[vivek95]

Originally Posted by rahulb22

suggestions as I would be starting from Calangute and I have never tried any route other than Hubli -> Karwar. Please advice considering present road conditions.

Thanks
Cheers
Rahulb22

Originally Posted by paragsachania

You can return via Panjim Old Goa Sanquelim Chorla Belgaum Dharwad-Hubli Bangalore.

.

From Calangute, which is North Goa / North of Panjim, it's better to take this route >> Calangute--Mapusa--Tivim--Assnora--Bicholim--Sanquelim--Chorla ghat--Belgaum. This is THE route which is tad shorter with relatively straighter roads till Sanquelim. Just note that you don't have to run into Mapusa city as such but take a right to touch NH17 and just a little distance ahead, exit NH17 on right to proceed towards Sanquelim.

The Calangute--Panjim--Ribander bypass--Banastarim--Marcel--Sanquelim route is a bit longer and involves lot of rights and lefts. It is however good for Panjim per se.


++++++

Hoping that you don't mind a correction here, please note that "Old Goa" is not a precise way point while driving to and away from Panjim. "Old Goa" per se route takes you through narrow traffic prone bylanes. A faster and better route to bypass Old Goa is a 10km long "Ribander bypass" which is a 4 laned road all through, albiet with a bit of flyover construction pending enroute. However, even when it was a good old 2 lane road, it was an extremely quickest route to get past Old Goa area. Ribander bypass does pass through the fringes of Old Goa region as well but the reason to mention it specifically as "Ribander bypass" than saying it as "Old Goa" route is because the sign boards in Goa for a typical "Old Goa" are different from that of "Ribander bypass". In case one happens to follow the " Old Goa" sign boards, he will end up passing through narrow bylanes which are heavy traffic prone areas. That route is advisable only when someone wants to head to the famous "St.Xavier's church and museum". To get to this Ribander bypass, drive past the Mandovi bridge,Kadamba bus stand Panjim and continue on NH17 for about 1 km. You will reach a junction, the left turn from here puts you on " Ribander bypass ".

On the other hand,while driving down from NH4A Ponda/Banastarim towards Panjim , one would touch a Y-Fork just at the beginning of Old Goa region.A sign board here mentions two directions specifically as Ribander bypass ( left ) and Old Goa ( right ). Remember that "Ribander bypass" is THE route. This bypass touches NH17 just a km away from Panjim as mentioned earlier.

To summarise, the route from Bangalore to Panjim via Anmod ghat would be >> Bangalore--Dharwad--Ramnagar--Anmod ghat--Mollem--Ponda--Banastarim junction--Ribander bypass--Panjim.

The Chorla ghat route too meets NH4A at Banastarim junction and there onwards the route is same as above.

Calangute to Bangalore ( for those intending to take Chorla ghat--Belgaum ) route would be >> Calangute--Mapusa--Assnora--Bicholim--Sanquelim-Keri toll-Chorla ghat--Belgaum--NH4--Bangalore.

I am not going into the details of the crucial right and left turns at a "T- junction" at Sanquelim in this post. I think I have mentioned it before here or in the Mumbai--Pune--Goa thread.

[kumards]

Originally Posted by vikramk

I just did a trip to Goa and I live pretty close to HSR. For the onward journey the route was Bangalore - Hubbali - Dharwad(NH-48) - Anmod (SH-34, NH 748) - Canacona (SH-7, NH-66). This is about 630 kms. Canacona is towards the southern end of Goa. Started at 4:45 AM and reached at 2 PM including stops for breakfast and lunch. The roads are very good overall.

The return journey was via Karwar - Ankola (NH-66) - Yellpur - Mundgod - Bankapur (NH-52, SH-6) - Ranebennur - Bangalore (NH-48). This is about 590 kms. This too is a very good route but has some very narrow single lane stretches. Started from Goa at 12 Noon and reached Bangalore at 1100 PM with breaks for lunch, coffee and dinner.

Thanks for sharing this, vikramk! For the onward journey, where did you stop for breakfast & lunch?

[vikramk]

Originally Posted by kumards

Thanks for sharing this, vikramk! For the onward journey, where did you stop for breakfast & lunch?

Breakfast was at Kamat Ranebennur. It's on the highway attached to a Reliance fuel station. Reached there at 810a after starting from Hosur Road at 445a. The food is decent by highway standards.

For lunch the original plan was to reach South Goa but my daughter was getting hungry and hence stopped at the Dudhsagar Spa resort just before the Goa check post at around 1245p. They only have a lunch buffet for Rs. 350. Quality of food is average.

