[shuchi05]

We got back from south Goa yesterday. Left from Goa at 4 AM and reached Bangalore by 2 PM. The route we took was
Ponda -> Mollem —> Anmod ghat —> castlerock —> kalghagi —> tadas . Joined NH48 at Tadas.
The roads post Anmod ghats are very narrow. Since we left very early, we didn’t encounter any traffic and crossed it quickly. With traffic it might be a little difficult.

[Toruk]

Originally Posted by chorispao

A Happy New Year to all.
Make note of the below. There could be some diversions in Anmod!
Attachment 2553718

Anyone here went through this and could share experiences? Is the way to Anmod from Ramnagar diverted and what the diverted route looks like?

I am driving to Vagator tomorrow in a Sedan so just want to make sure I'm not running through any non-doable routes because of this.

Thanks in advance!

[itwasntme]

Astonished to see no updates on this thread for a month! Has Goa paled as a destination or is is just a beginning-of-the-year hiatus in driving trips?

On a serious note, how are the roads faring whether be to North or South Goa? Have the ghat sections been repaired?

[chorispao]

Got to Goa this morning but this time by the Airavath bus service. Just that the Dharwad Hubli bypass expansion work is moving at a snails pace and the 11km Anmod-Ramnagar section remains as a off road rally patch! Rest is all good. Airavath service took 11 hours from Jalahalli Cross to Panaji whereas on the last trip I took by the Airavath via Karwar, it was 12.5hrs. So Anmod is still the quickest route to North Goa.

Originally Posted by itwasntme

On a serious note, how are the roads faring whether be to North or South Goa? Have the ghat sections been repaired?

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

On a serious note, how are the roads faring whether be to North or South Goa? Have the ghat sections been repaired?

Update on the dreaded Yellapur-Ankola Section to South Goa:

Although we did not drive to Goa, last weekend we drove to Kumta and took this Ankola-Yellapur-Hubli road, which was notorious for huge potholes. In fact, I had lost a tyre of my 320d in this very stretch in 2022.

However, to our pleasant surprise, this road has been fixed very nicely now! Except for a small stretch of about 20km from Ankola towards Yellapur, the rest of the stretch till Hubli is completely fixed now with a fresh layer of smooth black tar. This road was lovely. Wide road with smooth black tar now, nice curves and corners, and scenic forests on both sides. We loved driving on this.

Even that first 20km stretch from Ankola, which was not fixed as yet, was not too bad. It had some bumpy sections and a few small potholes, but nothing serious to worry.

Thus, overall, Hubli-Yellapur-Ankola road is all fixed now and a great option to drive to South Goa. In fact, I would even recommend this same road to North Goa too, considering how bad the North Goa routes are (two weeks ago I drove via Amobli ghat and faced some bad sections there too).

[vinodvayyat]

Drove to Margao and back with family on the last weekend and go back to Bangalore yesterday.

Taken route was my usual favorite: Bangalore->Hubli (Gabbur)->Hubli-Dharwad Bypass->Aravatagi->Alnavar->Ramnagar->Anmod->Mollem->Margao

Ramnagar->Anmod is broken majorly at three places. Two of them comes right after Ramnagar - the first one can't be qualified as a road itself. They should do something about it before the coming monsoon. The last major broken patch is near Anmod. The usual abrupt concrete road endings in patches still continue to exist.

Cops continue to catch tourists who exceed 60kmph right after Mollem checkpost - we were adamant of not exceeding 60kmph this time and almost everyone ahead of us got caught. It is very difficult to keep your speed at 60kmph even with cruise control (cruise control doesn't work in my Hexa below 60kmph anyway). Roads are amazing and the cops know it - they wait right after a turn at a place with good line of sight. After doing many road trips, we know the drill now!

Took the same route on the return journey.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

In fact, I would even recommend this same road to North Goa too, considering how bad the North Goa routes are (two weeks ago I drove via Amobli ghat and faced some bad sections there too).

How is the traversal from south to North Goa coming along? There were multiple enhancements like 4-laning, bridges etc. Has this improved timings?

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by ampere

How is the traversal from south to North Goa coming along? There were multiple enhancements like 4-laning, bridges etc. Has this improved timings?

I have not driven on the entire South Goa to North Goa stretch in recent times. However, I have traveled to both ares separately. In whatever potions of NH66 I drove on within Goa, the highway has improved a lot. I saw mostly 4-lane roads, with many flyovers and proper exits to other smaller roads. Therefore, overall I believe travel across Goa from North to South has improved a lot.

[ashkamath]

Originally Posted by ampere

How is the traversal from south to North Goa coming along? There were multiple enhancements like 4-laning, bridges etc. Has this improved timings?

Well, I reside in Vasco, South Goa and travel to North Goa regularly. Yesterday I happened to visit North Goa (Baga beach) on some work.
So, here is the latest update.

The road from South Goa (Say from Verna or Madgao) to North Goa (say Panaji) is completely 4 lane (6 lanes at most stretches) and the Zuari bridge is completed with traffic smoothly moving in both directions. The road is a pleasure to drive & completely done. Apart from the unnecessary and disturbing road rumblers at some point on the road, it's a breeze to drive.

