[qtfan]

I am scheduled to drive to South Goa from Bombay in Mid May and as I check Google Maps, each day it shows a different route of the 3 main routes. I am confused as to what route to take after Kolhapur. I plan to halt at Kolhapur. Any help in route planning would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[denzdm]

Originally Posted by qtfan

I am scheduled to drive to South Goa from Bombay in Mid May and as I check Google Maps, each day it shows a different route of the 3 main routes. I am confused as to what route to take after Kolhapur. I plan to halt at Kolhapur. Any help in route planning would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

If you are driving for the first time, I would suggest taking a right turn at Nipani, then Ajra and Amboli ghat wherein you will arrive into North Goa.

[Dieseltuned]

Is Kolhapur still the best bet to drive down to Goa from Mumbai ?

Does anybody know the latest status on the progress on NH66 ?

[qtfan]

Originally Posted by denzdm

If you are driving for the first time, I would suggest taking a right turn at Nipani, then Ajra and Amboli ghat wherein you will arrive into North Goa.

Yes it's my first time driving to Goa. Many thanks.

[Mlanuk]

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

Is Kolhapur still the best bet to drive down to Goa from Mumbai ?

Does anybody know the latest status on the progress on NH66 ?

I read a few news article mentioning end of 2023 as completion date.

[Justus12]

Originally Posted by qtfan

I am scheduled to drive to South Goa from Bombay in Mid May and as I check Google Maps, each day it shows a different route of the 3 main routes. I am confused as to what route to take after Kolhapur. I plan to halt at Kolhapur. Any help in route planning would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Hey Qtfan, If it is the first time of your travel to Goa, then I too would suggest the Amboli Ghat Road. It is the default road to Goa for many and as there are more vehicles taking that route and you wouldn't have to worry about anything, though the route has several bad patches and can be annoying sometimes. In case you plan on taking that route, once you've descended Amboli Ghat, Google will direct you to take a left which takes you to Banda. Please avoid it as it is under construction, narrow at some places and has several bad patches. Instead, continue straight to Sawantwadi and connect the Old Mumbai Goa Expressway. Also, since you're destination is South Goa, a much more smoother route with lesser bad patches is the Kolhapur - Belgavi - Khanapur - Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary - Anmod Ghat - Goa Route. There are two bad patches for around 10 Km each and the road is narrow but scenic. After that, the Ghat is in really good shape and you reach Goa sooner. This route is only recommended if you are travelling South Goa. Wishing you a Safe Journey.

[Floyd de Souza]

Justus, can you tell me which is the place where you take the road to Sawantwadi instead of going left towards Banda? Thank you.

[qtfan]

Originally Posted by Justus12

Hey Qtfan, If it is the first time of your travel to Goa, then I too would suggest the Amboli Ghat Road. It is the default road to Goa for many and as there are more vehicles taking that route and you wouldn't have to worry about anything, though the route has several bad patches and can be annoying sometimes. In case you plan on taking that route, once you've descended Amboli Ghat, Google will direct you to take a left which takes you to Banda. Please avoid it as it is under construction, narrow at some places and has several bad patches. Instead, continue straight to Sawantwadi and connect the Old Mumbai Goa Expressway. Also, since you're destination is South Goa, a much more smoother route with lesser bad patches is the Kolhapur - Belgavi - Khanapur - Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary - Anmod Ghat - Goa Route. There are two bad patches for around 10 Km each and the road is narrow but scenic. After that, the Ghat is in really good shape and you reach Goa sooner. This route is only recommended if you are travelling South Goa. Wishing you a Safe Journey.

Thank you so much. This is most helpful. Is there a marker of some sort at that turn?

[denzdm]

After driving down the Amboli ghat, there is a 2 fork junction which the Google directs to stay left (near Satuli). I have attached the Google maps screenshot (the Google suggested route is in Blue).

Justus suggests keeping right to continue towards Sawantwadi and then travel south via State Highway 123.

[Vandit]

Originally Posted by denzdm

After driving down the Amboli ghat, there is a 2 fork junction which the Google directs to stay left (near Satuli). I have attached the Google maps screenshot (the Google suggested route is in Blue).

Justus suggests keeping right to continue towards Sawantwadi and then travel south via State Highway 123.

Well - yes and no. This fork actually does catch out a lot of people

Yes - Stay on the left via Otavane, because Otavane Canal bridge had been having works going on for a while and in general the route via Otavane is narrow for the most part with rough gravel/untarred road. Also keep in mind you will lose GPS signal/Cell connectivity on this route. On the positive side - slightly shorter route, no heavy traffic, scenic beauty, rustic charm. If the road works are complete - then this is a fine option to take. I last know of the above condition of the road last year if I recall correctly.
Pro tip - no major night lighting - if you make the crossing of ghats with over an hour and a half of daylight left - you should be fine - that's a rough yardstick - anything less and you should stay right and stick to Sawantwadi.

