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-   -   Bangalore to Shirdi : Route Queries (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/32249-bangalore-shirdi-route-queries-23.html)

Sorry but I have never tried online booking during my umpteen visits to Shirdi . It has always been planning accordingly based on whether I wished to attend early morning Kakad aarti or a general darshan. However I have learnt that online booking is beneficial, so hope other BHPians advise you on this. If you are planning for Thursday, then better book the darshan online. I can't 100% assure you that you will have a quick darshan during Wednesday late evening, but most of the times 5-8pm is less crowded except on Thursdays and weekends.

I somehow forgot to mention in my previous post that Manchar route is generally preferred for Bhimashankar. Even I had taken the same route few years back. Not sure of the present conditions but I know people usually take Manchar route.

Just back from the Bangalore-Shirdi trip.

Thanks everyone for the great info in this thread. I need not look any further than this thread, for any information regarding this route including stay recommendations. :thumbs up

Special thanks to @paragsachania for the timely inputs and the great compilation of Food & fuel joints and Pune Bypass directions.
It was of great help to plan food breaks and fuel joints on the fly. The GMaps waypoints for the bypass and the location of those joints are very convenient to use. Hats off sir clap:
Road updates:
Entire Bangalore-Pune stretch is good (only fly in ointment is the speedbreakers/rumblers on the otherwise beautiful highway).

Pune-Nagar is Okayish with roads bumpy at places and small potholes.

Nagar-Shirdi stretch is bad with lot of huge potholes and it gets increasingly worser towards Shirdi. Interestingly, I found the left lane to be good and the right lane is severely damaged. So, anyone who travels this stretch can maintain left lane by default.

Finished 5 Day trip yesterday < Bangalore - Pune - Bheemashakar - Triambakeshwar - Nashik - Shirdi - Shani Shignapur - Mahabaleshwar - Bangalore >

In between travelled from Shani Shignapur to Mahabaleshwar through Ahmednagar > Shirur > Nhavare > Supe > Nira > Lonand > Khandala. Road conditions is way better than in Year October -2014. Many new hotels have come up on the way and no major surprises in terms of potholes. I did this route during daytime ( 1400- 1600 hrs) and did not faced any major traffic apart from few Sugarcane tractors/carts closer to Sugar Factory near Nhavare. I used my Garmin GPS for Navigation and it was on the spot for direction.

Do you have a detailed travelogue?

Not as of now but trying to pen down in short. In case if you have any query then would be glad to respond.

Folks

Planning to drive from Bangalore to Shirdi sometime in the last week of March. Not confirmed yet. The road from Bangalore to Satara by pass via Hubli , Kolhapur should be a 4 laned one I guess, so no issues. How are the road conditions post Satara by pass till Shirdi.

Forget all that the maps is suggesting you and simply stick to driving via Pune. Thanks is the most peaceful route to Shirdi instead of any other deviations after Satara- The internal roads are not worth it mainly because they are 2 lane and you will have to pass a petty towns and villages. This, especially after you drive on GQ Roads for 700 kms is not going to be a good feeling anyway.

On the other hand, beyond Pune till Ahmadnagar the roads are 4 laned and even beyond this till almost Shirdi.

The other reason not to take the deviation is mainly due to lack of any sanitation facilities.

Stick to driving to Shirdi via Pune only.

Had been to Shirdi last weekend. Road conditions from Pune to Shirdi are acceptable. Barring a few patches around Ranjangaav, the road seems to be decent enough for a drive. Shouldn't take more than 5 hours in a car from Pune to Shirdi via Ahmednagar. Our TT driver avoided the Ahmednagar by-pass purposefully and went inside the city claiming that the by-pass stretch was in a horrible condition.

Yes, that Ahmednagar bypass is best avoided. It's been that way since more than a year now and still Google throws that up.

I had the misfortune to take that dreaded bypass once but later was lucky as someone tailed me and overtook just to tell that it was a bad idea If I was heading to Pune/Bangalore (looking at my KA Plates)

Thanks Mate. Can you show the map depicting the route I need to take from Satara to Shirdi. Also do I need to enter Nagar or bypass nagar.

Sorry Suresh, Somehow I missed this quote of yours and I hope I am not too late.

Here are the directions:

From Khedshivpur Toll Naka to Shirdi via Pune


This will also avoid the infamous Nagar Bypass that is being referred. You need to almost enter Nagar town and fork out just before the main town and reach Shirdi highway.

Avoid that bypass Googlemap shows by default which you will get much earlier before Nagar with a Blue signage indicating destinations like "Shirdi/Mumbai" etc and asking you to turn left.

Note: Khedshivpur is the last toll before reaching Pune and I have put that as Origin and Shirdi as destination and dragged the route to match what I normally take. And now with the opening of the flyover at Swargate Junction, it is easier to take the route suggested without much ado.

I had to post this. I just happened to take Nagar bypass today while coming from Shani Shinganapur. I did not have any idea about the Nagar bypass. I saw the signboard for Nagar bypass and thought I could avoid city traffic and reach NH222 for Kalyan in a breeze. And boy! what a brilliantly horrible 8-9 km road is that. Calling it a road would be a misnomer. And worst, there wasn't any sign of repairing work anywhere. I guess poor truckers are forced to take this road as I saw a lot of them. I know it may repetitive on this thread but just avoid this road at any cost. End of rant.

Thats one mistake most of the travelers end up making for no fault of theirs as the Blue signage clearly asks all those heading for Mumbai, Shirdi etc to Turn left before Nagar while it tells those heading to Pune, Mumbai from Aurangabad side to turn right before Nagar from the other side.

In fact last weekend, I still saw so many hapless travelers taking this route was I was driving to Aurangabad and back from Bangalore.

I have updated the latest conditions of bypassing Pune through Satara - Lonand - Shirur option in this post with all the necessary details. Those who have queries can always go through this post:

I made the mistake of not checking on the status of the Ahmednagar bypass before I headed out last weekend towards Shirdi. Oh boy, I cannot describe using words how bad it was. I was so engrossed in getting out of there alive that I could not take a picture. Thinking about it gives me the chills. Request everyone to avoid it like the plague. Wonder how it goes so bad. Considering that I had taken this road less than an year ago, and it was in decent condition.

I plan to drive to Shirdi from Bangalore on the 1st of December . Presume the same road conditions, and i follow the Pune - Hubli - Satara - Pune - By Pass- Nagar Road- Enter Nagar- Shirdi?

Any updates will be helpful.

I plan to leave around 10.30 am from Blr and halt the night at Shirdi. Hope to reach Shirdi around 1.30 am or earlier, with sedate driving.