[adi.mariner]

With so many BHPians visiting Goa currently, there could have been a Team BHP meet there.

[Meer]

Originally Posted by Rahul Rao

I regularly go to Goa for work, and till afew months ago used to take the Amboli route, in March 21 when KA had closed borders to MH residents I took the Pune Kolhapur Gaganbavda, Talere Patradevi route, it is 12 km more than Amboli and about 30 min more as we pass through Kolhapur city, but surface in the karul ghat is decent, and we get to use the Talere to Patradevi completed stretch of the Mumbai Goa E way.
Google never shows this route, but all state transport and private buses as well as regular cabbies use it.

Rahul

Thanks Rahul for the update. Any feedback on the Amba Ghat route? I went till Amba ghat from Pune last weekend and the road was great till there, but not sure about status from there till Goa highway in Konkan on the other side of the ghat.

[bj96]

Originally Posted by TheStRyder

... which route do you feel is better in terms of travel time and road condition ...

Already answered below .

Originally Posted by lamborghini

T... In fact chorla saw higher average speed which helped cut down on the time. We left at 4am and both times took 10.5 hours including stops.

For Candolim, however, I will choose both just to complete the experience. Go via Chorla and return via Amboli.

Cheers,
-BJ

[driver52001]

Any BHPian planning Goa drive in first half of December? Am driving down from Delhi via Udaipur and Mumbai, one night stop each. Will set out for Goa from Mumbai on December 8 morning. If my plan matches with anyone here, please see if you'd like to drive down to Goa along. This is my first Mumbai-Goa drive. I have only done Bengaluru-Goa before.

[Gaurav_P]

Travelling to cavellossim, south goa in the coming week. Considering the road conditions of Chorla and Anmod, Please suggest a preferred route for bmw X3. Is it necessary to carry negative RTPCR test report for kids?

[Sagarpradhan85]

Returned back from a South Goa Trip yesterday. Took the Chorla ghat route while travelling (to and fro) Few inputs (in addition) to the information that has already been posted here.

0. Started from Pune (Baner) at 4:40am and reached Satara whilst it was dark. This section has very inconsistent road quality and to avoid bumps you need to zig zag. Roads post crossing the MH border are a dream. Incidentally, tolls in Maharashtra are very high compared to KA. Fastag everywhere.

1. The Chorla ghat road is much better than anticipated. Reading through the content above, I was fairly apprehensive while taking this route, however, there had not been any inputs on Anmod, hence Chorla was my best bet - known devil better than unknown.

2. The actual ghat section is very smooth. There are bad patches on either side of the approach road: 80% of the bad patches are from the road off Beglaum to Chorla village, and rest 20% after the ghat section until the Keri check post. These poor sections are hardly 2-3 metres in distance but can be suspension breakers if dealt with at speed. On most of these patches - if not dealt with at the right angle of approach, be rest assured that the car will scrape. Just slow your car down when you see such a section, determine an approach angle and most of the cars should be fine.
I was travelling in a Vento with 2 adults +1 child onboard, and a full boot, and did not scrape.

3. Speed breakers from Belgaum to pre-Chorla section can be very boring (as they are large, and you need to drop speed) and are frequent

4. From the Keri Check post till Colva - the roads are very smooth. They could be similar elsewhere but did not venture much outside.

5. There is a not-so-great-looking place on the Chorla route called Delta Resorts. It is covered in dense foliage, and can be a good place to halt. I had Chicken and Roti last time I was here, and can still recollect the superb taste.

6. If travelling from Pune early in the Morning, you can consider a reasonably priced buffet breakfast at Sankam Residency (Belgaum) or Sai International - Yellur phata.

7. We were double vaccinated and did not carry RT PCR reports, and there wasn't any need throughout our journey and stay.

Happy Driving.

[MadinMumbai]

I have been following the discussion on this thread for the last couple of weeks. I am travelling from Mumbai to Bogmalo on 6th of November.

One thing nobody seems to have mentioned is post-monsoon repair work. Is that a thing? If it is when does it start? Unless it’s an ongoing thing that can’t be predicted and the road might magically be beautiful on the day I drive through.

For Bogmalo, south-middle Goa, what is the better way, Chorla or Anmodh? Road wise and distance/time wise?

[OmV]

Originally Posted by Gaurav_P

Travelling to cavellossim, south goa in the coming week. Considering the road conditions of Chorla and Anmod, Please suggest a preferred route for bmw X3. Is it necessary to carry negative RTPCR test report for kids?

I am headed to Cavelossim in 2 days. I will be driving through the night (leaving Mumbai at 10pm). I keep forgetting to check google maps at night to see if it avoids the Anmod route due to closure of the Bhimgad Sanctuary during night hours. In all likelihood, I will take Chorla based on reports earlier in this thread.

Regarding RTPCR, I am betting on the experiences posted earlier in this thread - of getting waved through if Goa is the final destination. IIRC, someone has mentioned earlier on this thread that there were no issues for kids.

[red_nemesis]

Originally Posted by Sagarpradhan85

Returned back from a South Goa Trip yesterday. Took the Chorla ghat route while travelling (to and fro) Few inputs (in addition) to the information that has already been posted here.

0. Started from Pune (Baner) at 4:40am and reached Satara whilst it was dark. This section has very inconsistent road quality and to avoid bumps you need to zig zag. Roads post crossing the MH border are a dream. Incidentally, tolls in Maharashtra are very high compared to KA. Fastag everywhere.

How long was the total drive from Pune to Goa (Duration and distance)?
And how much was the total toll (one-way)?

I am headed to Goa from Pune this weekend and am contemplating a solo trip with my Tiago AMT. While the discussion here suggests it is very much doable, not sure about current post monsoon road conditions. I will most likely take the Amboli route as I'm headed to North Goa. Not much concerned about the return journey as I will be accompanied by a friend.

