[Jedi.Knight]

I have driven to Goa multiple times, but for the first time, I will be taking a self-drive car (from Revv) from Pune. Based on the reports here, I am planning to take the Amboli route.

Since it's a self-drive car, I had few questions regarding entry tax:

• From Google Maps, I see a Patradevi Goa Check Post at the border. Do I pay the tax here?
• Since I will be entering Karnataka also, do I need to also pay for Karnataka? And where? At the Kognoli Toll Plaza right after the border?
• On the way back, is the entry tax applicable for Maharashtra too?

[suzuki san]

Originally Posted by Jedi.Knight

Since it's a self-drive car, I had few questions regarding entry tax:

• From Google Maps, I see a Patradevi Goa Check Post at the border. Do I pay the tax here?
• Since I will be entering Karnataka also, do I need to also pay for Karnataka? And where? At the Kognoli Toll Plaza right after the border?
• On the way back, is the entry tax applicable for Maharashtra too?

Hi Jedi Knight,

You only need to pay tolls on the main highway - NH4. There are 5 tolls between Poona and Goa with Khed Shivapur being the first, then Anewadi, then Tiswadi, then Kini and finally Kognoli being the last one. It takes about 3 to 3.5 hours from the first to the last toll booth. Please ensure you have your Fastag charged up and affixed to your windscreen.

You do NOT need to pay any tax to enter Goa, Karnataka or Maharashtra.
That entry tax to Goa was abolished years ago.

Regards,
SS

[ashwinpalkar]

Hi everyone,
Need help regarding route queries and suggestions. I am posting in on this thread since I am looking to do Bangalore >> Goa >> Khed(Ratnagiri and back. Planning to start on 6th or 7th from Bangalore. Spend a night in Goa and leave for Khed on the 9th. I will be driving with my wifey and my dog(Romeo).

I understand that this is Konkan and I haven't driven here before at all. I have done a Bangalore <> Goa before though. I wanted to understand the road condition and route suggestions. I am a little wary to drive on steep ghat (read roads like Ooty) I have done Coonor from Tamil Nadu side and that was fairly better. Nandi hills in Bangalore is also okays but anything steeper and I get extremely nervous.

I'd love your suggestion on routes. If need be I can drop the Goa plan if there is a route without the ghats but I really want to do Goa since I want Romeo to see the Big water bowl - The Arabian Sea

Please do help. Looking forward to hear from y'all.

Cheers,
Ashwin

[bj96]

Originally Posted by suzuki san

...
You do NOT need to pay any tax to enter Goa, Karnataka or Maharashtra.
That entry tax to Goa was abolished years ago...

I think OP is asking about "commercial" vehicle tax crossing state borders. We don't pay taxes for private (white number plate) cars. OP is driving a self rented (revv) car - so technically a commercial (yellow plate) vehicle.

-BJ

[satyabrata.dash]

Originally Posted by ashwinpalkar

Hi everyone,
Need help regarding route queries and suggestions. I am posting in on this thread since I am looking to do Bangalore >> Goa >> Khed

Wherever you are visiting in Goa, you will take the NH66 to Ratnagiri, which passes through western ghats for sure, but doesnt have any difficult passes. I have done several sections of this highway at several times, apart from occassional traffic(it was a narrow highway and is currently being expanded across the stretch panvel to edapally), it is not a bad drive at all. South of Goa, NH66 becomes one of the most beautiful highways to drive.
NH66 is the backbone of states like Goa and Kerela.

[Jedi.Knight]

Originally Posted by Jedi.Knight

I have driven to Goa multiple times, but for the first time, I will be taking a self-drive car (from Revv) from Pune. Based on the reports here, I am planning to take the Amboli route.

Since it's a self-drive car, I had few questions regarding entry tax

Paid Rs. 212 entry tax at the Patradevi check post. No tax at Karnataka border as I was going to travel only a short distance. But, thorough checking at the border due to the upcoming elections.
I was in a yellow plate commercial Ciaz.

[Irwin]

Hi,

We are planning to travel to Mumbai from South GOA/Benaulim (CRETA)

Based on the current road conditions, which route is preferable to travel?

1) Via Chorla Ghat

2) Via Anmod-Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary-Khanapur

3) Via Anmod-Ramnagar-Khanapur

[abirnale]

Sunday April 30th, I drove from Pune to Sanquelim. Took Amboli Ghat. The roads are in general good except the stretch around Ajara - all the way upto Amboli village the roads are kind of broken due to ongoing widening work as well as usual potholes. Nothing alarming though - all low GC sedans can also make this without a sweat. Just be cautious of the crowd/ traffic and bad patches. Still the best route to take if you are headed to North goa. Around KA border there is a Election check-post - may get stopped for casual checks. They have their “special” algorithm on whom to stop

Monday May 1st, I drove from Sanquelim via Honda - Usgaon - Mollem - Anmod - Alnavar - Dharwad. Great roads with broken patches on Anmod section. Nothing to worry - even the low GC cars can make it. If you are able to see the broken patch, slow down! Two Railway crossings can hold you up but no other disturbances or issues. Watch out for speed-breakers, jaywalkers around the villages en-route inside KA.

