[yajaman99]

@JLN - Thanks for the very detailed route plan and details, very greatly appericated.
It will surely help everyone, great writeup.

[blackbeast]

Originally Posted by JLN

Stretch 7: Belgaum to Molem on NH4A – Route: Belgaum – Khanapur – Ramnagar - Anmod – Molem: about 115 kms – 2.5 to 3 hours

Belgaum - sawantwadi - amboli - goa is better route. There are no potholes. The road is scenic and you hit a couple of spots at Amboli ghat where you can find water falls and good views for pics. You can also do popular doodh sagar falls.

For Bangaloreans, i suggest halting at Amboli or somewhere near doodhsagar and then proceed the following day to goa as You would have already done nearly 600 kms. You will enter goa in a hour the following.I have driven with a couple of breaks for break fast and it took me 10 hours in safari.

+ves
You can avoid Panaji. It gets very busy during season
You will go to baga/calangute faster
A view of maharastra villages as you would enter maharastra
Very good road and very scenic

[JLN]

Goa to Bangalore Goa Road Trip: Travel Date - Tuesday, Sep 28, 2010

We experimented with a different route on the way back. Here is a report in the same format as the one for the onward journey.

Stretch 1: Candolim (North Goa) to Karwar: 110 kms, 2.5 hrs.
We started at 6:18 AM from our hotel, through the town roads and hit NH17 in about 20 minutes. Being early morning, the traffic was minimal till Margoa. Getting through Margoa town took some time with a little local traffic even at around 7:30 am in the morning. After Margoa, NH17 was relatively empty, the road surface very good, but because of the really narrow 2 lane undivided road and extensive curves, overtaking was difficult and we could only average 45 kmh all the way till the Karnataka border. NH17 in Karnataka was wider (more like a normal 2 lane highway).
Stops: We didn’t notice any decent stops all the way upto Karwar (other than roadside tea stalls). We saw a nice looking hotel “Lotus” on the right on Karwar and stopped there for breakfast. The food was just about OK, but the place had clean rest rooms and we were happy with the stop.

Stretch 2: Karwar to Ankola (upto the NH63 intersection): 30 kms, 45 minutes
NH17 in this stretch was again quite good (with a few minor bad patches) and we saw the sign board to take a left to get to Hubli just before entering Ankola. This is a small sign-board, so watch for this. Once we took a left, we saw another board with NH63 on it – reconfirmed that we had taken the correct road.
Stops: We saw sign boards for a few hotels on this stretch, but none seemed as convenient and nice as the Lotus place we had stopped at.

Stretch 3: Ankola to Hubli via Yellapur on NH63: 140 kms, 2.5 hours
The NH63 stretch is mostly good with occasional bad patches. The big issue here would be the unexpected potholes – you will have an excellent stretch of road (you can do 100 kmh easily) and a few potholes suddenly pop up, not allowing enough time to slow down. In addition, there are unmarked road bumps whenever you come across a village. Watch for these – one of either side of the village. Overall this stretch was very empty with just some truck traffic, the road surface was quite good (much better than NH4A) and the route is not very curvy – so overtaking is not very painful. We got to Hubli (actually the NH4 bypass) by 12:00 Noon.
Stops: We did not notice any decent spots on this stretch where you can stop (there were a few food places in a place called Kalghatgi - this town seemed bigger than Yellapur). Your best best would be to stop somewhere around Karwar or go all the way upto Hubli.

Stretch 4: Hubli to Nelamangala: 360 kms - 5 hrs, 15 minutes
Here on, the road report is similar to that of the onward journey (previous post). I have provided the stops on this side of the road below.
Stops: You will see a Kamat on the left within 15 minutes after you hit NH4 from NH63. The next Kamat (after about 45 minutes from the earlier Kamat) is on the right - the same one we had stopped at on the onward journey – you can access this easily from the left side too using a break in the highway. After this we didn’t notice places you can stop at, till the Kamat in Sira (about 260 kms from the time you hit NH4), right next to a IOC petrol bunk.
Comment: The road after Tumkur was quite crowded (maybe because of the time – around 4:30 PM). Also watch for craters/potholes on the NH4 stretch after Tumkur. This side of the road (Tumkur to Bangalore) has more of these than the other side. Get onto the toll road as soon as you see the sign board – we saw some huge traffic piled up on the service road.