[Rocketqueen22]

Planning to drive to Varca from Mumbai this Friday. Contemplating on leaving by 06.00 am with a stopover at Belgaum, ( Marriott Fairfield) and then resuming my journey in the morning from Belgaum. A little cautious about the drive as it will only be me and my 13 yr old . Your thoughts on the safest route for a woman on this drive, the stopover and of course from Chorla & Bhimgad what is advisable? Thanks in advance.

[Strider24]

I finished my Pune-Goa-Pune trip last week.

Start date: 17 October, Sunday 5 am. reached Candolim at 3.30 pm.
Return date: 22 October Friday 11 am, reached Pune at 10.30 pm.

I started in the early morning of Sunday and faced scarce traffic until Kolhapur. Almost everyone is of the same opinion here and I can only confirm that National highways are in worst condition in Maharashtra & that is my biggest gripe of travelling on Pune-Goa via NH48. One can see the stark difference in the surface quality of NH48 as soon as you enter Karnataka. it is butter smooth road where as in Maharashtra it is full of uneven patches, it just kills the joy of driving. as someone suggested in earlier post it is best to drive on the middle lane until Kolhapur.

On Karnataka border before Nipani there was a COVID check post, they were just asking if we are double vaccinated or have the RTPCR report. I didn't see any car parked aside so guessing that they don't verify it in person. However at Goa border I was asked to show the vaccine certificates in a roadside office.

I took the Amboli route to reach Goa and the journey was uneventful, most of the current updates have already been covered in recent posts by fellow bhpians. However there are two point to be mentioned here:

1. Almost 5-7 km section of road between Ajra & Amboli is full of potholes, because we comedown at high speed this hurts a lot and unless you have no empathy with your car's suspension and the comfort of co passengers you will need to maintain very slow speed. it was this patch of road where I saw a Mahindra THAR just gliding past me and made me wish I was driving it.

2. Enter Goa and you are faced with endless road construction until Mapusa, at one road section before Mapusa there are huge craters straight from Mars and you are forced to crawl for almost 1 km there.

For the return journey I started on Friday 22nd October, I didn't want to trace the same way I came from. Fortunately I was in Arambol i.e. the northmost part of goa on the last day of my trip and upon checking the route on Google maps, it was showing a different exit from Goa to Maharashtra. This was an entirely different route until Sawantwadi, I decided to take my chance on this one which is Arambol--> Aronda -->Malewad->Sawantwadi.

Compared to the regular route, road quality on this route is in pretty good shape, only a few handful of bad patches & no ongoing road construction. that being said, I still didn't maintain very high speed as the route is scenic and I took few stops in between. From Sawantwadi I followed the usual route until Pune.

[driver52001]

I was looking at route options from CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai to Ashvem beach in north Goa. Google Maps is showing two route options - 1) the old ghat road and 2) the highway via Pune. I intend to take the second route. However, after reading the posts here, saw that many have mention Belgaum en route to Goa. But the route No. 2 here doesn't even go anywhere near Belgaum. It takes a hard right turn towards Goa on a road called "Amboli Gadhinglaj Road". Should I take this route? Alternatively, just out of curiosity, have plotted a route via Belgaum too. Is this the route that most people take and recommend? Am coming from Delhi via Udaipur and Mumbai night stops. Any help and suggestion would be highly appreciated.

This (below) is the default route that Google Maps show that goes via Amboli Gadhinglaj Road.



This (below) is the one via Belgaum.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by driver52001

Any help and suggestion would be highly appreciated

If you are going to Ashvem, take the Amboli ghat route. You can go via Belgaum - Chorla ghat - Goa too, but it will be longer. That is more suitable for people going to mid/South Goa.

There are 2 ways to reach Amboli ghat, Kolhapur onwards:

1. Kolhapur - Nipani - Tavandi Ghat - Right turn at Hotel Kaveri - Uttur - Ajara - Amboli - Sawantwadi - Goa

2. Kolhapur - Nipani - Tavandi Ghat - Right turn for Gadhinglaj at Sankeshwar - Gadhinglaj - Ajara - Amboli - Sawantwadi - Goa.

2nd route is a bit longer than the 1st, I don't know why GMaps is recommending that.

[andyrain]

I am planning to travel from Pune to Madgaon on the 5th of Nov with family in a Honda City SVT - Automatic. I plan to stay over at Kolhapur. I need suggestions from fellow BHPians for the following,

1) What is the best route to take I guess it's straight forward till Kolhapur, need to know after that, if anyone can give exact pointers so that I use that to add points in google Maps it will be great.

2) Clean and comfortable options in Kolhapur to stay.

3) On the way back I plan to do a stop over at Kolhapur itself should I plan a different to come to Kolhapur or same.

[Meer]

Originally Posted by andyrain

I am planning to travel from Pune to Madgaon on the 5th of Nov with family in a Honda City SVT - Automatic. I plan to stay over at Kolhapur. I need suggestions from fellow BHPians for the following,

1) What is the best route to take I guess it's straight forward till Kolhapur, need to know after that, if anyone can give exact pointers so that I use that to add points in google Maps it will be great.

2) Clean and comfortable options in Kolhapur to stay.

3) On the way back I plan to do a stop over at Kolhapur itself should I plan a different to come to Kolhapur or same.

Hi Andy,

1. Routes have been discussed in the past few pages of this thread, you will get the pointers on options after Kolhapur.
2. I have stayed at Hotel Sayaji in Kolhapur city, probably the best hotel you can get there. I stayed at Sai International, Yelur almost 7 years ago, very basic hotel, but convenient as it is on the highway, however I have heard the standards are not upto the mark now.
3. Again, similar to 1, you need to cross check with the inputs from fellow BHPians.