[diogo]

Originally Posted by fundagenie

Also on Google maps I noticed a deviation from the main road right before Davanagere (after Anagodu), while travelling from bangalore-goa.

And while travelling from Goa-bangalore there seems to be a lot of confusion after Davanagere, close to Davanagere-harihar bypass followed by a deviation from the main route again after Anagodu. Any inputs on what this confusion and deviation are. Or in actuality do we just drive straight without any hassles or deviations as displayed in the map.

FundaG

fundagenie, don't worry about what is shown in the maps, there is no confusion both ways. Roads are straight forward, Just follow the highway and you should be good. Many of the diversions due to 6 lane works are getting reverted back.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by fundagenie

Also on Google maps I noticed a deviation from the main road right before Davanagere (after Anagodu), while travelling from bangalore-goa.

And while travelling from Goa-bangalore there seems to be a lot of confusion after Davanagere, close to Davanagere-harihar bypass followed by a deviation from the main route again after Anagodu. Any inputs on what this confusion and deviation are. Or in actuality do we just drive straight without any hassles or deviations as displayed in the map.

Just drive straight, there is no confusion just that there are small diversions due to 6 laning work after Tumkur.
At Hubli, pay the toll (ask for the Yellapur-Ankola road) and turn to the left towards Yellapur/Ankola.
Near Ankola you will hit NH17 at a T-junction, with left going towards Ankola town and you need to turn right here towards Karwar/Goa.

[Tassem]

Hi All,

I'm planning a Bangalore - Goa trip in February. The plan is to leave Bangalore at 5am on Saturday the 9th and return on Saturday the 16th. So that gives me 8 nights in Goa.

Now comes the question. Is there any specific route I should stick to? I will be depending on my GPS. But if you know a route I should take, I will go with that.

Also, I'm considering the Ginger Hotel in Panjim. I haven't been there before, but expect it to be clean and well maintained like most of their other franchises. The rooms cost 2k (couple) per night including breakfast. Seems very reasonable.

Are there any other places you suggest in a similar budget? My main criteria is that it should be clean, safe and well maintained. Preferably air conditioned so that after getting burnt in the sun, I can cool off in the room. I will be travelling with my wife. We don't drink, so that's not a criteria in choosing the place.

This trip would comprise mainly of sight-seeing and beach fun.

Please share your suggestions!

Thanks!

Tassem.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Tassem

Hi All,

I'm planning a Bangalore - Goa trip in February. The plan is to leave Bangalore at 5am on Saturday the 9th and return on Saturday the 16th. So that gives me 8 nights in Goa.

Now comes the question. Is there any specific route I should stick to? I will be depending on my GPS. But if you know a route I should take, I will go with that.

Also, I'm considering the Ginger Hotel in Panjim. I haven't been there before, but expect it to be clean and well maintained like most of their other franchises. The rooms cost 2k (couple) per night including breakfast. Seems very reasonable.

Are there any other places you suggest in a similar budget? My main criteria is that it should be clean, safe and well maintained. Preferably air conditioned so that after getting burnt in the sun, I can cool off in the room. I will be travelling with my wife. We don't drink, so that's not a criteria in choosing the place.

This trip would comprise mainly of sight-seeing and beach fun.

Please share your suggestions!

Thanks!

Tassem.

Ginger is value for money.I dont think there is room service.As for the route:

Bangalore-Tumkur-Hubli Bypass(2laned road)-Left turn onto NH63-Balegulli Cross-Right turn towards Karwar-Panjim

[HydroXidE]

Originally Posted by Tassem

I'm planning a Bangalore - Goa trip in February. The plan is to leave Bangalore at 5am on Saturday the 9th and return on Saturday the 16th. So that gives me 8 nights in Goa.

Now comes the question. Is there any specific route I should stick to? I will be depending on my GPS. But if you know a route I should take, I will go with that.

Also, I'm considering the Ginger Hotel in Panjim.

There are many routes to Goa. If you are looking for good roads where you can throttle hard and cover miles then you should consider:

[a] BLR -- HUBLI bypass (NH7) -- Yellapur (NH63) -- Ankola (NH17) -- Karwar (NH17) -- Panaji (NH17)

BLR-Hubli is 4 lane. From the Hubli bypass, you'll see a board which says Panaji 165 kms. This stretch is 2 lane. This road is wide as it's a busy truck route. Also, the ghat is very gentle. The entire stretch has the best possibility of the road being good.

