[Desmosedici]

Left Jogeshwari at 11.15.
Took 1st break at Mumbai Pune Expressway Foodmall.
Lots of traffic on the ghats saw us lose nearly an hour.
Post Pune, the progress was brisk.
2nd break somewhere after Karad.
Sai International was closed as we reached at 6.10am.
Filled up the tank at the BPCL COCO pump and stopped for breakfast at Hotel Kaveri, Nippani. From there we took the Amboli Ghat road. Road is not that great but manageable.
Reached Candolim at 12.30pm.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Desmosedici

Left Jogeshwari at 11.15.

Isn't this a really bad time to depart from Mumbai towards Pune/Kolhapur? I myself have learnt this after entering Mumbai post 22:00 from Ghodbunder side and crawling after an hour on the expressway, especially till Lonavala exit/Amrutanjan Bridge.

Most trucks start around this time, All night buses heading towards Kolhapur, Goa, Karnataka too depart around this time making things extremely slow on those 8 kms of expressway ghats.

Anything after 02:30 AM would be really a good time to start with most traffic having crossed Pune bypass as well by the time you are in Pune in next 2.5 Hours. Even Khambhatki will need 6-8 minutes against 15-25 minutes around this time as you keep chugging along the ghat here as well.

[SSD2122]

An update from my side for folks travelling to Goa via Kolhapur - Belgaum - Chorla ghat.

Started today morn from Kolhapur at 8am. Reached Belgaum by 10am and reached Varcha, Goa by 1:00pm. Mentioning time so that it would help better planning if anyone plans to take this route.

Chorla ghat road is in very good condition and encountered no traffic jams as there was no heavy traffic. Hope this helps.

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Isn't this a really bad time to depart from Mumbai towards Pune/Kolhapur?

Anything after 02:30 AM would be really a good time to start with most traffic having crossed Pune bypass as well by the time you are in Pune in next 2.5 Hours. Even Khambhatki will need 6-8 minutes against 15-25 minutes around this time as you keep chugging along the ghat here as well.

I agree with you. I have tried every possible departure from Mumbai towards Pune/Belgaum and the best slot that I found was to start between 0300 to 0430 hours. This ensures a quick exit from Mumbai metropolis, fairly fast drive on the Expressway and a smooth affair on the Pune--Kolhapur stretch as well. Recently I started at 0300 from Mulund west, Mumbai and reached Symbiosis Shivajinagar, Pune in exactly 3 hours inclusive of a 40 mins break/getting stuck in traffic in between. There was considerable clogging of traffic near Amrutanjan bridge on E-way even during that wee hours of the night. The main reason behind this, apart from heavy traffic is that, once you get past the S-curve of Amrutanjan bridge, the road that anyways is steep, further narrows down to 2 lanes from 3 lanes just before entering the Khandala twin tunnel, due to work going on the left most lane. It has been so this way past 4-5 months atleast. The steep ascent and narrowing of the road leads to trucks and trailers coming to a standstill.

[Trojan]

Originally Posted by Trojan

Shucks that sounds really bad! I last drove on this stretch in Nov'18 and this definitely wasn't the case, though not comparable to Chorla

Returned yesterday from Goa, contrary to a few reports the roads aren't that bad at all, some rough patches from Goa Ves until Uttur but nothing that can't be avoided or managed in ANY vehicle.

We left from Pune at 930pm on 20-Mar, since it was the Holi night, encountered near empty highways, took a short break at Jakatwadi for a cup of tea, was able to maintain steady speeds and we reached Siolim at 4am.
Due to the time of travel, it was an absolute breeze with absolutely no issues.

Left from Siolim yesterday at 1030am and after a relaxed drive and a 2hr break we were back home at 8pm

Car - Aria 4x4
Pax - 4 including 2 kids

Route
Nippani - Uttur - Ajra - Amboli - Short-cut through Satari - Bavlat - Banda - Pernem - Siolim

This continues to be the fastest route to N-Goa!


P.s. - We had lunch at Angan Restaurant (near Nippani) on our way back yesterday, lovely food, would recommend it.

Cheers,

[ranjitnair77]

I drove from Pune to Goa and back this weekend in a Honda City. Here's a quick update on the Amboli ghat route.

Goa Ways Turnoff (Tavandi) to Uttur (~25kms):
The first 10 kms is bumpy with the occasional deep potholes. After that the road is smooth all the way to Uttur. The stretch is okay as long as you are alert and careful.

Uttur to Ajra (~20 kms):
This stretch is pretty smooth. No concerns whatsoever.

Ajra to Amboli (~32 kms):
The Karnataka stretch is good. There are two off-road diversions which are about 100m in length each which is very bumpy and won't be fixed for a while. The last few kms from the Maharashtra border to Amboli is patchy and bumpy but manageable.

Amboli to Savantwadi (~30 kms):
The Amboli ghat itself is okay. The occasional patchy sections on the way down. They have started resurfacing the road from the base of Amboli to Savantwadi so it is pretty smooth at the moment. No bumps but the you will face an occasional section which is being tarred.

Savantwadi to Panjim (~62 kms):
The route to the Goa border is okay. Lots of road widening work being carried out once you enter Goa on the patches leading up to Panjim. This will cause some delays for sure, especially during peak traffic hours.

My recommendation is to use this route if you are going to North Goa. However I can forsee a lot of issues during the monsoon.

[Desmosedici]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Isn't this a really bad time to depart from Mumbai towards Pune/Kolhapur? .