Stretch 5: Nelamangala to Sarjapur Road via NICE: 50 kms, 2 hrs
After Nelamangala, you will notice a sign board for Hosur Road/Mysore Road. Take the service road once you see this sign – you will also see a large overbridge about 100 m ahead (this is actually the NICE road). From the service road, clear sign-boards will direct you to the NICE road. We saw a few cop cars on NICE road and decided to restrict the speed to about 80 kmh. We also noticed that most trucks were virtually invisible (it was dark by then) with no tail lights – so driving at high speeds on the NICE road when dark may not be very safe. The NICE is fully complete except for the short detour you will need to take at Bannerghetta road – this is just a hop off, hop on type of break – so will not be an issue. Once we hit Hosur Road, we got stuck a little with local traffic and it was about 7:30 pm by the time we reached home.

Additional Comments:
1) The NH63-NH17 route to Goa is definitely better in terms of road surface than the NH4A route, but the really narrow NH17 stretch with lots of curves all through from Karwar to Goa is a bit of a concern for me – chances of accidents seem higher and the drive will be more tiresome.
2) My overall recommendation would be to take the NH63-NH17 route if you are going to South Goa and NH4-NH4A if you are going to North Goa.

[JLN]

Originally Posted by blackbeast

Belgaum - sawantwadi - amboli - goa is better route. There are no potholes. The road is scenic and you hit a couple of spots at Amboli ghat where you can find water falls and good views for pics. You can also do popular doodh sagar falls.

For Bangaloreans, i suggest halting at Amboli or somewhere near doodhsagar and then proceed the following day to goa as You would have already done nearly 600 kms. You will enter goa in a hour the following.I have driven with a couple of breaks for break fast and it took me 10 hours in safari.

+ves
You can avoid Panaji. It gets very busy during season
You will go to baga/calangute faster
A view of maharastra villages as you would enter maharastra
Very good road and very scenic

We originally wanted to take this route - but based on TBHP reports about poor road conditions, we avoided this. I also asked the watchman at Hotel Sankam about the Sawantwadi route and he mentioned that the NH4A road will be better now (after the monsoons).
Did you travel recently on this route? If yes, then that would clearly be a better route to get to North Goa.

I don't really see a need for a stopover on the way from Bangalore to Goa unless you are driving in the night, since that could get a little stressful. The drive for almost 500 kms (upto Belgaum) is relatively stress free and non-tiring because of the 4 lane divided road. I drove alone on the entire stretch (except for a 1 hour period between Hubli and Belgaum) during the onward journey and I drove the full distance on the return trip.

I would plan to do the entire stretch at one go, but be willing to stop over depending on the weather conditions and the driver's "Tiredness" level.

[Minardi]

Originally Posted by JLN

...
Routes to Avoid:
1) The Shimoga-Jog Falls route on NH206. Pretty bad roads reported in a number of stretches.
2) Kittur-Bidi route: Avoid taking the shorter route option from Kittur to Bidi (recommended option is to drive up to Belgaum on NH4 and come down on NH4A to Ramnagar)

JLN, thanks for the details of your trip. a couple of questions.

1. how about the shortcut from MK Hubli (on NH$) to Khanapur via SH31?
2. there is this 'ghost' road from Khanapur to Anmod directly which some maps say as the newer NH4A, instead of the road via Ramnagar. Does this road exist?

Thanks!

[condor]

I was hoping to get JLN's update before leaving, but couldnt - since I left on 29th morning. The updates on the last couple of pages was very useful. Skipped the Shimoga route entirely and did the BLR- Hubli - Karwar route (since I was going to Karwar).

@JLN, thanks for the detailed report. Just a couple of points to add to JLN's report :

1. Bad sections start as soon as Davangere-Harihar by-pass starts, and lasts for about 70km, till about 50km short of Hubli. Be ready for bad patches, diversions, speed-breakers et al.

2. Food at Kamat's (attached to the Reliance outlet near Haveri) is fair. One of the few places to have a combined stop.

3. Another Reliance bunk on NH63 is between Yellapur and Karwar (about 24 km after Yellapur, when going towards Karwar).

4. MRPL bunk near Hubli toll-gate looks clean : it is a COCO.


BLR-Goa is do-able in one day. Leave early and take either of the routes mentioned by JLN.

Overall, had a good trip. The Ikon was a beauty.

[sh@rpshooter]

Originally Posted by JLN

Goa to Bangalore Goa Road Trip: Travel Date - Tuesday, Sep 28, 2010

.

