[narayans80]

Originally Posted by manjubp

Need help in planning for a drive from Bangalore to Ajanta - Ellora. Also request the BHPians to suggest worth visiting tourist places in Maharashtra. Planning for a 6 days drive.

Bangalore-Aurangabad is staraightforward drive now. You'll get to drive the best NH in MH.

Aurangabad-Ajanta has always been miserable for more than a decade. Ellora is straightforward. Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga is right opposite Ellora. Bibi ka Maqabra is right in the city.

Am not sure of tourist spots being open. Temples do open from tomorrow.

[sandeepsc]

Originally Posted by manjubp

Need help in planning for a drive from Bangalore to Ajanta - Ellora. Also request the BHPians to suggest worth visiting tourist places in Maharashtra. Planning for a 6 days drive.

Apart from regular Ajanta Ellora caves there are number of tourist spots in and around Aurangabad which are worth visiting. Some of them are:

Ghrishneshwar temple (One of the 12 Jyotirlings)
Daulatabad Fort
Tomb of Emperor Aurangzeb
Bibi ka Makbara and Pan Chakki aka Water Mill (Within city)
Paithan(Holy place and for Paithani sarees)
Lonar Crater(Myself visited this place in August)
Nashik city(Many places to visit)
Shirdi and Shani Shinganapur Temple (Opening tomorrow)

Most of these places will be covered in 6 days.

[manjubp]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Bangalore-Aurangabad is staraightforward drive now. You'll get to drive the best NH in MH.

Aurangabad-Ajanta has always been miserable for more than a decade.

Thanks Narayan, appreciate your response

Originally Posted by sandeepsc

Apart from regular Ajanta Ellora caves there are number of tourist spots in and around Aurangabad which are worth visiting. Some of them are:

Ghrishneshwar temple (One of the 12 Jyotirlings)
Daulatabad Fort
Tomb of Emperor Aurangzeb
Bibi ka Makbara and Pan Chakki aka Water Mill (Within city)
Paithan(Holy place and for Paithani sarees)
Lonar Crater(Myself visited this place in August)
Nashik city(Many places to visit)
Shirdi and Shani Shinganapur Temple (Opening tomorrow)

Most of these places will be covered in 6 days.

Thank you very much.

[narayans80]

Was checking on eating options beyond Nandagokula at Kushtagi, unfortunately the next best is inside Bijapur town :(. There is a Kamat about 2 km from the bypass (same complex as Kanishka Hotel). Food is very good and service is fast.

Fuel options:

Reliance before Bijapur (northbound)

BPCL COCO after Bijapur (southbound)

Lot of resurfacing has happened between Hospet and Bijapur. Few potholes are patched up on this route, possibly after the rainy season. There is one section inside Hungund that's not repaired. I think few speed breakers have been flattened out, there is none between Almatti and Bijapur on both directions.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Fuel options:

There is also an IOCL COCO which is northbound located here. I had taken this pic last time as I crawled through that service lane but surprisingly this located is not marked on maps except that it says "fuel
station". When I clicked on that location and referred to the images, it turned out to be the same COCO station attached to the IOCL depot behind.



Since I remembered where exactly it was located when I passed Vijayapura, I was able to point that on maps.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

There is also an IOCL COCO

I think this was past Bijapur on northbound. This is practically IOCL land, there are tons of IOCL around Bijapur

[vagabond128]

On May 22, 2022 drove to Aurangabad from Bangalore.
Started early morning at 3:47 am
Reached our destination at 3:56 pm

Road up to Tumkur is average. After that roads are excellent. Section between Hospet and Vijayapura has speed-breakers. Didn't go via Solapur city. Solapur bypass was longer but in excellent condition.
There are not many good options for food on the way.
There is no problem with fuel stations.
Overall comfortable drive.

Fuel cost: Rs.6,704
Toll: Rs.1,315
Distance: 983.2 KM
Vehicle: Mahindra Marazzo

[mogambo]

Hi Friends

Planning to drive:
* Bangalore to Solapur (Day 1)
* Solapur to Aurangabad (Day 2)
* Aurangabad to Pune (Day 3)
in July first week.

