[Irwin]

Originally Posted by Figopian

Good that you agree with my recommendations all along. H route you suggest now is the best route to go to goa from kolhapur always. Add to that the new danoli road which bypasses sawantwadi.

I am planning to drive down to GOA in the 1st week of April 2012. I quite got and agree about the road to be taken from MUMBAI
MUMBAI-SANKESHWAR-GADHINGLAJ-AMBOLI-SAWANTWADI-GOA, where is this Dhanoli, and how good is this road/stretch. Is it just a shortcut or is the road good as well.

[Figopian]

Originally Posted by Irwin

I am planning to drive down to GOA in the 1st week of April 2012. I quite got and agree about the road to be taken from MUMBAI
MUMBAI-SANKESHWAR-GADHINGLAJ-AMBOLI-SAWANTWADI-GOA, where is this Dhanoli, and how good is this road/stretch. Is it just a shortcut or is the road good as well.

You will have to search this same thread to find more details about this road, its condition and reasons for taking it! In short, you will save distance, avoid traffic, but may have to leave with some patches of bad road, all in all it depends on you, I would definitely recommend it. Also it depends on which vehicle you have, I have a figo (as my handle suggests!!) and took the road in the last week of Dec.

[Irwin]

Originally Posted by Figopian

You will have to search this same thread to find more details about this road, its condition and reasons for taking it! In short, you will save distance, avoid traffic, but may have to leave with some patches of bad road, all in all it depends on you, I would definitely recommend it. Also it depends on which vehicle you have, I have a figo (as my handle suggests!!) and took the road in the last week of Dec.

I will be driving my SWIFT (2005) for this trip. Anyway will try and research more about this route. For this trip, will be replacing my stock JK VECTRA tyres with MICHELIN XM1+ or XM2 if available by end of March.

[Figopian]

Originally Posted by Irwin

I will be driving my SWIFT (2005) for this trip. Anyway will try and research more about this route. For this trip, will be replacing my stock JK VECTRA tyres with MICHELIN XM1+ or XM2 if available by end of March.

You shouldn't mind taking the Danoli road the
Just watch out for a left turn immediately after the Amboli ghat is finished. I think you will cross a small village and after that you will find this turn.

[suzuki san]

Hi Irwin,

As Figopian said, once you come down from the Amboli ghat you will turn right. Soon after that you will see a battered, badly painted sign board on the left showing Panaji (I think!). It is a fair size road / turn and you can't miss it. If you are using a GPS it will tell you to turn left on this road. The first 6 Kms are fine. No problem at all - although a bit windy and up and down. After that the bad section starts and you will have to go real slow. There are a couple of places where the road is very narrow and if you meet another vehicle you may have to back up a bit. The bad section lasts for about 3 to 4 Kms and after that the road is OK but with a rough, ridged surface so you will get the effect of driving over mini rumblers. There are a few potholes after the bad section but you can easily swing around them. I do this route every 6 weeks or so and would suggest you take this road. When you are at almost zero speed and negotiating the bad section you may wonder what I was talking about but believe me, the potholes are worse if you go via Sawantwadi plus additional time plus an additional small ghat and Sawantwadi traffic. However, do not use this road after dark as it is quite lonely and it would be difficult to find help. There are villages along the road but no garages etc.
The whole section should take you 40 mins max and you will come out at Banda.
Turn left to join the main road but take it easy as the next 3 Kms to the Goa border are also very bad.

If you do decide to go via Sawantwadi, make sure you use the lower road after S'wadi (near Banda) and NOT the elevated road. You need a Hummer to handle the elevated "road"!!!

Have a great trip.

Regards,
SS

[Amazing]

Originally Posted by CANPUSH

Also, after crossing Tavandi Ghat check your speed and keep reading all signs. The Gadhiglaj exit is very easy to miss if you are not attentive.

As you climb Tawandi Ghat after Nipani you get a big sign board on right along Hotel Kaveri Showing road to Goa. This road also takes you to Ajra via Uttur but condition is not as good and road is very narrow (Single) in some stretches.

Just a quick query , while going from Mumbai ,is this Gadhinglag exit from NH4 via service road , coming before the Nippani exit (Kaveri hotel landmark) or after that ?

Since this 'gadinglj exit' is easy to miss , just wanted to be sure , and also approx how many kms from the 'Toll gate of Hattargi-Kognoli' his exit comes?

Experts pls share your valuable inputs.

Originally Posted by suzuki san

.
The whole section should take you 40 mins max and you will come out at Banda.
Turn left to join the main road but take it easy as the next 3 Kms to the Goa border are also very bad.

If you do decide to go via Sawantwadi, make sure you use the lower road after S'wadi (near Banda) and NOT the elevated road. You need a Hummer to handle the elevated "road"!!!

