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Updating on my trip. Thanks to the suggestions from our in-house google @paragsachania I took the Hubali- yellapur - ankola - goa route both ways.

The route is smooth and very peaceful to drive. Except for the under construction road after taking left from Hubali the tarmac was as good as it can get. There are some sections where potholes are patched up and some places where the road is rutted but nothing that will inconvenience the passengers or slow you down. I was able to maintain decent speed of 60-80km in this stretch.

Watch out for cows and some trucks who speed up especially while coming downhill on the ghats. I saw one truck with a big accident on the side.

I left from HSR at 430am and was at the resort (Arossim beach) at 4pm with two 45-50min breaks for lunch and breakfast.

While returning, all plans go for a toss after you cross tumkur. The tumkur - neelmangla traffic was really bad. Left at 1030am and was at home at 1030pm with only one break of 30 min.

I've never taken the Anmod route. However, based on what I experienced during this drive, I will highly recommend the karwar route especially if you are going to South Goa.

June end will see heavy rains in Goa with the onset of the monsoon. Goa has a different flavor in the rains with lots of greenery and fewer tourists. But July end is the best time to enjoy that aspect of Goa.

If you have to do June end do check the weather forecast before leaving and be mentally prepared to face delays. A couple of years back I recall taking the Belgaum - Chorla route from Blr and narrowly escaping the massive rains and floods that followed. The downpour started when we were half way across Chorla, a couple of hours late and would have had to spend the night stuck in traffic. Thing is monsoon can play spoilsport this time of the year.

Any route you take will scenic in the rains :) Lots of greenery, morning mist, fog, etc. I did Anmod last week and it was in decent shape. With rains the bad sections of Anmod can get worse. The Karwar route might be more advisable then.

Hi everyone,
I’m planning on going to Goa. I request few inputs.

Leaving from bangalore at 5pm in the evening.

Travelling with family in a BMW 5 series.

What route would be best to take considering the rains and the low ground clearance of the car. :confused:

We drove back to Goa on June 03, 2023. On the return, a few pictures of the road condition as per section.

Gabbur Toll Gate - Dharwad Toll Gate (27km section)


Work is progressing rapidly on this 27km stretch. Once done, will be a time saver and most importantly safe. Hopefully complete by end 2024.

Dharwad Toll Gate - Gharli (58km section)


Work has recommenced on the first ROB but at a snail’s pace.

Gharli - Anmod (23km section)


Earthwork, retaining walls, drainage works in progress. Expect this section to get worse in the monsoon.


Animal underpass in progress


Road infra works in progress

Will update the condition of this section in July first week on the onset of the monsoon! Right now the monsoon is delayed till June third week owing to Cyclone Biparjoy. Rest all sections are good to go and still the fastest route to North Goa.

Regards

Hi there,

I am starting for North Goa (Baga Beach) from Bangalore tonight and am confused about which route to take. The last time I took the Dharwad road (taking a left for Goa), I had a horrible experience with bad to worse to virtually no roads. So this time planning to take the following route:

BLR - Hubbali - Kalaghatgi - Yellapur - Karwar - Baga

It takes an hour longer than what Google suggests but based on some inputs on this thread, it looks like a safe bet given ongoing rains.

Any advice?

Hi Roadlover - Which route did you end up taking if you're already in Goa and back ? Is the road condition any better on the Kalaghatgi - Karwar stretch ?

I'm planning to go North Goa on the 3rd July, so your inputs will help me navigate better during the monsoon.

Hi there! I took the following route:

Bangalore - Hubbali - Kalaghatgi - Yellapur - Karwar - Baga

And I repeated the same route while coming back.

I'd recommend this route as the roads are excellent throughout with minimal ghat section. Drive to Hubbali is a breeze and the Hubbali-Karwar stretch is also scenic. I'd suggest starting early and keeping a lookout for cows on the Karwar stretch but that is easily manageable if you are maintaining sane speeds (60-80KMPH)

Once you enter Goa, please follow speed limits as I saw several interceptors with a speed gun and they were stopping overspeeding vehicles. I hope this helps.

Thanks. Any idea how long did it take for you ? I am itching to take the Hubli exit towards Anmod and return do the Yellapur stretch. Still keeping my options open. The last I drove to Goa was atleast 8 years ago, in 2014

The map showed 12.5 hours onwards but I was able to complete it in 10 hours with a 30 min break. While returning it took me 12 hours with a 45 mins break as it was raining and 70% involved driving in the night.

Always, the best option is Hubli-Yellapur-Karwar-South Goa. Now that Goa roads have improved by leaps and bounds, reaching north Goa from South is pleasurable too! If I were you, I will avoid that Hubli-Dharwad stretch and enjoy the scenic drive from Yellapur all the way to Goa.

Makes sense. Thanks for your inputs. I'll mostly take this route only both ways.

Did my return from Goa to Bangalore on 26th June. Route taken is Palolem-Karwar-Ankola-Yellapur-Hubli Bypass- Chitradurga- Tumkur - Bangalore(Hosakote). Karwar -Hubli stretch is in a very good shape with minor scraped roads intermittently between karwar-Yellapur, can easily maintain 80-100. Yellapur-Hubli stretch is absolutely fantastic and a delight to drive.

Traffic was VERY minimal on the day we traveled and I was able to do end to end in 9.5 hours including total 40 min break. Maintained speeds of 70-110 throughout.

If someone has motion sickness, this is hands down the best route to goa with minimal and manageable ghat section.

I need to travel towards Ponda in August first week and thought of checking last few pages of the thread.

I see mostly people are taking Hubli bypass-Yellapur-karwar route instead of Mollem route(Last year I had pretty bad experience on this stretch on the newly laid concrete roads with sharp concrete edges). Is it still the same story ? I drive a sedan

Mollem route is shorter for me around 590kms and Yellapur route via Hubli is showing up around 670km(I haven't taken this route before) so is it worth the detour of 80kms ? Also need confirmation on Yellapur route(to be on same page)

Route1:


Route2:

Having taken both the routes, I can say that Londa - Mollem is by far the best and the closest if you want to visit the temples of Ponda. However, the road quality near Londa is questionable on the Karnataka side. But the bad stretch is limited to around 20kms. You just have to navigate this stretch slowly if you are on a sedan.

Hubbli, Yellapur, Ankola route even though good would end up taking too much time as you will probably encounter truck traffic between Hubli and Ankola. Ankola to Karwar isn't exactly great as there are a lot of bottlenecks due to Highway expansion that isn't complete.

I just got to Goa yesterday driving from Bangalore and took the Mollem route via Hubli-Dharwad and Anmod Ghat. The 2 lane stretch past Dharwad is fine but then the subsequent forest stretches are quite gnarly with terrible roads due to the rains, constant rains, foggy conditions with very less visibility etc. I'm thinking to take the Karwar route back when I return next Saturday. Also, if you do take the Mollem route, be careful in the forest reserve area, I managed to get a speeding challan for driving at 75 in a 60kmph road :unhappy. I had sped up seeing I'm only 40km or so away from my resort and good roads after crawling for 2 hours plus on the chat roads due to bad roads and low visibility.