[VindyWheels]

Hi,

I am planning a trip to south Goa with family. Plan is to start in the evening at 5:00pm and halt somewhere by 11-12:00pm.

Please suggest the route and overnight halt options. I was thinking of halting at Hubli in which case there are some three options to go to south Goa next day morning - 1) Via Yellapur 2) Via Mollem and 3) Via Kumbarwada

The Hubli-south Goa can be un-hurried with preference for most scenic road. Which is the best route to take?

Cheers

VW

[ampere]

Have not seen you around for a long time!

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

I am planning a trip to south Goa with family. Plan is to start in the evening at 5:00pm and halt somewhere by 11-12:00pm.

Do you really want to do it that way? 3/4AM start from Bangalore the next day and you in south Goa by 3PM. No need to halt.

And for south Goa I would suggest Hubli-Yellapur-Ankoka-Karwar. Its fast.

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Hi,

I am planning a trip to south Goa with family. Plan is to start in the evening at 5:00pm and halt somewhere by 11-12:00pm.

Please suggest the route and overnight halt options. I was thinking of halting at Hubli in which case there are some three options to go to south Goa next day morning - 1) Via Yellapur 2) Via Mollem and 3) Via Kumbarwada

The Hubli-south Goa can be un-hurried with preference for most scenic road. Which is the best route to take?

Cheers

VW

Good and convenient stay options in Hubli are -
1. Hotel Clarks inn - bang on Gokul road
2.Hotel Dennison's - little off Gokul road

All three routes you have mentioned takes you through western ghat forests for most part but Kumbharwada is an unusual and most slowest route, nevertheless traverses some of the densest forests in this region and is highly scenic. The route would be Hubli-Dharwad-Haliyal-Dandeli-Joida-Kumbharwada-Anshi ghat-Sadashivgadh-NH17-South Goa. I am not sure of the latest road conditions between Dharwad-Joida. However I can modify this route a bit and give you a confirmed good one which goes like this - Hubli-Dharwad-Ramnagar-Ganeshgudi-Joida-Kumbharwada-Anshi ghat-Sadashivgadh-NH17-South Goa. Roads were good throughout here in the month of June and beyond Ramnagar you travel through one of the most virgin and dense forests with extremely less traffic. You will pass through Kali Tiger reserve. Roads are narrow on most stretches ( akin to Chorla route if you have seen )

Anmod ghat-Mollem and Yellapur-Karwar both are very good and scenic routes of which I would suggest the one via Anmod as it is shortest as well as fastest to South Goa starting from Hubli. These routes are relatively safe too as they are NHs.

Be cautious of all three routes in this monsoons, more so Kumbharwada-Anshi. Keep a tab on news regarding Mahadayi water issue that has created unrest in North Karnataka--Goa borders.

[VindyWheels]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Anmod ghat-Mollem and Yellapur-Karwar both are very good and scenic routes of which I would suggest the one via Anmod as it is shortest as well as fastest to South Goa starting from Hubli. These routes are relatively safe too as they are NHs.

Originally Posted by ampere

And for south Goa I would suggest Hubli-Yellapur-Ankoka-Karwar. Its fast.

Thank you guys! Thinking of taking the Yellapur route while returning, and going via Anmod. Is the Dudhsagar waterfalls nearby one of these routes? Any idea on trains and stations?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Is the Dudhsagar waterfalls nearby one of these routes? Any idea on trains and stations?

Anmod route it is.

Dudhsagar Resort and Spa is a popular location to settle down for the night then which comes less than 1 km before the Goa Entry Toll booth on this route.

[rajivtelang]

Hi,

Need to visit Goa once again in couple of weeks but via Sawantwadi to take care of some work there. How is Amboli Ghat from Belgaum? I keep on hearing about the scenic side of it and sometimes about land slides, but never tried that. From Google maps Amboli is the ideal route for me. Did any BHPian travel via Amboli Ghat recently?

PS: There is a Bauxite route or similar named route from NH4 at Belgaum that becomes the Sawantwadi route. Is this the right route to follow?