All through my stay in Goa, food was very good - so if you are ok with a late lunch, I would recommend a proper Goa restaurant.

[rahulb22]

Thanks a lot for the inputs!!

However, if I plan to start from Calangute around 11 AM, is it a better idea to take the Khanapur -> Alnavar stretch to avoid entering Belgaum? Will this save me some time?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by rahulb22

Thanks a lot for the inputs!!

However, if I plan to start from Calangute around 11 AM, is it a better idea to take the Khanapur -> Alnavar stretch to avoid entering Belgaum? Will this save me some time?

Remember that with a 11am start from Calangute, in case you take Khanapur Alnavar, you would be stopping for late lunch and the option would be Kamat after Hubli (16 kms from the Bypass Toll). "Late" can be as late as 1430-1500.

However, in case you chose to pass Belgaum, passing the city itself will give you better choices to stop by for lunch and take a break that the Khanapur Alnavar road will not give you. Calangute to Belgium should take 2.5 hours at max and that means around 1330-1400 it is still not too late for lunch, with more than one option inside the city.

[pareshraheja]

Guys I am little confused here. I have gone through the different options b/w Blr and Goa as suggested by members but, what I fail to understand is the travel time being shown by Google Maps.

It says Blr to Karwar as 8 hours. I thought the it should not cross 7 coz typically blr to Hubli I do it in 5 hours and the last time I remember doing South Goa to Hubli in 2:15 min via the Karawar Ankola route.

Has the road condition deteriorated on this section?

[indusboy]

Two questions to the community:

After many years, I am driving to North Goa. Back then I used to take Belgaum, Amboli, Sawantwadi, and then come south on NH17 to North Goa. From this thread it looks like the below options are better now:
A) Bangalore - Hubli - Dharwad - Belgaum - Jamboti - Chorla - Sanquelim
B) Bangalore - Hubli - Dharwad bypass - Giriyal - Khanapur - Jamboti - Chorla - Sanquelim

Q1- Which of the above is preferred? Looking at good road conditions, if the road is scenic it is a bonus.

The plan is to leave Bangalore early in the morning (5am) and be in Vagator by 2pm. I am driving a SUV and don’t plan to take long stops on the way.

Q2- From Sanquelim, which is a better road to reach Vagator? Google maps shows me Mulgao - Bodem - Tivim - Siolim - Vagator.

Appreciate the help.

[indusboy]

Originally Posted by pareshraheja

Guys I am little confused here. I have gone through the different options b/w Blr and Goa as suggested by members but, what I fail to understand is the travel time being shown by Google Maps.

It says Blr to Karwar as 8 hours. I thought the it should not cross 7 coz typically blr to Hubli I do it in 5 hours and the last time I remember doing South Goa to Hubli in 2:15 min via the Karawar Ankola route.

Has the road condition deteriorated on this section?

Nope, no change in road conditions. Perhaps Google is calculating per the legal/lower speed limit!

[rahulb22]

Folks, how safe is the Hubli -> Ankola stretch for a night drive? I was considering taking a break at Ankola (since I have some work there) instead of an early morning start from Bangalore. But I would not be able to leave Bangalore before 5 PM which means I would reach Ankola only by about 12 AM.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by rahulb22

Folks, how safe is the Hubli -> Ankola stretch for a night drive? I was considering taking a break at Ankola (since I have some work there) instead of an early morning start from Bangalore. But I would not be able to leave Bangalore before 5 PM which means I would reach Ankola only by about 12 AM.

Should not be any problem at all. Many buses take this route and haven't heard of any safety issues on this.

In fact, I have taken Hubli - Alnavar - Ramnagar - Mollem between 0300 - 0600 an that road still had good truck traffic too.

[dass]

Originally Posted by srikanthpotluri

Anyone else is aware of the condition of the ghat section in the route suggested above? Anything to worry over?
Thanks in advance.

Not sure if this reply is already late for you, but i did this route in the reverse order last week and overall the road is decent, but there are multiple patches where there is road work going on and hence you will be required to slow down. There are quite a few small bridges being constructed on the ghats here and hence rough patches there as well. For you, till the time you reach jog falls, the roads will be good and the rough patch starts after that.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Precisely yes. The turn off for Mungod from NH4 will be soon after Bankapura Toll booth.

Also, Mungod has a Buddhist Monestry

This route was taken while I went to Karwar. immediately after the toll booth, the roads take you through a narrow village road and then there is some road work happening for around 3-4 kms. Apart from this stretch where there is no road, the rest of the roads are pretty decent.

