[blackstallion76]

Friends,

I will be driving down from Malvan, Maharastra to Bangalore on Oct 26.
Please suggest which is the best route to take.

Option 1:
Malvan-Kudal-Zapar-Mapusa-Sanqulien-Chorla ghat - Belgaum

Option 2:
Malvan - Kudal - Mapusa - Sanqulien-Chorla ghat - Jamboti - Khanapur-Alnavar-Dharwad

appreciate some suggestions please. If I enter goa and leave within 2-3hrs, should I still pay 250 rs.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by blackstallion76

Friends,

I will be driving down from Malvan, Maharastra to Bangalore on Oct 26.
Please suggest which is the best route to take.

Option 1:
Malvan-Kudal-Zapar-Mapusa-Sanqulien-Chorla ghat - Belgaum

Option 2:
Malvan - Kudal - Mapusa - Sanqulien-Chorla ghat - Jamboti - Khanapur-Alnavar-Dharwad

appreciate some suggestions please. If I enter goa and leave within 2-3hrs, should I still pay 250 rs.

Option 2 will only help you bypass Belgaum. If you need a good break in between that long run, you can stick to option 2. Else Option 1 is anyway a good time saver, tried and tested but no good options to break till Kamat after Hubli bypass.

[blackstallion76]

@parag:
so the road condition is good for below route.
Jamboti - Khanapur-Alnavar-Dharwad. If its good, then I would like to take this instead of going up to belgaum and driving down.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by blackstallion76

@parag:
so the road condition is good for below route.
Jamboti - Khanapur-Alnavar-Dharwad. If its good, then I would like to take this instead of going up to belgaum and driving down.

Jamboti-Khanapur is a 15 kms single lane stretch that was asphalted few months before. Recent reports by BHPians mention it is indeed good barring very small patches. If you look at the entire stretch which is 15 kms it is very small in this if you have small sections which are bad (but driveable easily), I think you should simply take this.

Remember that Khanapur-Jamboti is not a regular road taken by freight carriers or buses. So the traffic will be sparse and the drive will be peaceful.

On the other hand, Khanapur-Alnavar remains good while Alnavar-Hubli Bypass is fantastic barring the railway gate where ROB work is still in progress but again not a bad stretch unless the gates are closed for a train to pass which adds to your time.

My last 3-4 drives to Goa in the past 18 months or so has been via Alnavar route itself except that I have taken both NH4A (Alnavar-Ramnagar-Mollem) and Alnavar-Khanapur-Jamboti during these but never entered Belgaum simply because I had planned by breaks well.

EDIT- Just noticed my earlier response where I have shuffled my opinions with Option 1 and 2. Basically, Jamboti-Khanapur will help avoid Belgaum and Jamboti-Belgaum will help you with a good place to break.

[Landkruzer]

Originally Posted by blackstallion76

@parag:
so the road condition is good for below route.
Jamboti - Khanapur-Alnavar-Dharwad. If its good, then I would like to take this instead of going up to belgaum and driving down.

Last month I took this route to reach Candolim from Bangalore. Road conditions are the just the way as Parag mentioned. The Jamboti-Khanapur road is a single lane road which is good for an average of 40 kmph. When you are coming from the goa on the super smooth chorla road, you can easily miss the turn towards Khanapur unless you are using a GPS maps. This turn will come just a kilometer after the Jamboti town/village.

[anarkanu]

Hey all, Planning to go to colva yet again next week for the extended dussehra holidays. Was thinking of taking the dharwad- ramnagar-mollem -ponda route same as the last time early sept. Found this the shortest and even the fastest to South Goa.Took 9 hours flat for 600 KM with a small break.Barring that pothole ridden 30 KM stretch between ramnagar-Mollem the rest was a peach, with low to almost no traffic. Just wanted to know if that road is still like that or has it is gone worse since then.
best gaurav

[Klub Class]

Originally Posted by anarkanu

...Ramnagar - Mollem...