Regards,
SS

Please can you tell the approx distance in KMs from the amboli exit till Banda with this village route ( not using sawantwadi)?

Just to compare with the Sawantwadi option which is 57 kms betweem amboli exit and Banda. Also, how much is normal drive time in this sawantwadi case ?

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Amazing

Just a quick query , while going from Mumbai ,is this Gadhinglag exit from NH4 via service road , coming before the Nippani exit (Kaveri hotel landmark) or after that ?

Since this 'gadinglj exit' is easy to miss , just wanted to be sure , and also approx how many kms from the 'Toll gate of Hattargi-Kognoli' his exit comes?

Going from Mumbai you first climb up Tawandi ghat at the top of the ghat is the hotel kaveri.you take a right here if you want to go via uttur ajra amboli.

If not,then continue on NH4 till you reach Sankeshwar and do not take the flyover instead go by the side of it and take a right under the flyover and the road takes you to gadhinglaj.Sorry cant remember the distances.

As for the Banda route there really is no great savings in terms of time vis a vis the swantwadi route except for a few kms at the border.So if you are not well versed with Banda go via sawantwadi you wouldnt be losing out on anything imho

[CANPUSH]

Originally Posted by Amazing

Just a quick query , while going from Mumbai ,is this Gadhinglag exit from NH4 via service road , coming before the Nippani exit (Kaveri hotel landmark) or after that ?

Since this 'gadinglj exit' is easy to miss , just wanted to be sure , and also approx how many kms from the 'Toll gate of Hattargi-Kognoli' his exit comes?

Experts pls share your valuable inputs.

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Going from Mumbai you first climb up Tawandi ghat at the top of the ghat is the hotel kaveri.you take a right here if you want to go via uttur ajra amboli.

If not,then continue on NH4 till you reach Sankeshwar and do not take the flyover instead go by the side of it and take a right under the flyover and the road takes you to gadhinglaj.Sorry cant remember the distances.

@Amazing, As ranjitp1 has quoted Sankeshwar Gadhinglaj exit comes after Nippani and Tawandi Ghat. It is approximately 15-16 kms after Hotel Kaveri/ Goa Ves. There is a restaurant with colourful blue and white curved roof on left hand side and the exit to service road is there itself. I will suggest you to slow down 12 kms after Kaveri/ Goa Ves and watch for the roof and sign. You need to take service road to go below the highway and turn right for Gadhinglaj.

[suzuki san]

Hi Amazing,

I totally agree with CanPush. The turn off is about 16 Kms after Hotel Goa Ves. There is a sign post close by there showing Sankeshwar 1 KM. Once you have completed 12 Kms or so after Goa Ves, stick to the left hand land lane and do not overtake even a single truck or you may just miss the turn off. It is a fairly large green sign board showing Ghadhinglaj and an arrow to the left.
The road slopes down from here and there is a large speed breaker at the end. Go over the speed breaker and turn hard right. Straight under the highway which passes overhead and on to Gadhinglaj. Be careful of the sugar cane trailers. They are usually double trailers and difficult to overtake on the narrow roads. Also, their driving skills are far from adequate so keep clear. Once on the Gadhinglaj road - SH121 if I remember right - the road is fairly well signposted. Next town Ajra, then Amboli, then Sawantwadi.
The distance to Sawantwadi is almost exactly 100 Kms and this route will take you 2 hours or so depending on what car you are driving.

Regards,

SS

[Figopian]

Came back from Kolhapur this weekend. Now, you can pay Rs. 110 at Khed shivapur toll plaza, so you pay for tasawade toll as well in advance and then pay Rs.115 at Karad toll plaza so you pay for Kini toll. Not that this saves any time, but may at least saves from the hassle of keeping change.

Interestingly, while I was driving back to Pune on a Sunday evening, almost 3 toll booths from opp. direction were open for traffic going towards Pune (If you are at Tasawade toll plaza and want to pay for Khed shivapur toll, then better you be in the toll booths on the left side road only as the 3 toll booths on the other side of divider do not allow you to pay for khed shivapur toll). Still, there was huge rush and took almost 10 -15 mins at each toll plaza, Khed shivapur maintaining its popularity as the worst toll plaza in terms of time consumed.

The work for additional lanes is ongoing till Satara. God knows how many additional lanes they are building now. (Hope they are not planning just one more!!)

[godeepdive]

Travelled from Pune to Goa on the 15th morning. This is my 2nd trip to Goa and the first one via Sawantwadi (previous one was via Belgaum). Thanks all for your posts on the Sawantadi route as it helped me plan my trip well.
Left Pune at around 4.45 in the morning. Drive time to Mapusa was around 6.5 hours. I have excluded the time taken for breaks. Route followed was Pune-Kolhapur – Nipani – Sankeshwar – Gadhinglaj - Ajara – Amboli – Sawanwadi – Mapusa – a distance of around 440 km.

