[kirantp]

Originally Posted by ampere

The earlier the better. Here are some notes:

- Dont start after breakfast. Start earlier... say 6/6:30?
- Have breakfast some where on the way. (Anywhere before Pune. Karad bypass has Annapurna, Point B)
- Dont stop at hotel in Pune. Cross it one shot. (Crossing route link shown below)
- A good place for break (late lunch) is Smilestone. (Point G)
- Take the Nagar bypass.
- If you dont get stalled at that bridge on river Pravara (point I), you should be there by 3:30.


Route Link

Leaving at 6 will be ideal. As suggested, we will stop for breakfast between Satara and Pune since it will be too early to stop at Annapurna (will be passing this around 6.45 AM - 7AM) if we do a 6AM start.

[kirantp]

Originally Posted by ampere

It works. You dont have to be in a regular queue. Even I had purchased the second day of my visit. But we ended visiting the first day itself!

The aarti pass says, we have to go thru Shani gate entrance. Since this is the 1st time we have taken the pass, can you tell me if we will have go thru main entrance on the Pimpalwadi rd in order to get to Shani gate entrance Or is there a separate entrance all together for the aarti pass holders?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by kirantp

The aarti pass says, we have to go thru Shani gate entrance. Since this is the 1st time we have taken the pass, can you tell me if we will have go thru main entrance on the Pimpalwadi rd in order to get to Shani gate entrance Or is there a separate entrance all together for the aarti pass holders?

No idea Kiran. Dont remember now. What I would suggest: if you have booked a hotel then, goto the hotel and park the vehicle. Ask the staff there. That would be the best option. They would guide you. In fact many hotels even run a shuttle to the temple.

[onkar1710]

Originally Posted by kirantp

The aarti pass says, we have to go thru Shani gate entrance. Since this is the 1st time we have taken the pass, can you tell me if we will have go thru main entrance on the Pimpalwadi rd in order to get to Shani gate entrance Or is there a separate entrance all together for the aarti pass holders?

Greetings of the day!

1. The entry is there on the main road itself and if you are staying in the immediate vicinity, you can keep the car parked at the hotel itself and just walk to the entrance.Note that the regular entry is also on the same road, on the same side but slightly distanced.During the arti darshan, regular darshana is stalled,similar to what is done during break-darshanas at Tirumala.

2. Otherwise also,here is a private parking slot just opposite the entrance on the other side of the road.

Regards!

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by NSK123

All,

Thanks for all your inputs, the overall trip was wonderful. ...

Day 1: Bangalore to Kolhapur & Visit to Lakshmi temple
Day 2: Early morning Lakshmi temple visit (@ 4 AM no crowd and had fantastic darshan for an hour) & reached Shirdi & had night darshan
...

Please can you let me know the route which you took from Kolhapur to Shirdi ?

Google maps shows this route ( link )
Kolhapur-Satara-Lonand-Kedagaon-Patas-Daund-Ahmednagar -- Rahuri -- Shirdi Is this route good to take ?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by for_cars1

Please can you let me know the route which you took from Kolhapur to Shirdi ?

Please dont take the route via Daund. Even though on maps it would look shorter, it does not save time as the roads are not all that great. You have to go via Pune.

Kolhapur-Pune-Nagar-Shirdi.

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by ampere

Please dont take the route via Daund. .... You have to go via Pune.

Kolhapur-Pune-Nagar-Shirdi.

Thanks Ampere! I'll go via Pune ( Route link )

On the way back from Shirdi, I'm thinking of visiting Bijapur and wondering about the route options, keeping good roads in mind.

Which of the following would be a better option from Shirdi to Bijapur ?
1. Shirdi - Ahmednagar --Barshi -- Solapur -- Bijapur ( route link )

or would it be good to just retrace my route back:
2. Shirdi-Ahmednagar-Pune-Kolhapur -Bijapur

[ampere]

Originally Posted by for_cars1

Which of the following would be a better option from Shirdi to Bijapur ?
1. Shirdi - Ahmednagar --Barshi -- Solapur -- Bijapur )

Might be worth a try.

