[samdarshi.pali]

Originally Posted by VT-RNS

That said, since you will be in Satpura National Park, and it looks like you are fine to have a night halt, in which case, I would say you could also consider Dhule for a night halt and not necessary to stretch till Nasik (Esp because the long flyover is not fully complete on Ojhar side & its better to avoid traffic when you are tired from all day drive).

Just a quick update. The long Ojhar flyover, as well as other smaller flyovers, are now fully operational. On my way to Indore last weekend, I took this route. Commuters can now drive through Nashik without encountering city traffic.

Regards
Samdarshi

[HalfOctave]

Originally Posted by HalfOctave

Also, this time around I am planning to do a bit of sight seeing as I go. Wifey has not seen much of RJ-GJ so any suggestion of which place to keep in to-visit list is also welcome.

Continuing from where I left, I am planning to include Statue of Unity in my return trip to Pune and plan to travel from Statue of Unity to Mumbai after sightseeing.

Google Maps shows a distance of around 400kms via the below route.

I am not sure if I should take this route or get to Bharuch and take the NH48 as usual. Appreciate if someone who has travelled similarly can guide. Thanks.

[satyabrata.dash]

I returned from Delhi to Pune last week. Route was: Delhi(Dwarka) - Agra - Gwalior - Indore - Malegaon - Pune. I was pretty impressed on the route till Sendhwa(Maha- MP border). I started at 11AM from Delhi and I could cover 1100 kms on the first stretch, with few quick toilet and food breaks, entering Maharashtra at 2 AM next day. Total duration driven was 15 hours, and despite suffering from poor back health, I still had a good back at the end of the drive. I also maintained safe speeds below 80 kmph as we had our 8 year old dog Lucy onboard. The rest of the distance in Maharashtra was slow, since I encountered a lot of smaller vehicles and speed breakers once in Maharashtra.

[sahil624]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

Why not stay at Nathdwara? You can consider the Marutinandan which is bang on the highway. Roads are superb 4-laned once you turn right from Rajasmand towards Bhilwara, just beware of cows. Bhilwara to Kishangarh was full of diversions this time last year, also this route is preferred by trucks so you will see more trucks as compared to traditional NH-48 route. Safe travels.

Hi, does taking right from Rajsamand avoid the two lane undivided highway via Beawar? If one is traveling from Mumbai to Jaipur.
Thanks.

[sinharishi]

Originally Posted by sahil624

Hi, does taking right from Rajsamand avoid the two lane undivided highway via Beawar? If one is traveling from Mumbai to Jaipur.
Thanks.

Yes it does. Take right to Bhilwara and onto chittorgarh-kishangarh highway. Last when I took this route, turned out it took us extra 1.5 hours over Beawar route. Don't know the latest but Bhilwara-Kishangarh was undergoing road expansion in 2020.

[sahil624]

Did Mumbai-Jaipur run in two days with taking a break at Vadodara. I took the Mumbai-Vadodara-Godhra Bypass-Udaipur-Nathdwara-Beawar-Ajmer-Jaipur route. The roads are fairly good with only the 100kms odd undivided highway from somewhere after Rajsamand till Beawar. The road on this undivided stretch is good too, just that it becomes tiresome to drive with vehicles coming from the opposite side. The work to expand it to four lane stretch is on going. The route after the Godhra Bypass (when one gets on to NH48) till Udaipur is enjoyable to drive with all the curves on the road.

The Nissan Kicks was very comfortable and it didn't feel like I had done a 13 hour journey. Plus, it gave a stupendous FE of 20 kmpl.. Also, the podcast '22 Yarns by Gaurav Kapoor' gave me a good company on this solo journey.

The DDPAI Mola N3 has been the latest addition in accessories for my car. I must say for the price I paid, this dashcam has been really good in terms of video quality.

https://youtu.be/WYCcIVBMzHU

The landscapes were beautiful throughout the journey.

https://youtu.be/zGxFn6FEdEs

The undivided part on the highway

https://youtu.be/q35fTnN_usc

[VT-RNS]

Here is a summary of Mumbai-Delhi done over the past weekend (15-16 Jan, 2022), with the non-Udaipur route.

