[Ertigiat]

Originally Posted by Chalu

Guys need some advice as i will be driving from Bangalore to Goa staying close to Varca. As i have a small kid in tow will be taking a break to & fro somewhere close to Hubli or Dharwad.

Please suggest which is the best route to reach Varca in Goa and also please suggest few decent places to stay with budget close to 5K per night around Hubli or Dharwad.

There is no second opinion about route mentioned by Parag Sir & NPV. It the best & fastest route to Varca from Bangalore.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Denissions, Clarks Inn, President are popular hotels that are closer to the bypass and suits your budget too and mostly on Airport Road. Check popular portals and make a booking based on your requirements.

All the three hotels mentioned by Parag Sir are decent hotels. But I would recommend either Clarks Inn or Denissions. President Hotel is near Unkal Lake. It is almost like get into city. Better to avoid it unless you are getting a real good deal.

Clarks Inn is bang on the road but as far as remember they have very limited parking space.

Denissions is few meters detour from main road (Gokul Road). This hotel is our usual lunch spot. Huge parking space.

Advantage of picking these two hotels,

• They are near to NH exit.
• Within budget you have specified.
• Malls & supermarkets within walking distance, in case you need anything.

Again to pick one among the two, then it would be Denissions Hotel. It definitely better than Clarks Inn.

[Amazingandy]

Hi All,

Many thanks for all the inputs and updates on the route, clearly the Anmod ghat is the route of choice and caution in the ghat is paramount.

Do keep the updates coming, really appreciated.

[victoriacc]

I had seeked help in this thread couple of weeks ago for route queries. Now it is time to return the favour. Please note that I don't have too much new information to share beyond what has been covered in last 8-10 pages, other than some inputs on the Gokarna route (if some one is planning to go to Goa via Gokarna).

Onward journey (part 1 – Bangalore to Gokarna): Whitefield-Tumkur-Chitradurga-Haveri-Sirsi-Gokarna. Couple of days in Gokarna.

1. Road quality: Excellent 6 lane roads till Chitradurga. Road construction work and the corresponding diversions start from there. It is not a major pain as such; manageable overall. Haveri to Sirsi is good for the first half. The last 25 kms before Sirsi is a nightmare. Potholes make it as rocky a journey as it gets. Sirsi onwards it gets better, though there are rough patches every 4-5 kms.

2. Refreshment breaks: Breakfast at Upadhya Veg (near Chitradurga). It is recommendable in terms of food quality and the rest room quality is not bad either. Mini break at CCD Haveri (~120 kms from Upadhya Chitradurga). There is a Kamat Upachar as well adjacent to it. The rest room quality is good at the former, and bad at the latter. This place has a petrol pump also in the same premises. For lunch break, I tried to rely on the café/restaurant suggestions from Google in the Haveri-Sirsi-Gokarna route. The only decent option is Hotel Abhiruchi which is unfortunately way closer to Gokarna (just ~30 kms before) and hence not a good option for lunch break. Looked at few other options on the way, but chose not to venture further, based on the first/second/third impressions. Instead decided to make do with a road side break + home snacks that we had carried. Had a tea break at Hotel Abhiruchi which is a decent place.

3. Overall time taken (parking to parking) : 12 hours (4.45 am – 4.45 pm). I presume that most of the folks here would be driving faster than how I do. It should be realistic to wind up the trip in 9-10 hours.

4. Accomodation: Shanthidham cafe via Airbnb. It is a humble yet excellent setup. Will rate it 9/10 for the overall package.

5. Toll charges : ~350 INR

Onward journey (part 2 – Gokarna to Goa): Gokarna-Karwar-Agonda-Margao/Calangute (Google suggested route). 2 days in South/Central Goa. 1 day in North Goa.

1. Road quality: Road expansion work going on for majority of the stretch. Vehicles in both direction in same side of the road. But it is manageable and a reasonably pleasant journey. The terrain is scenic and the roads have very limited patch work. And the road quality gets better when you enter Goa. That said, the evening traffic in some signals in Goa can put Silkboard & KR Puram to shame. It can be really difficult, primarily due to lack of signals / traffic police presence, and secondarily due to high influx of vehicles. On a side note, we drove around a lot in Goan village areas. The roads are good, and the feel good factor was excellent. .

Return journey : Calangute-Mollem-Anmod-Ramangar-Sattur-Chitradurga-Tumkur-Whitefield

The actual plan was to reach Dandeli/Virnoli (~50 kms from Ramnagar) around 2 pm, spend the evening/night/morning there, and start to Bangalore around 12 noon next day. But my 3 yr old kid was running a 101-102 degree and we decided to not risk spending the night at Virnoli since medical support might have been difficult to avail. The Airbnb host understood the situation and refunded the amount though it was not necessary as per policy. The world is mostly kind and understanding, if you talk politely and genuinely. We changed the plan and decided to travel directly to Bangalore. Consulted a pediatrician at SDM medical college at Dharwad/Sattur.