This route is however slightly longer, but given the speeds and ease with which you can go on this route, it might feel more or less the same. I've been on this exact stretch on motorcycle and I feel this is better than the others.

[a2] You can shorten [a] by taking a left after Bankapura thus bypassing Hubli.
Bankapur -- Mundgod -- Yellapur and the rest of the route being the same. I've not done this route and no idea of the road condition, but this might save you some driving distance and time.

Other routes:

[b] BLR -- BELGAUM -- LONDA (NH4A) -- PANAJI
Slightly longer. Go on this route only if you like forests and don't mind occassional bad roads + truck traffic.

[c] BLR -- (NH4) TUMKUR (NH206) -- SHIMOGA (NH206) -- (NH206) HONNAVAR (NH17) -- KARWAR (NH17) -- PANAJI
If you like two lane roads and like driving on NH17 (two lane, plenty of turns). Note: You'll be slower on this route. The only + point are the occasional beach views where the highway goes along the sea.

[Tassem]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Ginger is value for money.I dont think there is room service.

Thanks Ranjit. After considering the places I plan to visit and things to do, I dropped Ginger. It doesn't make sense camping in the middle of the city when the beaches are where I want to be

So I've decided to go with Villa Emmanuel situated right on Baga Beach. I stayed there the last time I visited Goa and found the place to be quite clean and well maintained. It's not high end by any stretch of the imagination. However the idea of living on the beach is tempting. And I can always enjoy the tranquil sea in the middle of the night if I want to.

Bangalore-Tumkur-Hubli Bypass(2laned road)-Left turn onto NH63-Balegulli Cross-Right turn towards Karwar-Panjim

Originally Posted by HydroXidE

[a] BLR -- HUBLI bypass (NH7) -- Yellapur (NH63) -- Ankola (NH17) -- Karwar (NH17) -- Panaji (NH17)

This route is however slightly longer, but given the speeds and ease with which you can go on this route, it might feel more or less the same. I've been on this exact stretch on motorcycle and I feel this is better than the others.

Thanks a ton! I'll stick to this route. While I don't intend on setting fire to the road, I want a smooth and relaxed drive. Are there many places to stop for refreshments? I will be leaving bangalore by 4-5am on a Sunday.

Also, please suggest places to eat at, in Goa. Nothing exorbitant though. We don't drink, so places without a bar are fine too.

Thanks again guys!

Tassem

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Tassem

Thanks Ranjit. After considering the places I plan to visit and things to do, I dropped Ginger. It doesn't make sense camping in the middle of the city when the beaches are where I want to be

So I've decided to go with Villa Emmanuel situated right on Baga Beach. I stayed there the last time I visited Goa and found the place to be quite clean and well maintained. It's not high end by any stretch of the imagination. However the idea of living on the beach is tempting. And I can always enjoy the tranquil sea in the middle of the night if I want to.

Thanks a ton! I'll stick to this route. While I don't intend on setting fire to the road, I want a smooth and relaxed drive. Are there many places to stop for refreshments? I will be leaving bangalore by 4-5am on a Sunday.

Also, please suggest places to eat at, in Goa. Nothing exorbitant though. We don't drink, so places without a bar are fine too.

Thanks again guys!

Tassem

You will not die hungry on nh4.kamats at dobbespete,ranebennur,hubli and some other restaurants as well.nothing to worry.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Tassem

Thanks a ton! I'll stick to this route. While I don't intend on setting fire to the road, I want a smooth and relaxed drive. Are there many places to stop for refreshments? I will be leaving bangalore by 4-5am on a Sunday.

Make sure you leave by 4 and not 5. If you are on the road by 4, you should be at Ranebennur Kamat for BF (about 330km) in about 4 hours.
In this section you can achieve an easy average of 80, without even going into triple digit speeds. Simply because, you would be doing the
speeds of 90-100 consistently as folks would be sleeping and would only get up for BF !

[indianrunner]

Hi,

To reach Baga beach would the turnoff from Dharwad to Ponda via Ramnagar be the most efficient? Is there any possibility of getting stuck in the line of mining trucks in this route?

