[AkshatR]

Originally Posted by tp_dominator

I am doing this route this weekend too. Lets maybe catchup on the road.

Absolutely, look out for a blue Hexa. I plan to leave on Sunday. expecting a lot of Diwali traffic this weekend though.

I have also heard that truck traffic has also increased given the pandemic.

Safe Travels

[maksins]

Originally Posted by AkshatR

I am doing this route this weekend. based on the above, looks like Pune-Aurangabad-Jalna-Mehkar-Karanja-Amravati is going to be the one.

Originally Posted by tp_dominator

I am doing this route this weekend too. Lets maybe catchup on the road.

Dear @AkshatR and @tp_dominator,
I hope you finished your trip safely.
Can you please share your experience? How were the road and traffic conditions between Jalna and Amravati? Are there any good restaurants or hotels on this route?
I am doing Mumbai to Raipur this week. I plan to stay overnight in either Jalna or Mehkar, and the drive on next day. Is that a good idea?

[tp_dominator]

Originally Posted by maksins

Dear @AkshatR and @tp_dominator,
I hope you finished your trip safely.
Can you please share your experience? How were the road and traffic conditions between Jalna and Amravati? Are there any good restaurants or hotels on this route?
I am doing Mumbai to Raipur this week. I plan to stay overnight in either Jalna or Mehkar, and the drive on next day. Is that a good idea?

Hi,

I was not able to leave yesterday. I am starting my drive on Tuesday morning. If you are driving from Mumbai, overnight stay at either Aurangabad or Amravati is preferable for the quality of hotels in these cities. Jalna and Mehkar both don't have much good hotels AFAIK. Depends on when you leave.

For reference, in January this year, I started from Pune a bit late and stayed at Aurangabad for the night. I started from Aurangabad at 4.00 AM and took the Chikhli-Khamgaon route and touched Raipur by 3.00 PM. However, I was driving solo, a bit heavy on the A-pedal and minimal stops in between due to some emergency. I reckon if you drive sedately also, if you start by 4 AM, you can reach Raipur by 6PM. Hope this helps!

[invictus]

Early October I took Malshej Ghat road for my journey to Amravati from Navi Mumbai...Route i took was Shilphata - Kalyan/Barvi Dam - Malshej Ghat - Alephata - Nagar Bypass - Aurangabad Bypass - Shindaghed Raja - Mehkar Bypass - Malegaon Bypass - Karanja Bypass Kamargaon - Amravati.

Here is the scenario; if u leave early morning by 4 AM you don't need to go via Barvi Dam, as Kalyan city roads are relatively empty. I started at 4 AM and reached Amravati at 6 PM with total 5 breaks inclusive of nature call, quick meal inside the car itself and where road has nice scenery (after Malshej ghat/ShindKhed Raja). Basically a small break every 2 hrs of driving. For breakfast Post Alephata u will cross Rajuri, keep looking at your left and you will see huge parking space and clean glass door hotel “Surabhi Misal House”, in current situation I will recommend you avoid going or else take all necessary precautions if its crowded. For lunch you can pick up meal from McD @ Aurangabad (will have to go via city though). As stated by many here, roads post Mehkar for few patches are really bad, mainly for low GC vehicles. I assume Nagar- Aurangabad road repair must be over by now.

PS: please don’t take this road for your return journey as roads post Kalyan/Shilphata in the evening are really bad and loaded with traffic.

[AkshatR]

Originally Posted by maksins

Dear @AkshatR and @tp_dominator,
I hope you finished your trip safely.
Can you please share your experience? How were the road and traffic conditions between Jalna and Amravati? Are there any good restaurants or hotels on this route?
I am doing Mumbai to Raipur this week. I plan to stay overnight in either Jalna or Mehkar, and the drive on next day. Is that a good idea?

