[akroy]

Originally Posted by iceman-kimi

Bad stretches on my way back to Chennai: About 35km stretch before Londa(No roads at all, Tar totally worn out and deep pits) and the bad stretches as I mentioned above on NH4.

It is precisely for this stretch we are exploring other routes. Had this stretch been fine then this route is the shortest and preferred in terms of both distance and time.

Sadly this stretch is getting worse in the last 3 years. Wonder what the govt is doing about it?

Abhi

[thebagchi]

there are many routes to go to Goa from Blore

1. Blr - Tumkur - Mangalore - (NH17) - Goa
2. Blr - Tumkur - Chittradurg - Hubli - Londha - Panjim
3. Blr - Tumkur - Hubli - Belgaum - Panjim
4. Blr - Shimoga - Goa

for more references use mapmyindia (dot) com

[9tMax]

from hubli there seems to be 2 options for goa as per mapmyindia -
1. hubli - yellapur - ankola by nh-63 and then nh-17 to karwar - goa.
2. after yellapur there is a right diversion which looks like SH and goes directly to karwar via kalache, mavinamane, mallapur, makheri and joins the nh-17, north of karwar.
has anyone tried the 2nd option above? what is the current road condition of the 2 route options and which is the one to be taken for hubli - goa?
specially looking for some updates from ravibhat as you are there in ankola.

[ravibhat]

Hey 9tMax,

I know that route which go via Mallapur although havent travelled yet. At last governement has developed that road goes in thick forest area. Its wonderfull route you can see wild animals sometime. It might be short cut as well to Goa from yellapur and more than that you can enjoy that ride

Just for information: 2 years back my relative tried this route in Bike with his friend that time it was not even road he still remember that horrible experience. He travelled in the late evening in that route to kaiga and few places he had to get down and push his bike in forest and that was amavasya night so being Preist (Purohith) he visualized all sort of trouble there although he reached Kaiga safely.

Just 1 week back when i met him in Sirsi he told me road is ready now.

My relatives have travelled by Omni in this road to Kaiga few days back. It goes via Kaiga and avoid this route during night time and make sure windows are closed and don't try to get down from the vehicle in forest areas.

you can try that route for sure now.

Regards,

Ravi.

[9tMax]

Thanx Ravi for all the info. I haven't finalized my route plan yet, but if we are crossing that area at a proper time (during mid-day i mean) then certainly i will try to explore the mallapur option. what is the condition of nh-63 between yellapur and ankola?

[ravibhat]

40% of the distance with bad roads and heavy bad truck traffic in NH63 between ankola - yellapur and overtaking is near impossible.

Mallapur option seems ideal to go to goa and after feb 2008 nh17 Kaali river bridge might be closed for sometime to repair the bridge so its good there is alternate route to reach north of karwar if come from yellapur side

Hubli to yellapur is good.

Regards,

Ravi.

[dkamath]

just returned from a visit to Goa by a hired cab. Suggest anybody planning to take the NH17 path, to please keep off it, atleast between Honnavar and Mangalore

[ravibhat]

Just an update yellapur - ankola nh63 is repaired and road is good now.

Only issue is heavy truck traffic everywhere in this road and are parked in wrong direction/place most of the times.

This is what my dad told me who reached yellapur from ankola just now.

Regards,

Ravi.

[sudsan]

I've checked out the following routes to Goa from Bangalore over the last one year. Here's my summary with ratings on a scale of 1-10.

1) Trip 1 (Jan 2007) - NH4 / NH 63 to Goa and return. NH4 stretch between Chitradurga and Haveri - bad, highway only partially complete. Ghat section very bad.
Rating 3/10.

2) Trip 2 (Oct 2007 - following recommendations on this forum) - Blore-Tumkur-Jog Falls-Honnavar-Ankola-Goa. Worse than trip 1. Ghat section though quite good- Honnavar to Ankola was like driving on a lunar landscape. Canacona to Margao was pretty miserable as well.

Lucky I was driving a Fiat Adventure this time which swallowed all the humps and bumps as though none existed. Trip 1 was done in an OHC - as you can imagine it was a nightmare scraping the road all the way!
Rating 2/10.