Ramnagar - Mollem is in bad shape as of now

Please go through the last few pages of this thread. All possible routes from Bangalore to Goa have been discussed in detail

[rjalihal]

ROUTE UPDATE: We did Blore-Goa-Blore 2 weeks ago. This was part of our annual college get together. We drove both ways and this is my experience.
We started from Blore at 10am on Oct 1st and decided to take the traditional Hubli highway. The roads till Chitradurga are superb. Its a 6 lane highway. At Chitradurga, it becomes a 4 lane road, you need to cut down speed. Just before Hubli, there is flyover, from where I spotted Renuka Dhaba. Highly recommended. Best mutton kolhapuri and bhakri combo I have ever had. Glad we stopped here for lunch. From here, we took the Goa bypass which is easy to miss. There is railway crossing at which we got stuck. The bridge which is being built to avoid this crossing has been in the same condition for a decade. After a few selfies while waiting, we sped only to find the WORST roads ever. This is the Anmod highway and the entire stretch is horrible. I would not recommend it. We lost a lot of time here. There are massive craters on this road and even trucks struggle. We were in a Polo and she sure took a beating. I had a guitar and was strumming it to the driver and passenger's requests the entire time, but on this highway, I completely went out of tune due to the bad roads. It was that bad. We decided then and there not to return on the same route. We also got stuck in a mad jam upon entering Panaji. WORD OF ADVICE: All roads leading to Panaji are being done up. So there are plenty of diversions leading to massive jams across the 2 bridges entering Panaji. Time your entry to Goa appropriately. We reached Panaji at 8:20pm, of which the last 4 hours was on the Anmod highway. It is a nightmare. In Goa, we ditched the car and rented a taxi to ferry us everywhere which was a god send. Arambol beach, make sure to visit it. And also Marbela in Morjim, for some insane mind blowing psy raves.

For the return, we left Panaji at 1:30pm on a Sunday and took the Chorla ghat road. We stopped at a place called Amarati near Sanquelim and had the famous Goan fish thali. It was legend. Again, highly recommended. The Chorla road is simply AWESOME. It is much longer, but at least you will have a blissfull drive. The road is curvy and is heaven for people driving a hatchback. As you descend the hills upon entering Karnataka, the police will stop you. They were surprised to see a Kodagu registered vehicle (we were driving a KA-12 Polo). We had a chat with the inspector who told us that he was posted in Madikeri for 8 years and how he loved that place. Friendly bloke that cop was. Just 25 kms before Belgaum (my birth home town!), there is a diversion to Khanapur. We took that road as per Google maps and followed it all the way to Dharwad. From here we joined the regular NH4 and headed for Blore. It was raining all the way since we left Panaji and this was costing us time also. But then we tailed a Belgaum Polo, (KA-22 P-10xx). Awesome driving by that bloke. We lost him as we neared Chitradurga. Just after the flyover, there is a hotel on the left hand side, (forgot the name). We stopped here for dinner at 10:30pm. Nice mutton curry and rotis, but not recommended if you are family. After that there was a huge traffic jam at one of the tolls. I do not believe in the concept of tolls as they create an artificial traffic jam. Levy a road usage surcharge in place of paid tolls to make life easier. We finally reached Blore at 2am. So a much longer route, but yes definitely stress free and scenic. I would recommend the Chorla ghat route for everybody traveling to Goa from Blore. Its much longer (about 70-80kms) but definitely worth it.

Cheers!
-Rohan

Mod Note: Alcohol aspects not to be discussed in the forum. Post edited accordingly. We also dont allow high speed mentions.

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by anarkanu

Hey all, Planning to go to colva yet again next week for the extended dussehra holidays. Was thinking of taking the dharwad- ramnagar-mollem -ponda route same as the last time early sept. Found this the shortest and even the fastest to South Goa.Took 9 hours flat for 600 KM with a small break.Barring that pothole ridden 30 KM stretch between ramnagar-Mollem the rest was a peach, with low to almost no traffic. Just wanted to know if that road is still like that or has it is gone worse since then.
best gaurav

This is the one suggested by Parag for Colva. I am traveling on 23rd early morning.