Post Madgao towards South (Canacona) the road is still the 2 lane and there could be some traffic snarls if you happen to get behind a slow moving truck, else everything is fine.

[Rony2207]

Bangalore - South Goa (Varca beach) - Bangalore

Onward - Started from Whitefield - 330 AM, Reached Varca - 2 PM

Return - Started from Varca - 9 AM, reached Whitefield - 8 PM

Onward Route - Whitefield - Yeswanthpur - Tumkuru - Chitradurga - Haveri - Tadas - Kalaghatgi - Yellapur - Baleguli Cross - Karwar - Canacona - Varca

Return rote - Same as onward but we took the new road post Tumkuru. Took left from Dobbaspet to Doddaballapura - Devanahalli - Hoskote - Whitefield

Thanks to Dr.AD's post, I took Tadas - Yellapur route and it was pleasant to drive. Not much traffic, 90% of the road is smooth, 10% of it is not so great patches but 40 - 50km/hr is manageable. This route is way better than Tinai - Anmod ghat route.

Thing to watch out:

• Few potholes in the ghat section when descending after Kalaghatgi when going towards Goa. Rest its a breeze to drive.
• Didn't find any good food joints between Tadas and Balegulli cross so please keep some food items for snacking. If somebody in the forum is aware of any, please update.

Dobbaspet to Doddaballapura - Devanahalli - Hoskote

Good 4 - 6 lane highway stretch. Yet to be fully operational but it fuel and time saver route to take. Even though overall kms increased by 15 kms when we took this route, time was reduced by 30 mins. I think actual time saved would had been more given Bangalore Sunday evening rush.

[Rony2207]

Drove it recently last Friday on 1st March. South - North highway is great with 4 - 6 lanes. Also, I will like to commend on lane discipline being followed by everyone (except for few but that's given). Do ensure that you are sticking to speed limit as there are lot of speed cameras and speed guns deployed by traffic police.

Most of Goa roads are great to drive. I will recommend Panjim - Vasco city - Colva stretch, awesome roads, great scenery. I was itching to stop and just soak in the views but didn't but drove at the lowest permissible speed whenever possible

[Mnjdnght]

I was going through the thread to figure out which route I should take on my upcoming drive to Goa on Friday (March 8). Looks like the route via Yellapur - Ankola - South Goa is being increasingly recommended. To get to this route from Bangalore-Pune highway Google is showing two options.



How good or bad is the default dark blue option? A few years back I was not able to locate the deviation towards Tadas (marked in red) from the highway. Does that exist and any feedback on its condition?

In an earlier post from 2023, @Abirnale has referred to the light blue/ alternate option shown by Google.

Originally Posted by abirnale

...
This is the section of the route I took - https://goo.gl/maps/vuNbigpKpEipCohk9

Would it be better to take this instead?

[rustyg]

Originally Posted by Mnjdnght

Attachment 2579961

How good or bad is the default dark blue option? A few years back I was not able to locate the deviation towards Tadas (marked in red) from the highway. Does that exist and any feedback on its condition?

In an earlier post from 2023, @Abirnale has referred to the light blue/ alternate option shown by Google.



Would it be better to take this instead?

This is used by a few . Just see where service road starts near to turn from NH, is little behind.
Also where you see this dark blue there in your map snapshot - if you consider that as hypotenuse of right triangle- you can take alternate of taking left turn and then 90 degree further away - I think it goes through Modi farm . That road works well ( once in past that hypotenuse was closed for me) .

Also apart from these , there is option to go to Gabbur cloverleaf flyover and take left to Ankola and then down to yellapur - better road conditions than this bei by discussed .

[m8002?]

[quote=Mnjdnght;5731572]How good or bad is the default dark blue option? A few years back I was not able to locate the deviation towards Tadas (marked in red) from the highway. Does that exist and any feedback on its condition?
/QUOTE]
It did exist 3 years back. But there is a good chance you will miss that. I too missed it by a few meters, backed up and took that road. The road upto Tadas was narrow but good road. After that it was bad at that time. Not sure if its better now.

[NikhilosKage]

Drove to Goa from South Bangalore on 2nd March and return on 5th March.

Onward Route - Left at 4.40 AM
South Bangalore -> Neelamangala Toll -> Tumkur -> Sira (Bfast) -> Hubbali -> Dharwad -> Mugad (Lunch) -> Ramnagar -> Tinai Ghat (to skip the bad stretch) -> Mollem -> Vagator

Arrived by 4 PM, delayed as we met a friend at Hubbali

Return Route - Left at 7 AM

Vagator -> Mollem -> Anmod (did not skip the bad stretch) -> Ramnagar -> Dharwad -> Hubbali -> Davangere (Lunch) -> Neelamangala Toll -> IKEA -> NICE road -> Home

Arrived by 6.30 PM due to a long stop at IKEA!

Road conditions
Excellent conditions for most of the route. The Anmod section is bad though there is definitely slow and steady progress being made there. In a few months, that road should be up and ready.

Before and after Tumkur, speeds are slower due to heavier traffic and patchy roads especially in the evening