1. Road quality: Road diversion is there at Ponda. It baffles Google as well and you have to take a 3-4 km detour to get back to the NH. The ghat route is scenic and reasonably comfortable to drive. There are some rough patches with not-so-shallow potholes, where mostly the only option is slow down and choose the harmless option of going to the other side of the road if the traffic permits so. There are some unmarked gigantic speed breakers near Dharwad (which most of you may not have to take since you don’t have to take Sattur detour in normal circumstances) which can prove to be tricky. I fell in this trap once and the underbody of my Corolla got hit. This was the only instance in the entire ~1500kms and it remains as a bad memory. It is a bit of a struggle to get from the town to NH48. But the evening/night drive was smooth afterwards. I have already covered the road quality in NH48 in the previous section.

2. Refreshment breaks: Lunch/snacks somewhere in the roadside in the forest belt between Anmod & Ramnagar. Not many options in the Anmod route, forget about good ones. Tea break at Kamat Yatrinivas in Sattur/Dharwad. Food quality is good; rest room quality is average. 30 mins break for a powernap somewhere in NH48, as I did not want to take any risks by fighting fatigue/sleep. Dinner at Upadhya Chitradurga. Food quality as well as rest room quality is fine.

3. Overall time taken (parking to parking) : 16 hours (10 am – 2 am). This includes the 1-1.5 break at the hospital and the additional time incurred due to the otherwise unnecessary detour via Sattur/Dharwad. That said, I always wonder at the rather short overall timing mentioned in most of the posts here. I guess I must be in the last 10 percentile here. . Nonetheless, I guess all is well if you enjoyed your drive and returned safe and sound.

4. Toll charges : ~450-500 INR

One regret is to not to be able to do the apparently scenic/pleasant drive from Ramnagar to Dandeli and Dandeli-Mundgod-Bankapur, due to having to change the plan. No worries. Let this be the reason to plan the next trip!

[paragsachania]

This seems like an important alert, and mainly applicable for those heading to Goa from Bangalore/Karnataka.

The most opted Anmod Ghat will be shut down indefinitely to make way for expansion work.I am cross-posting this from the Mumbai/Pune - Goa thread where moralfibre has posted an update:

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Anmod ghat route to be shut from today until further notice. Only good road left to Goa is via Chorla:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ampaign=iOSapp

With this, and considering the fact that both Chorla as well as Amboli will face the load, the best choice, even for all the effort to drive on the ever expanding NH17 (Karwar - Goa) route, will be:

• Bangalore - Hubli - Kalhathgi - Yellapura - Ankola - Karwar - Goa
• Bangalore - Bankapura - Mungod - Yellapura - Ankola - Karwar - Goa

[gtonsing]

Originally Posted by gtonsing

I am going to make note of this route and see how it all turns out..........So will propose an earlier start.
Again, Thank you Ertigiat

Unable to drive to Goa due to the kids having an abacus competition on the planned Sunday morning in Manyata. So flew in and flew out instead.Missed the excitement and adventure of a drive. However, I have this to say. If you are planning to stay on North Goa as we did, you spend almost 2 hrs between airport and resorts in North goa (we stayed at Treebo Maison and la Cabana in Mandrem) and the drive from airport to these places was painful - made worst by the excitement of reaching the beaches.

Thank you for all those who pitched in on route suggestions, especially you @ertigiat. Very helpful. Next time is definitely a drive

[Amazingandy]

Hi All,

So I believe this will be the latest and last update on the Anmod route before repair as this has been shut down today, I drove down from Bangalore to Goa (Morjim) last evening.

First off all thanks to all those who provided guidance and inputs on the route much appreciated and very useful. Please find below my experience,

Route used: Bangalore - Chitradurga - Hubli Bypass - Alnavar - Ramanaga - Londa - Anmod - Mollem - Ponda - Tisca - Sanquelim - Bicholim- Mapusa - Morjim