Stretch 3: Ankola to Hubli via Yellapur on NH63: 140 kms, 2.5 hours
The NH63 stretch is mostly good with occasional bad patches. The big issue here would be the unexpected potholes – you will have an excellent stretch of road (you can do 100 kmh easily) and a few potholes suddenly pop up, not allowing enough time to slow down. In addition, there are unmarked road bumps whenever you come across a village. Watch for these – one of either side of the village. Overall this stretch was very empty with just some truck traffic, the road surface was quite good (much better than NH4A) and the route is not very curvy – so overtaking is not very painful. We got to Hubli (actually the NH4 bypass) by 12:00 Noon.
Stops: We did not notice any decent spots on this stretch where you can stop (there were a few food places in a place called Kalghatgi - this town seemed bigger than Yellapur). Your best best would be to stop somewhere around Karwar or go all the way upto Hubli.

.

Thanks JLN..this is very informative.
I am planing to drive to Goa from Blr (Via karwar) next week and have been seriously considering the option of stopping by Hubli for the night (2 kids under 8).

One of the options to Bypass Hbli is to take SH6 into SH63 around 60Kms from Ranebannur and for around 60 Kms there before hitting SH63.
Is that worthwhile or does it make sense in driving amost 125 Kms more and taking SH63 from Hubli ?

[condor]

@Sharpshooter, I did check that option since my destination was Karwar. The feedback was negative. Hence the decision to go via Hubli.

On NH63, just watch out for bad patches & speed breakers where ever there is a town / village.

[blackbeast]

Originally Posted by JLN

We originally wanted to take this route - but based on TBHP reports about poor road conditions, we avoided this. I also asked the watchman at Hotel Sankam about the Sawantwadi route and he mentioned that the NH4A road will be better now (after the monsoons).
Did you travel recently on this route? If yes, then that would clearly be a better route to get to North Goa.

I don't really see a need for a stopover on the way from Bangalore to Goa unless you are driving in the night, since that could get a little stressful. The drive for almost 500 kms (upto Belgaum) is relatively stress free and non-tiring because of the 4 lane divided road. I drove alone on the entire stretch (except for a 1 hour period between Hubli and Belgaum) during the onward journey and I drove the full distance on the return trip.

I would plan to do the entire stretch at one go, but be willing to stop over depending on the weather conditions and the driver's "Tiredness" level.

I did this in January 2010. Roads were very good. Not sure why you heard the bad reports on that.I'm not sure if these 9 months and monsoon came hard on them.

Well, i have driven one stretch a lot of times to goa. single handedly. But i still stress the need to halt. Simply because you feel good overall with the trip. You want to relax when you are on a holiday. You are bound to get tired no matter what you are driving and what you are driving. Mind you i drove a safari.

[sh@rpshooter]

Originally Posted by condor

@Sharpshooter, I did check that option since my destination was Karwar. The feedback was negative. Hence the decision to go via Hubli.

On NH63, just watch out for bad patches & speed breakers where ever there is a town / village.

Thanks Condor. As per Google Maps the delta differens is around 50Km..so the extra distance should be worth it.

I am a faster than average (Not Express) driver.. am budgeting around 10 hours till karwar including 2 x 30 min breaks... is that viable in your view?

[condor]

@Sharpshooter, that can be done comfortablly. We did that distance in 11 hours, with far more breaks and a couple of deviations off the NH. Just watch out for the bad sections from Davangere by-pass all the way upto Ranebennur/Haveri.

One of the main bottlenecks used to be the traffic till Nelamangala. But with the new toll road (toll not applicable yet), this is also taken care of.

Remember - the first two toll booths after Nelamangala (Nelamangala to Tumkur) use the same coupon. All others are stand-alone units.

[sh@rpshooter]

Originally Posted by condor

@Sharpshooter, that can be done comfortablly. We did that distance in 11 hours, with far more breaks and a couple of deviations off the NH. Just watch out for the bad sections from Davangere by-pass all the way upto Ranebennur/Haveri.

One of the main bottlenecks used to be the traffic till Nelamangala. But with the new toll road (toll not applicable yet), this is also taken care of.

Remember - the first two toll booths after Nelamangala (Nelamangala to Tumkur) use the same coupon. All others are stand-alone units.

Thanks a lot Condor. Much appreciated !