No - Stay on the right to Sawantwadi - better laid road in general, decent lighting and you still have cell connectivity - at least for the most part. Also sufficient passing traffic so you don't end up really stranded for any reason in case you have an issue.

[Justus12]

Originally Posted by Vandit

Well - yes and no. This fork actually does catch out a lot of people

Yes - Stay on the left via Otavane, because Otavane Canal bridge had been having works going on for a while and in general the route via Otavane is narrow for the most part with rough gravel/untarred road. Also keep in mind you will lose GPS signal/Cell connectivity on this route. On the positive side - slightly shorter route, no heavy traffic, scenic beauty, rustic charm. If the road works are complete - then this is a fine option to take. I last know of the above condition of the road last year if I recall correctly.
Pro tip - no major night lighting - if you make the crossing of ghats with over an hour and a half of daylight left - you should be fine - that's a rough yardstick - anything less and you should stay right and stick to Sawantwadi.

No - Stay on the right to Sawantwadi - better laid road in general, decent lighting and you still have cell connectivity - at least for the most part. Also sufficient passing traffic so you don't end up really stranded for any reason in case you have an issue.

I completely agree with Vandit. The left turn which I am talking about is the one at Satuli. It all comes down to one's preferences. If you are travelling with Family and Children, I suggest you go towards Sawantwadi and avoid the left at Satuli and have a relaxed smooth journey. This also applies if you have descended Amboli Ghat after day light as the route doesn't have any street lighting and is lonely. I have travelled by the Satuli - Banda route during the last week of December last year. It was being worked upon and also being very muddy and dusty and certain places. It is a good shortcut and will save you time indeed, if you don't mind the few bad patches. It is better to ask a local about the current condition of the route and only then proceed.

[Soulblob]

Hello,

I have just reached Pune... Left at 6:45 am and took Anmod ghat road while coming from Palolem beach, South Goa. The road is in good condition except for 2 patches before Karnataka check-post (while traveling towards Goa)... 1st patch is of ~2 kms and 2nd patch is of ~2.5 kms... I ride Meteor... So by car it will be even better... Enjoy !!!

[Pequod]

Originally Posted by dsingh70

Hi,
I returned yesterday to Mumbai from south Goa. Both ways I took route via Khanapur-Bhimgad wild life Sanctuary - Anmod - South Goa. Two patches of Road of 1 km and 3 kms are bad but motor able at crawling speed. I timed it and it took me approx 7 mins for 1 kms stretch and 25 mins for 3 kms stretch .
I took around 14 hrs to reach from South Goa - khanapur - Belgavi - Kolhapur-Karad- Satara- Pune - Borivali with two snacks breaks of 30 mins and two fuel breaks. It rained heavily near lonavala express way yesterday. My first 12 hrs plus drive.
Started at 10 am and reached home at exactly midnight 12.

Originally Posted by Mlanuk

25 min for 3 kilometres sounds like the road is really broken and I see you drive a Fortuner. That would make it much more difficult for Honda City.

Originally Posted by Mlanuk

Thanks. This particular stretch after khanapur till the junction hitting Anmod ghat is apparently very narrow and means one of the crossing cars has to go slightly off road.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

I had taken this stretch during my travel from Goa to Pune and have seen a Honda city easily cross the broken stretch. The road from start of Bhimgad wildlife sanctuary till touching the NH748 is a bit of a struggle with lots of dust and broken roads. At times you would doubt yourself whether you took the correct route or not but once the stretch ends the travel is a breeze will the start of Belagavi city.

Originally Posted by dsingh70

Road is under construction with lots of gravel stones on road making the cars to crawl. I saw dzire driving in front .

Originally Posted by R_D_S_7

Hi, I am taking my new safari to Majorda, Goa on April 15 from Pune with my family including a 5 year old . Google maps is suggesting default route Pune - Kolhapur - Amboli - Panaji - Majorda , Distance - 450 KM, Time - 9 Hr 20 min. Another route which was shown is Pune - Kolhapur - Belgaum - Khanapur - Anmod - Mollem - Majorda, Distance - 466 KM, Time - 9 Hr 27 Min.

I am tilted towards taking Khanapur route, looking forward for any suggestions. Thanks.

The route through Bhimgad Sanctuary is much worse now, with 2 stretches (approx. 3 kms and 8 kms I would guesstimate) under construction and filled with gravel. Travelled this route in my Virtus yesterday and made it, but strongly advise to avoid till road work gets completed.

[R_D_S_7]

Originally Posted by Pequod

The route through Bhimgad Sanctuary is much worse now, with 2 stretches (approx. 3 kms and 8 kms I would guesstimate) under construction and filled with gravel. Travelled this route in my Virtus yesterday and made it, but strongly advise to avoid till road work gets completed.

