[Safety is Param]

Back from a 12 day trip to Goa!

Route taken-

Onward -

Bangalore - Ranebennur (Breakfast halt at Kamat Upachar) - Belgaum (Lunch at Sankam Residency) - Chorla - Old Goa - Miramar

Return -

Miramar - Old Goa - Chorla - Belgaum (Breakfast at Sankam Residency) - non-stop from there on to Bangalore

Total Distance one way - Approximately 615 kms

Total Distance for the entire trip - 2091 kms

Road conditions -

NH-4 is deteriorating fast!

The stretch between Ranebennur and Hubli Bypass is riddled with lot of undulations on the road, with some even capable of hurting your suspension if not taken lightly.

My suggestion is to avoid going above 80 kmph on this stretch.

Hubli Bypass is a bliss, but please ensure you are extra vigilant since this is an undivided road, needing periodic ascending and descending, that requires precise maneuvers to plan any overtaking since you would have driven on 4/6 lane all the way from Bangalore till here.

Hubli Bypass end - Belgaum is probably the best stretch between Bangalore - Belgaum.

From Belgaum to Visvesvaraya Technological University, you will encounter city traffic, making you slow down, which is in fact recommended since there are lot of erratic 2-wheelers being driven without helmet.

From there on to Excise check-post, there are speed breakers, mostly unmarked, best described like wrinkles on your bedsheet (not sure what purpose they serve). There are some bone jarring humps as well, and all of them were unmarked, IIRC.

Once you enter Goa, everything changes! All speed breakers are marked and there is absolutely nothing on the road that should take you by surprise.

Kindly make it a point to honk at all curves on the Chorla ghat. Rashly driven vehicles will definitely take you by surprise.

I took the entire Chorla ghat at 40 kmph in 3rd gear, and it was okay, since sufficient power was available at tap to execute that quick overtake maneuver, if needed.

Roads are extremely good once you enter Goa, and I really appreciate the PWD (or any other department involved) the way they maintain these, despite the area being prone to heavy rainfall.

A lot is left to be desired on the Karnataka side though!

Sankam was awesome, as usual!

The buffet breakfast that you get for INR 184/- (all taxes included) per person is more than the bang for your buck!

Please let me know if anyone needs additional details.

Drive safe!

[rajivtelang]

Did anybody try the Bangalore-Haveri-Sirsi-Devimane-Kumta-Goa road recently? I had traveled a couple of times and the road was OK. Also found that the distance could be moderate to cover.

[drhoneycake]

Originally Posted by rajivtelang

Did anybody try the Bangalore-Haveri-Sirsi-Devimane-Kumta-Goa road recently? I had traveled a couple of times and the road was OK. Also found that the distance could be moderate to cover.

Did it last weekend. Excellent roads all through. Drove non stop from Gokarna to Bengaluru via this route. Sirsi happens to be my native, so a quick stop there.

Goa-Kumta: great roads all through, potholes far and few in between. Watch out for mad Bolero pickup drivers and NWKRTC buses. Look out for diversions where 4 laning is in progress

Kumta-Sirsi is excellent, a little bumpy at places (near Katgal Yana Cross) but nothing to worry too much about. 8 km Devimane ghat is relaid with concrete. It is quite wide and should not pose much problems. Not much traffic too. Watch out for nutjob NWKRTC express drivers.

Sirsi-Akki Alur: road surface is good, a little narrow. Watchout for humps near towns which are not marked. There are some potholes just as you exit Sirsi near Shripad Hegde Kadve Institute of Medical Sciences.

AkkiAlur-Haveri: newly laid mind blowing road surface, wide and often straight roads. You can do some insane speeds here without worry. I would say one of the best SH in Karnataka right now.

Haveri-Bengaluru: standard NH4, excellent all through.

Overall great route to drive on, but to reach Goa, it's a little long. But if you "Live to Drive" like me, I'm sure you wouldn't mind a few extra Kms. 😁

Happy Driving!


Sent from my iPhone 6 using Team-BHP

[shrinath_m2]

Driven to Goa last week, on the NH4 - MK Hubli - Jamboti - Chorla - Goa road.

Loved the highways throughout, specially the roads in Chorla - they are indeed heavenly to drive in a hatchback, even more so when you are in one with oodles of torque & power - was in a Polo 1.5 TDI, was grinning and laughing throughout those ghat sections so much that my wife thought I had lost it for a moment!

What I failed to notice though are those lovely city roads. Where are those "good" roads in Goa everyone is talking about? I stayed close to Vagator beach, everyday I drove to one or the other beach, roads towards Baga, Candolim, Fort Aguada, etc were pretty much like bad Bengaluru roads, few of them even jammed with traffic.
Only good road I found was towards Panjim, where to my surprise even bus and lorry drivers were following lane discipline, sticking to left lane. Pretty much unheard of in Bengaluru.

[The Adventurer]

Driving to Goa from Kochi.

Ive decided to return with a halt in shimoga (Shimoga waynad Kochi)
Whats the best route for Anjuna to Shimoga? I'd like to get to Shimoga ASAP and do a little bit of exploring around sringeri on the same day.

