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Old 17th December 2012, 17:46   #16
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re: Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries

My favourite driving road out of Maharashtra. The Mumbai-Nasik highway is amongst the BEST drives you can have close to town; it's so much more fun than the boring concrete Mumbai-Pune expressway. There's long straights, fast curves, ghat sections, slow tight corners et al. Proper tar = Petrolhead stuff. The 1-way ghat (up or down) is something else. It even has a runoff area on the way back to Mumbai!!

Tip : Take the alternate road on the Kasara ghat if you like tight, twisty sections. At roughly the 60% point on the Kasara ghat (on the way up), you'll see a road going down and through a tunnel. Take it. Then, the first major right turn and straight all the way. Fun drive guaranteed. Keep going and you'll touch the main highway again (just outside Manas Resorts).

Places to eat in the Mumbai - Nasik order : Oye Punjabi, Dhingra, Gateway Hotel (crazy breakfast buffet). Be sure to stop for chai @ the many dhabas enroute.

If I'm behind the wheel of a fun-to-drive car, it's always the Nasik highway:

Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries-volvos6017-custom.jpg

Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries-4l-custom.jpg

Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries-dsc02332-custom.jpg

Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries-dsc_0022-custom.jpg

Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries-2l-custom.jpg

Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries-minicooper03-custom.jpg

Last edited by GTO : 17th December 2012 at 17:53.
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Old 17th December 2012, 17:58   #17
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re: Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries

Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post
My favourite driving road out of Maharashtra. The Mumbai-Nasik highway is amongst the BEST drives you can have close to town; it's so much more fun than the boring concrete Mumbai-Pune expressway. There's long straights, fast curves, ghat sections, slow tight corners et al. Proper tar = Petrolhead stuff. The 1-way ghat (up or down) is something else. It even has a runoff area on the way back to Mumbai!!

Tip : Take the alternate road on the Kasara ghat if you like tight, twisty sections. At roughly the 60% point on the Kasara ghat (on the way up), you'll see a road going down and through a tunnel. Take it. Then, the first major right turn and straight all the way. Fun drive guaranteed. Keep going and you'll touch the main highway again (just outside Manas Resorts).

Places to eat in the Mumbai - Nasik order : Oye Punjabi, Dhingra, Gateway Hotel (crazy breakfast buffet). Be sure to stop for chai @ the many dhabas enroute.

If I'm behind the wheel of a fun-to-drive car, it's always the Nasik highway:

Attachment 1028265

Attachment 1028261

Attachment 1028262

Attachment 1028263

Attachment 1028260

Attachment 1028264

I noticed in the above pics that you dont seem to have encountered traffic on this route. We were there just yesterday with an Audi and 3 BMWs and the biggest spoiler for me on this route has consistently been the traffic.
Thought an early sunday morning would be the best way to beat traffic but guess what, even a moderate traffic load makes it quite irritating since those 2 lanes on each side are grossly insufficient IMO.
For the above reasons NH8 does it for me over NH3. Yes Nh8 isnt dramatic but the sheer quality of the surface now (everything seems to be complete but for 1 flyover) is mind boggling. Try it if you havnt off late. I know its an nh3 thread but am attaching 3 pics with a glimpse of nh8. Get rid of them if its a problem
Attached Thumbnails
Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries-1.jpg  

Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries-2.jpg  

Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries-3.jpg  


Last edited by PlatzdaTurbo : 17th December 2012 at 18:08.
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Old 17th December 2012, 18:04   #18
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re: Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries

Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post
If I'm behind the wheel of a fun-to-drive car, it's always the Nasik highway:
I live in Thane right next this highway. Jams on this road, starting from at least toll booth after Thane extend upto my place, I can see and hear from my window. This sight and some drives (never easy except drives to Kalyan station during very early mornings) make me dread drive on this highway.

+1 to the comment on boring concrete road. However, I'll be taking that road over the coming weekend.

I've really enjoyed NH4 sections in Karnataka, very sparse traffic and quite a few asphalt sections.
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Old 17th December 2012, 18:09   #19
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re: Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries

WoW !! That's a big change from the time I used to ride from Dombivli to Nasik 15 years ago !! The road was 2 lane highway with No dividers in between ..

My Best time on my RD350 was 2:30 till Garware circle .. till I blew a hole in one of the pistons of the RD, thanks to the NGK (7HS ??) plugs !! There used to be a lot of truck traffic back then !!