Departure : 7:40 am
Arrival : 9:00 pm

Road condition :
Bangalore to Chitradurga - Roads are awesome, could ask for better, did this in 3 hours
Chitradurga to Hubli Bypass - Roads are great, few diversions (6) due to constructions, one had a big speed breaker which just kissed the bottom of my NHC, did this in 3.25 hours
Hubli Bypass to Goa turn-off - Roads are awesome, just that it's a dual carriageway, did this in 45 minutes
Goa turn-off to Anmod - Roads are good for the most part, particularly good in the forest section and have some bad patches in the villages but very easily negotiable at moderate speeds, there were a few bad patches of 200 meters at the start and just before Harli, also at the level crossings (2) the speed breakers are odd, did this in 2 hours
Anmod to Mollem - Roads are not great on the KA side, lots of craters on the curves that are pretty deep and large but I must say if negotiated well and slow can be a bumpy ride with no underbelly damage (should be a day drive). The Goa side which is clearly indicated was freaking awesome with great views of the decent and made up for the heart stopping moments with the previous section, did this section in 2 hours
Mollem to Morjim - Roads were good for most part barring a few small internal roads, tons of speed breakers but well marked, did this in 2.5 hours

Toll cost : 550 INR

Not sure if this will be of any use as the road is now closed, will return via Chorla maybe and report on conditions once home.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

The most opted Anmod Ghat will be shut down indefinitely to make way for expansion work.I am cross-posting this from the Mumbai/Pune - Goa thread where moralfibre has posted an update:

With this, and considering the fact that both Chorla as well as Amboli will face the load, the best choice, even for all the effort to drive on the ever expanding NH17 (Karwar - Goa) route, will be:

Firstly, many thanks for the update, much appreciated

Secondly, as per the article, heavy vehicles will not be allowed on the chorla ghat, so do you still Karwar for a person staying at Morjim.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Ertigiat]

Originally Posted by Amazingandy

Anmod to Mollem - Roads are not great on the KA side, lots of craters on the curves that are pretty deep and large but I must say if negotiated well and slow can be a bumpy ride with no underbelly damage (should be a day drive). The Goa side which is clearly indicated was freaking awesome with great views of the decent and made up for the heart stopping moments with the previous section, did this section in 2 hours

Did you take 2 hours to complete Anmod to Mollem stretch?
Even with bad roads Anmod to Mollem should not take more than 45 minutes, unless one stops in between.

Secondly, as per the article, heavy vehicles will not be allowed on the chorla ghat, so do you still Karwar for a person staying at Morjim.

Heavy vehicles will not be allowed through Chrola ghat should make life easier for us as we own LMVs. You can certainly take Chorla Route.

P.S. - My friend just reached Verna from Hubli though Anmod ghat & he mentioned there is no notice. Traffic is still plying. I will check with KSRTC bus drivers this evening about exact situation of road closure.

[Ertigiat]

Quick update on Anmod ghat closure. Spoke to one of the KSRTC drivers. He said the bus came through Anmod ghat and it will take minimum 15 days more for closure of ghat as lot of tree cutting work is pending. As per notice it was supposed to be today but they have not been assigned new routes. It means some more time for closure of the ghat.

[Amazingandy]

Hi Ertigiat,

Many thanks for the below update, glad to have a contact like you with information at your fingertips.

Yes the Anmod to Mollem drive took me 2 hours, and this may not be for fault in the road but am not a very fast driver generally, I did not stop anywhere for a break either. However, that being said there were a few places I had to wait to get the least harmful route through a bad patch and a head on collision between an Audi Q4 and a Ford Figo blocked the road and slowed down traffic, Hope all involved in that made it out ok as there was an ambulance on scene.

So is the road condition of the Chorla ghat better than the Anmod as I may need to drive by Belgaum on the way back if the road is better than the Anmod Ghat?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Ertigiat]

Originally Posted by Amazingandy

So is the road condition of the Chorla ghat better than the Anmod as I may need to drive by Belgaum on the way back if the road is better than the Anmod Ghat?

Road conditions are equally good (or bad) if you travel through Chorla. You need not have to go to Belgaum. You can join NH-48 (Erstwhile NH-4) at Kittur via Khanapur-Bidi.

So your route will be,

Morjim - Bicholim - Sakhali (Sanquelim)- Chorla Ghat - Khanapur - Bidi - Kittur - Bangalore.

[Amazingandy]

Hello everyone,

Well given that the Anmod ghat has been alleged closed, I was not keen to find out the hard way by landing up there and being sent back. However on my return I noticed several indications on direction sign boards showing the Anmod ghat to be shut down.