[Klub Class]

Originally Posted by The Adventurer

Whats the best route for Anjuna to Shimoga

The fastest would be Anjuna - Honnavar - Sagara - Shimoga. Good roads all along

[goandude]

Did Bangalore Goa Bangalore last weekend on my motorcycle. Went via NH4 to MK Hubli, Khanapur, Jamboti, Chorla. NH4 from Chitradurga to Hubli is deteriorating with tar undulations where the heavy vehicles tyres have pushed it to the side. So the best path is on their wheel tracks but changing lanes at speed is bad. Dharwar bypass end to MK Hubli (42 km) is superb. Khanapur to Jamboti road has kachha road for the first half km then it becomes better but narrow with quite a bit of traffic so one has to go off road when pass another vehicle. Khanapur Jamboti is better but often the road is broken and this cant be seen as the shadow of the leaves of the trees tend to camouflage the patches. Jamboti to Goa via Chorla ghat is a motorcycle riders delight, fabulous surface, well marked with lovely twisties. However the occasional speed breaker spoils this almost perfect road. 616 kms from CV Raman Nagar to Baga 10 hours.

Since my onward journey was very hard on me and my rear end, decided to go back via Belgaum and stop at Devangere. The road to Belgaum via Chorla is the same fantastic road described above. In Belgaum with the help of GM went through College road, a bit of twists and turns and then onto the old Pune Bangalore road which is super. This leads you to the NH4. I found it faster and less cumbersome than my onward journey. Rest of the return journey was as above.

Roads out of Devangere are a nightmare but fortunately only 4/5 kms of it. My distance covered was 640 kms including in and out of Devangere and a bit of hotel hunting inside city.

[The Adventurer]

Originally Posted by Klub Class

The fastest would be Anjuna - Honnavar - Sagara - Shimoga. Good roads all along

Thanks.

And anything to see on the way? How long would it take? I was wondering if we could make a short visit to sringeri on the same day as goa shimoga.

Have to drive shimoga kochi the next day

[deepv]

Originally Posted by The Adventurer

Thanks.

And anything to see on the way? How long would it take? ..

Check this thread out, might be of help for route as well as attractions.

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by drhoneycake

Overall great route to drive on, but to reach Goa, it's a little long. But if you "Live to Drive" like me, I'm sure you wouldn't mind a few extra Kms. ��

Hi drhoneycake,
Great to hear that the road is finally in good shape. My destination is south goa for which I used to take Hubli-Ankola-Karwar route. This sirsi route is definitely shorter than that route if not longer. Will definitely try this route during my next Goa trip.

Regards

[Klub Class]

Originally Posted by goandude

Roads out of Devangere are a nightmare but fortunately only 4/5 kms of it

I believe you took the Old Pune Bangalore Road (Bada Cross Exit - red line in the image below) to join the NH4. It's in bad shape since long. It's better to take the Shamanur (green line) or Hadadi Road Exit (blue line)

Originally Posted by The Adventurer

And anything to see on the way? How long would it take? I was wondering if we could make a short visit to sringeri on the same day as goa shimoga.

It would take around 7 hours. For Shimoga - Sringeri, I believe it's better to take Shimoga - Thirthahalli - Koppa - Sringeri. The Sakrebyle Elephant Camp, Gajanur Dam, Mandagadde Bird Sanctuary are on the way. Shimoga - Thirthahalli is excellent, Thirthahalli - Koppa - Sringeri is good.

Jog Falls is not in full glory now. You may skip it. For more places to see enroute, I suggest you to go through the thread mentioned by deepv

Don't miss the Sharavathi Valley View Point on Honnavar - Jog Falls stretch (GPS co-ordinates : 14.275669, 74.711746). Sharing a picture from my drive in first week of July :

[The Adventurer]

Thanks klub klass and deepv. Exactly what i needed.

My stay is in this relatively unknown place called narasimharajapura. Thought we'd drive, set our stuff and then go see sringeri.

[kiranms]

May I know how much time it takes Bangalore to Goa ? I am planning to go this weekend in innova.

Let me know any other tips you could share.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by kiranms

May I know how much time it takes Bangalore to Goa ? I am planning to go this weekend in innova.

Let me know any other tips you could share.

Anything from 10 to 12 Hours of total drive with good breaks on whatever route you take.

[rish27]

Hi All

Went to South Goa last Thursday, and followed the recommended route. The only 'slight' concern was the SH6 after one stretch, though being scenic; I found it to be a bit too deserted and a bit spooky. Unfortunately had lost the GPS and the mobile signal for 5 minutes.

But the overall drive was worth it. Took around 9.5 hours to reach the Palolem region.
Whilst coming back, somehow we weren’t very confortable via the SH6, and instead took the Karwar-Hubli highway i.e. NH63, that added to roughly 50 more kilometers and an extended one hour. But the roads were good overall.

Also crossing Tumkur post 6 pm was the biggest plight, and took virtually 12 hours to reach Bellandur.
Thanks

Rish