[sinharishi]

Originally Posted by siddhuonmail

Hi,
This is my first query in this forum.I am planning a road trip from Pune to New Delhi in mid December this year along with my wife and a 3 year old kid .Kindly suggest the best route and night halts(if possible) as I am the only driver.
Thanks in advance

Hey!

I suggest taking the Vadodra-Godhra-Shamlaji-Udaipur-Beawar-Jaipur Bypass-Delhi or Vadodra-Ahmedabad-Sirohi-Pali-Beawar-Jaipur Bypass-Delhi routes. If you start early from Pune, you can break at Ahmedabad but it still would be a long day, considering there will be a 3 year old on board. Best would be to stop at Vadodra, but Vadodra to Ahmedabad has a nice, smooth expressway, if you feel like pushing it. You can target Jaipur on the next day and Delhi on the 3rd day making it a 2.5 days drive. If you stay at Vadodra you can take Godhra-Modassa-Shamlaji route to Udaipur, if you stay at Ahmedabad take the Sirohi-Pali route.

I am not aware of the Nasik-Dhule-Chittorgarh route, so won't comment on it. The route which I take to Mumbai 4 times a year is : Delhi-Jaipur Bypass-Kishangarh-Beawar-Udaipur (Halt)-Shamlaji-Godhra-Vadodra-Surat-Mumbai.

=========

Has anyone recently traveled on the Udaipur-Shamlaji stretch? I am all set to start the journey on the 7th of December.

[msd7]

I have an query.
Is the route from Vadodara to Delhi via Aburoad- Sirohi-Pali-Ajmer safe for night travel??

I am planning a trip from Vadodara to Delhi in the end of November and would leave Vadodara at 3-4 PM, so what would be the best route according to you guys.

I have traveled via the Udaipur route many time but have heard that there are a lot of diversions and also that it is not safe at night so was thinking about the route via Pali-Sirohi

Thanks.

[kkdelhi]

I am planning to drive Delhi-Mumbai around Christmas this year and hoping to return to Delhi by New year's eve. This will be my first trip on this route.

Anyone who traveled recently on this route?
How is the road condition throughout?
Any good hotels at Udaipur and/or Vadodara closer to the route, without going into the city?
Since I will be taking my dog along, would anyone know if pet-friendly hotels are available?
Any pumps along the way where nitrogen is also available?
Any speed interceptors or speed cameras on this route?

Many questions because this will be my first Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi trip.

[sinharishi]

Delhi-Mumbai Route Update: Delhi-Jaipur Bypass-Kishangarh-Beawar-Rajasmand-Udaipur(Halt)-Shamlaji-Modassa-Godhra Bypass-Vadodra-Surat-Mumbai

*Delhi to Udaipur: It was a breeze till Beawar, smooth 6-laned highway. Beawar to Rajasmand, there has been absolutely no progress on the road expansion work in last 2 years, although the 2-laned stretch is in very good condition. Rajasmand to Udaipur again was very smooth. Got stuck in Udaipur traffic, while navigating to the hotel. We stayed at Zade Mount View, a nice budget hotel close to the highway. Total hours: 11.5.

*Udaipur to Mumbai: Road widening work going on till Shamlaji BUT it did not cause us any delay, timing was the key. Shamlaji to Godhra Byass is in superb condition, no tolls on this stretch for cars as this is SH. Godhra bypass to Vadodra - 4-laned but passes thru couple of busy towns and industrial area. Got stuck for good 3 hours at Bharuch, construction work goin on at Ankleshwar bridge and it will continue for a month. We took the help of locals and crossed Narmada using the Golden Bridge. Progress was smooth till Pritam da Dhaba, after that got stuck again in a long jam due to choked fountain hotel signal, don't know who will solve this issue, lost 1.5 hrs here! Udaipur to Mumbai usually takes us 11-12 hrs, this time it took us 15 hrs!