Hi Maksins,

Yes, I did. It took us 14 hours inclusive of breaks (~2 hours combined)

Roadwise here are my suggestions:

1. Go through Aurangabad city (we drove in at around 9am and it was very smooth; no jams but it was a Sunday)
2. Take Jalna bypass (google takes you through the city)
3. Jalna - Sinkhed Raja a very good drive. We stopped for some Rasins on the way
4. Sinkhed Raja to Sultanpur: Decent 2 lane road but heavy truck traffic
5. Sultanpur to Mehkar bypass: Excellent newly laid cement road with heavy truck traffic
6. Mehkar to Dongaon: Decent 2 lane road but heavy truck traffic
7. Dongaon to Shelu Bazar: Bad road again heavy truck traffic
8. Shelu Bazar to Karanja to Kherda: Good 2 lane road (remember to take the left towards at Murtizapur at Karanja bypass and not head towards Nagpur)
9. Kherda to Hirwa Budruk: New laid cement road, sad it lasted for such a short distance
10. Hirwa Budruk to Amravati Bypass: NH 53, 2 lane heavy traffic

we could see work on the Samruddhi highway was near Karanja Lad.

We did see some restaurants and Dhabas, but were carrying our own food so did not stop there. For an overnight stay, Aurangabad is better, though there was a hotel just before Jalna (don't recall the name)

Safe travels

[tp_dominator]

I did this route today. Same observations as what AkshatR has posted. However, due to work taking up a lot of time, I halted at Amravati. I left Pune at 4 AM dot and was at my Amravati hotel by 2 PM with a combined break of around 45 minutes (work+bio+food). Leaving early made us avoid a lot of traffic and I am sure had it been a weekend, I would have been able to reach Bilaspur by night.

The bad stretch of road can be tackled easily but the truck traffic eats up a lot of progress since its an undivided highway. However, the road is not so bad as I remember it in May 2019. However, food options are very limited with very few decent places to eat but since we were carrying our own food, it did not matter to us.

One more observation to add, be mindful of your speed and be on the lookout for Police Ertigas with open boots, they are equipped with Speed cams and you may get fined. However, one most amusing thing was nobody was wearing any masks in the villages on the way and nobody seemed to be concerned about the ongoing pandemic!

[Majumdarda]

Guys, please advise on decent and safe night stays for family with kid (and car) between Nagpur and Sambalpur (Odisha).

I would be travelling from Pune to WB and this time have plans to try out this route. It would be great if suitable accommodation suggestions are provided, preferably on the highway, so that time waste is minimal.

If you have a contact number too, it would be much appreciated.

P.S. scouting the route, google map suggests Hotel Stay Inn near Bhandara as one of the viable options. What else?

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by Majumdarda

Guys, please advise on decent and safe night stays for family with kid (and car) between Nagpur and Sambalpur (Odisha).

If you are not stopping at Nagpur, I would suggest stopping overnight at Bhilai or Raipur which offer many good stay options on the highway.

Google search for hotels on GE road (Nagpur - Sambalpur route) in Bhilai or Raipur give many options. Bhandara is a small town so stay options may not be as reliable.

Also, this patch of road is very good with wide lane dual carriageway throughout (except perennial flyovers coming up somewhere or other). I won't worry about driving this route.

[Majumdarda]

Originally Posted by ksameer1234

If you are not stopping at Nagpur, I would suggest stopping overnight at Bhilai or Raipur which offer many good stay options on the highway.

Google search for hotels on GE road (Nagpur - Sambalpur route) in Bhilai or Raipur give many options. Bhandara is a small town so stay options may not be as reliable.

Also, this patch of road is very good with wide lane dual carriageway throughout (except perennial flyovers coming up somewhere or other). I won't worry about driving this route.

Thank you, but guess this will be too stretching from Pune, even if I start by 3 ( that's the usual time I start). Though I agree that Bhilai definitely has better options.

