[nightfury88]

Hey Folks,

We just completed a trip from BLR to Majorda, South Goa (2nd Oct to 8th Oct) on a 2008 Swift VXI with 77k on the odo. We had 3 adults with 2 kids and a fully loaded boot. I remember driving at 100 kmph mostly between Karajeevanahally Toll Plaza and Hubli consistently and tried to maintain speeds between around 50 to 60 kmph on ghat roads - don't know the average as I did not track it, I usually get around 16+ kmpl when covering 1600 Kms on this route including driving around Goa.

I'm a lazy driver, don't like driving continuously and driving at nights on roads without medians. Hence, onward and return journeys are split into two days with a night stay at Yellapur.

Day 1 - BLR - NICE Road - Tumkur Road Exit - Tumkur - Hiriyur - Chitradurga - Davanagere - Ranebennur - Haveri - Bankapura - Mundgod - Yellapur: Started at 8 AM, reached hotel in Yellapur at 6:30 PM. Discovered a Tibetan settlement around Yellapur.

Day 2 - Yellapur - Ankola - Karwar - Canacona - Cabo de Rama Fort - Majorda: Started at 9 AM, reached hotel around 3:30 PM with a visit to Cabo de Rama Fort.

Days 3, 4, 5 - Driving around Goa

Day 6 - Majorda - Palolem Beach - Canacona - Karwar - Ankola - Yellapur: Started at 11 AM, reached Palolem Beach at around 2 PM. Left Palolem Beach after lunch at 4:30 PM, reached hotel in Yellapur at 7:30 PM. Night driving between Ankola and Yellapur was blinding as trucks coming towards you have atleast 6 headlights.

Day 7 - Yellapur - Kalaghatgi - Hubli - Shiggaon - Haveri - Ranebennur - Davangagere - Chitradurga - Hiriyur - Tumkur - NICE Road - Hosur Road Exit - BLR: Started at 9:30 AM, reached home at 7:30 PM with a short stop for lunch before Davanagere, nothing interesting on this route except butter smooth highways.

Potholes - I remember the maximum potholes between Yellapur and Ankola. This is a ghat road and drove between 40 and 60 kmph. Lots of heavy vehicles in this route. Next worst potholes are between Nelamangala Toll Plaza and Karajeevanahally Toll Plaza, drove at reduced speeds until Karajeevanahally after which the highway to heaven starts. Look out for cattle and owners of the cattle grazing them on the median - this was scary!!

Checkposts - Onward, one stop at Canacona near Welcome to Goa signboard. Cops take one look at the passengers - familly with kids get a free pass - 3 secs stop! Return, same spot, Goa side folks did not stop us at Canacona, but KA checkpost people flagged us, asked me if I had any bottles, and let us go in 5 secs.

Thanks!

[venkat_partha]

Hello All,

Thanks to this thread, we had a wonderful trip to Goa by road.

My heartfelt thanks for the information provided in #5738 by user 'rajivtelang' and by 'shenoytech'.

We took the route suggested in post #5738 and were able to navigate safely with novice drivers.

As for the route, the condition of the road between here (bangalore) and Hubli was wonderful due to it being a NH. We took the turnoff near Hubli as suggested in #5720 and were met with superb roads for about 5-6 kilometers, post which, the road narrowed to a two lane undivided highway which expanded and contracted in width in various locations. Speeds were good in this route upto about 32 kilometers from Ankola turnoff.

These 32 kilometers were not damaged, but mainly rutted. Rutted is the wearing away of layer of road in the direction of wheel travel. The good thing about rutting, IMO, is that if you are able to drive your vehicle on the non damaged part, you will not have much trouble.

The Ankola-Karwar-Canacona drive was smoother than a brick of butter. The NH portions in Goa are well maintained and are fast too. Be aware of crazy bus/truck drivers.

We had a wonderful time in Goa. Stayed @ GTDC guest house in Colva beach. Accommodation was decent, food expensive but superb, service laid-back. Had lots of wonderful conversations while waiting for food. .

If you are in Goa, do not miss the 'Naval Aviation Museum', especially if you have kids.

[GTO]

Mod Note: In line with our forum rules, strictly no discussion on alcohol please. Thanks for the support & understanding

[kiran_aithal]

Originally Posted by nightfury88

Hey Folks,

Day 1 - ... Bankapura - Mundgod - Yellapur

Thanks!

Hi Nightfury, I am planning to take this patch this weekend. I was told that this road has many potholes now after the recent rains. Is that very bad or still motorable?