TIA

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by indianrunner

Hi,

To reach Baga beach would the turnoff from Dharwad to Ponda via Ramnagar be the most efficient? Is there any possibility of getting stuck in the line of mining trucks in this route?

TIA

If you are ok with negotiating a few large potholed sections then this is the best route.Else go via Ankola Karwar Madgaon Panjim Baga.The other option is to go via Belgaum Amboli Sawantwadi Mapusa Baga

[goandude]

Originally Posted by HydroXidE

There are many routes to Goa.
[b] BLR -- BELGAUM -- LONDA (NH4A) -- PANAJI
Slightly longer. Go on this route only if you like forests and don't mind occassional bad roads + truck traffic.

[c] BLR -- (NH4) TUMKUR (NH206) -- SHIMOGA (NH206) -- (NH206) HONNAVAR (NH17) -- KARWAR (NH17) -- PANAJI
If you like two lane roads and like driving on NH17 (two lane, plenty of turns). Note: You'll be slower on this route. The only + point are the occasional beach views where the highway goes along the sea.

Originally Posted by Tassem

So I've decided to go with Villa Emmanuel situated right on Baga Beach.

Tassem

Originally Posted by indianrunner

Hi,

To reach Baga beach would the turnoff from Dharwad to Ponda via Ramnagar be the most efficient? Is there any possibility of getting stuck in the line of mining trucks in this route?

TIA

To go to North Goa Balgalore> Belgaum > Amboli > Sawantwadi is also a fast good route. Advantage is you get a 4 lane right upto Belgaum. You wont have to cross Madgaon and Panaji to the north goa beaches. Disadvantage is you have to go thru Belgaum. The Ponda Londa road was one of the worst "roads" I have seen so I do not advise that, though it is the shortest route.

[HydroXidE]

Originally Posted by goandude

To go to North Goa Balgalore> Belgaum > Amboli > Sawantwadi is also a fast good route. Advantage is you get a 4 lane right upto Belgaum. You wont have to cross Madgaon and Panaji to the north goa beaches. Disadvantage is you have to go thru Belgaum. The Ponda Londa road was one of the worst "roads" I have seen so I do not advise that, though it is the shortest route.

I've been through this route too. However, its a pretty long route considering driving from BLR. The Yellapur - Ankola road is a pretty fast route, even compared to Amboli - Savantwadi route. Some stretches are triple digit friendly. Also, NH17 is pretty awesome from Ankola northwards into Goa road quality wise, even if it means entering Goa from South Goa and going all the way north.

Yes The routes through Londa are the most adventurous of the lot. Especially the one via Anshi, Kaiga to NH17 and NH4A to Panaji.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by HydroXidE

I've been through this route too. However, its a pretty long route considering driving from BLR. The Yellapur - Ankola road is a pretty fast route, even compared to Amboli - Savantwadi route. Some stretches are triple digit friendly. Also, NH17 is pretty awesome from Ankola northwards into Goa road quality wise, even if it means entering Goa from South Goa and going all the way north.

Its good no doubt. Only issue is at what point in the day you enter south Goa. Day time has high traffic and hence crossing south to North Goa can take time.

Where as, going via Amboli, you don't encounter city traffic.

[manasm]

Hi All,

I will be driving to Goa this friday with the wife and kid. I am planning to leave around 4pm on friday afternoon and need some help with a night stop en-route.

The plan is to drive till about 8.30 or 9pm and then stop for dinner and sleep. We will leave from the night stop around 6 or 7am on sat morning and continue onto Goa. Target is Benaulim, South Goa.

Advice on route and a night stop please.

Thanks,
Manas

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by manasm

Hi All,

I will be driving to Goa this friday with the wife and kid. I am planning to leave around 4pm on friday afternoon and need some help with a night stop en-route.

The plan is to drive till about 8.30 or 9pm and then stop for dinner and sleep. We will leave from the night stop around 6 or 7am on sat morning and continue onto Goa. Target is Benaulim, South Goa.

Advice on route and a night stop please.

Thanks,
Manas

Hotel Naveen Regency Chitradurga or if you can push till Hubli then Clarks,Hans,Metropolis all Re good.