[nikhil_d1106]

Over the weekend did a trip from Pune to Goa and back. Took the Chorla route via Belgaum both ways. The drive was excellent. Left Pune at 6.15 am and reached destination near Ponda at 2.30pm . Single stop on the way at Sai International. On the way back had a relative to visit in Belgaum. Started from Belgaum at 4.30pm and reached Pune at 9.45pm with a single stop at Kamat after Karad. Lot of diversion still between Satara and Pune but with the traffic light it was no issue. There are quite a few straights where the road has been widened to three lanes and and hence overtaking trucks becomes easy on these stretches.
In Goa took a ferry ride to cross the Zuari river between Madkai and Cortalim at about sunset time. It was a wonderful experience.....

[Siddy]

Even I did a Pune-Goa trip last week. Started on Tuesday at 6 am and had planned to take the chorla route via Belgaum. But there was a big "rasta roko" inside belgaum at the exit (Goa side). I was stuck for almost 30 minutes when we finally decided to take a new route (thanks to gmaps). Went from Belgaum to Amboli and then took the Sawantwadi - NH17 route to reach Colva at around 6 pm. 12 hours in the car, madness! On the way back took the usual Amboli ajra route and a night halt at kolhapur, which was pretty relaxing About the road - Bad patches in Amboli ghat for approximately 6-8 kilometers and some bad pathes near ajra, rest was perfect. While going to Goa we stopped at Kamat near satara which is pretty clean and has good parking space & on the way back we stopped at milestone hotel which is 100 kilometers from pune, huge place. The detours between Mahabaleshwar phata and Karad are troublesome and we lost around 30 minutes waiting at the toll nakas one way, we need a better/faster system to collect tolls. Road between Karad and Kolhapur is good and after Kolhapur its pure bliss, NH4 between Nipani and Belgaum can be compared to any highway abroad, simply superb.

[1lokesh]

Leaving tomorrow morning. Plan is to be on road by 04:30AM latest so as to cross Pune well before 7AM.
Now when I was preparing for tomorrow, I remembered that when last time I took the chorla route to reach Goa, there are couple of different routes to take the Amboli Sawantwadi road. If I am not wrong, the first one is from Tavandi, opposite Hotel Satyawati Palace. Another one is from Sankeshwar-Gandhiglaj?
Can anyone here help me to identify the better one?

Also Last time, returning back from Sawantwadi route, I distinctively remember congested traffic while passing through the town of Sawantwadi. A few clicks on Google maps reveal that there are 2 ways to take a detour and connect with Sawantwadi bypass on NH17. I'm thinking of this due to expected heavy rush tomorrow through Sawantwadi town. Does any one here know how are these 2 routes to Sawantwadi bypass? one is on SH 180 and another one is unnamed. (you can find these routes branching out of the marked route right before Sawantwadi town and meeting the bypass ahead - refer the map link below)

I have also attached the google maps route link I am planning to take tomorrow: https://goo.gl/maps/5HeTtpPGeYH2

Please feel free to make changes in the map and put it up here as suggested route for faster and smoother travel.

Cheers!

[balpreetsingh]

Dear All,

Based on the inputs from this thread, I could plan the trip nicely. Left on 13th Sept sunday.

Route I took was: Navi Mumbai to expressway till khopoli toll naka to khopoli - Pali Road then joined NH 66 till sangameswar then Left NH 66 and took the one lane road for last 60-70 KM.

It was around 320 KM to reach Ganpatipule. I left around 6:30 AM and reached by 1 PM at the hotel. Total time taken 6.5 Hrs. This included 2 break for food, ( total of around 30 min) The road mostly is a 2 laned and hence overtaking has to be timed properly. Adding to it the village / town which have their own traffic. In fact the single lane last 60 KM to ganpatipule, where I hardly got any traffic, was relatively fast. With the amount of traffic, this road seriously need to be made 4 Lane.

While coming back on 15th Sep, I encountered a lot of holiday traffic ( Ganapati festival was round the corner) On top of it the daytime traffic also slowed me down. Along with it, I encountered heavy rains in some section

I left around 10:45 AM from ganpatipule and reached my house by 6 PM ( around 7 Hrs 15 min journey time)

I stopped for lunch at Chiplun ( approx 30 min break) Apart from that no stop over.