Nagar-Solapur : Average roads. (Not very sure about road conditions)
Solapur-Bijapur : 2-Lane decent roads (NH13)
Bijapur-Hospet : 4-Lane (NH13)
Hospet-Chitradurga : Decent 2-lane
Chitradurga - Bangalore : No need to explain !

Edit:
PS: I was about to suggest to take a break at Hospet (Malligi, Royal Orchid etc). But then I realize its 600km and that would be not possible after you also visit Bijapur. You may need to take a break at Bijapur. I dont know of any place to suggest. You may need to check it out.

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by ampere

Nagar-Solapur : Average roads. (Not very sure about road conditions)
Edit:
You may need to take a break at Bijapur.

I picked the following route from another thread: Shirdi to Bijapur
Shirdi-Ahmednagar – Karmala – Tembhurni – Solapur - Bijapur - This looks like a standard route.

A break at Bijapur would be good

[ampere]

Originally Posted by for_cars1

I picked the following route from another thread: Shirdi to Bijapur
Shirdi-Ahmednagar – Karmala – Tembhurni – Solapur - Bijapur - This looks like a standard route.

A break at Bijapur would be good

Yes thats the standard route. (Nagar-Tembhurni – Solapur).

Tembhurni onwards to Solapur is the standard NH9 on which 4-laming is in progress. Pune-Hyd thread should get one the updates.

[for_cars1]

I did the trip: Bangalore-Shirdi-Bangalore

Bangalore-Kolhapur-Pune-Ahmednagar-Shingnapur-Shirdi
The roads are quite good and with road divider almost throughout. Used google maps.
Also did the Shirdi-Nashik-Shirdi stretch.

While returning, just retraced back on the same route back to Bangalore.

Changed the plan of returning via Bijapur as I didn't want to risk going on single undivided and (potentially) bad roads that could considerably slow me down on the long stretch back.

[aeroamit]

We travelled to Shirdi from Bangalore on 2/Oct and reached back Bangalore on 5/Oct.
Roads are very good till Pune except Satara where Fly-over contruction is going on.
Between Pune and Shirdi its ok, except the last 24 Kms while reaching Shirdi, which can be termed as horrible. Last 24 Kms will torture the vehicle as well as passengers in all possible ways. Started from Bangalore at 5:00 AM on 2/Oct and reached Pune by 7 PM. Took break till 9:30 PM and then started for Shirdi via Nagar. Reached Shirdi by 12:30 AM on 03/Oct. For return journey started from Shirdi at 7:30 AM on 04/Oct, visited Shani Shinganapur on the way and took Satara Route after Shirur (via Navhare, Supa, Lonand). At Some places road was pretty bad but being daytime it was ok to travel through them. Night travel on these roads should be avoided. From Satara onwards road are good as its part of Golden Quadrilateral. Reached Bangalore at 01:15 AM on 05/Oct and then had a good rest on Sunday. Earlier we planned to take halt in between and then start journey again next day, but roads were inviting to keep on the travel. Being just two of us (myself & my wife), we decided not to take halt and reach the destination by continuing Journey in a stretch. Overall the drive was really good.

[kotirajendra]

Hi - I am planning to drive from Pune to Maheshvar (MP) from Pune-Ahmednagar-Shirdi-Malegaon route. Any COCO petrol pumps along this route?

[Klub Class]

Originally Posted by kotirajendra

Hi - I am planning to drive from Pune to Maheshvar (MP) from Pune-Ahmednagar-Shirdi-Malegaon route. Any COCO petrol pumps along this route?

I tweeted to HPCL, BPCL and IOCL asking for the details of COCO outlets along the route. Sharing HPCL's reply :

Hindustan Petroleum : We have one COCO at Supa on Nagar to Pune Highway (SH-60)

[daretodream]

I'm planning a trip from Bangalore to Shirdi once the monsoons start and it cools down a bit.

Bumping up this thread to see if we've the latest updates.

4 of us will be travelling; Me, wife, 4-yr old son and Mother in Law.

We've done lots of Bangalore-Chennai(~330 kms), Bangalore-Trichy/Thanjavur/pudukottai trips(~410 Kns).. But these are less than half of the Bangalore-Shirdi distance.

Want to keep the flight option as last option.

We've 2012 Fiat Linea Emotion for our ride.