Bangalore-Bankapura-Mumgod-Yellapura-Ankola-Karwar-Colva

You should think no further. Roads are all clean all the way to destination

[narayan]

I did the Blr Bankapura Yellapura Colva route today morning. Total distance was close to 660kms against the 660kms shown in the map. I did miss a turn to Mumgod at the NHS but that would have cost me 15km max. Not sure if i lost my way anywhere else. Overall took 9.25 hrs but mind you this was after a quick 3.5 hrs for Blr Bankapura and a longish breakfast. Stretch till Yellapura is narrow and will work for a small car but I had to be extra careful with the Storme. 20kms from Yellapura, road is very bad in the ghat section with slow moving overloaded trucks.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by narayan

but mind you this was after a quick 3.5 hrs for Blr Bankapura and a longish breakfast.

That seems quite fast for a near 350km drive. You were pretty much averaging three digits. Wont advice such speeds inspite of open roads.

[vinay kamath]

Just returned from Goa by Manza by the route below:

Panjim -> Londa -> Doodhsagar -> Ramnagar -> Dharwad ( three hours )
and then,
Dharwad -> Davangere -> Chitradurg -> Tumkur -> Bangalore ( six hours )

Best choice , except for a 20 km bad stretch before Ramnagar, the rest of the route was smooth and enjoyable.

& Stopped at various Kamat Highway eateries at Dharwad, Sira, etc


Used Another longer route to go to Goa , that is:

Bangalore -> Hubli ( Five and a half hours )
and then,
Hubli -> Yellapur -> B Cross -> Karwar -> south Goa -> Panjim ( six hours )

Happy motoring !

[narayan]

Originally Posted by ampere

That seems quite fast for a near 350km drive. You were pretty much averaging three digits. Wont advice such speeds inspite of open roads.

You are right. Normally don't do such speeds but I started at around 445 from Blr and the roads were quite good. But advice well taken.

[drhoneycake]

Originally Posted by racegurram

Oh Ok. This changes my plans significantly. Pls don't mind if I am asking too much. What are the places in Banavasi and Sirsi to see? Is Talaguppa to Banavasi road good? Google is showing a straight road NH93 from Talaguppa to Sirsi, do you know if this road is good? So why go up till Banavasi if i can go straight to Sirsi from Talaguppa?
Or if I decide to go Murudeshwar which route you can please suggest?
Thanks a lot again
Raj

Originally Posted by racegurram

Oh Ok. This changes my plans significantly. Pls don't mind if I am asking too much. What are the places in Banavasi and Sirsi to see? Is Talaguppa to Banavasi road good? Google is showing a straight road NH93 from Talaguppa to Sirsi, do you know if this road is good? So why go up till Banavasi if i can go straight to Sirsi from Talaguppa?
Or if I decide to go Murudeshwar which route you can please suggest?
Thanks a lot again
Raj

Hi Raj,

Talaguppa to Banavasi road is terrible. Road is non-existent at places. Also in Banavasi, you have the chennakeshava temple on the Varada river. Its a beautiful temple. If you are going in December, donot miss the Kadambhotsava festival. Very colourful and entertaining.

Sirsi in itself doesn't have anything much apart from a few temples, but most of the sight-seeing places (waterfalls etc.) are a good distance away from Sirsi (about 15-20kms away). Also there isn't going to be any water at any of the falls.

Suggest you hit Murudeshwar. Honnavar to Murudeshwar is about 25kms. Spend some time there, goto the top for some spectacular views. Relax on the beach and then drive up to Karwar (NH17).

Cheers,
Aniketh

[kiran_cr]

Hi Friends,

I am planning for a Bangalore -> Goa -> Bangalore trip on 22nd Oct 2015 and back on 25th Oct 2015. Planning to start from home at 4am. Please suggest the best route I need to take for onward and return journey. I ll be staying in Palolem. I ll be the only driver.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers