad - just two lane, but great roads none the less, truck drivers drive like maniacs on this stretch
3) Dharwad - Ramnagar - beautiful wide two lane roads
4) Ramnagar to Mollem - Transitions between good and patchy roads (mostly patchy)
5) Mollem to Ponda - Great roads again
6) Ponda to Panaji - Great roads except a few stretches where road works are being carried out
7) Panaji to Calangute - Good city roads of Goa

Hope this helps anybody who is travelling.

[subbu567]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Back from our hurricane BLR-GOA-BLR trip in my Cruze. Mileage was 13.53 km/hr with some hard driving with an outbound journey time of 8 hours 15 minutes (left BLR at 0430) and return time of 9 hours 15 minutes (left Candolim at 1000).

Very well written and crisp. Thanks. Just did a similar one, but drove straight towards ponda from Ramnagar and took a left to reach South goa.

The road condition is the best I have exp so far since 2011 including the srtech between Ramnagar to Mollem (~25 kms) where in all pot holes have been filled and hence is at worst patchy but no issues what so ever.

Though the popular view here is to Hubli Karwar route to reach south Goa, this is the shortest from Bangalore (except for canacona/palolem)its is just 599 kms from my home on hennur main road till Park Hyatt in cansualim. So I recommend that unless you want to enjoy the Karwar stretch please take this route. While going after Ramanagar towards Panjim, look for MRF on the left and take the left after the same to south or proceed straight to North via Panjim.

I did a night stay at Old magazine house Ganesh Gudi taking a deviation at Ramanagar towards Karwar and in aboutt 20 kms you reach there. The roads are very good.

Subbu

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

10.Sanquelim to Candolim:
Mostly frustating slow traffic especially through towns like Assonara. Look carefully for the signposts if first time.

If anyone taking Chorla route to reach to Panaji, you would either take above route or take Amona bridge route. The Amona route would go via old goa.

Please note that if you take bypass to Panaji skipping old goa church, you will have to face a lot of dust and roadwork stretches. The road widening work is in full swing and it is not advised to take this route. Thinking it wouldn't be bad, I took this stretch last weekend but I was disappointed. Ignore this stretch until the road widening is done.

Old goa church stretch is scenic anyway, so go for it