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-   -   Mumbai - Pune - Kolhapur - Goa : Route Queries (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/53019-mumbai-pune-kolhapur-goa-route-queries-270.html)

I took exactly this route from Pune to South Goa on July 1. I assume there much would not have changed since then. See my post here - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ml#post5576955

I have taken the Karad to Oni route couple of times to visit destinations in southen parts of konkan, so can share a bit on this.

The route mentioned by Traveller_riz is the one should be taking. Excellent road and minimal traffic. Sheer driving pleasure for 100 odd kms.

Most folks take left on Malkapur on NH 166 which is undergoing widening. Best to avoid it now.

No jokes - the road is in such a good condition, even one can drive F1 car on it. Folks from Pune, Mumbai driving to Goa or Southern Konkan must try this route at least once. Here are few pics.

I returned on July 23rd from Siolim to Mumbai after a night in Pune using the very same route you seem to have taken. I’m not sure of Kharepatan. I’m sure I passed it as I seem to have passed Oni and Saundal too, even though they don’t seem to be on the particular route I intended to take.
On NH66 I remember passing a milestone that read Rajapur 21 Km, at this spot a rickshaw guy was trundling along and he advised I take the right turn that was just ahead staring at us. He warned us not to take the first left but to go on ahead to a village I think was called Nanivade or some such. At the fateful fork a guy who passed us in a Jeep said the Left route was the correct one and that we should follow him. What followed was a terribly broken road over a smallish ghat (never mind we thought this to be Anuskura) all the way to Anuskura. From there onwards the road condition was excellent all the way to Malkapur and beyond to the highway before Karad.
I seem to have taken the same route as you and am not sure the other Road, supposedly the right (pun unintended) one at the fork, really exists. I wish there were proper signages to direct one to the route with the least broken tarmac. I used Google and Apple Maps, bet both seemed as clueless as us about which route to follow
The Anuskura ghat by itself is extremely picturesque and in the rains with clouds all around us, it was a real treat to the eyes. I am sure you felt the same.

Hello armumbai,

We travelled the same path and it seems got stuck on the same path buddy. No worries, atleast we are wiser (with better knowledge of the routes now).

Wish you the best for all the future drives !

Hey, can you please help with the gmaps version of this route? I'm driving down on 16th from Pune to Goa.

I think this is the route he is referring to (also given in posts 4032 & 4033 of this thread):

Karad - Malkapur - Anuskura - Pachal Kolhapur Phata - Kankavli - Kudal - Banda - Mapusa

Here you go: https://maps.app.goo.gl/bJv9xzaKjvYgj2JJ6?g_st=ic

So basically once you reach Malkapur T-Junction - you need to take Left instead of Right ( Amba Ghat is under construction) on NH 166. And after going through the town for 200-300 mtrs - you need to take a right. The right turn rather looks small but once you are out of the town - it’s a great road.

If Pawan Khind interests you - you can take a stop there as it falls on this road. There is a also a gate on the right which shows you the trail Shivaji Maharaj might have taken during his escape from Panhala to Vishalgad.

Finally - seems like widening of one lane of NH66 may be ready before Ganeshotsav. The announcement was made by PWD Minister Ravindra Chavan in a meeting on Tuesday. Once the expansion reaches completion, the travel time between Mumbai and Goa could be reduced from 12 hours to under 7 hours.

News link - https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/.../102555605.cms

This helps a LOT! thank you, i was trying to piece together info from the previous posts but this makes it crystal clear.

Taking the SUV this time, but hopefully can take a more fun car down this route soon. :)

Drove from Belagavi to Tambdi Surla yesterday through Jamboti – Kankumbi – Chorla ghat – Arvalem – Honda – Valpoi – Cotorem – Tambdi Surla.

The road until Chorla Ghat is reasonably good with a few potholes here and there. We were in a low-set car (F30) and we had to be careful and drive slowly at points. But it is certainly doable. The Chorla Ghat drive is simply gorgeous. You pass through the clouds. There is a transition from clear skies, to cloudy skies, to rain, to cloudy skies and then clear skies again in as little as 3 minutes. From a little after Chorla ghat, there was a route recommended by Herewego maps. We had downloaded the Goa and Karnataka maps on this app which seems to work rather well offline. However, two helpful people told us that that route (which passed through a forest of some sort) wouldn’t work in the F30 because of one particular deep dip in the road at one point. Most normal cars should be able to do that route. Sadly, I didn’t take note of the point at which this change became necessary. I know for sure that it was before Honda. I suspect we mightn't have passed through Honda at all had we taken that route.

Returned to Belagavi from Tambdi Surla through Mollem – Dhudhsagar – Anmod – Rangarook – Hemmadaga – Shiroli – Honakal – Khanapur – Belagavi.

