[hiraj2001]

Hello,

I intend to travel to Bijapur in the last week of this month and I want to go via Kolhapur rather than Solapur since I want to visit the Ambabai temple in Kolhapur.

Does anyone have any information on the road condition, distance in kms and the time taken to go from Kolhapur to Bijapur?

Regards, Raj

[chetans]

Originally Posted by hiraj2001

Hello,

I intend to travel to Bijapur in the last week of this month and I want to go via Kolhapur rather than Solapur since I want to visit the Ambabai temple in Kolhapur.

Does anyone have any information on the road condition, distance in kms and the time taken to go from Kolhapur to Bijapur?

Regards, Raj

i have not taken up this route. but was considereing to reach kolhapur from solapur and then take nh4 to bangalore. was advised against it as it increased distance unnessarily, almost triangle like route.

though bangalore to bijapur is shortest route (around 500kms), as you want to go to kolhapur, there is not much of an option.
in your case take up nh4 to reach kolapur.
look for the state highway (sh 138) Kolhapur-Miraj-Bijapur.
The sangli bijapur route takes around 4 hours.

[condor]

@hiraj, your route will be:

Kolhapur By-pass, towards Jaysingpur / Sangli, Kagwad, Mangasuli, Muragundi, Athni, Honawad, Tikota, Bijapur.

I had done Kagwad - Bijapur about a year back. Road was good. Un-divided, 2 lane SH.

If you get confused, from Kolhapur by-pass, ask for Sangli / Miraj. As your approach this, ask for Kagwad. At Kagwad ask for Athni / Bijapur. Once you reach Athni, it's just one straight road.

[BunnyPunia]

to make things simpler, is this is the right way condor?
Kolhapur-Miraj:52
Miraj-turn right-kagvad-17
kagvad-athni-Bijapur-114

[condor]

@Bunny, pretty much. May be a couple of km shorter for each leg, since you would not need to go into Miraj city.

p.s: if it helps : you can converse in Marathi upto Kagwad. So it should not be a problem for you to ask for directions, even if you miss a turn somewhere.

[hiraj2001]

@Bunny and Condor,

Thanks a million for the replies. They are very helpful indeed. My trip planning would be complete if one of you could give the approximate time taken for the travel.

Regards, Raj

[condor]

@hiraj, the distance of 169 km from Kolhapur to Bijapur should normally take about 3.5 hours. Max 4 hours.

Remember, these are not your NH type roads, but state highways, no dividers, and you will be passing through villages & rural areas.

[condor]

Looks more like 180 km. Pls budget for 4 hours atleast, so you dont have to rush things.

[hiraj2001]

Thanks a lot everyone for all the advice. My trip is now planned. Only have to take care of the staying part. Will certainly post a travelogue once I am back to Pune.

Regards, Raj

[condor]

@hiraj, have a safe trip.

Are you looking for places to stay in Bijapur, or some other place ?
Kolhapur should not be a problem, I guess.

[jkrishnakj]

Reviving a very old thread.

Gmaps shows an alternate route to Kolhapur from Bangalore, one the usual via Tumkur, Chitradurga, Davangere, Hubli, Belgaum, Kolhapur.

Another route that its started showing now is as below:

Bangalore-Tumkur-Chitradurga-Hospet-Vijayapura-Sangli-Kolhapur. This route is about 110 KM extra than the conventional one.

Given how good the roads are all the way to Vijayapura, and how the 35 KM single lane highway at Belgaum can slow down and be stressful, i am wondering if the alternate road is a better option to get to Kolhapur.

If anyone has taken this route from Vijayapura to Kolhapur, please share.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Gmaps shows an alternate route to Kolhapur from Bangalore, one the usual via Tumkur, Chitradurga, Davangere, Hubli, Belgaum, Kolhapur.

Another route that its started showing now is as below:

Bangalore-Tumkur-Chitradurga-Hospet-Vijayapura-Sangli-Kolhapur. This route is about 110 KM extra than the conventional one.

Just recently (a couple of weeks ago), I drove around a lot in Kolhapur Sangli area.

As you know already, Bangalore to Vijayapura is an excellent road. Absolutelt fantastic highway that is, and with less than 50% of the traffic compared to the usual Bangalore-Kolhapur highway (NH48). So I would prefer this anyday, upto Vijayapura.

However, Vijapaura-Sangli-Kolhapur will have a lot of town traffic and these are a mix of narrow roads and some wide state highways. Overall, this traffic condition here is going to be highly dynamic and unpredictable, and you will face delays somewhere or the other on this section. Therefore, this section is a bit painful to drive. In the net, you will not save any time end to end up to Kolhapur (or worse, will take more time that usual NH48).

On the other hand, highways from Sangli till Sopaur, and then from Solapur to Pune are excellent four-lane highways and quite fast. Recently, I did Pune-Solapur-Vijayapura-Bangalore drive and loved that. I now consider that as a viable option to Pune over the usual NH48, especially given the bad traffic and slow progress from Kolhapur to Pune. But if Kolhapur is your destination (and not Pune), then I would say usual Bangalore-Kolhapur highway (NH48) is still the best bet.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

I am wondering if the alternate road is a better option to get to Kolhapur.

For Bangalore-Kolhapur its a worthless detour. We often start from Kolhapur McD around 4 pm and enter NICE slightly before midnight. This was even before Chitradurga-Hubli 6-lane was fully done and crossing Dharwad-Hubli at peak 6 pm traffic.

Even otherwise the most time consumer in the route is NBTL to Tumkur bypass.