[dtgada]

hi.. wanted to know the best way to travel from pune to gujarat (vapi to be more specific). someone suggested that the pune - nasik road is pretty bad and it makes sense to come all the way to new bombay thru the expressway and then go to thane via panvel and head north to gujarat.

need suggestions?

[hvkumar]

Via Bombay is the best route option.
Advised not to take the Thane road from Kalamboli, best is to come towards New Bombay, turn off at Turbhe and cross the creek at the Airoli bridge.
Proceed via Mulund and Thane and take Ghodbunder road to reach NH8 - a fast drive from there all the way to Vapi.

[hvkumar]

Here are detailed instructions for going from Pune road to Ahmedabad road (NH8):

Zero point is Kalamboli where the Pune- Bombay expressway ends.

Keep going towards Bombay. you will cross several flyovers through Kharghar
and Belapur. Belapur can be identified by the large number of office
buildings to the left (including Konkan Bhavan, Park Hotel). After Belapur,
the road climbs up a hill and comes down to the other side. The traffic
signal at that junction is the Uran Phata. After crossing that signal you
will cross Nerul (you will see the light pillars of a cricket stadium on
your left), and you climb up a flyover after crossing Nerul.

Ahead of the Nerul flyover, you will see a complicated flyover coming up
(the Turbhe flyover). Over the flyover is Bombay (it curves away to the
left). Your road is the road to Thane (marked straight)( keep to the right
and avoid going on the flyover). This place is Turbhe. Keep going straight
and you will reach a messy junction with a signal and then a flyover curving
away to the left. Keep to your left (flyover starts to the right) and keep
going straight.

You are now going on the Thane- Belapur road - goes through industrial area.
First you will cross Turbhe Railway Station (RS) on your left. Then you will
see another flyover curving to the left - keep going down straight. After
this, you will see the Reliance Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge Complex (DAKC) to
your right. Messy road just concreted with several incomplete stretches. You
will cross the Rabale and Kopar Khairne RS to your left.

The road goes down into a subway and at the signal in the subway, turn left.
This is Airoli, and the subway (after you turn left) goes under the railway
line. DONT go straight although that also goes to Thane.

Keep going on this road ( the Airoli Bridge road) and you will cross the
Thane Creek (1 km bridge), at the end of which there is a toll gate (Rs 25).
Followed by an octroi gate.

You will hit the Eastern Expressway - flyover going from left to right. Left
goes to Ghakopar/Bombay, straight to Mulund, and you turn right towards
Thane. Down this road after 1 km is a signal after which is a toll gate (Rs
25). After the toll gate, you will see trucks line up and a stone tower,
indicating that you have left Bombay and entered Thane. The road goes up a
slope and when you come down that slope you see a flyover. Go over the
flyover. 1 km down the road around a long curve, you will see another
flyover - go on it - and this is a 1.5 km elevated road.

After you come down this long flyover, you will see yet another flyover -
sign boards saying Ahmedabad, Nasik (on flover). DO NOT take this flyover -
go underneath (left side). The road meets traffice coming from the left, and
curves to the left to meet first a small junction, then a small round. Keep
going straight - you are now in the Ghodbunder road. You will see the
Cinemax multiplex on your left, Ford showroom on your right.

That is it - go on this road 16 kms and you will reach the NH8 junction at
Ghodbunder (immediately after a toll gate - Rs 15), which is after you climb
up and down a small ghat.

At the NH8 junction, turn right (left goes to Dahisar/Bombay) and it is all
the way.

[spadival]

hvkumar, I guess this applies to Surat as well? Approximately, how long does it take for the journey from Pune to Surat?

[hvkumar]

Yes, it is the same route. From Thane to Surat is 260 kms. Time duration would be as follows:

Pune-Thane, 3 hours (worst case, with high traffic)
Thane-Surat, 5 hours
Allow for 1 hour break.
Increase time for slow speeds by 1 hour
Not more than 10 hours for the Pune-Surat drive.
No traffic blockages en route.

[dtgada]

thanx hvkumar.

its quite surprising that via mumbai turns out to be the best option. ending up taking a route running on two sides of the triangle when there should have been a good straight road from pune to gujrat - would have saved lots of time and kilometers.

is a direct pune - gujarat road not there or its too bad?

[hvkumar]

The route via Nashik does not really save much distance and takes longer time. Besides, that would mean driving on bad mountain roads. On the other hand, if you go via Bombay, you have the advantage of the expressway and the good NH8.

[bhalu]

Planning to travel from Ahmedabad to Pune on 26 Sept in my brand new Fusion 1.4 TDCI.
Need advise on the route, specifically how to bypass Mumbai enroute to Pune.
What will be the total time involved

[Akadian]

Hi Bhalu,

While coming from Ahmedabad, you will reach Vasai and then you have to ask for Thane from there. People or signboards will guide you onto the Ghodbunder road. Follow that and enter Thane, from where you can head straight for Airoli, Mhape and the Mumbai-Pune expressway. Total time involved should be 7 hours from A'bad to Thane and 3 more from there to Pune

[gonewithwind]

Nasik - Saputara- Daboi- Vadodara is a scenic route and not short cut. I have done this route in march and still remember these wonderful roads. Some bit of road is not great but that doesnt matter.

[footloose15]

I second to what hvkumar said. I had done Pune-Baroda last year(Dec 2008). The best route is via mumbai. As hvkumar said take the airoli route its better and the fastest way to bypass the traffic of mumbai.

