[1lokesh]

Originally Posted by 1lokesh

Hi All,

Quick question, if anyone is aware about a good place to stay overnight for the stretch between Bangalore-Goa. I plan to leave along with family around 3PM and intend to drive for about 5 hours. Rest of the drive next day morning. For reference, When I was in Mumbai, we used to stay at Fairfield by Marriott in Belgaum. Anything similar along the route?
Thanks much in advance.
Cheers

Hey Guys, thanks for all the recommendations. So a quick update: made it to Hubballi and decided to stay at Fortune Park. So far so good. Completed this leg in 6:30hrs as against google maps’ estimate of 7:10hrs from HSR till this point. As highlighted by many, the only couple of hiccups one might face on this stretch are those two ‘under (forever) construction’ flyovers. Rest was smooth and quite often ‘zooming’ sort of drive in a low GC sedan. This was my first time from Bangalore though I have dozens under the belt from Mumbai

Now, when I look up google maps for my destination in North Goa (Anjuna to be precise), it shows 3-4 routes - all within 15-20 mins of difference. Don’t know which one to take

Any suggestions? Only qualifier being minimal inconvenience in terms of potholes and comfort in the car. I’m sort of allergic to sounds and rattles caused by uneven surfaces (read damage) which I understand is unavoidable - hence asking for “minimal” discomfort.

Thanks a lot everyone, again.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by 1lokesh

Hey Guys, thanks for all the recommendations. So a quick update: made it to Hubballi and decided to stay at Fortune Park. So far so good. Completed this leg in 6:30hrs as against google maps’ estimate of 7:10hrs from HSR till this point. As highlighted by many, the only couple of hiccups one might face on this stretch are those two ‘under (forever) construction’ flyovers. Rest was smooth and quite often ‘zooming’ sort of drive in a low GC sedan. This was my first time from Bangalore though I have dozens under the belt from Mumbai

Now, when I look up google maps for my destination in North Goa (Anjuna to be precise), it shows 3-4 routes - all within 15-20 mins of difference. Don’t know which one to take

Any suggestions? Only qualifier being minimal inconvenience in terms of potholes and comfort in the car. I’m sort of allergic to sounds and rattles caused by uneven surfaces (read damage) which I understand is unavoidable - hence asking for “minimal” discomfort.

Thanks a lot everyone, again.

the traditional route via Ramnagar-Anmod ghat-Mollem Sanctuary-Ponda-Panjim-Anjuna should be fine.Would take you around 5hours from your hotel to Anjuna

[Freebird82]

@Bailey - the love for my wheels and the famed Indian executive has achieved what many years or professional life/married life etc couldnt, it has made me patient

Jokes aside, yes it indeed is no way to drive, and is a nightmare esp in a sedan. Everytime I am on that route, I stop at Ramnagar, chomp on some batata vadas and check with the locals on whats the hold up etc, its always the same story - somebody filed a PIL on environmental causes/payments to previous contractor delayed yada yada.

Its a tragedy that such beautiful landscape (the jungle section for example) is marred by inconsistent and poor driving experience (including the absolute morons overtaking on blind turns). And this time, there were more such morons in private KA/GA cars than the commercial vehicles.

Anyway, just leave that all behind and enjoy the break

Originally Posted by Bailey

Freebird82 - You are really patient. I did the drive this morning. We crossed the Gabbur toll plaza at 9.00 am & reached South Goa at 1.40 pm. The drive was really a nightmare. No way to drive. The pot holes have been filled with mud, but its a painstakingly slow drive to avoid scraping the bottom on a low GC car.

Its really ridiculous that we have to pay a toll whatever it is when they have done nothing at the railway crossings. Agreed the bridges take time, but the least they could do is repair the roads in the interim.

Since its all bone dry at present its fine. The day we have rains again it will be back to being a nightmare.

[sixersiddu]

For those traveling to South Goa, roads via Hubballi-Kalghatgi-Yellapur-Ankola-Karwar are fantastic. I was pleasantly surprised by the conditions when compared to my last year's drive through this route. There are only rough patches here and there and no potholes! I could see at many places the patch ups were fresh. I could do this stretch in 3 hrs 15 mins.

[gautamal]

Originally Posted by sixersiddu

For those traveling to South Goa, roads via Hubballi-Kalghatgi-Yellapur-Ankola-Karwar are fantastic. I was pleasantly surprised by the conditions when compared to my last year's drive through this route. There are only rough patches here and there and no potholes! I could see at many places the patch ups were fresh. I could do this stretch in 3 hrs 15 mins.

What about the stretch from Ankola to Yellapur. In beginning of november when i traveled the road was full of potholes, all the way . Is that repaired now.

[bsdbsd]

Trip report from Bangalore - South Goa (Varca) + Rant.

Roads are fair or good till end point:

Bangalore Tumkur: Road is in fair condition but its 4 lanes only (2 each both ways). Generally unpleasant to drive but nothing to be bothered or worried about.