Had some dependencies hence had to start then.

We started from Candolim at 9AM yesterday. Took the Chorla Ghat route which is really awesome. Very good condition. It adds kms and minutes but way better than Amboli.
Took a lunch halt at Nippani, again at Hotel Kaveri.
Unfortunately my cousins younger kiddo started having bouts of vomiting hence had a lot of unscheduled stops.
Stopped for dinner just before the Expressway.
Reached Jogeshwari by 11pm.

[amit_3306]

I travelled to North Goa-Pune using tis route last sunday. The road is pretty much doable if not great.

Goa Ways Turnoff (Tavandi) to Uttur (~25kms):
The first 10 kms is bumpy with the occasional deep potholes. After that the road is smooth all the way to Uttur. The stretch is okay as long as you are alert and careful.

except some sudden bumps this was okay with occasional bumps.

Uttur to Ajra (~20 kms):
This stretch is pretty smooth. No concerns whatsoever.

This was getting relaid when i came back so this should also be good in couple of weeks times.

Ajra to Amboli (~32 kms):
The Karnataka stretch is good. There are two off-road diversions which are about 100m in length each which is very bumpy and won't be fixed for a while. The last few kms from the Maharashtra border to Amboli is patchy and bumpy but manageable.

Amboli to Savantwadi (~30 kms):
The Amboli ghat itself is okay. The occasional patchy sections on the way down. They have started resurfacing the road from the base of Amboli to Savantwadi so it is pretty smooth at the moment. No bumps but the you will face an occasional section which is being tarred.

Savantwadi to Panjim (~62 kms):
The route to the Goa border is okay. Lots of road widening work being carried out once you enter Goa on the patches leading up to Panjim. This will cause some delays for sure, especially during peak traffic hours.

My recommendation is to use this route if you are going to North Goa. However I can forsee a lot of issues during the monsoon.[/quote]

Rest is ok. Still recommends this to North Goa compared to any other route from Belgaum.

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by amit_3306

Ajra to Amboli (~32 kms):
The Karnataka stretch is good. There are two off-road diversions which are about 100m in length each which is very bumpy and won't be fixed for a while. The last few kms from the Maharashtra border to Amboli is patchy and bumpy but manageable.

Thanks for this great update. Just a small correction there - Ajra to Amboli road is very much in Maharashtra, NO Karnataka stretch here at all

[Sawyer]

I suspect that on the Nipani to Amboli part, the sections that run through KA are in good shape, with those that are in MH reflecting poorly on the state, being potholed and/or badly repaired.

[anand.shankar82]

Hi All

Planning a drive from Pune to Goa on 10th April. I am wondering if the NH4a is open because the last time when I went the stretch near Ramnagar was closed

Any updates on this from anyone travelling this route?

Thanks
Anand

[kotirajendra]

Just came back from a trip to Goa from Pune.
To Goa: Pune>Belgaum>Chorla Ghat>Panjim.
Review: Chorla Ghats is extremely scenic and roads are fabulous. On the Goa side there is road widening in progress but well managed and largely pothole free. The ghat section is restricted to from Belgaum to Chorla. Quite trouble free.

To Pune: Panjim>Amboli>Kolhapur>Pune.
Review: Potholed road. Very tiresome. The ghats are never ending till Nippani. There is a very good review in the post above by @ranjitnair77 and @amit_3306. I guess they really want to say that the road is terrible, but it appears as if its largely OK. @ranjitnair77 & @amit_3306 - no offence meant. You have presented in a clinical and factual manner. I even witnessed a most stupid accident. A ford ecosport was rear ended by a ford fortuner because the ecosport had to slam on brakes to avoid a pot hole.

Decider: If I have to do this again, I will go via Chorla. The only thing about Chorla is that there are many blind turns and folks are going full speed around them as if they have X-Ray vision. I was the only one honking at every turn. Per google maps, the amboli route is shorter, but it took me much longer because I am overly cautious on the ghats and the potholed roads slow you down considerably.

Upside of going through Belgaum are super food options and in season you can buy Devgadh hapoos mangoes.

[harryputtar]

Hi Forum,

Thinking of taking a night halt in Belgaum on the way to Goa this time. Do you have any recommendations for the same in Belgaum?

This is just a night halt, we will be reaching around midnight, and start back at 7-8am, so do not need anything too fancy.

Just comfortable safe accommodation with clean loos would be more than suitable. If there is a good breakfast place nearby, that would be super useful too.

Regards

[alokn87]

You can stay at Hotel ramdev in belgavi(belgaum).Its conveniently located in the outskirts of belgaum on your road to goa itself along with parking and 24hrs check in.Delicious south indian breakfast/food at their restaurant is another plus.Here are their details.

Hotel Ramdev
Near Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, PB Road, Nehru Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Belgaum, Karnataka 590001
0831 247 3011

https://maps.app.goo.gl/PTfHn

[ruzbehxyz]

Mumbai - Goa route update.

Navi Mumbai - Pune via expressway.
Pune -Satara section very crowded with few diversions. Mix of 2 and 3 lane road.
Satara - Kolhapur -Belgaum - Mix of 2 and 3 lane roads. Once you enter Karnataka you can make out the difference with more trees along the highway.
Belgaum to Goa via Chorla. Chorla ghat route is entirely single lane but a treat to drive on. Roads in excellent condition. Once you enter Goa there is massive construction work on national highways.