[Ertigiat]

Originally Posted by Desmosedici

I am planning to travel from Mumbai to North Goa (Calungte) on 20 March night. Plan to start from Goregaon at 10pm.

Car - Innova
Occupants - 5 Adults (3 drivers) + 2 kids.

Can you help me with Fuel Pump + Restrooms enroute.

We intend to have the following stops.
1 - Pune. Restroom Break and Driver change.
2 - Satara. Restroom Break and Driver change.
3 - Nippani. Breakfast, Restroom Break and Driver change.

I would recommend below stops (with timings) considering Oberoi mall as start point.

1. Start from Oberoi Mall, Goregoan at 10 PM.
2. Reach BPCL COCO after Khed Shivapur Toll Plaza at around 1.30 AM. Tea Break/Restroom Break/Change of Driver.
3. Reach Hotel Kaveri or Hotel Goa Ves after tawandi ghat at around 5.30 AM. Tea Break/Restroom Break/Change of Driver.
4. Reach Calangut by 9.30-10 AM via Amboli

Distance till BPCL COCO is around 200 kms & fuel pump is open 24 hours. They also have ample of washrooms but not sure how clean & illuminated will they be during that hour of the night. I believe you can use washrooms of adjacent McDonalds & CCD.

It doesn't make any sense to take break again at Satara as you will reach there within 1 hour. Instead you can cruise till Nipani & break for tea/change of driver.

It will be too early for breakfast at Hotel Goa Ves or Hotel Kaveri.

I would recommend to continue to Calangute via Amboli & take breakfast at Hotel Sawali.

I would also recommend to utilize driver between Khed Shivapur & Nippani instead of using him for last leg of the drive.

Probably you will be stopped at Sawantwadi exit point or Goa Entry point for document check & it will be better if you are at the wheels.

Originally Posted by moralfibre

My bad, corrected here - Link

I would not recommend Chorla ghat because it has turned chaotic since closure of Anmod ghat. Heavy vehicles are not allowed on this route but all the interstate Volvo buses & trucks from Belgaum/Goa use this route.

Amobli route isn't butter smooth all the way till Sawantwadi but it is in derivable condition & one can maintain speed of 60-70 kmph.

Once you enter Goa, lot of road widening activities are in progress but they will not cause any hindrance to your pace.

[moralfibre]

Rode to Goa over the weekend. Chorla ghat had some construction on the way down and there was a long queue. Thankfully I was on the bike and could negotiate it real quick.

The climb up early morning was peaceful with almost zero traffic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFJetI2zyUE

[Ithaca]

Just returned from a trip to Kolhapur.

For foodies here, Manas, Satara has another outlet 8 kms after Satara while driving towards Mumbai.
It was supposedly opened on 23rd Dec 2018.
The joint will be on your left hand side - approximately a kilometer after the highway D Mart.
After you cross Satara, keep a look out for the D Mart and shuttered DSK Toyota that will be on your right hand side.
Slow down and you cannot miss the new Manas Outlet.
The restaurant is very clean and the food is great as always.
The washroom is one of the cleanest I have seen on this stretch and easily beats the one at Sai International, Yelur.
One lovely touch - they gave us locally sourced jaggery and roasted ground nuts while we waited for our food to be prepared.
And a paan while we waited to pay up.

Do not forget to peel a bell hung at the entrance to let the restaurant staff know you enjoyed your meal - there is a sign in Marathi on the wall near the bell.

I do not have any personal investment in this business.
Posting it here for lovers of great food.

Tolls paid (Panvel to Kolhapur) - Rs 525
Khalapur - Rs 230
Khed Shivpuri - Rs 90
Anewadi - Rs 60
Taswadi & Kini - Rs 145

[jogidada]

It's time for the annual Goa trip! I will be travelling from Pune to North Goa on Wed. Always preferred Amboli route over Chorla to reach North Goa. Heard conflicting opinions about the condition of the Amboli route, hence looking for guidance before I set off.