Regards,

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by rajivtelang

Hi,

Need to visit Goa once again in couple of weeks but via Sawantwadi to take care of some work there. How is Amboli Ghat from Belgaum? I keep on hearing about the scenic side of it and sometimes about land slides, but never tried that. From Google maps Amboli is the ideal route for me. Did any BHPian travel via Amboli Ghat recently?

PS: There is a Bauxite route or similar named route from NH4 at Belgaum that becomes the Sawantwadi route. Is this the right route to follow?

Regards,

Starting from the below link to my post, check my next 2-3 posts in Mumbai-Pune-Goa thread, you will get all pictorial details about Belgaum-Amboli route including Bauxite road in Belgaum. Ideally I wouldn't suggest Bauxite road for those coming from Bangalore side, but you can still give it a shot, not a great time consumer
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post4016766

Belgaum--Amboli can be overall termed as a good road.

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Belgaum--Amboli can be overall termed as a good road.

Great. How do I hit the Belgaum-Amboli route from NH-4 from Bangalore side?

Regards,

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by rajivtelang

Great. How do I hit the Belgaum-Amboli route from NH-4 from Bangalore side?

Regards,

We took the Amboli route from Belgaum for Ratnagiri a week before and I pinged vivek to learn the latest status of this road before taking the decision instead of driving up north to Sankeshwar and then hitting Amboli via Gadhinglaj.

By default if you give Amboli as the destination from Belgaum, it will route you via Chandgadh Route.

So you will have to exit NH4 at the end of Belgaum, drive in Belgaum city for 20 minutes to take Chandgadh route to reach Amboli.

Wait for Vivek to pass you precise pointers for this.

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Wait for Vivek to pass you precise pointers for this.

Originally Posted by rajivtelang

Great. How do I hit the Belgaum-Amboli route from NH-4 from Bangalore side?

Regards,

Thanks to Parag for giving an overview. He is right, its best to rely upon Google maps as its 100% accurate in Belgaum city. By the way I mean the Google map app on your smartphone. I have read and heard that devices like Garmin have taken people for a ride at times, not sure what maps they use. Just to give you some major pointers -

1. Take the second ''exit'' marked for Belgaum city coming from Bangalore. Remembe, the first exit comes about 3 kms after Suvarna Soudha on your left. Ignore that though you will see a new 6 lane road entering city. Keep straight on NH4 and take second exit.

2. Continue on service road for 1.5 kms and enter the city through a left turn near Hotel Sankam residency

3. Enter ''Amboli'' as destination in google maps once you are on the road opp. Sankam residency. It will take you on the correct route. Altogether you will pass 5 major junctions of which 2 are signalled. I don't think describing the route within city in detail is that necessary as Google maps will make your job easy.

Be careful at this particular junction i.e Channamma Circle Ganesh mandir. This comes 4 kms from NH4 exit. Keep on RIGHT LANE after the signal at Channamma circle and you will need to do an oblique right from temple's backside and then immediate left to get onto Amboli road. Google will help you, but being on RIGHT lane will avoid cutting the traffic flow. Had picked the image from internet and added pointers 3 years back to share it on another forum.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by vivek95

1. Take the second ''exit'' marked for Belgaum city coming from Bangalore. Remembe, the first exit comes about 3 kms after Suvarna Soudha on your left. Ignore that though you will see a new 6 lane road entering city. Keep straight on NH4 and take second exit.

This is essentially the same exit one takes to enter Sankam where you take Left handed U-Turn onto the Service lane but for Chandgadh/Amboli, you just continue straight on the service lane from the same exit and at the next intersection take left. From here just follow Googlemaps.

In fact, I turned on Googlemaps only when we refilled after Dharwad and it simply showed me the right way towards Amboli from Belgaum. This is the screenshot of the travel that day:



This meant we never had to go in front of Sankam and somewhere ahead we turned right at a signal and it was one road all the way from here. In fact, it was easy to cross Belgaum for Amboli route than the pain of crossing it for Chorla route. This side of the city was indeed peaceful .