For both legs of the journey, had some snacks with us so that the stopover can be reduced. It also adds to the fun on the journey.

Overall, this trip was a different experience of driving. The route is scenic for sure and this season of monsoon when its greenery all around, the surroundings are at its best.

I had already driven on NH4 ( Mum- Blr ) hence wanted to try out this route for once. Had my destination been Goa, then I wouldn't have taken this route. For a 300-350 KM drive, this route is fine for me.

Originally Posted by balpreetsingh

Hi All,

Planning a road trip : Mumbai - Ganapatipule & return in mid of Sept. Wanted to know the route I can follow for this?

Hoq much do I budget for the trip( I have a 2 PM checkin at the hotel in Ganapatipule)

Any inputs of stopover for food?

Regards,

Balpreet

[1lokesh]

Just back from "always welcome" road trip to Goa

Started at 5AM on 2-Oct and managed to clear Kamothe toll plaza within 30 minutes of start from Ghatkopar. Never imagined Mumbai roads can be a breeze like that! Cleared Pune expressway by 7AM and took a break at the McDonalds after clearing the tunnel right after Pune. A 30 minutes break. The first toll plaza at Wai took 10 minutes because the line I was queued up had its computer conked off and the operator was shuttling between the parallel cabin to deposit money and fetch receipts
There were 3 more toll plazas after this one upto Kolhapur, each taking 5 to 10 minutes. Overall good half an hour lost in this toll menace. Got caught in slow moving traffic while crossing the ghat section between Pune and Satara. They are widening the road, but without proper safety measures! Huge machines working on rocks while the traffic passes through dangerously close to the buffer lane blocked. I could see and feel big chunks of rocks rolling down and the only thing to stop them from coming on to the road from the buffer lane was a thin wall of tin, put up lousily. Very scary!

Moving ahead, there are still many diversions between Pune and Satara. After another break of 30 mins at Nipani, I took the Nipani - Ajra - Amboli - Sawantwadi route. The route is nowhere close to be called as good or decent surface. Its mostly broken with the exceptions of section belonging to Karnataka between Nipani-Ajra and Sawantwadi - Goa section, those were just about ok. Ghats section between Amboli and Sawantwadi is particularly in bad shape. The patch work attempted can best be called shoddy. But having said that, it still saves about a good one hour. Reached hotel in North Goa at 4:30PM, so that's about 11.5 Hrs with 2 breaks of 30 minutes and and a 3rd break of 10 minutes.

During my stay in Goa, took a couple of short drives to Arambol beach and Palolem beach. Good roads and better traffic sense amongst locals. Loved it.

Started back for Mumbai on 5-Oct at 12:30PM. Had planned to leave late looking to avoid peak office traffic hours in Mumbai. Unwillingly, took the same route back as I could not afford extra one hour drive through Chorla. This time somehow my ETC tag that I use for Airoli bridge was accepted by couple of toll plazas between Kolhapur and Satara. With 2 breaks of 30 minutes each and another of 10 minutes, managed to reach home at 11PM - exactly 10.5 Hours point to point. In my observation, about 45 minutes are saved while returning back because of a tunnel after Satara en route to Pune. In opposite travel you have to drive through ghat section where they are widening the road. Did not face any traffic while crossing Pune and then Navi Mumbai. Toll plazas were easy too.

Total distance traveled: 1,342 Kms with approx. 85 litres of fuel. Efficiency ~ 16kmpl with AC switched on and set to 25 degrees throughout.

Overall, another great road trip and Goa as usual is always wonderful.
Petrol rates currently in Goa - Rs 56/Ltr

[kewlferrari]

H- wanted to check if there's a self drive option where I can pick-up the car in Goa and drop it off in Mumbai. Any help will be much appreciated.

[Merc_lover666]

Hi Guys,

I am planning a road trip from Mumbai to Goa via Nipani - Amboli ghat route. I will be leaving mumbai around 6.30 pm and need a place to stop over for the night. We are only 6 males and therefore any lodge located near express way will suffice.