I usually turn off from NH4 at Hotel Goa Ves and use the Nippani - Ajra link road via Uttur. Anyone travelled on this patch recently? I will be in a Vento. In the past I have used the Sankeshwar Gadhinglaj option as well, just to drive on the awesome stretch of road 15-20 mins prior to Sankeshwar

[manonsong]

Update on drive Mumbai to Goa. I just finished a road trip to Goa in a Skoda Laura Petrol TSI. I took the old NH 17 via Chiplun. We left late and stayed overnight at the Riverview Resort a nice elegant place Rs 5100 per night. Good rooms and nice restaurant. We then drove on towards Sangameshwar for a breakfast stop. The road is being rebuilt massively. All over we saw 4 laning in progress with some very serious machinery. I think in a year or two this will be the road to enjoy a drive to Goa on.
Now there are many stretches under construction and progress is stop and start but not too stressful. Stopped at Kudal for lunch and we were in Benaulim by 5.00 pm.

We took the Chorla Ghat road back We left Panjim at 7.45 am. A fine paved road no potholes at all, A little narrow and twisting road. Emerged at Belgaum at 10.30 am and took a by pass with some traffic to join the Highway to Mumbai.
Stopped short of Satara for lunch at a small place. This stretch of road has the best mutton thalis and mutton bhakri. Nice places at the Mahableshwar turn off and at Shirval.
Reached Pune by 5.00 pm and stopped for the night. Stayed at Holiday Inn Express for Rs 3500 per night. Good location close to highway and many restaurants around.
Next day we were in Mumbai by 11.30 am.
I know people like to drive through but in my case we wanted to enjoy the drive and experience the hotels and stops.
I filled in premium petrol at IOC and got a discount of Re 1.50 per litre and 55 JP miles which made it same cost as regular petrol. My car averaged 15 km per litre.
On the way home there was a wobble in the car at low speed. I then saw that my right rear tyre was ripped off and the steel threads were showing. Probably this happened on a bad stretch of road near Chiplun.

Please make sure you do wheel alignment and balancing each year and check your tyres before a long drive where speeds may exceed 60 mph.

[Ertigiat]

Originally Posted by jogidada

It's time for the annual Goa trip! I will be travelling from Pune to North Goa on Wed. Always preferred Amboli route over Chorla to reach North Goa. Heard conflicting opinions about the condition of the Amboli route, hence looking for guidance before I set off.

Closure of Anmod ghat has made choosing of route to Goa little tricky. Condition of road through Amboli ghat is dubious whereas road condition in chorla ghat is pristine. Road condition makes chorla as preferred choice but the traffic density through the route will make one think twice.

Heavy vehicles are not allowed through Chorla ghat but there aren't any checks on it. All government run & private buses, which were plying through Anmod are now diverted via Chorla. In fact most the heavy vehicles that used Anmod to reach Goa are now taking chorla route. Addition of traffic to the twist & twirls of chorla make one sick to drive through it.

I would prefer a little bumpier ride (certain sections of Amboli route) instead of facing traffic/traffic jams (This Sunday chorla encounter traffic jam of 4 hours). You can descent through Amboli and can take chorla enroute to Mumbai.

[jogidada]

Originally Posted by Ertigiat

I would prefer a little bumpier ride (certain sections of Amboli route) instead of facing traffic/traffic jams (This Sunday chorla encounter traffic jam of 4 hours). You can descent through Amboli and can take chorla enroute to Mumbai.

I would take a bumpy road and dubious surface for a short distance over potential traffic jams any day. Bad roads are not a concern since we are used to the Pune - Dapoli route and the Konkan ghats As long as the actual ghat section is fine, I feel Amboli route would be the better choice. Will post an update upon reaching.

[suzuki san]

Hi Guys,

A friend of mine drove down from Poona to Goa yesterday in a Zen Estilo and decided to use the Amboli road even though I advised against it. His argument was he would rather drive on a bad road than be stuck in a 4 hour traffic jam on the Chorla Ghat road.
His feedback : Once you turn off at Nipani (Goa Ves Hotel) there is a 2 Km stretch of bad road between Nipani and Uttur. After that the road is sort of O.K. till Ajra. Potholes have been filled in but not smoothed over properly but you can swing around them. After Ajra the road gets worse and though the potholes have been filled in, the contractor has done a very shoddy job. Expect a very, very bumpy (and slow) ride all the way to Sawantwadi. Even after S'wadi he says there are road works in progress which slowed him down apart from the ridiculously low speed limits posted by the Goa traffic police. Basically, he does NOT recommend using the Amboli Ghat road and will himself be using the Chorla Ghat to return to Poona.

Regards,
SS

Originally Posted by manonsong

Emerged at Belgaum at 10.30 am and took a by pass with some traffic to join the Highway to Mumbai.