Background: Original plan was to take the 2 day standard route via Baroda-Godhra Bypass-Modassa-Udaipur-Rajasmand-Beawar-Jaipur-Gurgaon with night stay in Udaipur. However, due to an emergency in a close friend's family, my friends' mom would be joining us till Kishangarh (just ahead of Ajmer). The idea was to see if we can drive through in 1 day (1100 kms) or take a break if we feel tired. For this, we had 2 decision points, once at Baroda on how we felt for the first 6 hours of drive. And later, Abu Road onwards, we could stop at any city/town either in hotel or a relatives' place (my friend hails from RJ had has relatives spread throughout). If we even wanted to attempt reaching Kishangarh directly, I was more comfortable to take Ahmedabad-Palanpur-Sirohi-Pali-Beawar route as it offers 4 lane divided highway at a min throughout. And driving on the undivided 2 lane between Rajasmand & Beawar at night is not as much of a confidence booster (IMHO).
Since it was a major festive weekend, I had certain expectations, but there were a few surprises.

15 Jan, Saturday:
5.30 am - Departure from Western Suburbs in Mumbai
7.10 am - Bio break at Hotel Ahura. Heavy truck traffic from Fountain till Vapi/Valsad. And the road is a bit patchy in places.
8.30 am - 200 kms - Fuel stop & Breakfast at Indian Spice (at Dreamland Food Plaza), just ahead of Valsad (Thank God for fuel prices in GJ!). Also, compared to prior trips, found the traffic till Baroda to be relatively less. Likely coz of the festive weekend, many factories & SMEs were closed. Even Narmada bridge was a breeze.
12.15 - Short Break at the Amul Stop near the Baroda NE-1 entrance (its on the NE). Wifey took to the wheels on NE1.
2 pm - 510 kms - Lunch at Honest @ Naroda (entered Ahmedabad). This we could afford as the city was closed. Slow traffic at places, but nowhere close to usual. Very surprised! I knew we were taking additional time, instead of bypass, but wanted the first half of trip to be relaxing and with plenty of good breaks.
5.30 pm - Fuel Stop at Iqbalgad (ahead of Palanpur). For the first time ever, GJ roads were a disappointment. Yes, its SH, but the road quality wasn't as good as other GJ SH. Its true that major patchwork and works is happening, so it should be better soon. [Also, Mehsana bypass was mostly in a sad condition. Not super bad, but its not good either. Only the last few kms were good, and seemed to have been recently done].
6.30 pm - 720 kms - Tea & Snacks at Abu Road (Hotel Raj). Allowed us to transition from dusk to night. Good roads once you join NH 27, and the road is a marvelous beauty till Pali. Absolutely Stunning! One of the best roads I have driven. And the added bonus was little to no car traffic, and very disciplined truck drivers.
The road from Pali to Beawar is good 4 lane divided highway. While it was not as good as the one till Pali, it was still better than the next NH48 highway, 6 lane roads on Beawar - Delhi NH 48. At Beawar, we were feeling comfy in the car (esp. Me) and so we decided to continue.
12 midnight - 1100 kms - Dropped Aunty at Kishangarh bypass. With my bro-in-law in Jaipur, we simply decided to head there and meet him.
1.30 am - 1200 kms - Checked into hotel at Jaipur. Got a lot of fog in some stretches on this section of 100 kms, so took a slow drive, and then slotted myself 5 sec behind a local bus which had good fog lighting, with no one else tailing me. So it was quite comfy to drive, though had to be very vigilant. Roads themselves are okay, not as bad as the upcoming Jaipur-Gurgaon stretch, though they are uneven in places, esp lane 1 with all the truck tyres leaving an impression in the road.

16 Jan, Sunday:
Very late start as we had the longest ever drive, both in # of hours & distance.
1.30 pm - Departed from Hotel Ibis, Civil Lines, Jaipur. Due to weekend curfew, city was empty and we joined NH48 using the route from Transport Nagar. ofcourse, we (the car & self) were few kgs heavier with all the Ghevar, Pyaaz Kachori & other delicacies packed to the brim from LMB, including a heavy brunch!
4.30 pm - 1400 kms - Tea Break at Mannat Dhaba @ Sidhrawali. It was very crowded, so we took the tea to parking area and ate them with our LMB delicacies. Honestly, the quality of road is PATHETIC on the Jaipur - Gurgaon stretch, along with the worst of drivers I have seen!!! Its not worthy of being called a NH, forget "expressway". Will talk about it more in TL later.
6.30 pm - 1520 kms - Reached destination. Luckily, no traffic jams in Manesar, Gurgaon or Delhi. And the DND + Greater Noida expressway meant we were at our destination 1 hour after entering Delhi.

