[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Bottomline - Take the third exit if you want to just navigate through the city without stopping and take the Second exit only if you want to pull over at Sankam Hotel.

Thanks Vivek. By any chance, is this the 3rd Exit which you are referring to? From your description and my memory, it seems like it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP_l0Z9f64I

This one soon after the big shop selling famous Kunda.

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Thanks Vivek. By any chance, is this the 3rd Exit which you are referring to? From your description and my memory, it seems like it.



This one soon after the big shop selling famous Kunda.

Yes, spot on. That exactly is the "3rd Exit" I am pointing out to. Infact, I had remembered very well that you guys had taken this exit the last time around when you drove to Ratnagiri via Belgaum--Amboli. I remember seeing this video as well before

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Yes, spot on. That exactly is the "3rd Exit" I am pointing out to.

In which case the video will serve as a good visual evidence for Rajiv to remember and take the desired exit. You pass the overbridge where you can see the neon sign of Sankam on the left, descend and you will spot this Kunda shop on the service lane and then start decreasing your speed and take the exit soon after this .

It has been quite some time I took Chorla which I was very regularly taking before ever since Anmod has got back in shape and ever since I started to hate North Goa! But the charm of Chorla is still unbeatable.

[.sourov]

Will be travelling from Bangalore to GOA during this Independence day. Initially planned to start on Wednesday, 15th, early morning and reach GOA in the evening of the same day. But since I will be travelling with 2 kids, changed the plan and now will be starting tomorrow afternoon, take a halt in Davanegere (Sankama Boutique hotel as suggested by many) for the night and again start Wednesday morning from there to GOA.

I will be taking the route: Bangalore --> Davanegere (night halt) --> Hubballi --> Dharwad --> Anmod --> South Goa

Could somebody let me know how steep is the ghat section in this route as I will be driving for the first time from Bangalore to Goa.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by .sourov

I will be taking the route: Bangalore --> Davanegere (night halt) --> Hubballi --> Dharwad --> Anmod --> South Goa

Could somebody let me know how steep is the ghat section in this route as I will be driving for the first time from Bangalore to Goa.

Nothing to be worried about regarding gradient, it is easily manageable and quite gradual. If it rains very heavily then you have to be bit more alert from visibility perspective.

[Crhysis]

Just did Bangalore --> Davanegere --> Hubballi --> Dharwad --> Anmod --> Goa on the 12th. The roads after the Ramnagar Toll till Molem are pretty bad. Be carefully especially if it is raining heavily. Going down the ghat is especially bad. Other than that noticed a few more speed breakers and a few more Police speed checks along the way. All between Davanegere and Dharawad. Also, it's not really on most routes into Goa but avoid Verna through Cortalim towards the new Pilar road. That whole stretch is jammed pretty much the whole day because of road work and rains.

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

It has been quite some time I took Chorla which I was very regularly taking before ever since Anmod has got back in shape and ever since I started to hate North Goa! But the charm of Chorla is still unbeatable.

Has there been any damage to Chorla/Amboli route in the heavy rains recently? My plan is still the same. For my forward journey will take Chorla/Amboli and for return journey it will be Anmod.

[Paraag]

Did Bangalore - Goa in my diesel Ciaz SVHS via Davangere - Dharwad - Belgaum - Chorla on 17 Aug. Coming down Chorla ghats, the atmosphere was heavenly. However, roads are broken at many places on the descent, especially at the corners and bends. Halted at Davangere for the yummy Shri Guru Kottureshwara Benne Dosa. Then at Dharwad for the famous Babu Singh Thakur Dharwad pedha. Then at Hotel Sankam Residency, Belgaum for lunch and bio-break. Total time including halts was about 13 hours. Not driving over 100 km/h at any point and being slowed down getting into and out of Dharwad, in Belgaum City and going down Chorla ghats and into North Goa. Fuel efficiency on this stretch was 25.5 km/L. AC on about 60 percent of time.


Within Goa, stayed in Arpora/Baga and drove about 100 km to Fort Aguada, Candolim, Arambol beach, Fort Chapora, and around Baga-Calangute. Fuel efficiency for this part was about 16.5 km/L.


Returned via Panjim-Mollem-Hubli-Chitradurg. Felt road conditions towards Mollem were better compared with Chorla ghats. However, coming down to Dharwad was quite slow with some broken roads, an overturned truck, and 4 railway crossings. Took about 4 hours to drive 120 km from Arpora to the national highway near Dharwad. Watch out for potholes on the national highway between Haveri and Davangere. However, the section between Chitradurg and Tumkur is absolutely fantastic! Return trip including a couple of breaks was also about 13 hours. Fuel efficiency in the MID showed 26.6 km/L when I reached home in Bangalore near Sarjapur. Again not going over 100 km/h at any point and AC on about 50 percent of the time.


Diesel prices in Goa are lower by only approx Rs. 1 per liter, so doesn't really make a difference where you re-fuel. Difference in petrol price is much wider, so makes sense to tank up in Goa.

[arundeep]

Just back from a Bangalore-Goa roadtrip this weekend in my Dzire. I wanted to avoid touching Hubbali/Dharwad, so during onward journey, experimented with the route via Sirsi, after deviating from Haveri. While the route was scenic since it was mostly through the forest, it was isolated and road conditions were bad. We were glad we were on it during afternoon time. Was keeping my fingers crossed to avoid gettin a flat tyre, but if you are in a high GC vehicle and feel a bit adventurous, there is the Yana caves that is a 3km detour from the main road, which, i am told, is a unique sight. We saw the board, but decided to skip since family was getting jittery about the road.