Here is the Dashcam footage that shows where exactly to exit from NH4 to enter Belgaum for Amboli route:

https://youtu.be/rP_l0Z9f64I

[Throtttle]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

I am planning a trip to south Goa with family. Plan is to start in the evening at 5:00pm and halt somewhere by 11-12:00pm. Please suggest the route and overnight halt options.

Based on longer leg you plan before or after break journey, two decent 'stopover hotel' options are:
(1) Ananth Residency, Hubli (https://goo.gl/maps/dxu31ub8VDt)
(2) Hotel Shoven, Davangere (https://goo.gl/maps/oMcgdb2jpfs)

Quite decent furnished & finished rooms and bathrooms. Good room service. Ok food. Chilling A/C. Ample & safe parking. Reasonably okay to reach. 1.5-2k for a safe & neat sleep for reaching & leaving in dark(night & early morning) for break journey.

However, with good road conditions now, I think stopover for Goa is an overkill, it stretches, tires and makes more formidable & effortful overall journey, in comparison to a continues at the max 12 hours drive with 2-3 pit stops.

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by vivek95

1. Take the second ''exit'' marked for Belgaum city coming from Bangalore. Remembe, the first exit comes about 3 kms after Suvarna Soudha on your left. Ignore that though you will see a new 6 lane road entering city. Keep straight on NH4 and take second exit.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

This is essentially the same exit one takes to enter Sankam where you take Left handed U-Turn onto the Service lane but for Chandgadh/Amboli, you just continue straight on the service lane from the same exit and at the next intersection take left. From here just follow Googlemaps.



This meant we never had to go in front of Sankam and somewhere ahead we turned right at a signal and it was one road all the way from here. In fact, it was easy to cross Belgaum for Amboli route than the pain of crossing it for Chorla route. This side of the city was indeed peaceful .

Here is the Dashcam footage that shows where exactly to exit from NH4 to enter Belgaum for Amboli route:

I was actually talking of a different ''second exit'' , the one you mention is Exit No. 3 which also is a good one. You will understand different exits in due course of my post. That signal is at ''Ashok circle'' which is the first signalled junction in the city on this side. Yes, its one straight road and is peaceful because about 2-3 kms of city in between is under Cantonment control, so there are only trees and open lands with no habitation.

1. Below is Exit no. 1 from NH4 for Belgaum city. It comes shortly (3 kms) after crossing Suvarna Soudha and the sign board says '' Belagavi city''. But this is to be ignored though the road leading into city is a 6/4 lane road.







2. In the next image you see Exit no.2 and Exit no.3.




a. Now, Exit no. 2 is the standard and popular exit from NH4 for entering Belgaum coming from Bangalore side. Exit no.2 has a proper signboard marked ''Belagavi'' and thus easy for first timers to understand. This is the main reason to suggest this exit for such people as its ''exit and head straight''. As opposed to this, Exit 3 has a signboard that says only ''Exit'' and involves taking a U-Turn to head towards Sankam. Ofcourse, Exit 3 is tad fast than Exit 2 for Sankam but for the mere reason of Exit 2 being more popular and the presence of signboard ''Belagavi'' I suggest it for first timers as people tend to get carried away by signboards at times while on the move and also it hardly makes much difference than taking Exit 3. Nevertheless, once people get acquainted with this area like you, one would start taking exit 3 on his own for Sankam hotel.

b. There is no significant difference whether you take Exit 2 or Exit 3 for getting deeper into the city or heading towards Amboli/Sawantwadi. This is because the relative slowness via Exit 2 is compensated by its shorter length and a free left hander that you get at a junction near Fort lake/just before Ashok circle. Exit 3 is fast but also bit longer and you need to stop for a while at the same junction I just mentioned which is manually controlled. So essentially both take almost the same time and both are 4 laned roads. However, now that you have shared your dashcam video of taking exit 3, I think you have made @rajivtelang's job much easier. Others too can follow it for Sankam Hotel ( U-turn on service lane after exit for Sankam, as already said).