Tumkur - Hubli: Great condition. I did most of my drive using cruise control at 110kmph. Missed opportunity in Chitradurga to declare it as a scenic byway and providing a few exits. I saw frog rock, balanced rock etc. They should declare it as a national park.

Hubli Bypass-Yellapur: Fair condition. Trucks will bother you to no end.

Yellapur-Karwar: Broken roads but you can maintain decent speeds if trucks allow. Too much of truck traffic. If you get stuck behind a caravan of trucks, then you are done (10-15 mins to pass).

[begin rant]
Once you hit the Karwar road, its strange. Some are 6 lane, 4 lane roads and some are 40 ft wide roads. Curving, winding roads with cattle and people. People behave like cattle as well. Very unplesant drive till Karwar. Shame on our highway dept. I dont know how Mr. G sleeps at night with the state of these roads. NO excuses here.

There is no vision or uniform philosophy of what a highway or a freeway should be. Markings and road design is very poor. Its not access controlled. Goes through villages and there are ugly speedbreakers on highways with break in medians. No proper service roads are being built. Some are tar roads and some are concrete. No proper exits for petrol pumps or for hotels. Forget original thinking, I can see that we have even failed to copy the best practices of building a road in this age and time. 3rd world thinking and execution. We should maintain our status, dont we?
[end rant].

Karwar to Goa: Other than a few stretches of 6 lane highways, its the same as its been before. Narrow, twisting and winding roads wide enough for 1.5 buses. Add cattle + trucks + people overtaking in blind turns. Last 50 kms took 1.5 hours.

Time taken both ways: 11.5 hours with 30-45 mins of breaks. Budget roughly Bangalore-Hubli: 6 hours. Hubli-South Goa: 6 hours. I am a sedate driver. New SUV owners, F1 racers and our youth, whom you will meet in plenty on the road can do this in 9-10 hours.

[sixersiddu]

Originally Posted by gautamal

What about the stretch from Ankola to Yellapur. In beginning of november when i traveled the road was full of potholes, all the way . Is that repaired now.

Yes it's repaired. I could maintain 60 kmph constantly. As bsdbsd mentioned, lorries will test our patience. I particularly had trouble between Hubli and Kalghatgi. After Yellapur, lorries were sparse.

[bsdbsd]

Originally Posted by sixersiddu

Yes it's repaired. I could maintain 60 kmph constantly. As bsdbsd mentioned, lorries will test our patience. I particularly had trouble between Hubli and Kalghatgi. After Yellapur, lorries were sparse.

I can confirm the above. In fact you can even maintain 80-90 if trucks allow. Your tyres will take a beating though. You will be pushing the car to perform to compensate for surface deficiencies.

[gautamal]

Originally Posted by bsdbsd

I can confirm the above. In fact you can even maintain 80-90 if trucks allow. Your tyres will take a beating though. You will be pushing the car to perform to compensate for surface deficiencies.

Just back to Bangalore today afternoon. I dont know what kind of repairs are done . The surface is almost the same as it was couple of months back. A few deep craters are filled with tar now , thats all. The car suspension and the tyres took a heavy beating

[bsdbsd]

Originally Posted by gautamal

Just back to Bangalore today afternoon. I dont know what kind of repairs are done . The surface is almost the same as it was couple of months back. A few deep craters are filled with tar now , thats all. The car suspension and the tyres took a heavy beating

Yeah. Even I dont know what kind of repairs are done as I had not traveled in that road since last 2 years. I just dont understand how Goa is able to maintain the highways in such a pristine condition (narrow roads though), but this stretch of highway is no highway at all. My car took a severe beating as well. I was desensitised after some point.

[1lokesh]

Hi Guys,

First of all thanks to this forum and its members for helping me chart out my maiden journey from Bangalore to North Goa and back. While going to Goa, took a break journey in Hubballi and drove back straight when returning. A quick synopsis below:

Bangalore Goa - route taken was Nice Road - Tumkur - Devanagere - Hubballi - Dharwad - Ramnagar - Mollem - Anjuna.
Bangalore to Hubballi took 6.5Hrs with 2 breaks of 15 mins each + 1 refuelling break of 7 mins. Nothing new to report. All pain points are well covered in this thread.
Our overnight stay at Fortune Park Hubballi was okay sort. But nothing that can boast of ITC standards which the hotel claims to have.