[qtfan]

Originally Posted by 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
Attachment 2443906

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
Attachment 2443907

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

Thanks Akkiman. Will go via the Amboli Ghat route. Thanks for your lucid post.

[pas2005]

Travelled from Pune to South Goa for a few days. Used the Belgavi Chorla ghat route both ways. A few broken patches , about 10 to 12, between Jamboti and Kankumbi. Not overly worrisome. All were below 50 mtrs. Just appeared suddenly ,as they are mostly under dense trees. Best place to eat is at Viraj Junction at the Kognoli toll Plaza. Crossed Belgavi through the road in front of the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and the cantonment.

[RM Motorsports]

I drove solo to Goa on 2nd of May and back yesterday. Since i like driving i drove as my friends flew.

Route : Mumbai - Karad - Anuskura - Oni - Anjuna. Both ways.

Left Sion at 4.30 am and reached Karad around 9 am. Since I was solo, did some spirited driving on empty stretches. Left Karad at 9.20 reached Anjuna around 3ish. Again some spirited driving between Oni and Banda. Once you enter Goa traffic increases.

Same route while returning. Left Anjuna at 6 am sharp. Reached Karad at 11.30. Stuck in traffic for a good 15-20 mins due to flyover demolition. As moving towards Pune, Lonavala, Vashi traffic increased a lot. Finally reached Sion at 5.30 pm.

Now about the road conditions :

Mumbai to Karad as most of have said been good throughout talking about the tarmac. But you have to watch out for lorry drivers suddenly changing lanes and the bikers too who been talking on phone and riding. Since it was early morning and less traffic, lorries thought it was their "baap ka rasta".

Karad to Oni via Anuskura. One of the best roads I have driven to Goa. Though this route is additional 45 - 50 kms than the Amboli one. Super smooth tarmac.This route is very scenic but isolated too. At times I couldn't notice a single vehicle for a good 15-20 mins. There are very few fuel stations on this route. Also have to be careful about stray cattle and dogs, they jump out of nowhere and i was caught off guard. Whenever passing small villages do slow down as people will loiter between the road despite seeing a vehicle approaching. Though i encountered a few ST buses and lorries, they drive like crazy, wont let you overtake easily so better to be patient and look for safe opportunity to pass as some sections are quite narrow. Between Pachal and Oni, road had lot of patchwork and some gravel stretches too.

Mobile network was a big issue and got me worried at times. Not because of G maps as it is a straight single route most of the times, but getting stranded alone without connection.

Oni to Anjuna. NH66. Excellent in the way, very less traffic, almost empty. Again you have to watch out for stray cattle and dogs. Road was mixed of tarmac and concrete. Tarmac was super smooth but the car was jumping on concrete and expansion joints on bridges. Once traffic increases and concrete gets worn, it will slowly get smooth but never like tarmac. Also be very careful about unmarked speed breakers, they are really nasty, and will be found before diversions. I had ABS kicking in 3-4 times as I had to brake very hard because I couldn't spot these unmarked speed breakers on time.

Traffic increases dramatically once you enter Goa. I did not see any cops for over speeding, may be because it was too hot and cops decided to stay indoors.

I was little skeptical to travel on this new unknown route for first time as I was driving solo, but was a thrilling experience.

One achievement on return journey. Goa - Bombay in a single tank of fuel. Lot of sedate and "lift and coast" driving. My ride is a Baleno CVT.

Cheers!!

[Irwin]

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.

Hi Pequod

Any update on the Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary road condition?

Hopefully, the road is covered with Tar/Hot Mix on top of the gravel!!
Planning to travel on 11th May 2023 either via the Bhimgad WS or by Ramnagar-Khanapur-Belagavi-Mumbai

[Pequod]

Originally Posted by Irwin

Hi Pequod Any update on the Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary road condition?

Sorry mate, my update is from 24 April when I did Pune-Goa through this route. I then drove down to Bangalore via Karwar-Mundgod on 29th.

[qtfan]

I leave for South Goa in 2 days. Wonder if the Amboli ghat route is still the best route?

[pratt]

I'm planning to drive down from Pune to Amboli on the 15th May. Appreciate any update on road conditions, as a few weeks ago the route to Amboli was not in too great a shape.