[NPV]

Requesting route information help for a friend who is traveling to Mumbai from Bangalore by flight. From there he intends to drive to Nasik.

Please suggest the best route from the Domestic Airport (Santacruz ?) in Mumbai to Nasik.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by NPV

Requesting route information help for a friend who is traveling to Mumbai from Bangalore by flight. From there he intends to drive to Nasik.

Please suggest the best route from the Domestic Airport (Santacruz ?) in Mumbai to Nasik.

The usual highway (NH3) is in excellent shape and a wonderful road to drive. There is hardly an option I would suggest here. Take the usual route.

Barring traffic at Bhiwandi bypass, the road is fantastic.

Budget 3 to 3.5 Hours from Thane for Nashik with normal cruising speeds.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

The usual highway (NH3) is in excellent shape and a wonderful road to drive. There is hardly an option I would suggest here. Take the usual route.

Sorry for a noob question, how does one get to NH 3 from the domestic airport at Santacruz ?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by NPV

Sorry for a noob question, how does one get to NH 3 from the domestic airport at Santacruz ?

Domestic Airport - Kalina - SCLR (Santa Cruz - Chembur Link Road) - Eastern Expressway - Thane (NH3 Junction) - Nashik.

Also make sure that if the destination is Nashik, then not to climb the Nashik Flyover that will actually bypass the City itself.

EDIT:

Optionally, you can also try -

Domestic Airport - NH8 Towards Dahisar - Kashimira - Fountain Hotel Junction (Ghodbunder), Turn right - Thane - Majewada - Left for Nashik

However, with the newly built link road, you are better of with the first option itself.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Domestic Airport - Kalina - SCLR (Santa Cruz - Chembur Link Road) - Eastern Expressway - Thane (NH3 Junction) - Nashik.

Also make sure that if the destination is Nashik, then not to climb the Nashik Flyover that will actually bypass the City itself.

The Nashik flyover just bypassess the choc o block Majiwada junction and not the city itself. Just one needs to be careful is that they need to keep on the extreme right when climbing the flyover or else they might end up going towards Ghodbunder Road. Unfortunately the route signage's are still missing before the start of the flyover.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

The Nashik flyover just bypassess the choc o block Majiwada junction and not the city itself. Just one needs to be careful is that they need to keep on the extreme right when climbing the flyover or else they might end up going towards Ghodbunder Road. Unfortunately the route signage's are still missing before the start of the flyover.

I believe he is talking about the flyover that is near the Taj gateway hotel in Nashik.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

I believe he is talking about the flyover that is near the Taj gateway hotel in Nashik.

Exactly. The Flyover I am referring is at Nashik

[Dieselritzer]

I do the Mumbai - Nasik - Mumbai drive atleast once a month and a few obsersations that i have:
- Driving till Bhiwandi Naka is plain boring, its like driving in Mumbai. Traffic, bad roads, etc.
- Drive from Bhiwandi Naka till Kalyan Faata is decent if there isnt much truck traffic. Bhiwandi bypass has really good tarmic, there are tall trees along the road.
- Drive from Kalyan Faata till Ghoti is fun! Amazing tarmac, Kasara Ghat, twist, turns.
- Drive from Ghoti till Nasik (where the proper 6 lane expressway starts) is absolutely blaze. A capable car can do its top whack easily on this stretch. Hardly any traffic, beautiful plateaus surrounding you, a very pleasant drive.

But having driven so many times on this roads in all times of the day and in all seasons of the year, i have some negative observations too.

- Too many intersections. The Mumbai Pune expressway is a proper dedicated road with barricades along and no openings in the dividers. This gives you a peace of mind that no vehicle will suddenly stop ahead of you to take a turn, or no rear end or front end of a truck would be protruding half way through the road while he is taking a turn. I have seen a few mishaps due to people not following the proper signalling rules.

-Animals. The stretch between Asangaon and Igatpuri is where you can see a cow, buffalo, dog, goat, T-Rex, Godzilla standing right in the center of the road. Ok a dog wont stand, he will cross the road, but our holy cows don't move a bit. As a thumb rule, in this stretch even on the slightest of turns i get my speed below 100 and hand on the gear knob just incase i have to do a super quick downshift.

-Trucks in wrong lane. It is not a 4 lane one way road. Its 2 lanes. The truckers will occupy the right lane and the left lane too or both if they are trying to overtake each other. This leaves you with 2 options, drive behind them and keep honking or flashing lights: Wont help! Or, drive forming an S shape and keep overtaking them. During day this is easily manageable, at night, this is tricky. Also countless times i have seen trucks with 2 tail lamp, and even the reflectors are covered in mud, so basically you see it just before you kiss its ass.