Hubballi to Goa was really a pain. Having driven Mumbai - Goa few dozens of time, I was particularly appalled by the random patches left by the contractor while concretising the stretch from Dharwad bypass end till you enter Goa boundary. What could have gone wrong? When they are patching up several hundred KMs, why leave out these eyesores? And mind you these patches are so bad that your ride will crawl at <5KMs/Hour in some cases. On worse ones, there is space left for only one lane and if there is traffic coming from other direction you will have to wait patiently for your turn. Quite a nightmare.
Top it up with morons overtaking at high speeds on blind turns. Mostly gangs of boys stuffed up in SUVs. Few instances it was clear that the driver was really drunk - risking others on the road as well.
This stretch took us close to 4.5 hrs of drive (some ~ 170Kms) with just 1 break of 10 mins (which we HAD to take else we would've avoided that as well)

While returning back, On 2nd January, we were in for even worse(r) experience. Starting with the checking by the excise folks which resulted in a 3-4 Kms of crawling queue with rowdies breaking the queue (like bikers and Autorisckshaws in Bangalore) on a single lane road. Wasted about 30 mins here. And then those morons who overtake in high speeds even on blind turns just doubled compared to what we saw 4 days before.

Ride from Hubballi till Tumkur was comfortable and fastest. Post Tumkur, surprise bumps and/or uneven surface similar to the runway on an aircraft carrier can shake your confidence on engineers community who maintain this stretch. My car took off twice, but landed safely by God's grace, albeit with considerable perceived stress on suspension. Once on Nice Road, we were back in normal mode.
Total drive time Goa - Bangalore 12 Hrs with 3 breaks of 15 mins each.

Now having slept over this experience of mine a couple of times, I have decided to give my money to airlines for Goa trips rather than to my FNG and family physician.

Cheers!

[bsdbsd]

Originally Posted by 1lokesh

....
Now having slept over this experience of mine a couple of times, I have decided to give my money to airlines for Goa trips rather than to my FNG and family physician.

Cheers!

This is my exact decision going ahead. Couple of other friends of mine also have decided the same. I think we may have just done our last long trip from Bangalore.

Its not worth driving to Goa. Please fly (if you can).

[am1m]

Originally Posted by 1lokesh

Top it up with morons overtaking at high speeds on blind turns. Mostly gangs of boys stuffed up in SUVs.

While returning back, On 2nd January, we were in for even worse(r) experience.

Originally Posted by bsdbsd

Its not worth driving to Goa. Please fly (if you can).

More than the drive, I think it's the time of the year. The Christmas-New Year week is pretty much the worst time to visit Goa. Too many people seem to think this is the only place to ring in the new year, and anything goes. Places are crowded, expensive, the crowd has gotten steadily worse over the years, both in terms of size and behavior. And while the government and the locals always complain in the papers, the people making money on the ground enure that absolutely nothing is really done to discourage the kind of tourist behavior that is really not welcome in any state.

[bsdbsd]

Originally Posted by am1m

More than the drive, I think it's the time of the year. The Christmas-New Year week is pretty much the worst time to visit Goa. Too many people seem to think this is the only place to ring in the new year, and anything goes. Places are crowded, expensive, the crowd has gotten steadily worse over the years, both in terms of size and behavior. And while the government and the locals always complain in the papers, the people making money on the ground enure that absolutely nothing is really done to discourage the kind of tourist behavior that is really not welcome in any state.

Well said and totally agree. My view is valid even for any time of the year. Truck traffic and state of the roads remain constant. While I agree that private car traffic increases during this time, it wont overall affect the 90% of quality of drive. Morons are morons anytime of the year. I have driven during May, October and in December, and have seen the same behaviour - though the volumes are lower. Please note that my comments are valid only for Bangalore-Goa drives.

Also, your observations on places in Goa is spot on. This time, I also saw that driving and reaction aggression is increasing. Speeds humps have popped up everywhere. You can count 20+ speed breakers between Dabolim and Varca. Most of them are not marked, which wasnt the case before. Food prices in decent restaurants have beaten Bangalore prices. Steadily everything is going downhill. I guess Goa has left 5-10 years more before its fully "integerated" into India.

[1lokesh]

Originally Posted by am1m

More than the drive, I think it's the time of the year. The Christmas-New Year week is pretty much the worst time to visit Goa. Too many people seem to think this is the only place to ring in the new year, and anything goes. Places are crowded, expensive, the crowd has gotten steadily worse over the years, both in terms of size and behavior. And while the government and the locals always complain in the papers, the people making money on the ground enure that absolutely nothing is really done to discourage the kind of tourist behavior that is really not welcome in any state.

I think apart from those aliens on the road, it's the kind of road itself that makes me think (twice) about taking my beloved ride to Goa from Bangalore at any time of the year. Now whether Goa itself is crowded, overpriced etc etc. during this time of the year is very subjective from individual to individual. My new year celebrations have always been in Goa for past many years, and the trick is to find a place for me and my family where we are secluded from all the nuisance as you mentioned. Luckily I have a very reliable go-to-place which helps me evade crowd size and its behaviour.

This year I thought it would be better, due to measures announced by local government (no drinking on beach etc.) - but seems that they failed to implement it. There were some WA messages circulating pics of overcrowded beaches, jammed main roads et.al.