Any guidance shall be highly appreciated.

[sreepathy]

Planning to drive down from ahmedabad to goa next week. Will stop over in pune most probably. would be great if somebody can suggest good/decent/budget hotels on highway in pune (towards goa side) for a family

[sathbhai]

Originally Posted by sreepathy

Planning to drive down from ahmedabad to goa next week. Will stop over in pune most probably. would be great if somebody can suggest good/decent/budget hotels on highway in pune (towards goa side) for a family

On our way back from Goa to Ahmedabad (with stop over at Pune), we stayed at Hotel Sadanand. Decent rooms, food - got great rate when booked through OYO rooms on makemytrip.

This is on the highway itself. You don't have to enter the city.

Address:
S. No. 9/2, Mahalunge, Off Hinjewadi IT Park, Opp Balewadi Soprts Complex

[sreepathy]

Originally Posted by sathbhai

On our way back from Goa to Ahmedabad (with stop over at Pune), we stayed at Hotel Sadanand.

Just checked online, it's sold out for my date. any other hotels nearby?

[sathbhai]

There's a Ginger nearby, if I'm not mistaken.

[bigwheelz]

Originally Posted by sreepathy

Just checked online, it's sold out for my date. any other hotels nearby?

There's "The Orchid" just opposite Hotel Sadanand. Good hotel.

[manonsong]

I just returned from a Mumbai to Goa and back drive yesterday. I read up a lot on this forum before planning my route. There are 2 routes, one via the Expressway through Pune and then down to Goa from Belgavi. The other on the old NH17. I went on the Expressway, then NH4 to Belgavi. We left at 5.30 am and were in Benaulim at 4.30 pm. The road is a divided road all the way through to Belgavi. The road down via the Chorla Ghat is a fantastic surface but very twisting with hirpin bends and is narrow. We actually made it to Belgavi for a late lunch.

On the return I decided to take the old NH17 which is great for a few kliometres till we came to Kankavli. We crawled through the town and the shops, parked cars, tempos and rickshaws made it a slow crawl. I thought the same would happen on the other towns through which NH17 passes. Soon after Kankavli we saw a sign to Nipani via Radhanagri. I knew this would be a long detour but we took it. Great road, almost no traffic and we drive through virgin jungle. This is what the virgin forests are like! It was long and we made it to the outskirts of Kolhapur by 2.00 pm for lunch. We then crawled through Kolhapur till we were back on the four lane road to Karad, Satara and on the Mumbai Pune Expressway by 6.45 pm. It got dark but we made it home by 9.30 pm. We drove almost 13 hours with three breaks but I would prefer the safety and comfort of the divided roads instead of the NH17 which is still single lane almost all through and has many winding ghats. Today March 2016 that is the way to go to Goa.
I also looked up hotels enroute just in case we wanted a stop but the choices in Satara and Karad were grim. Pune is too close to Mumbai and Kolhapur too close to Goa. Might be an idea to leave late morning and stay over in Kolhapur then Goa is a short drive away.

There are some road works still on but the diversions are well laid out and cause slight slow downs. As always, trucks insist on driving on the right so overtaking from the wrong side can be slightly challenging.

I drive a 6 year old Skoda Laura Petrol and this car was on song the entire journey. We are an older couple, I am 63 but did not feel any fatigue after a joint 13 hr drive in this car.

[AnniHilat0R]

Thanks for posting about your journey manonsong. I am about to drive down to Goa from Mumbai next week and was wondering which route to take. I think I will opt for the Expressway route than go via NH17. I haven't been off-late on NH17 but the last time I traveled on it, it took me almost 3 hours to clear Pen / Vadhkhal.

[manonsong]

AnniHilaTOR The trick is to leave Mumbai early 05.30 am and pass Pune before the morning rush hour. Road is very good and if you consider taking the scenic route via Radhanagri be prepared for traffic in Kolhapur and map your route through Kolhapur very carefully. Else go upto Belgavi and then down the Chorla Ghat. Great road but very winding, be careful and drive real slow down Chorla Ghat. Enjoy!