[SupratikDebnath]

Dear B-2-G route experts,

Please help me out! :-)

I am planning to drive down to Goa from Bangalore around 21st Oct, 2015 with a rental car. Accompanying me will be my wife and daughter (1.5 yrs old).

My queries are:
1. Which route (with kms of travel) to take at the best judgement of today..
2. What time to leave Bangalore from and duration of the drive? We got to reach North Goa.
3. Any suggestion on the car to rent.

Thanks for all the help that you may provide.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by SupratikDebnath

1. Which route (with kms of travel) to take at the best judgement of today..

NH4-Belgaum-Chorala is shortest of all. Good cruising times, distances and not much to worry about.

2. What time to leave Bangalore from and duration of the drive? We got to reach North Goa.

Can take anything between 8-10 hours depending on your driving conditions/ breaks. With one food and one fuel break we can easily reach in 9 hours without issues. Ideal times would be to leave early morning (by 5am) to beat Bangalore - Tumkur Traffic and maddening two wheelers on the road. I have done all kind of timings but with kids, I generally leave it to them to decide when they are ready. We have managed to leave by 5am latest to almost 9am

3. Any suggestion on the car to rent.

For 2 + 0.5 pax, anything literally is good! A nice hatch/ mini SUV/ large SUV - choice is yours! SUV would let you reach B2G without fuel break but any other petrol vehicle would most probably need refuelling somewhere before Belgaum! A ZoomCar EcoSport would be nice to have while ZoomCar Figo will do perfectly what you need. And a ZoomCar XUV or Fortuner will be an overkill may be

[ambivalent_98]

Originally Posted by abirnale

NH4-Belgaum-Chorala is shortest of all. Good cruising times, distances and not much to worry about.

I too am going that way to Goa in October mid. I am curious about the bypass shown on the Hubli Dharwad bypass. How is that route ?

I usually drive past that enroute to Pune.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by ambivalent_98

I too am going that way to Goa in October mid. I am curious about the bypass shown on the Hubli Dharwad bypass. How is that route ?

I usually drive past that enroute to Pune.

If you are referring to the same Bypass of NH4, the road remains the same too! Single carriageway 2 lane road for 30 kms.

In case you want to exit for Alnavar, then you still need to buy the full toll (50/-) and get off the bypass 26 kms before the exit toll.

If taking Chorla via Belgaum, as you would know, yoy have to pass the other side of the bypass too.

[ambivalent_98]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

If you are referring to the same Bypass of NH4, the road remains the same too! Single carriageway 2 lane road for 30 kms.

In case you want to exit for Alnavar, then you still need to buy the full toll (50/-) and get off the bypass 26 kms before the exit toll.

If taking Chorla via Belgaum, as you would know, yoy have to pass the other side of the bypass too.

I guess so. With so many options how does usually most of the traffic go ? via chorla ? Or is there some via Karwar as well ? I see that Google maps suggesting a route to Karwar in a different way all together.
How about going to Karwar and then on to Goa ?

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Be...7!2d14.8184812

[SupratikDebnath]

Originally Posted by abirnale

NH4-Belgaum-Chorala is shortest of all. Good cruising times, distances and not much to worry about.

Are you referring to this route? : https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Be...15.5311237!3e0

Any suggestions on the return route, or just backtrack will do it?

[drhoneycake]

Originally Posted by SupratikDebnath

Dear B-2-G route experts,

Please help me out! :-)

I am planning to drive down to Goa from Bangalore around 21st Oct, 2015 with a rental car. Accompanying me will be my wife and daughter (1.5 yrs old).

My queries are:
1. Which route (with kms of travel) to take at the best judgement of today..
2. What time to leave Bangalore from and duration of the drive? We got to reach North Goa.
3. Any suggestion on the car to rent.

Thanks for all the help that you may provide.

1) Chorla would be my pick too, but with ongoing protests at Jamboti, best to avoid it. These are the routes that I usually do.

North Goa(Calangute, Baga, Anjuna): Jamboti>Chorla
Central Goa(Panaji/Vasco): Ramnagar>Anmod>Ponda
South Goa(Palolem): Hubli>Yellapur>Ankola>Karwar>Cancona


2) Try leaving by 5 am max to get to tumkur early. Any later and the two wheelers will be all over the highway between Bengaluru and Tumkur. Duration 8-10 hrs depending on your driving/no. of breaks. We usually leave by 4 am and in Goa by lunch time for seafood and chilled beer😬 (around 12-1 pm).

3) For yourself, wife and a young kid, anything from a figo, amaze, ecosport should do. City/ciaz would be a bit too much, fortuner/xuv/Scorpio would be overkill.

Have a great drive and a safe trip.

Regards,
Aniketh

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by drhoneycake

1) Chorla would be my pick too, but with ongoing protests at Jamboti, best to avoid it. These are the routes that I usually do.

+1 to what you say!

I am driving on 26th this month (Varca) and will most likely take the Ramnagar route despite of the reported conditions. After all, this is only 30 kms before you get the carpet again once you enter Goa Border.

