[Rahulk76]

An unexpected family trip is around the corner and would like t-bhp help to have the best shortest with decent halt for journey from Pune - Jammu - Pune.

I have mostly travelled on the eastern sector from Pune to Jamshedpur on NH6 and have no clue on the northern sector roads

[Rahulk76]

A rough route I have on net is as follows.

1. PUNE-NASHIK-SURAT-AHMEDABAD-JALOR-BIKANER-GANGANAGAR-BHATINDA-JALANDHAR-AMRITSAR-JAMMU (approx 2280kms) and the same route back.

2. PUNE-NASHIK-SURAT-AHMEDABAD-CHITORGARH-UDAIPUR-JAIPUR-DELHI-PANIPAT-KARNAL-LUDHIANA-JALANDHAR-KATHUA-JAMMU (approx 2359kms) and the same route back.

I have planned to drive 800-1000kms in a day and stayput at decent tourism hotels enroute for the night and starting early mornings.

Kindly advise with hotels enroute.

Apart from this the vehicle would be prepared with remote central lock and foglamps. Maybe lcd screens to keep kids at the back engaged

[hvkumar]

Clean roads all the way, first the GQ corridor of NH4/NH8/NH76/NH79 and then NH1/NH1A.

You can trace the route in the following log book, which is the log book of my recent Ladakh trip;

LADAKH Sep 2009 - hvkumar | Google Groups

Please note the following:
- Take the Turbhe-Airoli-Mulund-Thane-Ghodbunder route to bypassing Bombay, although the Kalamboli-Mumbra-Thane road is also much better nowadays
- Turn off Baroda-Ahmedabad expressway onto Sardar Patel Ring Road to avoid going into A'bad city (check out exact coordinates in my log book)
- Don't forget to turn off Nh8 onto NH76 at Udaipur
- Stick to the route via Delhi, avoid the Rewari-Rohkat-Panipat route
- Road is still 2-laned after Bhogpur (Jalandhar-Pathankot road), wrecked inside Pathankot town and being widened all the way to Jammu

You will note that we have taken a short cut avoiding Jammu, from near Samba. IN your case, you keep going straight to Jammu.

Overnight stay - stop over in Udaipur on Day 1, somewhere after Delhi on Day 2 (preferably Ambala) and make it the 3rd day to Jammu. If you note from our log book, we have crossed Jammu on Day 2, but that would mean 2 long days of driving.

Facilities are excellent, traffic very high in Bombay-Baroda sector and Jaipur-Delhi sectors. North of Delhi, traffic can be irritating by day, with lots of miscellaneous traffic on the road.

My ideal drive plan would mean leaving Pune early (say, 430 am) so that you can cross the Bombay region before 7 am to avoid city traffic. The only unfortunate thing about the plan is that you will reach NCR in the evening and get stuck in some jams, but I don't think you have a choice.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by Rahulk76

A rough route I have on net is as follows.

1. PUNE-NASHIK-SURAT-AHMEDABAD-JALOR-BIKANER-GANGANAGAR-BHATINDA-JALANDHAR-AMRITSAR-JAMMU (approx 2280kms) and the same route back.

2. PUNE-NASHIK-SURAT-AHMEDABAD-CHITORGARH-UDAIPUR-JAIPUR-DELHI-PANIPAT-KARNAL-LUDHIANA-JALANDHAR-KATHUA-JAMMU (approx 2359kms) and the same route back.

I have planned to drive 800-1000kms in a day and stayput at decent tourism hotels enroute for the night and starting early mornings.

Kindly advise with hotels enroute.

Apart from this the vehicle would be prepared with remote central lock and foglamps. Maybe lcd screens to keep kids at the back engaged

LADAKH 2004 - hvkumar | Google Groups
Check out the above link, has the Route 1, I did Jammu-Pathankot-Amritsar-Bikaner-Jaisalmer-Ahmedabad-Bombay on my way back from Ladakh. I will not recommend this route because it is too lonely, poor facilities. However, if you plan to visit Rajasthan also, then it is a good idea since you can stop over in Bikaner and Jaisalmer. Roads are great throughout, although in Punjab, you will run into heavy traffic in some sectors.