Thanks on Advance.

[nightfury88]

Originally Posted by kiran_aithal

Hi Nightfury, I am planning to take this patch this weekend. I was told that this road has many potholes now after the recent rains. Is that very bad or still motorable?

Thanks on Advance.

Hi Kiran,

This is true - this road has many potholes and is a single lane without a median or white line markings but is still motorable if you have time and drive sedately. I blindly followed GMaps and hence took this route but have no regrets as it is a scenic route through some villages (where I stopped near a lake (near Konankeri I think) drove next to Mundgod Tibetan Camp. I wouldn't drive through it after sundown. My preferred route would be through Hubli (Bypass) - Kalaghatgi - Yellapur.

Hope this helps!

Happy and Safe Journey!

[lipaul]

We did a trip from Banglore (HSR Layout) to Goa (Candolim) and back in my Swift last week.

The route taken was - NICE Road > Nelamangala > Tumkur > Sira > Hiriyur > Chitradurga > Davangere > Ranebennur > Haveri > Shiggaon > Dharward > Ramnagar > Anmod > Mollem > Ponda > Panaji > Candolim and the same on the return journey.

It was around 620 KMs from home to hotel and we covered this in 12 hours that included two breaks.

Reaching Tumkur, the roads were patchy and there were potholes that I could avoid.

As I hit the highway, mostly 6 lanes, things were generally sane and I could maintain good crusing speeds.

From the turn off from the highway, the ghat roads were pleasant and the greenery around was refreshing.

Anmod - Around 10-15 KMs were really bad. It was dry when we passed thru and this probably helped us navigate relatively easy. If those potholes are filled with muddy water, it will be a challenge to guage the depth and I would be extremely cautious while crossing this section.

On approaching the Karnataka border, roads became increasingly rough and broken. It was a relief to cross over to Goa and we were greeted with good smooth roads.

I enjoyed the clear, marked, winding roads thereafter. But again, be cautious of cars coming over to our side on blind curves.

[amay1283]

Originally Posted by kiran_aithal

Hi Nightfury, I am planning to take this patch this weekend. I was told that this road has many potholes now after the recent rains. Is that very bad or still motorable?

Second nightfury on this. This road is motorable if you maintain moderate speed. It is single lane and very scenic. There is very less traffic generally on this route mostly 2 wheelers and few mini-loaders so you will generally not face any issues driving through. Do mind that you will find very few food options on this route so ensure to carry your own.

[airbus]

Planning to drive to Goa on 22nd October. We will stay in Palolem and would like to take Bengaluru - NH 48 - Bankapura - Tadas - Kalaghatgi - Yellapur - Karwar - Palolem route. Please share about road condition between Tadas and Kalaghatgi, if you have travelled recently.

[rizwan27]

Completed a 1 week road trip in the 1st week of October from Bangalore to South Goa and then to North Goa and back.
Took the route as discussed much before. Blr - Hubli by pass - Kalaghatgi - Yellapur - Karwar - Palolem. Roads are in excellent condition till Hubli. From Hubli to Yellapur in Good condition with occasional potholes (but you can drive around then if you are driving a bit slow). From Yellapur to Nh66 junction, it is a bit bad but nothing that is not drivable. The outer tarmac has peeled off badly at certain places and so need to drive very slow. Started at 3:30am from BLR , 7:30am breakfast break at Apoorva Resorts (Davanagere) and by 2pm was at Palolem.

Return was from North Goa(Baga) and followed the same route back. But planned a stay at a sea side resort near Ankola. So finally started from Ankola next day around 10am and was at Nellamangala toll by 6pm with 30 mins lunch break at Hubli and a couple of short tea breaks. .

Overall a very pleasurable drive with a 5 year old on board. The timing while going seemed to be the key, leaving early didn't encounter any traffic. While coming back heavy truck traffic from Tumkur to Nellamangala junction, but all manageable.

[Alfaholic]

We are going on a goa trip ( group of 6 bikers). Could someone tell me which is the best and scenic route to go?

We would start from bellandur and plan to reach gokarna by the same evening. And the next day to goa.

Will be in Goa for a couple of days. And would return back to Bangalore in 1 day.

[Santosh.Kat]

Fellow BHPians!
Namaste

Route taken: Blr - koramangala - tumkur Toll road - anchatgeri - yellapura - Ankola - Karwar - South Goa
Overall Trip time: 11.5 hrs
Driving time: 10 hrs
We started at 4:45 am on 11th Oct and unfortunately was welcomed by one of the heaviest rains in blr this season. All the way till Tumkur highway Toll it was raining, especially the Sarjapur, Outer ring road was fully flooded which slowed us down. Beyond that it was a drivers paradise and covered the distance till Anchatgeri exit at almost 70 km/hr average speed. As shared by fellow Bhpians there are some big potholes and deviations on this highway. But luckily by God's grace no major events disturbing my driving joy. The only deterrent was my 5 yrs old daughter on & off removing her seat belt!!!!
From Anchatgeri to Ankola it's mostly a single road, mostly good but the tens of potholes which will suddenly surprise you. There is a 20-30 km stretch in between, after yellapur which is really bad. Also lot of trucks on the road which we need to watch out. Overall a good drive. Planning to take the same route on my way back!
Food stops: Breakfast - wasted almost 1 hour searching for Davangere benne dose. Finally had in Sagar hotel inside Davangere city. It was yummy!
Lunch: Karwar - Ajvi food court - love this place! Last trip also we stopped here!
Thanks to all here for all advise which is very very useful 👍 😀 👌!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Santosh.Kat

Fellow BHPians!
Namaste

Route taken: Blr - koramangala - tumkur Toll road - anchatgeri - yellapura - Ankola - Karwar - South Goa
Overall Trip time: 11.5 hrs
Driving time: 10 hrs

I have realised one point. No matter what we try, the NICE always wins as the best exit. Given if you are close to Koramangala/Sarjapur/HSR its much-much better to take NICE.

Secondly the worst of the traffic happens at the start of the drive (Bangalore-Tumkur) and end of the drive (within Goa). For the first part the earlier we get rid of it the better. My standard solution here is start the drive by 4 sharp (or before) to get past Tumkur by 5/5:30 and be at Davanagere by 7 for breakfast. Apoorva opens by 0700 and you can get a decent break-fast.

A 30-40 min break and then you can be at Hubli exit by 0930-1000. Basically one can cover a 430km distance in 5.30-6 hrs including a break. I say this again: One does not need to overspeed at all. Even with a cruise at 100-110 one can do this. Give the 6-lane till Hubli.

The problem starts from here. Even if you take the route to Ankola the bad roads take time. Usually it was not bad in the past. Even with 2-lane this section has mostly been a belter. I am sure authorities will fix this soon. Basically this 140km of stretch can be done on 2-2:30 hrs max. By 1230-1300 one can be in Karwar or 1200 at Ankola (Kamat or Coffee Day). And then the last 2 hours to South Goa. This is real 2-lane with heavy traffic. The time of commute depnends on where one needs to go in this section.

Now Anmod/Ponda or any other route here is a similar time line. (I liked the post on getting burgers and eating at one of the nicer locales).

North Goa: Then one needs to add:

1. Hubli-Dharwad bypass
2. Drive To Belgaum
3. Chorla-Mapusa

Thats a typical break-up of this drive for me. (I go more to south Goa via Ankola. So that's a more regular for me. )

[bhugs]

Well I did this route a month earlier and thought about taking breakfast at Apoorva and thus left at 4 am from Domlur. Only hitch was we reached Apoorva around 6 am itself (maintained around 90 kmph) and they were not open. We decided to move on and have breakfast somewhere else rather than wasting one hour, a BIG mistake. Not a single good eatery after Apoorva, till Davangere, so my sincere advice either keep some munchies with you or if can, finish your breakfast at Apoorva and then proceed.

[nasirkaka]

Well I did this route a month earlier and thought about taking breakfast at Apoorva and thus left at 4 am from Domlur. Only hitch was we reached Apoorva around 6 am itself (maintained around 90 kmph) and they were not open.

Apoorva resort from Bangalore is about 280 kms. Not sure how it can be done in 2 hours maintaining 90kmph? Or am i missing something?

We are going to south goa with family in a car. Wanted to know how is the recent road condition if we take detour from Bankapur toll and reach yellapur via Mundgod? We usually take this route when on bike. Now that we are in a car, should we stick to hubli >kalghatgi >yellapur road?

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by nasirkaka

Apoorva resort from Bangalore is about 280 kms. Not sure how it can be done in 2 hours maintaining 90kmph? Or am i missing something?

I have tried my best to drive at 100+ kmph throughout but still it took 4 hours to reach Apoorva. I had started at 6AM and reached at 10AM. No matter how hard you try, places like Tumkur or around Nelamangala will force you to slow down to standstill or crawl at 20kmph. I feel one will be able to make it in 3.5 hours at the best.