I travelled to South Goa from Pune through Belgavi-Khanapur-Bhimgad-Anmod route, the roads are good except the two patches at Bhimgad and some time wasted in crossing Belgavi city. However, the trip is safe and not tiring. On return trip, I took default amboli-Nipani route, even though the distance/time shows less in google maps, I didn't enjoy the drive and was never at peace, narrow roads and heavy traffic makes you mentally tiring. My mileage through belgavi route is 15 KMPL, wherein through amboli route it was 12.5 KMPL.

I recommend Belgavi route for a non tiring driving.

[akkiman]

I just came back from South Goa and here's my experience.

Left Pune on the 21st of April at 4:59 a.m. near Prabhat Rd and hit the highway near Warje. The stretch from Pune to Satara right now is just superb and since I left early in the day, avoided all the town commuter traffic as well as the chaos at Karad. I reached the kognoli mcdonald's / anna idli place at exactly 08:39 a.m. So 251kms in 3.75 hours was really good.
The exact times I hit the toll plazas were
05:31 a.m. : Khed Shivapur
06:28 a.m. : Anewadi
07:10 a.m. : Taswadi
08:05 a.m. : Kini
08:38 a.m. : Kognoli
The whole trip was without any stoppages and the the traffic was sparse. Here's the trip on my hyundai bluelink with an avg speed of 66


From the McDonald's took the right at Goa Ves, Kaveri hotel on Tawandi Ghat and the road in the karnataka side was really smooth and good to maintain a speed of over 70-80 kmph. The road on maharashtra side is also quite good but there's some widening work ongoing and especially before Ajara, there are some areas where you need to slow down due to either potholes or construction work. The amboli ghat section tarring is immaculate right now.

One thing is that I did take the left turn at Satuli and the road till Banda is good too. The only area where it is bad is where the otawane canal work is going on. This is a very small stretch, so if you are travelling during daytime, I would definitely recommend this stretch.

Finally the stretch in Goa is quite good and we reached Anand Sea Food restaurant at exactly 13:11 ... which was right in time for lunch
The bluelink app details


Overall the strech from Kognoli to Anjuna was about 3hrs and 51 minutes.
So I made the overall trip from Pune to Anjuna in 7hrs & 22 minutes (and 7hrs & 55 minutes if you include the food halts) so was a personal time record.

On the way back on the 24th April, I wanted to come via Amboli, but due to the overall reccomendations to take anmod from South Goa, went through that road. It was a bad decision, partly due to personal things we wanted to do but also due to the quality of the road.

Left our resort in Cavelossim at 10:45 a.m., halted on the way at the Paul John visitor center. Btw, it's really cool if you are around that area and you can also pick up their single malts at even lower price. We then proceeded via Anmod ghat. The roads in Goa, Anmod Ghat is good. However the horror story begins once you take the left from 748 to enter Bhimgad sanctuary. The stretch right now at bhimgad sanctuary is horrendous. It's only gravel that's been laid in the hope that construction would start soon. This stretch is a good 8 kms long where you can hope that you can drive at 20-25 kmph. I have a car with 18" wheels but if you have a low sedan, then forget this route. In addition, there are also 2 checkpoints, the first one at the usual anmod section and there is another one inside Bhimgad near Hemmadaga. The second one is due to the elections in Karnataka. Both checks were thorough by checking bags, etc that further waste 5-10 minutes of your time.

The section from Khanapur to Belgaum is awesome... We then proceeded to Belgaum and had lunch there. After that there is the belgaum traffic that you need to encounter (that you don't when taking amboli) and after that the road was smooth till just before Kolhapur. Since it was already evening by the time I reached Kolhapur, the whole stretch from Kolhapur to Karad to Satara were filled with commuters on bikes on one side and slow moving trucks on the other. This was really tiring. Then we had to encounter terrible traffic at Karad due to the hugh construction works ongoing.
Finally the stretch from Satara to Pune was really good.
Here are the toll times

Hattargi : 05:02 p.m.
Kognoli : 05:49 p.m.
Tasawade : 07:58 p.m.
Anewadi : 08:53 pm.
Khed Shivapur : 09:50 p.m.
(No SMS for the kini toll unfortunately)

So it took overall
South Goa to Belgaum : 3hrs 57 mins
Belgaum to Mcdonalds Kolhapur: 1hr 48 minutes (due to commuter and belgaum traffic)
McDonalds Kolhapur to Pune : 3hrs 55 mins
So overall it took 9hrs 40 minutes without breaks. Ofcourse time of the day matters, but I'd definitely recommend Amboli right now over any other route. If you can avoid the kolhapur-karad-satara commuter times, then it would be the best. (Probably leave at 8 from Goa)

My bluelink had trouble after karad as the infotainment system hung up for some reason. I had to hard reset it once I reached Pune to come back to Normal so I could not get the data for that part of the trip.


Thanks