So again many thanks to all the well travelled BHPians out there who provided guidance and inputs on the route and a big thanks to Ertigiat for the prompt replies and clear route inputs. I returned back to Bangalore yesterday via the Chorla ghat, below is my experience

Route used : Morjim - Bicholim - Poriem - Satari - Chorla - Kanakumbi - Jamboti - Khanapur - Nandaged - Bidi - Kittur - Hubli Bypass - Chitradurga - Bangalore

Departure time : 8:30 am

Arrival time : 10:30 pm

Road conditions :
Morjim to Poriem : The road conditions are good for the most part except a few of the internal roads and gets progressively better as you go away from the coast. Did this in 1.5 hours

Poriem to Satari : Beautiful road and runs along the Mahadeyi river for some part, was very cool because of the trees and scenic too. Roads are narrow so watch out and honk at curves. There is a police outpost and excise checkpoint as well. Did this in 20 minutes

Satari to Kanakumbi : This has got to be good news, but there has been a fair bit of patchwork done on this stretch and many of the big craters have been leveled, there are 1 or 2 patches which are bad but the worse of them is better than the best of the Anmod route bad patches. There was still patch work going on when I travelled so hoping for more improvement. So the 40 or so through the Chorla ghat road is average compared to its glory of the past but is a much better drive for your vehicle. Bikers watch out for the loose gravel at the WIP sites, Did this in 1 hour

Kanakumbi to Jamboti : This route was awesome barring one patch close to Jamboti village, smooth sweeping curves, great roads and not too much traffic made it bliss to drive on, Did this in 30 minutes

Jamboti to Bidi : Though this is a state highway the roads are in poor condition, the road is cracked pretty much the entire way, so it would be a suspension test and bumpy ride (not advisable for a family with young or old) and the road is narrow and not at all busy so watch out for the village speed demon on a bike, also what added to the woes was the tractors carrying sugarcane which were difficult to overtake on a narrow road. Did this in 2 hours

Bidi to Kittur : This Road was pretty good and was wide too, not much traffic and passed through fields of sugarcane and paddy, scenic drive if you like open fields and flat land. easy connection to the main highway (26 km from Dharwad). Did this in 30 minutes

Kittur to Haveri : This road is the main Mumbai - Bangalore/Chennai highway and so way good for the most part, few diversions for road construction. Did this in 1.5 hours

Haveri to Chitradurga : This road was good but lots of diversions (well marked) due to construction and road work. Also some parts of the road have started to break and the first layer of Tarmac has come off so watch out for the small dips. Did this in 2.5 hours

Chitradurga to Bangalore : This was the cake topper after a long gruelling drive, butter smooth roads which were quite empty with just a few neatly interspaced trucks which made for like driving in a 90's video game. Did this in 3.5 hours

Tolls paid : 500 INR

Overall I would think that the Chorla ghat at this point is better option than the Anmod ghat as some patchwork has been done and the bad patches are very negotiable, and one never knows when the Anmod will close down for repairs. However, this is purely my opinion and experience. I would like to state though that on both sides Anmod and Chorla the ghat section is hardly a 20 - 25 km patch which is not so bad considering the 500 km odd km ride most are making. Added to this the Goan side of the Anmod and the Karnataka side of the Chorla are pristine and will make up for all the negative of the bad ghat, that is if you did down Anmod and up Chorla like I did.

Once again my thanks to all my fellow BHPians for guidance, knowledge and trustworthy inputs. My apologies for the detailed reports both up and down but this is my way of thanking the community for my pre drive inputs. BIG THANKS!

[Amazingandy]

Sorry for the 2 cent follow up post, but at the start of my journey my biggest worry was driving a fully laden low ground clearance car, was there a risk of underbody damage?

In all honesty I can say that not a single of those bad patches or cut up roads or ditches anywhere on the route even grazed the underbelly, the only point where the road hump kissed the underbelly was on a diversion between Davanagere and Ranibennur and at the most must have scraped a layer of dirt off more than anything.

Drive slow and access the bad patch for the best route through, let speeding SUV and high GC cars go through. A good tip to know where the bad patches are is where there is tree cover on the road at a curve, 80% of the bad patches were there in my observation.

[yamraj]

Hello everyone, we are planning to drive to Candolim from Bangalore and return from Varca. The route suggested by Google maps shows the onward trip to be via Hubballi-Kittur-Khanapur-Satari-Candolim (also mentioned by Andy in the post above). The return route is via Karwar-Yellapur-Haveri-Bangalore. Are these the best route for the trips? I prefer good roads to shorter distances and am okay spending an hour extra overall in each of the trips to avoid bad roads. From Andy's post, it seems that the onward trip won't be too bad except for a stretch between Bidi and Jamboti.

[Ertigiat]

Friends,

I happened to travel through Anmod ghat couple of days back. It is not closed for traffic. You can read details here. (Mumbai - Pune - Kolhapur - Goa : Route Queries)

[yamraj]

Does this mean that this would be the best route to candolim from Bangalore?