This route is hard for low-set cars because it is virtually just a single lane for two way traffic and the road has no shoulder. The asphalt surface is a good 3-6 inches high. So if you are forced to get out of the road to give way to oncoming traffic, a low-set car will face trouble. That is a problem until a little before Khanapur. This is not a route I recommend for low-set cars.

Some pictures:

Hi,

It seems like on your way back/return you drove through the Bhimgadh Wildlife Sanctuary.

Sometime in the month of May 2023 the roads through BWS were plain gravel/stones and were not asphalted.

Looking at the picture, it seems this particular stretch from Anmod through BWS till Honakal has been asphalted.

Can you please confirm.

Thanks

There is still a ~5-10 km stretch in BWS which remains gravel and is not asphalted.

Hi everyone. The Jeep saw its maiden trip to Goa over the last few days and the trip marked another special occasion. It was the first time I took the Malkapur - Anuskura ghat route (I’ve always gone via Nipany Amboli ghat only).

I used it both ways - from Pune to Morjim on the way out and then on the return from Morjim to Mumbai.

The Route

Baner Pune —> NH 48 to Karad —> Turn right little after Karad towards Malkapur (Kale Pachwad Road) —> Kokrud —> Malkapur (via Ameni ghat) —> stay left for Anuskura ghat (instead of right for Amba ghat) —> Pachal —> Rajpatan —> Around Saundal (little after Shree Ravalanath Mandir Saundal take a left turn which avoids going up to Oni and Rajapur - it cuts through) —> Nikharewadi —> Kelavli —> hit NH66 at Kharepatan. From there its NH 66 all the way to your destination at Goa.

We took the same route on the way back except that we came all the way till Mumbai on our return.

12 August | Pune to Morjim | ~ 440 kms; 8 hours door to door.
Dep: 6:10 am
Arr: 2:10 pm
One food halt (35 mins), one fuel halt and a bunch of short halts for pics.

15 August | Morjim to Mumbai | ~ 560 kms; 10 hrs 45 mins door to door.
Dep: 6:30 am
Arr: 5:15 pm
Two food halts (bkfast and lunch, ~30 mins each), two fuel halts (one of which had a coffee break too at Expressway food court).

General notes:

# Karad city has some traffic jams on account of the flyover being rebuilt. It was bad on the 12th but ok on the 15th, thanks to the public holiday I suppose.
# In terms of the overall route condition, I would happily take it in a sedan or an SUV - no problems whatsoever (more fun in sedans IMO thanks to the lovely twisties). For bikers, I’d take it in my ADV or even a sports bike. Again no specific problems like bad potholes etc for any meaningful section. More on road and route below.
# The roads up to Anuskura ghat are like runway tarmac and extremely scenic, with windmills etc en route.
# Anuskura ghat is a typical narrow ghat road not dissimilar to Amboli width wise but road quality remains excellent.
# Post Anuskura ghat the roads are quite narrow. They are single carriageway allowing for both sides traffic but going onward before and after Saundal can be quite narrow. Traffic is sparse though so heavy oncoming traffic isn’t a problem.
#. Post Saundal the road narrows up a bit and also has its only section of slightly rough roads where you need to be careful. No deep potholes though it’s just broken tarmac for most part and end to end this accounts for about 10 kms where you need to be slightly careful. I wouldn’t hesitate taking even a 5 series if I had to, let alone a 3GT which will sail.
# In general, I felt this route had less traffic even on the cut through section from NH 48 until NH 66. The other advantage of cutting in at Karad (vs Nipany) is that you’re replacing ~100 kms of the busier and lane indisciplined traffic on NH48 (Karad to Nipany) with ~100 kms of NH66 (Kharepatan to the point where you exit if you take Sawantwadi route). NH66 is as wide, better road, less traffic infested and generally more pleasant than the same 100 kms on the Kolhapur NH 48 route.
# This route perhaps feels more desolate for longer sections (maybe it’s my perception since I was new to it) so keep that in mind. Although IMO even the Nipany to Sawantwadi has long desolate sections I suppose.
# On your return, if you’re leaving early from Goa, there may not be very many decent food options (which include a decent usable loo) till quite late in the morning. We had our food halt at Rane dining, a little after Malkapur and it was 10:10 am - a good 208 kms from when we left our Villa at Morjim. Carry some small bites maybe to keep yourself or any kids with you going till then.
# Rane Dining (pic below) was very clean and had a decently clean and usable loo (by inside highway roads standards). Something that’s useful if you’ve got ladies and kids with you. Food options & timing for breakfast are very limited though - they only had misal and poha (both were good) and it was stated as being served only from 9 to 11 am. They do serve proper lunch as well - a thali if I’m not mistaken but can’t recall. We used the place for breakfast on our return leg. We had coincidentally stopped exactly opposite on our way to Goa just for pics. It was just so scenic.