Regards,
Kishor
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Old 17th December 2012, 22:04   #20
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Re: Mumbai-Nasik Highway

Quote:
Originally Posted by SDP View Post
Those 2 are absolutely lovely pics.. especially the second one!
For the first one, how did you get that vantage point? A small tripod mounted on another car's top, may be?
Thankyou SDP.
Both pics were taken using a tripod.
The only difference being that in the second pic the tripod was on the ground, while it wasn't in the first.

The setup was some thing like this:

Camera
||
Tripod
||
Hand
||
Ground
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Old 17th December 2012, 23:41   #21
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re: Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries

Thanks everyone for the comments and replies


Quote:
Originally Posted by ghodlur View Post
@Coolabhi,

Thanks for the tips. The roads look too tempting for a short drive. Mind sharing the total toll cost and also where exactly are these potholes concentrated?

The last time I took the road when the 4 laning was still happening and the road was horrible in patches. Any idea of the Ghoti-Sinnar road now?
The toll at Bhiwandi is 30 Rs while the toll at Shahpur is 90 Rs.
I have just traveled once on Ghoti-Sinnar road.Experience on this stretch was strictly ok. The stretch feels very isolated and in case your car fails or you have flat tyres ,things may be tough.

There are just 2 areas where potholes are there.One is at the declining bridge after shahpur and one is on the bridge just after crossing food hub plaza-both towards nasik
These 2 potholes are quite deep and may prove fatal if one is at high speed.

Recently the problems because of Cows and dogs crossing has increased considerably. You will find animal dead bodies lying crushed on the road.
Reason for this is the divider has lush green grass on it which the cattle tries to eat. Just yesterday while i was returning from nasik i saw a cow knocked down by a skoda superb.The bonnet of the car was damaged and bent. Something needs to be done soon to save the animals and make the highway safer


Quote:
Originally Posted by Jignesh View Post
Hello Abhi,

Thank you for the information & tips.

Infact it is said that now you do not feel when ghat section has passed - is it true?

Thanks,
You are most welcome.
yes, the kasara ghat route is different both ways. While going towards Nasik its the old route and is zig zag.Fun to drive but here you have to be very careful as there may be a vehicle coming from opposite side. This is because few villagers live on the slopes and travel in shared jeeps.This is quite rare though.

While coming to mumbai the ghat section is simply amazing.Few deep curves but very smooth.

Quote:
Originally Posted by iamahunter View Post
The highway not only till Nashik, but goes in a very good condition till Malegaon..
Its a very smooth and even road to drive.

Below are some pics of my recent drive to Malegaon via Nashik.
@Hunter - supercool pics man!
Quote:
Originally Posted by NMS View Post
Indeed a nice report Abhi. I do this route quite often since my inlaws stay at Nasik.
This route is so much better than the regular SH from Pune to Nasik. I travel from Pune to Nasik, via Mumbai, and almost make it in the same amount of time as I would do while using the SH from Pune to Nasik.
@NMS - Pune to nasik via mumbai?oh! do u drive via navi mumbai-kalyan route?

Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post
My favourite driving road out of Maharashtra. The Mumbai-Nasik highway is amongst the BEST drives you can have close to town; it's so much more fun than the boring concrete Mumbai-Pune expressway. There's long straights, fast curves, ghat sections, slow tight corners et al. Proper tar = Petrolhead stuff. The 1-way ghat (up or down) is something else. It even has a runoff area on the way back to Mumbai!!

Tip : Take the alternate road on the Kasara ghat if you like tight, twisty sections. At roughly the 60% point on the Kasara ghat (on the way up), you'll see a road going down and through a tunnel. Take it. Then, the first major right turn and straight all the way. Fun drive guaranteed. Keep going and you'll touch the main highway again (just outside Manas Resorts).

Places to eat in the Mumbai - Nasik order : Oye Punjabi, Dhingra, Gateway Hotel (crazy breakfast buffet). Be sure to stop for chai @ the many dhabas enroute.

If I'm behind the wheel of a fun-to-drive car, it's always the Nasik highway:
Amazing pics GTO and amazing machines to drive as well!
The steep route at kasara you are talking about is called as ghatan devi marg. There is a temple of ghatan devi as well just at the begining of this road.


Few more points from my side -

1) There are few blind spots on the route because of curves or increasing altitude.

2) Avoid the truck lane at toll booth. My car was banged from behind at the toll booth, however luckily the rear windshield was not damaged so i could atleast continue my journey. Better stick to car lane even if it has a long queue (see attached pic of the damage done)

3)Avoid driving at the bhiwandi stretch after its dark
Attached Thumbnails
Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries-dsc_1252.jpg  

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Old 18th December 2012, 00:45   #22
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re: Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries

Quote:
Originally Posted by PlatzdaTurbo View Post

...the biggest spoiler for me on this route has consistently been the traffic.