I will not advise the Nashik route (Route 2) since the Bombay is faster and on better roads.

You can note the hotels on the route from my log book. You have hotels (after Ahmedabad) at:
- NH8, after crossing Ahmedabad
- Himmatnagar
- Shamlaji
- Ratanpur
- Rishanbdeo
- Before Udaipur, on bypass
- Udaipur
- After Udaipur, near Airport
- Chittorgarh (inside town)
- Bhilwara (inside town)
- Kishangarh (on N8, Hotel Panaghat)
- None on Jaipur bypass, only inside city
- RTDC Shahpura
- RTDC Behror
- Haryana Tourism motels towards Delhi - check out their web-site
- Haryana Tourism motels at Sonipat, Samalka, Panipat, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Ambala


Please note that Pune-Jammu on my recommended route is around 2,250 kms.

[Akadian]

Dear Kumar,

I really appreciate the fact that you have done both the routes for Mumbai to Ladakh. I second your opinion that on the above-mentioned route 1, there can be heavy trailer traffic at various points as that route is used by many operators plying from any of the Gujarat ports to Ludhiana or other parts of Punjab. But the roads are good and there is a good place to stay in Ganganagar as well. It is called Hotel Pagoda. Even though this hotel is within the main market, don't be afraid to enter as Ganganagar has some of the widest bazaar roads in India. And all the roads cross only at right angles

Cheers

[Rahulk76]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

LADAKH 2004 - hvkumar | Google Groups
Check out the above link, has the Route 1, I did Jammu-Pathankot-Amritsar-Bikaner-Jaisalmer-Ahmedabad-Bombay on my way back from Ladakh. I will not recommend this route because it is too lonely, poor facilities. However, if you plan to visit Rajasthan also, then it is a good idea since you can stop over in Bikaner and Jaisalmer. Roads are great throughout, although in Punjab, you will run into heavy traffic in some sectors.

I will not advise the Nashik route (Route 2) since the Bombay is faster and on better roads.

You can note the hotels on the route from my log book. You have hotels (after Ahmedabad) at:
- NH8, after crossing Ahmedabad
- Himmatnagar
- Shamlaji
- Ratanpur
- Rishanbdeo
- Before Udaipur, on bypass
- Udaipur
- After Udaipur, near Airport
- Chittorgarh (inside town)
- Bhilwara (inside town)
- Kishangarh (on N8, Hotel Panaghat)
- None on Jaipur bypass, only inside city
- RTDC Shahpura
- RTDC Behror
- Haryana Tourism motels towards Delhi - check out their web-site
- Haryana Tourism motels at Sonipat, Samalka, Panipat, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Ambala


Please note that Pune-Jammu on my recommended route is around 2,250 kms.

Thanks HV for the morale boost thru this post.
Since family is there with me, i would avoid lonely routes and prefer travelling time between (3am until 8pm) with breaks for breakfast and lunch and misc.

[Akadian]

Dear Rahul,

Do stop for some food or an overnight stay at Karnal. There are excellent options like Jhilmil Dhaba, the Oasis complex and Haveli. The best part is that all these places are right there on the highway. You don't have to enter city traffic or waste time finding out the location etc

Regards

[gajadonga]

I travelled from Thane to Hyderabad last week.The Thane-Mumbra-Kalamboli route is completely broken with huge potholes and added to that it is a toll road it took almost 1.30hrs to reach Thane to Kalamboli.

[hvkumar]

Avoid the Kalamboli-Thane road as much as you can. It is the shortest route to bypass Bombay, but it also remains in good condition the shortest possible time. I always advise that you take the longer route via Belpaur-Turbhe-Kopar Khairne-Airoli-Mulubnd-Thane. You will take 1 hour from end of expressway to Thane even in peak hour.

[Rahulk76]

Allright ,
Leaves from office are availed. from 18Dec until 2nd Jan.