3. Exit 4 ; not much of a relevance here but a highly recommended exit for those wanting to head straight to Hotel Ramdev International or any of Belgaum's popular Medical colleges. It leads you on a totally traffic free 4 laned road all the way till Ramdev.







4. Exit 5 ; Recommended exit for North Karnataka's and one of country's ultra high-end hospital i.e KLE hospital ; also for a quick stopover at McDonalds/KFC/Dominos/Baskin Robbins outlets. For all these destinations, take this exit and then a U-turn the moment you touch a 4 laned road. Again, a fully traffic free road. One can have a quick stopover at the said food outlets and hit back NH4.



Having said all this, I am now suggesting @rajivtelang to take this ''Exit no. 5 - service lane - Bauxite road'' as seen in the above pic. This change in suggestion comes in the backdrop of frequent protests that I am reading on net / hearing from friends, are emerging over the KA-Goa water issue in Belgaum city and whole of NK from past few days . The Channamma circle is more prone for road blocks as DC and Govt offices are close by. One might lose a big time in such cases. And when the person's destination is anyhow Amboli, he can get rid of all such hassles within the city and have a peaceful ride via Bauxite road that passes through the fringe areas. The distance is longer by about 7 kms but takes only about 10-12 mins extra as compared to city route. Moreover, its like doing ''exit NH4--head straight--turn left for Bauxite road-- Amboli''. Bauxite road is one straight road of 8 kms which is partly 2 lane/partly 4 laned and goes further straight all the way to Amboli/Sawantwadi. Unless you have any work in the city, better take this Exit-5 and proceed further. There are no traffic signals anywhere and the roads are absolutely traffic free. Even if there are unexpected sudden protests / road blocks within the city, this road will be untouched and let free.

It has rained insanely in Western Maharashtra/Sahyadri/Kokan over last week with Mahabaleshwar and Nasik recording insane figures of rainfall but Amboli too is at par. Keep yourself abreast of the weather conditions. Think there also was a minor caving in of road in Amboli ghat, not so sure of latest updates though. Keep checking the ''Mumbai-Pune-Kolhapur-Goa'' thread in this forum for any latest updates on Amboli ghat.

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Thank you guys! Thinking of taking the Yellapur route while returning, and going via Anmod. Is the Dudhsagar waterfalls nearby one of these routes? Any idea on trains and stations?

Anmod for Doodhsagar waterfalls as already answered by Parag. But its banned for tourists past an year, especially during monsoons. It had opened up again during winter last year but only by availing the forest dept. authorised taxis from Kulem railway station ( some 120 taxis) with a cap of 6 per taxi and 1000 tourists / day, at a cost of Rs.700 per head. Now in these rains, the only way to take a ''glimpse'' of this mystical and massive waterfall is from a moving train, exactly the way I did. Check my brief report here - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post4012594

[VindyWheels]

Hi,

One more query; when you return from South Goa to Bangalore, where do you stop over for lunch? Davangere seems to be the ideal place for lunch break. Being close to Goa do they have seafood restaurants there too? Ya, even 3 days of Goa would not satiate our seafood craving

Cheers

Vindy

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Davangere seems to be the ideal place for lunch break.

Not sure if you can leave Goa before 9 but if you leave anywhere after 10am, Davanagere will be too early and only Hubli-Haveri section makes sense with just Kamat near Varur as an ideal option (16 kms after the Bypass exit toll booth)

Being close to Goa do they have seafood restaurants there too? Ya, even 3 days of Goa would not satiate our seafood craving

Negative. Nowhere any influence of Goa in Davanagere. In fact, this city gets closer to Tumkur/Bangalore culture while anything north of this is more of North Karnataka culture.

Having said that, Apoorva Resorts is the ideal destination for lunch after Davanagere bypass.

If your taste buds are still craving for Sea food while return, Karwar is a good option - Shweta Lunch Home along with another one (I forgot) is a popular one.