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Hi, thanks for the helping hand. Am planning to drive to South Goa from Bangalore tomorrow. I see conflicting reports on road conditions, especially whether to take Sirsi-Mollem route or via Belgaum - Chorla ghat section. Any help will be appreciated.

Thank you.

Nainar

Guess I missed the post again. What was /is your destination in South Goa. If it was somewhere closer to Agonda Beach then drive through Karwar would have made sense and if it was somewhere near Margao then Chorla ghat route would have been logical choice.

I am travelling to south Goa (Benaulim) during the following week. I am planning to drive via Bankapura - Mundgod - Yellapur. After Yellapur, most people suggest passing through Ankola before heading towards Goa. There is however a diversion at Idgundi towards Kaiga falls, which appears to be shorter. Do any of you have experience of driving on this stretch? This route effectively avoids a drive through Ankola. A response on this will be much appreciated.

I may have to travel to Goa (Candolim) on Sep 5. Going through this thread, the Belgaum - Chorla ghat route seem to be the most popular route for North Goa. I also read an update indicating Anmod ghat being now open (except for the Ramanagar - Anmod section). Checking on Google Maps now, the route suggestion is Bangalore - Tadas (Detour from the highway after Bankapur and before Hubballi) - Kalaghatgi - Haliyal - Jagalbet - Castlerock (through Dandeli, not Ramanagar) - Anmod - Mollem - Ponda - Candolim.

Please let me know if any of you have updates on this route? Are the roads decent and are there any narrow sections (especially the section through Dandeli to Castlerock)?

Anmod ghat is not officially open. Local have made some provision for cars to ply. I would not recommend Anmod ghat for travelling. It is not yet ready to handle traffic.

I would recommend Bangalore - Kittur - Bidi - Khanapur - Chorla - Sanquelim - Candolim route.

Which route did you finally go with? Driving from Davangere to Candolim on 11th. Updates would be appreciated.

I drove yesterday on this. There is the diversion after Bankapura before you reach Hubbali to Tadas. At Tadas, you turn right and it will connect you to Kalaghatgi. The road is good for most parts except a few places where roads have caved in and a bridge that has been partially restored after a collapse. Driving a Crysta, it was a non issue. But a low GC car or even a loaded sedan will have it tough with scraping. At Kalaghatgi, joined the NH towards Yellapura and Karwar to South Goa. This road is just fine except for some top layer peel offs in the ghat sections.

To me, the 6 laning work on the Chitradurga - Hubbali was the most frustrating part to drive through.
Hence I'm thinking of driving back this afternoon via Jog, Sagara and Shimoga. I hope there is no blockage especially since it poured heavily last night here.

Hi Friends,


Am planning to drive to North Goa in the first week of Oct. From the posts in this forum, currently the best option is to take the Chorla route. I will take the same (provided the Anmod ghat route is officially open by that time) .

The problem we normally face on this long drive, is the lack to quality pit stops.

Can the regulars suggest "GOOD" joints to stop on the Bangalore-Hubli route,where there are decent loos for the ladies, and good food ? Since there is only one planned pit stop, would like it to be a good one :) !


Thanks a lot for the continuing feedback.



Regards,

Kamat upachar at Dobbasapet, Ranebennur (on your left towards hubli) and Sira, Chhatra, Varur (on other side of road) are some of the stops I have tried. Food is typical udupi or mangalore veg style. You can decide among these based on the time you reach around them. There are many other hotels but never tried any of them.
PS: I do not have very latest info on the decency of them (6 months lag) but Kamat hotels are usually good and okkish for pitstops and bio breaks.

Route Update: I took the Jog-Sagara-Shimoga-Chitradurga route back and was surprised to find good tarmac till Shimoga. The ghat sections are fantastic especially. The only bad part was the section between Shimoga and Channagiri. It is definitely better compared to the torture we endure on the Chitradurga-Hubbali stretch.

The bonus was the full flow in Jog due to the release of water.

Latest update from my BLR-GOA-BLR trip:

BLR to GOA - Choose tried and tested Gmaps (Bangalore - Chitradurga - Tadas (Detour from the highway after Bankapur and before Hubballi near Shiggaon) - Cross over Kalaghatgi - Haliyal - Jagalbet - Castlerock (through Dandeli, not Ramanagar) - Anmod - Mollem - Ponda - Margao.

Did this in 11 hours flat from Yeshvanthpur (11PM) to Margao (10AM) in my 1.6 Creta with one break for breakfast of about 30mins at Jolly Hotel Anmod.

Pros: 95% of the road is in very good condition with very few pot holes or hardly any bad sections. No heavy commercial traffic movement and very minimal LCV's. I could easily maintain about 60-80Kmph. Route is scenic via deep forest areas and rains only added spice to the drive. Also this avoids most of the diversions (if not all) on NH.

Cons: Most of roads are thru villages and isolated. Any issues with your vehicle (break down) or road (fallen trees etc) might leave you in soup for hours. No good restaurants / hotels, limited mobile connectivity (Jio/Vodafone) so plan well if travelling with family/kids. There is one railway crossing between Castle Rock and Anmod, but that shouldn't take too long. Roads are single lane mostly, so be prepared for some off-roading activity during oncoming traffic (very seldom).

There are two sections where only 2/4 wheeler can pass.

Return GOA to BLR - Choose Chorla also suggested by Gmaps (Panjim - Sankhlim - Chorla - Jamboti - Khanapur - Bidi - Kittur - Dharwad - Hubli - Davangere - Chitradurga - Bangalore)

Did this in 13 hours from Panjim (9AM) to Yeshvanthpur (10PM) with one lunch break of about 30mins at near Hubli toll plaza.

Pros: Enjoyed the misty weather of Chorla, Discovery of Sugar & Spice restaurant (immediately within 2-3 Kms after crossing the Hubli toll) which is newly opened and they served lip smaking veg food. Toilets too were neatly maintained. Great experiance since all toll lanes are now FASTAG enabled except NICE single road section between Dharwad and Hubli.

Cons: AVOID this route !

We were stuck at Chorla for about 1.5hrs due to land slide. Goa Traffic police were engaged to clear the debri with one JCB and only one car could pass at a time. Almost every corner of Ghat section at Goa side is washed out with pot holes and solid rock fills. KA side ghat section roads are pleasent. Too many LCV's and Commercial vehicles. The nighmare starts when you detour Belgaum and turn right towards Hubli. This section even though wide enough, is pathetic until you hit NH near Dharwad with lot of pot holes and rough ride. There is one sections where only 2/4 wheeler can pass due to land side.

The diversions between Davangere - Chitradurga (lost the count ~24) was nothing less then a nightmare.

I'm not sure about Yellapur or Sirsi route, but given an option, I would anytime stick to Haliyal - Dandeli route for now.

I doubt Anmod road will officially be open by that time. Looking at the condition of the road I estimate, the work will get over by December 2019.

Couple of videos of Anmod ghat current condition,

https://youtu.be/ozi6j2XYIBI

https://youtu.be/2vjEOT66L7w

Puzzle solved :)

Thank you for update. I was wondering how Bangalore passing vehicles are driving through Anmod ghat despite Ramnagar - Anmod being closed. In fact me & Vivek had discussion about it on this thread.

Thanks for the updates, @Sary. Double-check: Do you mean that we can go into any lane in all the toll-gates now and use Fastag ?
24 in a span of about 75 km is - That's :Frustrati .. how is it between Chitradurga & Hubli ?

There were 20 between Hubli and Chitradurga (200 Km) in July. Then A friend who drove to Mumbai said the diversions have increased. It means, they are surely above 24 for sure :).

Yes, you read it right !

There are FASTAG readers installed on all toll booths just above each toll collectors cabin. My FASTAG worked at all but one toll where they did manual scan. Another observation, if traffic is piling up specially at the dedicated FASTAG marked lanes, they let cars ride free without collecting toll (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...-pay-toll.html) . Happy to see some things do work in practice !

Hubli - Davangere - Chitradurga are all equally bad, average out one diversion every 10kms. Only Chitradurga - Tumkuru - Bangalore is cruizable with ease being 3 lanes.