On the return journey, took the Yellapur - Mundgod - Bankapur route to get on to the NH. Yellapur to Bankapur is an approximately 67 km stretch through villages before one gets back on to the Pune - Bangalore highway. Driving time was just under 1.5 hrs. Road conditions are good with decent carpetting most of the way except 5% of the stretches. Road width is just enough for two cars to pass by abreast, but there's no traffic at all, so it was just 4 or 5 times in that stretch that i came across another four wheeler. Two wheelers are most frequent and an occasional bus/truck. So, while this route is also less frequented, it was not as isolated and creepy as the Sirsa one since this passes through villeages and small towns and you can always see people. This one is recommended if one does not wish to go all the way to Hubbali and come back down again to Haveri.

[San_Khanna]

Completed a Blr-Goa road trip between 23rd Aug. - 26Aug.
Onwards took the Route via Hubballi Dharwad bypass-Anmode-Mollem-Ponda-Candolim.
The route was good, no major road issues. Completed the journey from Bellandur to candolim in 8.5 hours. Left 5am and reached by 1.30pm. I highly recommend this route.

Return trip was not great. Took over 11+ hours. One mistake was taking the route as suggested by google maps - Candolim-Bicholim-Chorla-Khanapur-Kittur-Dharwad Hubballi Bypass. The road condition was bad. Traffic after Hubballi was horrible, maybe due to sunday.
Huge jams at the tumkur toll and beyond.

Total distance covered 1380 kms., including local travel in Goa. Car: Hyundai Creta.

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by San_Khanna

Return trip was not great. Took over 11+ hours. One mistake was taking the route as suggested by google maps - Candolim-Bicholim-Chorla-Khanapur-Kittur-Dharwad Hubballi Bypass. The road condition was bad. Traffic after Hubballi was horrible, maybe due to sunday.
Huge jams at the tumkur toll and beyond.

Total distance covered 1380 kms., including local travel in Goa. Car: Hyundai Creta.

Planning to take Chorla/Amboli next month. Could you please elaborate what parts of the Chorla route are bad and how bad they are? I will be traveling with full family in Ertiga on 12th September. How did Creta do on all the bad patches?

[San_Khanna]

Chorla ghats section on goa side - roads had lot of potholes at turns. Surprisingly was better towards karnataka side. Further Jamboti to Khanapur was not good. Overall i believe the distance takes more time. Combination of bad toad and traffic, the Creta did well. Did not feel too much on the bad patches.

[s.prashanth]

Will be staying in Taj Holiday village, which route would be best from Bangalore, via Hubli or Belgaum? I plan to leave a stop over at either Hubli or Belgaum based on route suggestions. Thank you in advance.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by s.prashanth

Will be staying in Taj Holiday village, which route would be best from Bangalore, via Hubli or Belgaum? I plan to leave a stop over at either Hubli or Belgaum based on route suggestions. Thank you in advance.

Makes sense to do via Belgaum and then Chorla.

The other option is indeed Hubli - Alnavar - Ramnagar - Anmod - Mollem but you will have to drive quite a bit within Goa itself to reach here.

Belgaum on the other hand will give you options to break although crossing Belgaum city is something that needs to be factored for this and the alternate routes that help bypass Belgaum to reach Jamboti (for Chorla) are not in good shape due to rains - Whether it is MK Hubli Khanapur or Khanapur Jamboti.

[rajivtelang]

Completed Bangalore-Goa-Bangalore trip for Ganesh Chaturthi from 13th to 16th September.

Bangalore - Goa:
I took the Amboli Ghat just for curiosity as well as to get my work done in north Goa. I started on 13th early but made a halt at Hotel Sankam Residency, Belgaum. My mom has undergone knee replacement surgery and hence cannot sit for a long time. I took a couple of long breaks for breakfast and lunch at Kamat Upachar Dobbaspet and Ranebennur. Not great food but fine for the time. Reached Belgaum at around 4PM.
Next morning moved through Belgaum and took the Amboli route. The road is really bad, tried to be patched up with mud in all pot holes, not making much difference between bad and patched good. This continues till the actual ghat starts where the roads are butter smooth (surprisingly), and a couple of bad patches in the ghat also. Again roads on other side of ghat are also not great, patchy and no mud in potholes here, you need to bear all the roughness. Reached my destination by noon.

Goa-Bangalore:
Heard about some really big and bad potholes on Anmod route (even Creta was scraped as per my relative in Goa), and hence took the longest and most boring Ankola-Hubli route via Karwar after so many years. It took huge 14 hours to reach home. The whole route from Ankola to Hubli is good except a lot of rough parts in ghat, slow climbing trucks, buses. You need to be patient at places. But this whole route is broad so no issues as such. Started at 7AM from Quepem, made a breakfast halt at Ratna Hotel, Karwar, then reached Kamat Upachar, Varur at around 12.30PM for lunch. Next halt was at Sira for tea break. Being a converted long weekend, many cars were rushing crazily all the way back. The patch after Tumkur (two gates with Rs. 35/- as toll) was the worst one. The road is just two lane and enormous rush near the gate with all huge trucks. Reached home at around 9PM.