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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-293.html)

I would not recommend the Belgavi route given the road conditions between Kolhapur and Belgavi. The work has been going on since ages. Amboli route for me was a known devil hence preferred it over Anuskura. Since we had an overnight halt at Kolhapur I was left with Amboli as the only choice, for Anuskura, Karad is the place where you leave NH 44.

I don't think NH66 is a choice for majority of journey, one must go via Mahabaleshwar or Bhor Varanda ghat. Taking Anuskura and then joining NH66 at Oni seems to be a good choice going by the recommendation in previous posts.

I started from PCMC, hence took NH44 right from Wakad->NDA(Chandani) chowk and onwards.

Update !
We ( family of 3 ) completed Pune ( Wakad ) - South Goa ( Varca ) - Kolhapur - Pune ( Wakad ) last week and below is my observations/Experience.

22nd of Dec : Started at 5:10 AM from home and reached McD at karad by 8:30 AM. So far road was great till Satara but there were couple of diversions near Shiv Kherpur. From Satara to Karad was a section with extreme dense fog and now fewer diversions. Most of the expanded section of the road was open for commuting. From McD we took Anuskura Ghat till Oni which was breeze and I am generally comfortable with Ghats. Do top up your fuel and snacks before leaving Malkapur. From Oni to Panajim its a breeze. But there is a flyover being constructed in Panjim and we ended up spending 1 hour in traffic Jam. Needless to say from Atal Setu - Varca via NH 66 was a breeze too.

27th of Dec : Started at 11 AM from Varca towards Kolhapur ( Night Stay at Sayaji Kolhapur ). Again wasted 1.5 hours in Panjim because of traffic jam. Took right turn for Amboli ghat at Banda and bypassed Sawantwadi. Road was single lane once we left NH 66 and was bumpy. From the top of Amboli Ghat to Ajra, it was a brand new road and extremely comfortable. Google Maps lead us to the interiors of Nipani avoiding highways. Good village roads but need cautious driving. We touched the NH 48 near Viraj Junction and till Kolhapur it was a section full of diversions. We took 6.5 hours to cover 235 KM including traffic jam and breaks. From Kolhapur to Home took us 4.5 hours and after Karad, we were sailing. I didn't touch even 100 KMPH but was consistent at 80 - 90 KMPH.

Car - Honda Amaze Petrol
Total Road Trip KMs - 1147 KMs.
Average - 17.6 KMPL with 100 % AC

I have actually taken this route.
Not to go to Goa but to actually go to Prati Balaji, which is in Narayanpur.
I started from Wagholi and via Kharadi, went to Hadapsar, Phursungi, then reached Saswad.

Take a turn and all the way to Narayanpur.
I must say, the roads are excellent till Narayanpur.

You will only find Traffic at Phursungi, where roads are small and trucks/cars meet together.

Once you cross that, the roads to the ghats are excellent all the way to Saswad then to Narayanpur.

I drove on this route twice on my scooty so I can vouch on the roads.

From Narayanpur to Kapurhol, it's just approx 6 Km, and then you reach the Satara Highway, post which you can continue on to Goa.

The plus point on the above route is that that there are no tolls so you save on the Rs. 120 that you would have paid at Khed Shivapur toll.

However, it is a little longer but you will not encounter any bad patches.

I myself will be travelling to Goa on 4th Jan (by car) and am considering this route if I can see too much Traffic on the Khed Shivapur road.

Did a trip to Goa last week. Left from home (Mahim) at 5.15 a.m. and reached our house in Goa (Pernem) at 2.00 p.m. Followed the below route recommended by a family friend:


- Head toward Khalapur on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
- Cross the Khalapur Toll Plaza and stay in the left lane.
- After about a minute, a small dirt-road goes upward from the left.
- Take the aforementioned road and then a sharp bend toward the right for the road toward Imagica.
- Follow this road right till Pali Ganpati Mandir.
- Cross the Pali Ganpati Mandir which will be on your left and turn right to head toward Nadsur Phata.
- On your left, you will pass the following landmarks: Ranch Estate, Atoni Village.
- Follow the road toward the Right lane and you will spot Gold Valley.
- Keep heading straight and you will pass the Maharashtra Seamless Factory onward to Nizampur.
- Turn left when you reach Mangaon junction to get on to the Old Mumbai-Goa highway.
- While crossing Mahad, we took a breakfast halt at a newly opened Joshi Vadewale outlet. Food is decent and washrooms were clean.
- Cross Mahad and Poladpur and enter the Kashedi Tunnel.
- Cross Khed Naka and Chiplun, onward to Sangameshwar.
- Road works are in full swing and you will spot a bus depot on your left.
- Immediately after the bus depot, take a left and head toward Devrukh-Marleshwar-Sakharpa. Google Maps is very accurate and will guide properly.
- Exit at Rajapur and onward to Kankavli, Kudal and Banda.
- The stretch after Rajapur onward to Goa has been newly made and is an absolute delight to drive on.

Completing this journey in approx. 9.5 hrs including the breakfast halt was a pleasant surprise. Except for a few patches in between Mangaon and Devrukh, where road works are in progress, the rest of the stretch is fantastic.

On the way back from Goa however, took the route via Amboli-Ajara-Uttur and onto the Mumbai-Bangalore highway, as we had to take an overnight halt in Kolhapur to visit some relatives. The road after Amboli Ghat toward Uttur has been newly laid and is smooth to drive on. Took this route after almost 2 years and was delighted to drive on this one.

Thank you so much Purav_prv. That is so illuminating. Katraj on the Shirwal side can be quite a traffic mess and I have been looking for an alternative. This one looks terrific. Especially on the return to Kalyani Nagar.
If I may ask which route would would you take to Goa on the 4th. I too will be driving to Goa on the 4th but from Karad. Anuskara looks obvious but it’s too long a ghat section and the roads are more of a strain on the body than Amboli ghat. I saw a YouTube video from about a month back and the road to and after Ajara was miserable

What is the condition of the tarmac on the Sangameshwar- Devrukh-Sakharpa-Oni section

On your return did you come out at Goa Ves or did Google maps lead you through Nipani town. Which in your reckoning is faster and/or easier to cover the Anuskara or the Amboli ghat route

The Sangameshwar route onward to Oni is largely good, with a few rough patches before Rajapur.

On our return, we always prefer to exit at Goa Ves point on the highway (i.e. if we plan to visit Kolhapur) as the traffic through Gadhinglaj town can get crazy at times. The detour is simply not worth it. Also, considering the newly paved roads in Ajara and Uttur toward Goa Ves, this is a much better option. As for Anuskura, that remains my favourite route if I'm going to Mumbai directly from Goa, without any stopover in between.

Hi I am travelling from Kolhapur to North Goa on 03/01/2025 and I am planning route through Nipani - Ajra - Amboli ghat - North Goa.

As you have travelled recently how are the road conditions from Kolhapur to Nipani as I see lot of closures on Google maps and also if you can tell me which route you took from Ajara to Nipani, was it via Gandhiglaj or some other route?

Hey!

I followed Google Maps blindly and here is my observations.

- From Nipani to Amboli ghat (start of ghat towards Sawantwadi) Via Ajra, road is awesome but its mostly a SH so be careful.
- From Amboli to Banda, it was a single road and bumpy too.
- After Banda, a smooth NH 66 will welcome you :)

No need to go toward Nipani, you can turn right from Goa Ves after Tavandi Ghat and get onto the Uttur-Ajara route and subsequently join Amboli.

Hi Nikhil,

Thanks for the above detailed directions.

Couple of queries :

1. "Cross Khed and Chiplun, onward to Sangameshwar" : I have heard that this is the worst stretch from Bombay to Goa on NH66.
How bad is this section? Can this be handled by a low slung sedan?
I am asking for a friend who is planning on doing this route in a week's time.

2. Was it easy to find your way on this route or did you get lost at all? Have you driven this route before? Does GMaps work all the way through or does one have to download an Offline Map?

3. Overall, how would you classify this road on a 1 to 10 rating with 1 being terrible and 10 being Excellent?


Many Thanks & Regards,
SS

- NH66 is good till Sawarde after Chiplun, all 4 lanes. (8/10)
- Sawarde till Sangameshwar it has one good side with concrete and other side work in progress so leading to lot of diversions. (6/10)
- Sangameshwar town itself is pain with very narrow bridge over Shastri river leading to traffic jam during the peak hours. (5/10)
- Sangameshwar to Lanja is avoidable with lot of work in progress and that is the worst patch of this entire route. But you can take Sangameshwar - Devrukh - Sakharpa - Lanja road to bypass this but its primarily state highway meaning smaller road with not well maintained but better than NH66 on this patch. (4/10)
- Post Lanja it gets better and post Oni (This is where Anuskura road meets NH66) its in the best condition all the way till Goa except few small patches leading to diversions. (9/10)

GMap should work in most of the places but I would still keep it offline since some of the patches may face network issues given the surrounding hills.

1. This can be handled by a low-slung sedan, except a few patches, where you need to be careful.

2. Google Maps works like a charm. Did not face any issue with the Jio network. Even my secondary phone with an Airtel did not have any network issues.

3. I would rate this at a 7 overall. Work is on in full-swing and fingers crossed, if they can complete it soon, the entire stretch will be a beauty.

Hello, I am traveling from Belgavi to South Goa .
Which route should I take ?
Via Chorla ghat or via Anmod ( Mollem - Ponda) Route?
We will leave Belagavi at 7 AM
Thank you.

I completed my trip recently from Kolhapur to Goa and return trip from Goa to Vadodara, thank you everyone who gave their suggestions and helped me planning the route for my trip.

Kolhapur to Goa I took the route from Nipani - Ajra - Amboli ghat - Banda - Anjuna, from Kolhapur to Nipani there are diversions due to road work but once you turn from Nipani towards Ajra the roads are very smooth and nicely laid with very less traffic and I found road conditions will Banda good. Amboli ghat roads are also very good and ghat itself is beautiful.

Return trip I took route from Varca - Kharepatan - Anuskura Ghat - Satara - Nashik - Saputara - Vadodara, road conditions till Kharepatan were good but from Kharepatan to Anuskura ghat via SH114 roads are in very bad condition, after Anuskura ghat till Satara roads were in better condition but with lot of diversions on NH48.

I personally would prefer taking Amboli ghat for reaching Goa as roads are very smooth and well laid but crossing Kolhapur traffic has to be taken into account.