[srikanthpotluri]

Originally Posted by dass

Not sure if this reply is already late for you, but i did this route in the reverse order last week and overall the road is decent, but there are multiple patches where there is road work going on and hence you will be required to slow down. There are quite a few small bridges being constructed on the ghats here and hence rough patches there as well. For you, till the time you reach jog falls, the roads will be good and the rough patch starts after that.



This route was taken while I went to Karwar. immediately after the toll booth, the roads take you through a narrow village road and then there is some road work happening for around 3-4 kms. Apart from this stretch where there is no road, the rest of the roads are pretty decent.

Thank you. Thank you all for the response and information.

I did the trip last week, went through the route suggested as above only. Found it fine.

However return I came through Mollem-Ponda-Dharwad-Hubbali route, found the entire route to be super good and scenic for most time, of course from Hubli to Bangalore its a four lane highway.

[jeirath]

Originally Posted by rahulb22

Folks, how safe is the Hubli -> Ankola stretch for a night drive? I was considering taking a break at Ankola (since I have some work there) instead of an early morning start from Bangalore. But I would not be able to leave Bangalore before 5 PM which means I would reach Ankola only by about 12 AM.

Have not had any issues with the security aspect while on late night drive on this route. The glare from the headlights of oncoming trucks / local traffic is an inconvenience though.

[rahulb22]

Hi All,

Just back from my long weekend trip to Goa
First of all, a big thank you to Parag bhai, Vivek95 and jeirath for the invaluable guidance.

Trip details as follows -
Onward (08.10.16):
3:10 AM: Start from home in Jayanagar
7:15 AM: Breakfast stop at Kamath Ranebennur
10:45 AM: Brief stop at Ankola for a temple visit
12:00 PM: Lunch stop at Amrut, Karwar
1:45 PM: Destination reached, Quepem Goa

Road Conditions:
- NH4 till Bankapur as good as ever. New layer of tar around Chitradurga
- About 3 Kms of Kuccha road after the left turn at Bankapur. Looks like the road is being newly laid. But road remains great after that all the way till Yellapura
- Potholes have developed for some distance after Yellapura. Irritating when you come across one while doing good speeds
- 4 Lane construction continues after Ankola, but no disturbance to running traffic
- Please note that there is a diversion at Sadashivgadh after the bridge. Looks like the wonderful view of the hills is gone for good.

Return (11.10.16):
10:45 AM: Start from Candolim
2:00 PM: Lunch stop at Sankam Residency, Belagavi
9:30 PM: Reached destination, Jayanagar Bangalore after a tiring drive through crazy traffic, long toll queues and unbelievable rains from Chitradurga. NH4 from Sira till Nelamangala was more like ORR between Marathalli and Silkboard today

Road Conditions:
- Good state roads. Pretty heavy traffic in Goa until the diversion for Chorla
- Chorla route was a bliss to drive with the superb scenery, minimal traffic and excellent road condition
- Drive through Belagavi town took about 30 mins
- NH4 is amazing between Belagavi & Hubli (first time for me). Quite a few undulations after Hubli for a few kms

Cheers
Rahulb22

[indusboy]

Originally Posted by indusboy

Two questions to the community:

A) Bangalore - Hubli - Dharwad - Belgaum - Jamboti - Chorla - Sanquelim
B) Bangalore - Hubli - Dharwad bypass - Giriyal - Khanapur - Jamboti - Chorla - Sanquelim

Q1- Which of the above is preferred? Looking at good road conditions, if the road is scenic it is a bonus.

Q2- From Sanquelim, which is a better road to reach Vagator? Google maps shows me Mulgao - Bodem - Tivim - Siolim - Vagator.

I took the Belgaum-Chorla route. Left Bangalore at 4:45 and reach Vagator by 2pm, because we were not hungry, we did not stop for lunch either in Belgaum or Chorla but a little later once we entered Goa.

I did discover a "new" place for lunch called "White House". This is just after the Goa entry fee toll booth on your right. Don't get fooled by the liquor shop at the front, this is a decent establishment - Clean toilets, decent food and the owner seems like a nice fellow. The Fish Thali was nice.

From Sanquelim we just followed Google maps to reach Vagator.

On our return I took the Sawantwadi- Amboli Ghat -Belgaum road, more for memories than for any other logic. The waterfalls are in full flow and it was very green and scenic. The road however is a little rough in patches, I guess due to the recent rains. But not much traffic on the stretch until Belgaum.

Hope this helps other travelers.