[ravibhat]

Another option (not for faster drive) is bangalore-Shimoga-Sagar-Siddapura-Sirsi-Devimane ghat-Mirjan-ankola-Karwar-Goa. It offers smooth drive and beautiful scenary. Few stretch between JOG and Honnavar not good.

Regards,

Ravi.

[JLN]

Originally Posted by Minardi

JLN, thanks for the details of your trip. a couple of questions.

1. how about the shortcut from MK Hubli (on NH$) to Khanapur via SH31?
2. there is this 'ghost' road from Khanapur to Anmod directly which some maps say as the newer NH4A, instead of the road via Ramnagar. Does this road exist?

Thanks!

1) Avoid the shortcut from Hubli to Khanapur (through Bidi, Kittur). There are some reports on TBHP stating poor road conditions.
2) You may be correct, since we never saw a very large town around Ramnagar. Plus we also saw a Ramnagar bus take a road on the left from NH4A. So the current NH4A may be kind of a bypass at Ramnagar. The good thing is that NH4A is clearly marked almost all the way - so it will be easy for you on stay on the correct road.

Originally Posted by condor

I was hoping to get JLN's update before leaving, but couldnt - since I left on 29th morning. The updates on the last couple of pages was very useful. Skipped the Shimoga route entirely and did the BLR- Hubli - Karwar route (since I was going to Karwar).

@JLN, thanks for the detailed report. Just a couple of points to add to JLN's report :

1. Bad sections start as soon as Davangere-Harihar by-pass starts, and lasts for about 70km, till about 50km short of Hubli. Be ready for bad patches, diversions, speed-breakers et al.

2. Food at Kamat's (attached to the Reliance outlet near Haveri) is fair. One of the few places to have a combined stop.

3. Another Reliance bunk on NH63 is between Yellapur and Karwar (about 24 km after Yellapur, when going towards Karwar).

4. MRPL bunk near Hubli toll-gate looks clean : it is a COCO.


BLR-Goa is do-able in one day. Leave early and take either of the routes mentioned by JLN.

Overall, had a good trip. The Ikon was a beauty.

Condor - I didn't find the bad patches after Davangere that bad. It probably feels worse that it actually is after driving on 250 kms of great roads upto that point. Plus I saw reasonable construction activity on that stretch - so hopefully in about 6 months, the entire stretch between Bangalore and Hubli will be great.

Originally Posted by sh@rpshooter

Thanks JLN..this is very informative.
I am planing to drive to Goa from Blr (Via karwar) next week and have been seriously considering the option of stopping by Hubli for the night (2 kids under 8).

One of the options to Bypass Hbli is to take SH6 into SH63 around 60Kms from Ranebannur and for around 60 Kms there before hitting SH63.
Is that worthwhile or does it make sense in driving amost 125 Kms more and taking SH63 from Hubli ?

The route you have mentioned is what the KSRTC Volvo buses between Bangalore and Goa are now taking - through Sirsi. The reports are little mixed on this route - may be worth experimenting if you are doing this in the day time.

We went with a 5 year old kid and did the Bangalore - Goa stretch in one go without much hassle both ways - but I was prepared to make a stop if he got too cranky. If I were you, I would plan to do the entire strecth at one go, but be prepared to stay at Hubli/Karwar if needed - depending on how troublesome and cranky your kids get on the way.

Originally Posted by ravibhat

Another option (not for faster drive) is bangalore-Shimoga-Sagar-Siddapura-Sirsi-Devimane ghat-Mirjan-ankola-Karwar-Goa. It offers smooth drive and beautiful scenary. Few stretch between JOG and Honnavar not good.

Regards,

Ravi.

Ravi - did you do this stretch recently? There have been some bad reports on this route (almost asking folks to avoid this route) as late as early september 2010 on this thread by "reignofchaos"

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team : Please use "Multi Quote" option for quoting Multiple posts, instead of creating another back-to-back post.

[bhandarkar]

Hello Friends,
I am travelling to Goa on 10th OCT. Taking the route via Chorla Ghats as i have booked my stay at Wildernest Resort. When looking at the possible routes on Google Maps, encountered this route. NH4 from Bangalore - Left before MK Hubli ( SH 31) - Devalatti - Khanapur - Olamani - Kankumbi - Chorla. Nobody here has mentioned this route. Has anyone done this route before or is it a Ghost road? Travelling on my Santro.