...but guess what, even a moderate traffic load makes it quite irritating since those 2 lanes on each side are grossly insufficient IMO.
I was also on that road on Sunday and there was just too much traffic. And the 2 lanes do not help at all. They are constantly blocked by trucks overtaking each other. Even when the trucks are not overtaking, they move in alternate lanes, so you have to keep changing lanes to overtake.

With our population, 3 lanes on each side are a minimum requirement. And they should really increase the number toll booths or come up with an efficient system to collect the tolls without making people wait in long queues.
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Old 18th December 2012, 10:49   #23
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re: Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries

Quote:
Originally Posted by PlatzdaTurbo View Post
I noticed in the above pics that you dont seem to have encountered traffic on this route.
I've found that the best time on this route is real early, say hitting the toll section of the highway by 7 am latest.

Sunday afternoons are awesome on the way back. I typically leave Deolali at 2ish pm and enjoy the empty roads all the way to Bhiwandi bypass. Several times, I've left Deolali at 5 am on Monday and found little to no traffic all the way to Mumbai.

On weekdays, anytime between noon - 4 pm is great.

Quote:
Originally Posted by coolabhi View Post
The steep route at kasara you are talking about is called as ghatan devi marg. There is a temple of ghatan devi as well just at the begining of this road.
Thanks! Incidentally, I remember spotting your i10 on this road itself a couple of months back. We'd exchanged posts on the sticker spotting thread.
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Old 18th December 2012, 12:04   #24
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re: Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries

[quote=coolabhi;2992973]Thanks everyone for the comments and replies

@NMS - Pune to nasik via mumbai?oh! do u drive via navi mumbai-kalyan route?


Yup !! Via Kalyan. I prefer that route to the direct one. Its much more peaceful. The road from Pune to Nasik is a 2 lane SH. And trust me, the way people drive on that highway is Horrific !!
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Old 18th December 2012, 20:40   #25
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re: Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries

Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post

Thanks! Incidentally, I remember spotting your i10 on this road itself a couple of months back. We'd exchanged posts on the sticker spotting thread.
Yah right. You had spotted me at Bhiwandi. How often do u travel to devlali?Even i leave from Nasik around 2.30 - 3 pm on sundays
Quote:
Originally Posted by NMS View Post
Yup !! Via Kalyan. I prefer that route to the direct one. Its much more peaceful. The road from Pune to Nasik is a 2 lane SH. And trust me, the way people drive on that highway is Horrific !!
thats true.The pune nasik highway has been the same for ages! its too tough to overtake on that route and driving on that route is really stressfull
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Old 15th March 2013, 12:34   #26
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re: Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries

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Yup !! Via Kalyan. I prefer that route to the direct one. Its much more peaceful. The road from Pune to Nasik is a 2 lane SH. And trust me, the way people drive on that highway is Horrific !!
Hi NMS, i will be travelling with family and friends from Mumbai to Nashik over the next weekend. Do you have any idea on the latest road condition and any pointers I should keep in mind.
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Old 15th March 2013, 14:11   #27
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re: Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries

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Originally Posted by PGNarain View Post
Hi NMS, i will be travelling with family and friends from Mumbai to Nashik over the next weekend. Do you have any idea on the latest road condition and any pointers I should keep in mind.
I have not traveled to Nashik in the past 3-4 months, so can't say much about the road conditions, However I am quite positive that they should be just fine. Just be wary of the stray cattle that can come in the way once a while, and ppl who travel on the wrong side of the road !!
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Old 16th March 2013, 08:08   #28
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re: Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries

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Hi NMS, i will be travelling with family and friends from Mumbai to Nashik over the next weekend. Do you have any idea on the latest road condition and any pointers I should keep in mind.
Road is excellent. Watch out for messiness at Kalyan Phata. Roads entering Nashik town are still being widened although some of the flyovers are now complete
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Old 16th March 2013, 08:22   #29
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re: Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries

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Road is excellent. Watch out for messiness at Kalyan Phata. Roads entering Nashik town are still being widened although some of the flyovers are now complete
Is the Nashik bypass flyover complete and open for public now?
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Old 16th March 2013, 08:26   #30
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re: Mumbai - Nashik : Route Queries

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Is the Nashik bypass flyover complete and open for public now?
There are several flyovers in that stretch, some are incomplete, but the main one at Dwaraka Circle (where you turn off to Shirdi) is still incomplete & causes traffic bottlenecks.
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