-Humans! Yes. Cars cannot drive themselves in the opposite direction, we humans do. Cars, Jeeps, tempo tracks of the worlds will welcome you on your face with their parking lights on. At nights, they'll greet you with a blue colored blinding light. They tend to take shortcuts to access the nearest divider crossing!

"End of rant"
Its always fun to drive to Nasik :-)

Originally Posted by akshay1234

I believe he is talking about the flyover that is near the Taj gateway hotel in Nashik.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Exactly. The Flyover I am referring is at Nashik

No. He is referring to the flyover near Thane, just before Mc Donalds. If you take the left curve, you go towards Ghodbander. You have to take the right curve that touches down just before the Mc Donalds. This road takes you to Nasik.

Originally Posted by Maverick79

Folks,

Pls update on latest condition of this route.

Planning to drive down from Shirdi to Powai with a 8 month old kid and Sr.Citizens in a Manza QJD, mid next week.

Should I take this route or completely skip Nashik and take the below route?

Shirdi - Sinnar - Igatpuri - Khardi - Thane

Thanks in advance.
Maverick79.

Hi, Shirdi Sinnar is horrible. The road is too narrow with too much traffic. Also, why take a longer route?

Shirdi - Sinnar - Ghoti - Thane. Sinnar Ghoti the condition is decent. The Manza will glide over the road.

Another option, a more longer option but if your better half wishes to buy Sarees at Yeola, you can do Shirdi - Yeola - Nasik - Thane. Yeola Nasik is a proper 2 lane each way road. You can do it in an hour.

Note from Support - Please use the Multi-Quote feature while replying to multiple posts, instead of submitting back to back posts. See this (How to MULTI-QUOTE (when replying to a thread) on Team-BHP) thread for more information.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Dieselritzer

No. He is referring to the flyover near Thane, just before Mc Donalds. If you take the left curve, you go towards Ghodbander. You have to take the right curve that touches down just before the Mc Donalds. This road takes you to Nasik.

Huh? Ghodlur quoted Paragsachania who has cleared up what he meant. If you are talking about Ghodlur then he misunderstood paragsachania.

[Maverick79]

Originally Posted by Dieselritzer

Hi, Shirdi Sinnar is horrible. The road is too narrow with too much traffic. Also, why take a longer route?

Shirdi - Sinnar - Ghoti - Thane. Sinnar Ghoti the condition is decent. The Manza will glide over the road.

Another option, a more longer option but if your better half wishes to buy Sarees at Yeola, you can do Shirdi - Yeola - Nasik - Thane. Yeola Nasik is a proper 2 lane each way road. You can do it in an hour.

Thanks pal. I finished this drive long back ago. Yes the Shirdi- Sinnar route was pretty bad. Due to time constraints, didn't take any other longer route.

Thanks and regards,
Maverick79

[sinhavivek]

Had a round trip to Nashik from Thane yesterday. The road is pothole ridden at many places. Partlly filled by paver blocks, but mostly left. The Mumbai bound side is even worse. Surely, the road quality didn't justify the 100 bucks they charge on toll.

[PGNarain]

Originally Posted by sinhavivek

The road is pothole ridden at many places. Partlly filled by paver blocks, but mostly left. The Mumbai bound side is even worse.

Hi, I am driving to Nashik tomorrow and just ned to ask - Is the entire stretch potholed or just some sections in between?

How are Kasara Ghat sections - both ways?

[sinhavivek]

The Road towards Nashik was in bad shape in certain stretches. Though they have tried to repair using paver blocks but precaution should be maintained till Kasara. The road in ghats and beyond were fine.

[Caddy]

Hello, I'm driving down to Nasik this week. Request any updates or concerns on road conditions from recent travelers.
Also, since I'm traveling with family members, any inputs on a decent place to stop by for lunch are most welcome.
Thank you

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Caddy

Hello, I'm driving down to Nasik this week. Request any updates or concerns on road conditions from recent travelers.

No worries on the road conditions - good all the way.

I traveled to Shirdi and did not stop en route for breakfast bit there are few good dhabas in kasara ghat. In fact on the other side of the ghat there is a good hotel called vrindavan but reaching there on your onward journey may be difficult given the ghat road is one way in each direction and you will have to make a long detour, but nevertheless an option for your return journey.
I think in Nashik there is a Kamat and other good hotels too but I'm unable to give you a specific recommendation having never been to any of them.