Roads till baroda were in excellent condition. Some 4 laning work was still going on in Gujarat but the diversions were good enough. Expect some traffic till the Maharashtra Gujarat Border.

Start at 3 AM from Pune to avoid traffic and reach early.

Drive safe.

Guys correct me if i am wrong-> You need to stick a yellow tape on your right headlight in gujarat otherwise the police might fine you.

Thanks

[deutscheafrikar]

Originally Posted by footloose15

The best route is via mumbai. As hvkumar said take the airoli route its better and the fastest way to bypass the traffic of mumbai.

I have a question here. Why Thane, Mulund check naka, Airoli Check Naka, Thane Belapur rd.?
Why not Thane, Kalwa, Thane Belapur rd.?

oops!!! actually it's two questions... but you can avoid two check/octroi nakas and two toll booths. Will the distance be longer cos you do turn to Kalwa much, much earlier than the mulund check post

[aryashiv1]

This route is better than Thane Kalwa route any day. Thane Kalwa route is very crowded and lot of traffic. However route via Airoli, Mulund, Thane & Godbudher is four lane very good road. You dont see much traffic now since road from D Y Patil Stadium all the way till Airoli is 4 lane devider road.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by bhalu

Planning to travel from Ahmedabad to Pune on 26 Sept in my brand new Fusion 1.4 TDCI.
Need advise on the route, specifically how to bypass Mumbai enroute to Pune.
What will be the total time involved

Below quote contains detailed instructions prepared by HV Kumar on how to bypass mumbai while coming from NH-8.It should help you bypass Mumbai with ease.

QUOTE:

This route is OK any time of the day - it should take you 1-1.5 hours to cross this stretch of around 40 kms, from Turbe (NH4,Bombay) to Ghodbunder (NH8).
Instructions for bypassing Bombay, from north side on NH8:
1. 55 kms from Manor you reach Ghodbunder. This point is 28 kms after the toll gate.

2. The indication that you have reached Ghodbunder is: Left is Thane 20 kms, Straight is Dahisar 8 kms, Borivli. You will see Hotel Fountain at the junction. You reach Ghodbunder after crossing the 1/4 km long River Ulhas bridge.

3. You will see a few signboards pointing to Thane/New Bombay/Pune, etc.
Please DO NOT take any of those turns, take the left turn only at Ghodbunder.

4. Continue on the road from Ghodbunder to Thane (you will cross a toll gate 1 km into the road), which is 15 kms. Road is double road all the way.
5. At the end of 15 kms, you will hit Majiwade, the first messy junction (round). Just before reaching that junction, you will see on your left Vijay sales showroom, Ford dealership and on the right side the Cinemax Multiplex/Mall.

6. After crossing this small round (road very congested at this point), you will reach another confusing junction (with a flyover going across - left to right). There are 3 roads here at this junction –
Immediately left U Turn is Nasik road,
Immediate left is going into Thane, and straight (and then under the flyover) is your route (the road to Bombay). You will see a board saying Pune to your left - please DO NOT take that road.

7. Once you are beyond the flyover, keep going straight. Immediately after this junction, you will have another flyover which you must take - this one is 1.5 kms long, almost an elevated road. After coming down the flyover, the road naturally curves to left and you will see another flyover - take that also - this one is a 1-junction small flyover.

8. Keep going and you will reach Bombay octroi naka - landmark is a large Fort-type gate across the road, lorries all over the place and some muddy boards saying Bombay - Gateway to India. Remember, you are on the road to Bombay.

9. After the octroi gate, within 1/2 km, you will cross the toll gate (Rs 25 toll), and after that a traffic signal (this is Mulund).

10. After this signal, within 2 kms, you come to another flyover - DO NOT go on this flyover, go below and turn to the left (sign boards saying Mulund-Airoli Bridge, Airoli, New Bombay, etc, right goes to Mulund).

11. Turn left and you will reach another toll gate (Rs 25 toll). After the toll gate, you will cross the Thane Creek (1.5 km bridge). At the other end, you reach Airoli in New Bombay.

12. After crossing the bridge, you cross a round and a signal, followed by a dip down to a subway in a T-Junction. Turn right (left goes to Thane, right to Kopar Khairne, Turbhe, Vashi, Pune).

13. This is also a double road but road conditions are not great – this is the Thane-Belapur road and you will see industrial units all over. The most prominent complex will be the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC Complex) to your left. Don't take any flyover on this road - you will go under one, and there will be another, but keep to the bottom).

14. You will go around 10 kms on this road - you will see Kopar Khairne local railway station to your right (opposite Reliance) and after that the Turbhe railway station (Turbhe is a slum-type place).

15. Within 1/4 km after you cross Turbhe railway station, you will see another flyover (right going to Vashi) - keep going under it.

16. That is it, you have reached the main Bombay-Pune road. After Turbhe, keep going - Nerul, Belpaur (CBD, Konkan Bhavan, Park Hotel to your right) and kalamboli which is where the Expressway starts – around 15/20 kms from Turbhe.

UNQUOTE

[aryashiv1]

Yes this is the perfect and faster route to Pune. Only two things have changed:

1. Once you take right for Godbundher Road at the Foutain the Toll Plaza is right at the begining not one KM after. The toll is now Rs. 15

2. Toll has been increased on Bombay Tolls Nakas..they have made it Rs. 30 now instead of earlier Rs. 25.