Inspirations from the site now makes me wonder, if this is possible

pune-udaipur-delhi-karnal-sonepat-pathankot-katra-srinagar-leh-khardungla???

overnight stopages at udaipur, karnal, katra, srinagar/gulmarg-leh :o
while coming back if time allows, see around delhi, udaipur, mountabu & backhome

[hvkumar]

Sonmarg-Kargil-Leh road closes in end-October till mid-May.

[shabahmad]

Originally Posted by Rahulk76

Allright ,
overnight stopages at udaipur, karnal, katra, srinagar/gulmarg-leh :o
while coming back if time allows, see around delhi, udaipur, mountabu & backhome

Hi Rahul,

Have a look at Kumar Sir's the GQ log for Mumbai-Delhi section. I have followed his log religiously for my Pune-Ajmer trip in diwali holidays; started from Hadapsar Pune at 4.30AM and reached Ajmer (Dargah) at 11.35PM (app 1230km in 19 hrs).
The roads are fantastic in gujrat-rajasthan and less traffic after you cross surat. If possible then try to make your first at Kishangarh.
Take Ice Box & keep lots of chocolates, fruits, chas, milk and electrol. This will help since you will be traveling gujrat in day time, and dehydration will be high. To save time combine Boi breaks with refuel stops.

Regards,
Shabbir

[deky]

Two points from my side.

1. Do not take the ludhiyana by pass, its horrible as it will take you thru the transport nagar and there you will get stuck in between trucks and all kind of hopless traffic and crater sized pot holes. Take the route that takes you from the city. The city has an elevated road and the traffic is much better and faster there.

Do not forget to take the right turn from Jalandher to Pathankot for NH1A. If you keep going straight I think you will reach Amritsar.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by deky

Two points from my side.

1. Do not take the ludhiyana by pass, its horrible as it will take you thru the transport nagar and there you will get stuck in between trucks and all kind of hopless traffic and crater sized pot holes. Take the route that takes you from the city. The city has an elevated road and the traffic is much better and faster there.

Do not forget to take the right turn from Jalandher to Pathankot for NH1A. If you keep going straight I think you will reach Amritsar.

I entirely agree with deky. We took the elevated road through Ludhiana city - 8 kms took us 17 minutes only during midday (on a Sunday).

6 kms after you turn right into Jalandhar bypass, you will see a flyover - go straight to go to Amritsar on NH1, turn right under the flyover to go on Nh1A to Pathankot.

[Rahulk76]

Chee thanks guys..

The finale trip looks like this now. I am noting down all the major/minor routeplans mentioned across this post and compiling it across.

So on a macro level the current to&fro route is like this

pune-thane(gorebunder)-udaipur-delhi-ambala-pathankot-katra-srinagar-gulmarg & back via same route

Inputs

• Take the Turbhe-Airoli-Mulund-Thane-Ghodbunder route to bypassing Bombay, although the Kalamboli-Mumbra-Thane road is also much better nowadays
• Turn off Baroda-Ahmedabad expressway onto Sardar Patel Ring Road to avoid going into A'bad city (check out exact coordinates in my log book)
• Don't forget to turn off Nh8 onto NH76 at Udaipur
• Stick to the route via Delhi, avoid the Rewari-Rohkat-Panipat route
  - Road is still 2-laned after Bhogpur (Jalandhar-Pathankot road), wrecked inside Pathankot town and being widened all the way to Jammu
• Do not take the ludhiana by pass, The city has an elevated road and the traffic is much better and faster there.
• Do not forget to take the right turn from Jalandher to Pathankot for NH1A
• Take a detour from /after samba towards udhampur and reach katra directly ??? advise ?
• I am planning to have a less stressfull driving as I have kids onboard.
  
  Overnight stay -
• Day1 stop over in Udaipur.
• Day 2 (preferably Ambala) and make it the
• Day3,4 to Katra,Jammu.
• Day 5 Somewhere near Srinagar, Gulmarg
• Day 6 -detour towards a destination to meet someone
• Day 7- udhampur
• Day 8- Delhi
• Day 9- Udaipur / Mount Abu
• Day 10 - Pune