Hence wanted to ponder upon viable options post Nagpur till Sambalpur (OD)

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by Majumdarda

Thank you, but guess this will be too stretching from Pune, even if I start by 3 ( that's the usual time I start). Though I agree that Bhilai definitely has better options.

Hence wanted to ponder upon viable options post Nagpur till Sambalpur (OD)

If you start from Pune at 3 AM (?), you would likely reach Bhilai around 8 PM (+/- 2 hrs depending on speeds you keep and breaks). May be you can explore staying at Nagpur (it would take 12 hrs (+/- 1 hrs) from Pune. Nagpur to Sambalpur should take about 9-10 hrs with breaks.

Nagpur to Bhilai takes less than 4 hrs and these two cities have options which I can confidently recommend.

Btw, between Raipur and Sambalpur, only towns worth mentioning are Saraipali and Bargarh. And only cities between Nagpur and Sambalpur are Bhilai and Raipur.

[Majumdarda]

Originally Posted by ksameer1234

If you start from Pune at 3 AM (?), you would likely reach Bhilai around 8 PM (+/- 2 hrs depending on speeds you keep and breaks). May be you can explore staying at Nagpur (it would take 12 hrs (+/- 1 hrs) from Pune. Nagpur to Sambalpur should take about 9-10 hrs with breaks.

Nagpur to Bhilai takes less than 4 hrs and these two cities have options which I can confidently recommend.

Btw, between Raipur and Sambalpur, only towns worth mentioning are Saraipali and Bargarh. And only cities between Nagpur and Sambalpur are Bhilai and Raipur.

Thank you very much. Now, this seems achievable. Yes, I usually start around 3 AM, though I try to start post 1 AM, but eventually something last-minute adjustment etc comes along. You know
Going by this I think Bhilai should not be too far. And yes thank you for the confidence-inspiring assurance. Hope no advance booking headache will be there as I find various options (with good reviews) on the highway itself. Lets see how this finalizes.

I usually prefer to take the Pune - Vizag - WB route, but let's try this one now. Keep this thread updated with the observations etc.

[AkshatR]

Originally Posted by tp_dominator

One more observation to add, be mindful of your speed and be on the lookout for Police Ertigas with open boots, they are equipped with Speed cams and you may get fined. However, one most amusing thing was nobody was wearing any masks in the villages on the way and nobody seemed to be concerned about the ongoing pandemic!

Yes, we spotted one at Malegaon by-pass hidden on the side of the bridge. made me wonder what's the shed limit on these highways.

no masks AND no helmets either....

[nix1976in]

Hey guys...doing Mumbai-Nagpur tomorrow. Any latest updates on the best route to be taken?

[Majumdarda]

On the 20th there is Chhath Puja.

Please advise what is the best route to travel from Bhilai to Kharagpur?

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Bh...4601!3e0?hl=en

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Bh...4601!3e0?hl=en

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by nix1976in

Hey guys...doing Mumbai-Nagpur tomorrow. Any latest updates on the best route to be taken?

Hope I am not too late in responding! I would recommend Mumbai-Pune-Aurangabad-Jalna-Mehkar-Dongaon-Malegaon Jh.-Washim-Karanja-Kamargaon-Amravati-Nagpur.

Depending on when you start from Mumbai, you may encounter traffic in Pune / past-Pune upto Ranjangaon. I started early from Aurangabad so went straight through Jalna city than taking bypass though it may not work for you in daytime. Dongaon to Malegaon stretch is broken so there is no option but to endure. Malegaon to Washim route is unknown to me but I doubt it will be worse than Malegaon to Shelu Bazar. Washim to Karanja is lovely new concrete road. About 10 kms before Amrawati bypass is single-carriageway.

I would typically avoid Pune by taking Talegaon-Chakan-Shikrapur route but this time I went into the city and took Khadki-Yerwada-Nagar Road route. This may have taken slightly more time but I was more than glad to avoid jostling with trucks.

At Ahmednagar and Aurangabad, watch out for interceptors and keep speeds in check.