*Fastag: Smooth passage on all tollgates. Saw many tolls with only 1 CASH ONLY lane. My PAYTM Fastag did not give any issue anywhere! Mumbai entry toll, 2 tolls between Beawar and Deogarh don't accept Fastag, so 105/- were paid in cash and 1015/- via Fastag.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

Got stuck for good 3 hours at Bharuch, construction work goin on at Ankleshwar bridge and it will continue for a month.

This is interesting to read and soon after I was checking the traffic pattern around here which looks quite usual.

What time of of the day/night was it when you got stuck here? If this is going to be a regular affair for a month, travelers (including self) must be warned about it knowing holiday season is around the corner.

[sinharishi]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

This is interesting to read and soon after I was checking the traffic pattern around here which looks quite usual.

What time of of the day/night was it when you got stuck here? If this is going to be a regular affair for a month, travelers (including self) must be warned about it knowing holiday season is around the corner.

I entered the long jam around 12:30 PM, exited NH-48 to enter Bharuch around 3:30 PM, crossing Golden Bridge wasn't smooth either.

[RajeevSharma]

It will be very exciting to travel with a 3 year old. You will need route with facility and for this reason I am suggesting Pune - Navi Mumbai- Dahisar - Miraroad - Surat- Vadodara - Godhra - Shamlaji - Udaipur - Rajasmand - Ajmer - Jaipur - Delhi road. You will have to manage the timing to avoid jams and driving through lonely stretches at night.

Start early at 3:00 AM if possible and you will be in Mumbai by 5 PM. Do not take Mumbai bypass. I will suggest a night halt a Udaipur which you will reach by 6 or 6 PM.

Start early on next day and you will be in Delhi by 4:00 PM.

Originally Posted by siddhuonmail

Hi,
This is my first query in this forum.I am planning a road trip from Pune to New Delhi in mid December this year along with my wife and a 3 year old kid .Kindly suggest the best route and night halts(if possible) as I am the only driver.
Thanks in advance

[sinharishi]

Short summary of my return journey to Delhi from Mumbai:

• Route Taken: Mumbai-Surat-Vadodra-Kalol-Godhra Bypass-Shamlaji-Udaipur(Halt)-Rajasmand-Beawar-Jaipur Bypass-Delhi

• Mumbai to Udaipur: 6-laned till Vadodra, all smooth, crossing Ankleshwar bridge was very smooth unlike the onward journey. Vadodra-Halol road is undergoing repair so traffic is diverted to the service lane for few KMs. Kalol to Shamlaji is mostly good, there are bad stretches as you near Shamlaji, before joining NH48. Shamlaji-Udaipur stretch will soon be complete, been taking this route from last 1 year and the speed of work is very good. Breakfast halt at Sugar and Spice, Valsad and lunch at Hotel Salute just ahead of RJ-GJ border. Total time taken was 12 hrs.

• Udaipur to Delhi: We did Udaipur to Jaipur in 4 hrs flat, left at 5am and took the Rajasmand-Beawar route. The road widening work on this stretch has seen no progress at all, but the condition of the 2-laned highway remains good. Jaipur to Delhi took another 4 hours, total time taken was 8 hrs. Night halt was taken at Treebo Sheer Bliss(Udaipur), Breakfast at Kanha on Ajmer-Jaipur highway.

I will be leaving again for Mumbai on the 28th.

[paragsachania]

On Monday, 23rd, I took exactly 7 Hours from Thane (Majiwade) till SP Ring Road Ahmedabad with perfect rhythm and lean traffic all the way.



No jams whatsoever. Crossing Thane post 10:00 on a weekday was bliss. No jams anywhere around Bharuch or Ankleshwar. I mostly maintained 100/110 Kmph throughout.

This also included 3 stops en route. One to buy seasonal food by the roadside, one for lunch and the last one for a top up of Diesel before hitting the NE1.

[sinharishi]

Mumbai to Delhi Route Update:

- Route Taken: Mumbai-Vapi-Bharuch-Vadodra-Ahmedabad-Mehsana-Palanpur-Abu Road (halt)-Sirohi-Pali-Beawar-Jaipur Bypass-New Delhi.