Stopping at hotels in each place overnight - with family.
Requesting any tips/guidance from experts who've done this route - any gotchas. I've driven to Kerala several times, never on this route.
Expecting roads to be good. Monsoon hasn't started too hard either.
Thank you in advance for any advice, tips and guidance - where to stay, perhaps or any places en route that we can stop and enjoy.

Thank you

[narayans80]

Bangalore-Aurangabad drive can be done in one sitting in 13 hours.

On hotels:

Aurangabad - 7 Apple
Pune - Depends on which side of town you want to stay.

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Bangalore-Aurangabad drive can be done in one sitting in 13 hours.

On hotels:

Aurangabad - 7 Apple
Pune - Depends on which side of town you want to stay.

Only 13 hours ?? Is the Solapur route that fast for Aurangabad ?? And did you mean 13 hours as a non-stop drive , because I believe , with breakfast, lunch and bio, fuel breaks it will easily take 15-16 hours.

[mogambo]

Wow - 13 hours BLR to Aurangabad is killer timing :-).
I plan to halt at night at Solapur. Visit Chhatrapati Shivaji's family Goddess Tuljapur Bhavani next day en route to Ajanta.

Couple more questions.
(1) Is the road between Ajanta and Ellora still pretty bad? I read on another thread that it is not good
(2) How is the route from Ellora to Pune (Kondhwa)? Anything to watch out or is it generally decent?

Thanks

[mayukh42]

Recently did a Vijaypura trip, 550 kms @ 8.5 hrs with breaks if exit/ entry in BLR is timed proper. If Vijaypura-Solapur 4-lane highway is opened (which looked like from the new Vijaypura bypass), then another 5.5-6 hrs for 400 kms can be added.

However, not sure about bypassing Solapur, last time we went (to Pune) we had to take the city, in 2019. Maps does show a bypass-like highway now.

The only flies in the ointment are the speed breakers between Hospet and Vijaypura.

[dpat17]

Originally Posted by mogambo

(1) Is the road between Ajanta and Ellora still pretty bad? I read on another thread that it is not good
(2) How is the route from Ellora to Pune (Kondhwa)? Anything to watch out or is it generally decent.

1) Aurangabad - Ellora road is in excellent condition. It's the road to Ajanta you need to worry about. Majority of the highway construction work has completed, however there some incomplete sections that may cause delays. Maybe @narayans80 can shed some light on present road conditions.

2) Ellora to Pune route is hassle free. Considering your destination (Kondhwa), just make sure you make it to Pune before peak hours traffic. Between 11 am to 4 pm is good during daytime or anytime after 9.30 pm.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Only 13 hours ?? Is the Solapur route that fast for Aurangabad ??

Yes. Before Chitradurga, Bijapur bypass and Bijapur-Solapur were done in 2020 January. It took me 14:15 hrs from Aurangabad (9:30 am) to NICE Tumkur Road entry (11:45 pm) with 1:45 hrs of breaks. At that time, it took 2.5 hours for Solapur-Bijapur, Bijapur bypass was a big mess and Durga 6-lane didn't exist and the last 3 km joining NH4 was non-metalled.

Parag confirmed Bijapur-Solapur is mostly done and takes 1.5 hrs now. I remember him avoiding Solapur by joining Mangalwedha-Solapur road and avoid threading through Solapur city.

Solapur-Aurangabad is currently the best tarmac in MH. Even the short ghat section that was 2-laned was completed in December 2021.

Basically if I have to explain in your language, it is driving NH4 with minimal traffic

Originally Posted by mogambo

I plan to halt at night at Solapur. Visit Chhatrapati Shivaji's family Goddess Tuljapur Bhavani next day en route to Ajanta.

Every hotel I've stayed in Solapur had awful poverty spec parking. I'd suggest Pushpak Park in Osmanabad.

(1) Is the road between Ajanta and Ellora still pretty bad? I read on another thread that it is not good

Ellora/Grishneshwar is on main Aurangabad-Dhule road. Parag mentioned Aurangabad bypass is now done, this should save time driving through Aurangabad.

Ajanta road am told is bad. Didn't visit Ajanta due to the bad roads

[mogambo]

On that note, I'm planning around 4-5 hours each at Ajanta one day and Ellora next day. Assuming that would be good. Does anyone know if we can find guides there itself or any earlier booking has to be done?