Sankeshwar to Gadhinglaj road was patched up and uneven. ( On a trip to Vengurla a few months back had taken the Tawandi – Uttur- Ajara road which was similar to this one in condition. However the Uttur road is much narrower hence I would recommend uring the Sankeshwar – Ajara road). Gadhinglaj to Ajara and on to Amboli was in relatively good condition. Sawantwadi – Mapusa driving was slow and road was quite bad till Goa border (as others have also opined elsewhere). Looks like a new road/byepass is coming up on NH17. It is much broader and should be good when completed.

@suzuki_san : Was wondering if I should take the Banda – Dhanoli – Amboli road on the return trip. Where exactly would the turn off from Banda to Dhanoli be while returning from Mapusa. Is there a sign post ?

Some pictures of the roads
1. Gadhinglaj Turning
2. Sankeshwar - Gadhinglaj Road
3. Amboli - Sawantwadi Road
4. Banda Road

[zimbly]

I am planning to drive down to GOA in the 1st week of April 2012. I quite got and agree about the road to be taken from MUMBAI
MUMBAI-SANKESHWAR-GADHINGLAJ-AMBOLI-SAWANTWADI-GOA, where is this Dhanoli, and how good is this road/stretch. Is it just a shortcut or is the road good as well.

I am in Goa and loving every moment of it. This thread has been really helpful while planning my road trip to pune. Thanks to all the valuable inputs. I used the Sankeshwar - Ajra - Amboli - Dhanoli - Banda route as was suggested by many on this forum.

The NH4 was a breeze to drive on. My wife suggested to turn off at hotel Goa Vez on towards Nippani, though i thought it better to stick to the valuable advise of T-Bhp members (i know, bravery in one man's eye is termed foolish by another). Anyways i lived to tell my tale so here goes....
the Odo measured 15.8kms from Kaveri to the exit for Gadhinglaj road. I was a bit confused as passed a board saying Sankleshwar Police station a lot earlier. First timers on this route do take note and just keep going ahead till u reach the exit. Photos from godeepdive are a definite thumbs up, makes spotting the exit much easier. There is also a signboard indicating an exit to sankeshwar 2kms before the exit.

The road from sankeshwar to gadhinglaj to ajra to amboli is very driveable. i managed to clock 90-100 for major part excluding the ghats, on this route. there are patches of broken tarmac, isolated potholes few and far between.

Was planning on going via sawantwadi, but after exiting amboli ghat and turning right, i managed to see the rusty board indicating banda(written in hindi) with a few other distances and direction below it. turned left and followed the road. it was fairly narrow. and the first 2 kms was quite good to drive on. then came a spot where the road was all covered in red mud. some sort of excavation taking place on the side of the road. ploughed on and found a few stretches of potholed riddled roads. negotiated them with speeds dropping to almost 0kmph. the road cleared up of the red mud after about 4 kms. the road thereafter was driveable but had a few deep potholes so while maintaining 40-50kmph on a average u still have to keep an eye out for these potholes. i met about 6vehicles(mostly truck and tempos) coming from the opposite direction during the entire 14 kms stretch. so i would sincerely suggest to use this road during day light hours, should one get stuck. On the whole it was fairly driveable, and from what i gather better than the sawatwadi stretch.

once u exit at Banda turn left and continue to the Goa border.
More on the return route once i am back.

PS any pointers as to which route to take to avoid the exise checkpost.

[Figopian]

Originally Posted by zimbly

PS any pointers as to which route to take to avoid the exise checkpost.

Excise post? Do you mean the police check post? The road you took avoiding sawant wadi, avoids the Maharashtra police check post, so just stick to it while coming back and avoid hassle. You cannot avoid goa check post but they are least bothered and do not stop tourist vehicle.

[zimbly]

Excise post? Do you mean the police check post? The road you took avoiding sawant wadi, avoids the Maharashtra police check post, so just stick to it while coming back and avoid hassle. You cannot avoid goa check post but they are least bothered and do not stop tourist vehicle. 23rd March 2012 15:45

Thanks figopian, will do that. There were a couple of earlier posts regarding avoiding the checkpost. i guess i misunderstood and thought reference was being made to the excise checkpost. Guess i will be returning via the banda - Dhanoli route.
cheers

[zimbly]

Just back from Goa, used the Banda - danoli - amboli - ajra - sakeshwar route. No issues at all. Banda - Danoli sections of road are being resurfaced/ retarred, work is in progress.
so once thats done this would be a good road to drive on.