To Note: Honestly, although I enjoyed the long drive, and had prepared mentally for all options, I wouldn't always want to do 1200 kms in one day. Usual split at Udaipur, or if you take this route, at Abu Road/ Sirohi/ Pali/ Beawar are all welcome. I refreshed myself with the various threads on long distance drives & night drives to be uber prepared for it. Also, I don't drive at more than 80-90 kmph, partially due to the vehicle & more so to be consistent instead of fluctuate the speeds. Day 2 was therefore planned to be super easy & relaxed after 8-9 hours of good sleep.

COVID Checks: None whatsover. At hotel in Jaipur, they asked for full vaccination certificate, and a mere glance was enough. The police, in places, was sitting at checkposts, but don't know what they were looking for. We were stopped by Police once, for not wearing mask inside the private car, just at the entry of Palanpur, Gujarat. INR 1000 fine for 1 person. The whole of GJ, like MH, RJ & other places on the way, doesn't see mask compliance in public areas of towns/villages/cities. But its a soft target to fine an outstation car in another state. And yes, I saw many "local" vehicles with people filled to brim going scot-free and driving on wrong side at the same check post. We, The Country!

Cheers!

[sidpak]

Hi,

Plan to take delivery of a new car in Delhi and drive it down to Mumbai over 3 days, will be driving solo and would avoid driving at night.

Suggestions from fellow BHP'ians on which route to take and places to stay enroute would be most helpful.

Cheers,

Sid

[#ish]

Okay guys,

Sudden plan. Driving to Delhi from Mumbai on Feb 11, 2022 4 am. If anyone wants to tag along

[#ish]

Okay I thought of sharing with you guys my experience of driving from Mumbai to Delhi.

Since I will be coming back to Mumbai in 2 weeks, I sincerely hope this sub will help me find the best and fastest route back home.

Road taken: Mumbai-Vadodara-Halol-Godhra bypass-Modassa-Udaipur-Nathdwar-Beawer-Kishangarh-Ajmer-Jaipur-Delhi

At the outset, I totally hated that two hour drive after Udaipur to Beawer. That road is a nightmare. Its undivided and a lot of construction work going on. Most people try to overtake spilling in your lane. It's just too stressful. Then, once you hit the divided broad highway, its all melted tar all the way till Kishangarh. Even if you maintain good speeds (over 100 kmph), the road is very bumpy.

Now, the Jaipur-Delhi highway is in absolute shambles. I think Mumbai roads are better than this highway and this says a lot. There was a lot of traffic but this is a busy route so I don't mind traffic. But the highway is in a really bad shape.

It has craters size of a 100 moons.

4.30 am Feb 11, 2022: Left Mumbai (western suburb). I don't think I touched even 8- kmph till I crossed Vapi. A lot of truck traffic and all of them in right lanes. Vadodara-Halol area had some traffic but good speeds. There was a big stretch of this highway which was quite narrow and went through small cities but good roads and good speeds throughout. Post Modassa till Udaipur the highway is just bliss. I was cruising at 140 kmph with ease.

Reached Udaipur at 3 pm.

I had booked hotel Paras Mahal (suggestion from this sub) a night before. Had I not booked, I definitely would have made a dash to Jaipur. I mean, I reached Udaipur and checked in the hotel by 3.20 pm!


I want to know from this sub the best route back. I know I cannot do away with Delhi-Jaipur highway so that's okay but what after that? Should I turn to Chittorgarh-Bhilwara route from Kishangarh and reach Udaipur and then continue on the regular Modassa-Godhra-Halol-Vadodara-Vapi-Mumbai route?

Anyone here can please tell me how that route is?

Thanks!