Decided not to take this route and returned on the following route:

Benaulim-Panjim-Ponda-Londa-thereafter cut thru sugarcane fields and
hit NH4 at Kittur - Bangalore. Till NH4 not bad at all except for a short stretch after entering Karnataka from Goa. (Strange how the good road in Goa suddenly turns bad the moment you enter Karnataka!)
On NH4 the bad stretches between Haveri and Chitradurga had only gotten worse post-monsoon since my last trip.

Rating 3/10.

3) Trip 3 (Nov-Dec 2007. Returned to Bangalore 27/12).
On the outward trip to Goa took the same old route as trip 1 via NH4/NH 63. As stated earlier found the NH4 stretches worse off, but the ghat section had improved.
Rating 3/10.

Decided not to return via this route instead took the following one:

NH17 from Porvorim to Sawantwadi (in Maharashtra), then via Amboli Ghat
to Belgaum where I hit NH4 again. The road from Goa to Belgaum was simply fantastic - very good road surface and very little traffic. Only after entering Karnataka (there we go again!) there was a short stretch of about 12kms with an uneven road surface.
This route is approx 70 kms longer but the extra distance is compensated by the better road surface and therefore ride quality.

Rating 6/10.


Obviously my recommendation for anyone driving up to Goa would be the route I took on my return in Trip 3.

Happy Driving and a Very Happy New Year!

[bmshiv]

I had been to GOA on 25th dec. I went trhough
Blr - Tumkur - Hubli - Belgaum - Panjim route.
From chitradurga to hubli 4 lane road is not yet finished...but its not bad. Hardly 5-6 km strech you can experience some trouble other than that its pretty good road. You can even touch 120-140 easily in that route also.

While coming form panjim to banglore i came through old goa. After reaching ramnagar you get 3 different routes. one to dharwar, second one to dandeli and third one to belgaum. For a moment i thougt of saving time and opted dharwar route. It was the worst decision of my life. The road was so bad that i was managed to cover 7 km in 30 min!!! I cam back to ramnagar and went to belgaum back and opted the same earlier route back!! (Road is good from ramnagar to belgaum.)

[ravibhat]

Agreed sudsan about your recomandations. I heard goa to Belgaum via amboli ghat its very scenic road as well. whats the distance from Panji to bangalore in this route because from panji it might be too long?

Update about NH4 : 4 laning work between Haveri - Chtitradurga.

Now government says it will be done by oct. 2008 so this is new deadline. They assured they will do road repair for now immediately. So in 1 month from now NH4 will be good route to travel around for sure!

Regards,

Ravi.

[sudsan]

Hi Ravi,

The exact distances are as follows:

Panaji - Belgaum (via Sawantwadi - Amboli) - 160kms
Belgaum - Hubli - 90kms
Hubli - Bangalore 400 kms

Total 650kms

Yes, the Amboli section is very scenic.

Despite what the govt says I don't see the incomplete stretches of NH4 between Chitradurga and Hubli being completed by Oct 2008. There is absolutely no work happening. There are many bridges and overpasses
still not complete. My estimate is another three years minimum!

[ravibhat]

Thank you, so thats no extra travel infact good roads and scenic views will make journey happy, thanks for the information.

I do agree about nh4 work between chitradurga - hubli and hopefulyl they will complete the work soon.

Regards,

Ravi.

[ajitkommini]

Did Blr-Goa-Blr over the Christmas weekend. Took NH4 till Haveri and then SH via Sirsi to Mirjan on the way up (about 580 km to Palolem). Returned via Honnavar, Jog Falls, Shimoga, Tumkur. Slightly longer and bad roads on the Shimoga-Tumkur stretch, but excellent driving in the Ghat sections.

[itwasntme]

Hi,

Is it worth driving through the night to reach Goa from Bangalore? What if I leave Yeshwantpur at 2300 and aim for Goa by say 1000 the next morning?

What are the pros (less traffic) and cons (safety/visibility issues) of this plan? I am planning a March-end trip so would deeply appreciate any inputs.

Also, keeping in mind the night driving, should I take the Shimoga>Honnavar or Haveri>Sirsi or Hubli>Yellapur or the Belgaum route?

Thanks,