- Total Travel time: Mumbai to Abu road: 10.5 hours, Abu road to New Delhi: 9.5 hours.

- Stay: Hotel Srijan Inn, Abu Road, bang on the highway. Neat and clean rooms with good views.

- Mumbai to Ahmedabad: Was smooth, lots of trucks as usual. Crossing Ankleshwar was a breeze. Took NE-1 for Ahmedabad, full of idiots who were using emergency lanes for overtaking! Couple of diversions just ahead of Surat. Stopped at Sugar n Spice, Valsad for breakfast.

- Ahmedabad to Abu road: Roads around Mehsana are not so good, heavy local traffic also made our progress slow. Lots of patch work till Palanpur. Stopped at Honest for Lunch before Shanku Water park. Shaku water park has subway, ccd, dominos etc.

- Abu road to Beawar: Quite a few diversions till Sirohi and then after Pali till Barr. After Beawar, it was super smooth with hardly any traffic on the road till outskirts of NCR. Stopped at Kanha on Jaipur-Ajmer Highway, all staff were wearing mask and there was no one else when we stopped. They ensured quick service and we were out in 20 mins.

- Jaipur Bypass to Delhi: Finally, fast lane towards Jaipur is fixed at many places. Harldy any traffic, it was business as usual after Manesar with lots of local traffic.

- Spotted 3 interceptors in total - 2 between Ajmer and Jaipur and 1 near Behror.

- Fastag saved a lot of time at tolls, near Sirohi a GJ registered car entered fastag lane due to a long queue in cash lane, on asking why was he allowed, he had to pay 2x times the toll amount.

- I took the longer route via Abu road-Sirohi-Pali because of Coronavirius, Udaipur sees a lot of foreign tourist, so avoided the usual Godhra-Shamlaji-Udaipur(halt)-Rajasmand-Beawar routine.

[sinharishi]

Noida-Mumbai Route Update:

• Route Taken: Noida-Agra-Gwalior Bypass-Shivpuri-Guna-Biaora-Sarangpur-Indore(Halt)-Dhule-Nasik-Thane-Mumbai.
• Total KMs: 1,497.
• Date of Travel: 13th-14th June.
• Noida to Gwalior: Took Yamuna Expressway till Agra Bypass, joined AH43 and continued towards Dholpur, Morena. Took Gwalior Bypass till Malwa Institute of Technology, small stretch of Bypass is not open to traffic, diverted thru shivpuri link road to join back AH47.
• Shivpuri to Indore: Crossing shivpuri took us sometime, slow moving traffic + 2-laned road. Once you’re on NH46 its back to 4-laned roads till Indore. You cross some very isolated stretch on this route.
• Indore to Mumbai: Superb winding roads till you cross into MH, hardly any traffic on the road. It rained till we reached Dhule. Road conditions deteriorate once you enter MH. Heavy local traffic around Nasik. Nasik to Thane was fun, it rained for a few, everything around was green! Dropped my cousin at thane and took GB road to Mumbai.
• Drive time: Noida to Indore took 13 hrs. Indore to Thane took 9 hrs.
• Halts: Night halt at Pride, Indore. We had packed food for the highway, stopped at petrol pumps only.
• Toll amount: 1,548/-
• We had MP epass with us for travel till Sendhawa. Medical certificates dated 11th June for both the passengers.
• It was a smooth journey, we were not stopped anywhere. None of the cops seems interested.