Regarding low GC Cars, well when I first took the Ramnagar Road, it was by mistake as I ended up taking a wrong route from Khanapur onwards towards Londa instead of Jamboti and kept going on and on!!

For 2-3 kms later, I spot a Goa Regd Honda city (New) and pull over and wave my hands and check with him if the roads are this bad all t he way to which he replied it was only till the border.

After this, I may have taken the Ramnagar route at least 4 times in the last 2 years alone and the conditions improved from bad to better till the last 2 months.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by SupratikDebnath

Are you referring to this route? : https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Be...15.5311237!3e0

Any suggestions on the return route, or just backtrack will do it?

No. I mean via Belgaum town. Alternatively you can take Alnavar Khanpur too. With the protests Parag mentioned I am not sure whats the latest situation though.

If you are in the mood to explore, take jog falls route on return else simply backtrack chorala-belgaum-bangalore route if no protests like thingie

[SupratikDebnath]

Originally Posted by abirnale

No. I mean via Belgaum town. Alternatively you can take Alnavar Khanpur too. With the protests Parag mentioned I am not sure whats the latest situation though.

If you are in the mood to explore, take jog falls route on return else simply backtrack chorala-belgaum-bangalore route if no protests like thingie

Thanks for all the information and suggestions. With around 630 kms to make, will it be possible to do it within 9-10 hours (maybe with 2 breaks of 30 mins each)? Can the average speed be around 80-100 kmph throughout?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by SupratikDebnath

Thanks for all the information and suggestions. With around 630 kms to make, will it be possible to do it within 9-10 hours (maybe with 2 breaks of 30 mins each)? Can the average speed be around 80-100 kmph throughout?

Definitely yes. I maintain 100-110 speeds till I reach Hubli but I start as early as 0430 Hours. That said, I also travel with family (Wife and my daughter) and take 2 breaks - One Breakfast at Kamat (300 kms) at Ranebennur Bypass and another CCD Break at Shiggaon (360 kms) and then drive the remaining section without a break. All this with consistent 9/10 hours over the last 2-3 years.

The fastest was always Ramnagar-NH4A-Mollem-Goa due to good tolled 2 laned between Dharwad Bypass till Ramnagar and OKish road for the next 30 kms and carpet as soon as you enter Goa Border.

So in your case, you can very well manage this with breaks and without exceeding 100kmph in 10 hours for sure, provided you make an early start between 0400-0500. If its a long weekend, I suggest you are on road at 0400 at any cost.

I am driving on 26th knowing 25th is the start of long weekend but returning on 28th when the junta would return on 27th. Works for me both ways as I drive odd days as usual .

[drhoneycake]

Originally Posted by abirnale

No. I mean via Belgaum town. Alternatively you can take Alnavar Khanpur too. With the protests Parag mentioned I am not sure whats the latest situation though.

If you are in the mood to explore, take jog falls route on return else simply backtrack chorala-belgaum-bangalore route if no protests like thingie

I don't think you need to touch Belgaum to get to Jamboti and Chorla Ghat. Getting into Belgaum will mean losing 2 hrs getting in and out through Belgaum city traffic.

Look for Malaprabha Co-operative society building on the highway and enter the service road immediately. This should take you to M K Hubli.

M K Hubli>Khanapur>Jamboti>Chorla>Sanquelim

I think Parag sir can clarify, but from my knowledge, this is the route I have always been taking ever since I discovered this route myself.

Love the scenery and the roads here. Especially immediately post monsoon.

[abirnale]

I take Belgaum so that our fuel for car and our hunger is fulfilled

Update - i drove yesterday from BLR-Sanquelim. Everything is picture perfect. Nice roads, no agitations, no issues whatsoever. There has been some rains here in goa and the chorala ghat is picturesque right now. Intermittently foggy/ cloudy too. So exercise caution while driving in ghat.

[SupratikDebnath]

Originally Posted by drhoneycake

M K Hubli>Khanapur>Jamboti>Chorla>Sanquelim

Is this the route? : https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Ba...1237!3e0?hl=en

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by SupratikDebnath

Is this the route? : https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Ba...1237!3e0?hl=en

You can take this option

• On Hubli-Dharwad Bypass buy toll ticket for last exit (50 INR) but you need to exit 4 kms before the last exit. There will be a signage marked for Alnavar. Essentially, if you note down the Trip meter at the entry toll, this exit will be apprx 26 kms
  
  
• As soon as you exit and take left, you will be on Alnavar-Ramnagar tolled road where you need to pay toll of 55 INR (unless its increased now)
  
  
• Drive on this road till you near Alnavar and after passing Alnavar on your left, at the next fork, take right for Khanapur (left hand of the fork leads to Ramnagar)
  
  
• Cross Khanapur and reach Jamboti. Khanapur-Jamboti is 15 kms, Narrow, Freshly laid and broken soon but still worth driving between 45-60kmph easily with very less traffic
  
  
• At Jamboti, continue towards Chorla (Right leads to Belgaum City)