Hi ManonSong,
Could you please clarify more on this "bypass". Does this mean that you did not actually pass through Belgaum City? If so, some more detail would be appreciated viz. Where did you join this bypass? What was the bypass road condition? How long is this bypass road?

Regards,
SS

Mods : Apologies for the back to back posts. Please merge if required.

[manonsong]

I just followed the road up from Chorla Ghat and followed signs to Mumbai which took me around the edge of Belgavi and NO I did not enter the city.

[vivek95]

Update

Yet again, a new diversion has come up on Pune city NH4 bypass between Chandni Chowk and Baner causing crazy traffic snarls. Diversion is on both carriageways, so factor in additional 20 mins when crossing this stretch during peak hours.

[SSD2122]

Wow, good to see recent posts with updates for the Chorla / Amboli and other routes. I am planning to go to Goa later this month and my route is Pune - Kolhapur - Belgaum - Chorla - Goa. Take overnight halt at Kolhapur. Have breakfast next day and leave by 9:00 am for Belgaum.

Last year I had taken a halt for lunch at Cafe Bhonsle in Ponda, Goa. It is a decent veg hotel with good food. However I found it to be a bit of a stretch for lunch time.

It would be noon time while crossing Chorla ghat. Are there any good decent hotels with washroom etc. after crossing Chorla ghat where I can halt for lunch with family?

[jogidada]

Update on the Amboli route - road quality is poor immediately after the turn off from Hotel Goa Ves/ Hotel Kaveri. Another bad patch right before the Amboli ghat section. Few unmarked speedbreakers enroute thrown into the mix meant that progress was not as brisk as I would have liked it to be. Amboli ghat section was well paved save for a few potholes.
I tried a new route shown by Google Maps after the Amboli ghat section. There is a village called Danoli. There is a right turn suggested after this village that bypasses Sawantwadi all together and connects you to Mumbai Goa highway at "Owais Complex". This spot is close to the Goa border checkpost. I believe this route saved 20-25 mins. Again, road surface was not great, but it is in the process of being tarred.
I forgot to measure the time interval between Hotel Goa Ves and the Mum-Goa highway during my drive to Goa but over all it took me 7 hours 45 mins to reach Baga beach from Pune (started from Pashan), with a 30 min stopover in between. On the return journey, even with the sub-par road surface, I could do the stretch between Baga and Hotel Goa Ves in 3 hours 10 mins. Total time for return journey was again similar 7 hours and 10 mins.
Has anyone measured the time needed for North Goa to Hotel Goa Ves via Chorla recently? I get the feeling Amboli route may be faster even with the not so good roads.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by SSD2122

I am planning to go to Goa later this month and my route is Pune - Kolhapur - Belgaum - Chorla - Goa. Take overnight halt at Kolhapur. Have breakfast next day and leave by 9:00 am for Belgaum.

If you are starting from Pune, halt at Belgaum rather than Kolhapur, if possible. It is just an additional 90 minutes drive, and from there it will take you only 2.5-3.5 hours to reach Goa.

Cheers,
Vikram

[Ketan T]

Originally Posted by SSD2122

.
It would be noon time while crossing Chorla ghat. Are there any good decent hotels with washroom etc. after crossing Chorla ghat where I can halt for lunch with family?

I am not sure about any hotel after Chorla ghat. But in Chorla ghat, Delta restaurant offers some good food. Also has clean washrooms.

[SSD2122]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

If you are starting from Pune, halt at Belgaum rather than Kolhapur, if possible. It is just an additional 90 minutes drive, and from there it will take you only 2.5-3.5 hours to reach Goa.

Cheers,
Vikram

@comfortablynumb, thanks. That's a practical suggestion. The reasons why I take an overnight halt at Kolhpaur is to take for a darshan of Mahalakshmi (Ambabai) Devi and giving my right shoulder some rest due to a recent right shoulder surgery. Kolhapur - Belgaum is where I let my Tjet scorch the tarmac! Last year the stretch was in great condition, need to see how it is this year.

Originally Posted by Ketan T

I am not sure about any hotel after Chorla ghat. But in Chorla ghat, Delta restaurant offers some good food. Also has clean washrooms.

@Ketan T, thanks. I could see Wildernest and one more at Chorla ghat on a quick check in Google maps. Could you guide me if its before or after Wildernest ?