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by #ish

I know I cannot do away with Delhi-Jaipur highway so that's okay but what after that? Should I turn to Chittorgarh-Bhilwara route from Kishangarh and reach Udaipur and then continue on the regular Modassa-Godhra-Halol-Vadodara-Vapi-Mumbai route?
Anyone here can please tell me how that route is?

It’s equally bad If you take left from Kishangarh towards Bhilwara, around 100-125 Km road is being 3 lane with diversions every few kms, some passing through crowded population. But once you are past this stretch, the road to Udaipur will be a breeze.

Recently, I did a trip to Udaipur and used both routes, different while going and coming back. I will pick the Bhilwara route. Since you have to cross the Udaipur, I will take Chitor - Udaipur bypass via Dabok instead of Bhilwara - Nathdwara-Udaipur. Sadly, Jaipur highway is complete mess and travel in night, especially when coming from Jaipur to Delhi should be avoided due to very high truck traffic.

Another option will be to take a little longer route via - Beawar- Pali- Ahmedabad - Vadodara. This will be mostly fast except between Palanpur- Ahmedabad, depending on the time of day.

[#ish]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

It’s equally bad If you take left from Kishangarh towards Bhilwara, around 100-125 Km road is being 3 lane with diversions every few kms, some passing through crowded population. But once you are past this stretch, the road to Udaipur will be a breeze.

Recently, I did a trip to Udaipur and used both routes, different while going and coming back. I will pick the Bhilwara route. Since you have to cross the Udaipur, I will take Chitor - Udaipur bypass via Dabok instead of Bhilwara - Nathdwara-Udaipur. Sadly, Jaipur highway is complete mess and travel in night, especially when coming from Jaipur to Delhi should be avoided due to very high truck traffic.

Another option will be to take a little longer route via - Beawar- Pali- Ahmedabad - Vadodara. This will be mostly fast except between Palanpur- Ahmedabad, depending on the time of day.

Thank you for your reply. I guess if both the routes have some 100-odd kms of bad stretches then I will try Kishangarh-Nasirabad-Bhilwara-Chitorgarh-Dabuk-Udaipur and then on to the regular route. If nothing else then I would have explored a new route. I was hoping since this route is NH48 it will be top notch. Now waiting for the Mumbai-Delhi express highway to finish construction soon!

[sinharishi]

Originally Posted by #ish

100-odd kms of bad stretches

Just wanted to respond to this, if you drive straight to Rajsamand via Beawar. The roads are "not" bad, it is just 2-laned with few speed breakers when you're crossing villages. I have always covered the distance between Ajmer and Udaipur/vice versa faster via this 2-laned road.

[sahil624]

Hi all, I have to drive back from Jaipur to Mumbai this weekend and will make a night halt at Vadodara. This time I was thinking of not taking the usual Beawar-Nathdwara-Udaipur route. Instead, I was thinking of taking the Pali-Palampur-Mehsana-Ahmedabad and then onto NE-1 route. While the roads are good on the latter route (I travelled to Jodhpur from this route recently), Google Maps is showing estimated time of 13.5 hours. And as per Google Maps, the Nathdwara route is estimated to be covered in 13 hours. My reason for taking the Ahmedabad route is to avoid the undivided two lane stretch of highway on the Nathdwara route. My conundrum being, should I take the Ahmedabad route and can I reach in 13 hours to Vadodara from this route? Also, how is the road condition on Pali-Sirohi-Palampur-Mehsana route?

Thanks in advance.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

Just wanted to respond to this, if you drive straight to Rajsamand via Beawar. The roads are "not" bad, it is just 2-laned with few speed breakers when you're crossing villages.

Yes, but off late, too much rush. It can be a challenge and time consuming depending on the time of the day.

Originally Posted by sahil624

should I take the Ahmedabad route and can I reach in 13 hours to Vadodara from this route? Also, how is the road condition on Pali-Sirohi-Palampur-Mehsana route?

It will be an easier route; I can't comment on 13 hours as it all ends up on your drive, but from Jaipur to Vadodara, with 2 or 3 stops, it should be doable easily. Roads further from Ajmer to Pali, Sirohi, Mehsana are good, 4 or 6 laned. Do factor the urban rush hour commute between Palanpur to Mehasan until Ahmedabad. If you can start early from Jaipur, you can cross this stretch before evening rush hours.