A few pictures of the road trip (a mix of pics taken to and fro).

Just did a round trip from Pune to Sawantwadi. The route described earlier in the thread- Pune-Karad-Malkapur-Anuskura- Oni-Sawantwadi is the best option right now. This is the best road surface hands down among all the other options. Also very scenic. Some sections of the Karad-Malkapur section remind you of European roads with green rolling hills- thanks to the season.

On the way back, I tried Sawantwadi- Watul- Amba-Malkapur- Karad. Watul to NH166 junction at Dabhole is great. NH-166 junction- Amba ghat- Malkapur has poor road surface. Potholes and some abandoned roadworks on NH166. Best to avoid that for now. Also, heavy gas tankers ply on this route from Ratnagiri. So, going is rather slow.

Just back from a Pune-Goa trip for the long Independence Day weekend.

Onward Journey

We did the Google suggested route of Pune-Satara-Karad-Kohlapur Bypass-some weird shortcut through Villages- Amboli- Calangute.

Pune to Satara was crowded yet Ok. Satara to Karad/Kohlapur Bypass was again comfortable although there were lots of construction activities on the highway and hence lots of diversions which affected overall time. We had our breakfast from Viraj Junction with a huge food mall and many options. Post breakfast, we continued the Google suggested way and here came the usual twist of Google sending us to unknown small roads. It took us quite late to understand what was happening. In any case, we decided to continue as there was no range for any network and we had already travelled quite a lot. After close to 30 km, we were brought back to NH and then the roads were in a very bad state. The Ghat section was terribly crowded and somehow we managed to move ahead. Post ghats, again google put us through a small road for another 20 KM before joining back at NH just 25 KM away from Calangute.

We started around 4 30 in the morning from home and reached Calangute Hotel at 2 PM with just one break. Pretty good considering the detours via small roads and lots of highway constructions. One thing we decided was that we will NOT take this route for our return.

Return Journey

For our return journey, we decided to take the suggestions from this thread and try the scenic route. Well was it worth it? Yes and No. Yes because we went through some amazing scenic routes which we have never driven in life. No, because our start time of the journey was wrong and we ended up staying in Satara for the night. Let me explain.

The route we took was Calangute -> Rajapur -> Oni -> Dhabole -> Malkapur -> Karad -> Satara -> Pune


1. Calangute to Rajapur -- We started quite late at around 11 45 AM. The roads are amazing with 4 lanes and absolutely no traffic. For around 20-25 KM, only 2 cars were on the road - Ours and a Creta in front of us. I would say this is the best 4-lane road I have driven in India till now and majorly because there was absolutely no traffic.

2. Rajapur -> Oni/Dhabole -- We were diverted from Mumbai Highway to a state highway. This route again was out of the world with amazing scenery all throughout and excellent roads although this is just a 2-lane road. The markings were spot on in every corner and was perfect till we reached Dhabole. Since it was a 2-lane road, the speed was considerably slow although we did not care in the midst of natural beauty.

3. Dhabole -> Malkapur -- We stopped for lunch at Dhabole at around 3 30. Post lunch we continued in what was the worst road in the return journey. It was a 2-way lane and roads were broken throughout, even in the Ghat sections. This part of journey was the slowest and cost us a lot of time

4. Malkapur -> Karad -- Again, we were in for a treat by Nature and the MH state department. Superb roads and excellent scenery. Since it was 2-lane, again we were slow but never complaining.

5. Karad -> Satara -- Nothing much to talk about. The first 3-4 KM was a diverted route due to road construction and that also slowed us. Once the road became clear, there was a heavy downpour which meant we were driving slowly and extra carefully. This meant we reached Satara around 7 PM. We were in 2 minds. We had not taken a break for the past 3 hours. If we took a break and continued the journey, it would have been around 10 30 when we reach Pune. We needed to think about having dinner as well which would mean we reach home at midnight. It was raining cats and dogs as well. We decided to play safe and booked at the Fern Residency in Satara on the highway itself (We had been planning to visit this Fern for quite a few months now and fate had decided to grant us our wish!).

6. Satara -> Pune -- We got an amazing room and spent the night there. Had the morning breakfast buffet from the hotel and checked out by 11 AM. We reached home by 1 30 PM. Nothing much to say except the heavy traffic once we reached the city which was obvious.

The only mistake we did on the return journey was to start late. Had we started at least 2 hours earlier, we would not have stayed in Satara but overall we are happy for that break as well.

Thanks for the amazing suggestions for the return journey. I always thought Tamilnadu had the best state highways and smaller roads. This journey made us think otherwise.