[sinharishi]

Mumbai to NCR and back route update:

Onward route: Mumbai-Bharuch-Vadodra-kalol-Godhra Bypass-Modassa-Shamlaji-Udaipur-Rajasmand-Bhilwara-Kishangarh-Jaipur-Delhi-Greater Noida.
Return route: Greater Noida-Delhi-Jaipur-Kishangarh-Beawar-Rajasmand-Udaipur-Shamlaji-Modassa-Godhra Byass-Kalol-Vadodra-Bharuch-Mumbai.
- Bad patches around Surat, flyover construction going on.
- Horrible roads after Modassa till you enter RJ. 90% of road widening work between Shamlaji and Udaipur is now complete. Just a few more flyovers and this stretch will be fully 6-laned.
- Potholes will catch you by surprise, south bound road is still better between Shamlaji all the way till Mumbai.
- Bhilwara to Kishangarh: Horrible! So many diversions, undulations, potholes. This route is extra 50kms over the traditional NH-8 route (Rajasmand-Beawar-Kishangarh) Road widening + flyover construction at many places. This route being 4/6 laned is the preferred choice for trucks.
- Kishangarh to Jaipur bypass remains smooth as usual. Jaipur to Delhi, nothing has changed over the years! The 1st lane remains as is with so many lump formations.
- No major jams en-route. Cars were diverted thru the Kishangarh city as road repair work is going on the main highway.
- 6-laned: Mumbai to Vadodra, Beawar to Delhi and Shamlaji to Udaipur. Some parts of Bhilwara to Kishangarh is now 6-laned(no lane markings).
- 4-laned: Vadodra to Shamlaji and Udaipur to Bhilwara.
- 2-laned: Beawar-Rajasmand.

Travel time:
- Mumbai to Udaipur: 12 hrs. (via Rajasmand-Bhilwara-Kishangarh)
- Udaipur to Greater Noida: 12 hrs.
- Greater Noida to Udaipur: 11 hrs (via Beawar-Rajasmand)
- Udaipur to Mumbai: 12 hrs.

Inter state movement:
- No e-pass required for MH, GJ, RJ, HR, DL, UP.
- No check posts en-route.
- No restrictions on no. of people in the car.

Stay:
- Udaipur: Radisson Blu and Justa Rajputana.
- Radisson was packed with people, no social distancing followed whatsoever. There was hardly any place to park the car. Flooded with people from GJ.
- Justa on the other hand was empty, very well managed. Highly recommended.
- As a precautionary measure, we sprayed Savlon disinfectant on the linens, furniture inside our rooms.

Food stops:
- Most dhabas/restaurants operational en-route. All known outlets are crowded as usual.
- Onward journey: Packed food and ate in car at Jagadish (Vadodra) and Hivay King (Neelka).
- Return: Hotel Sarvottam (Vadodra) and Sri Datta (Manor), hardly any people and outside seating at both these places.

Few pictures:

[HalfOctave]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

Mumbai to NCR and back route update:

Return route: Greater Noida-Delhi-Jaipur-Kishangarh-Beawar-Rajasmand-Udaipur-Shamlaji-Modassa-Godhra Byass-Kalol-Vadodra-Bharuch-Mumbai.

Thanks for the route update. Glad that I found review as recent as few days back.

I am planning to take the Beawar route (your return route) from my journey to Delhi with difference that I'll starting from Pune. Since I am travelling with my 3 year old daughter, I plan to take two halts (one at Vadodara and next tentatively at Ajmer)

You mentioned that road from Mossada till Rajasthan entry is horrible and then its two lane road from Rjasmand to Beawar, so do you think Vadodara-Ahmedabad-Ajmer and bypassing Udaipur is better option?

[sinharishi]

Originally Posted by HalfOctave

You mentioned that road from Mossada till Rajasthan entry is horrible and then its two lane road from Rjasmand to Beawar, so do you think Vadodara-Ahmedabad-Ajmer and bypassing Udaipur is better option?

Hello, sorry for the delayed response.

I took Vadodra-Ahmedabad-Mehsana-Sirohi-Beawar stretch earlier this year, in the month of March just a week before lockdown 1.0. Road repair/expansion work was under progress near Sirohi, rest it was a smooth ride. I too would prefer this over Udaipur route.

[JSB]

Thanks for the review. I am planning Gurgaon to Pune by end Oct with my wife and son. Just wanted to check the pros/cons of using the traditional NH-8 route vs what you used. Look fwd to your inputs. Thanks a bunch! Cheers.