[khoj]

I will be driving from Mumbai to Delhi via Kota and a side trip to Jhalawar. While I am familiar with the Mumbai Udaipur, Chittorgarh stretch, I require driving directions from Chittorgarh to Kota, Kota to Jhalawar and onwards from Kota to Jaipur. Would appreciate your inputs regarding the route, road conditions and hotels to stay in Kota.

[Akadian]

Hi Khoj,

Kota comes before Jhalawar on NH12 when one travels from Jaipur in that direction. So, I hope you do know that you will first be traveling away from Jaipur when you go to Jhalawar from Kota and you will basically have to come back till Kota from Jhalawar and then proceed onwards to Jaipur on NH12.

As far as road conditions go, the going is good from Kota till Jaipur on NH12 but the road is not that great between Kota and Jhalawar. As far as Chittor to Kota is concerned, it is the famous NH76 (part of the E-W corridor). You should not have much of a problem on this section

[ampere]

NH76 goes from Chittor to Kota. You can take this stretch.

[Akadian]

Regarding hotels in Kota, I'm not too sure as I never put up for the night over there. But it looks like a nice city and in some parts that I saw even better than a few parts of Jaipur. So, only thing I can say is that you won't have a problem finding a decent hotel there. Check out the RTDC website and they may have a presence there as well. BTW, I think a pretty decent looking Jain Dharamshala is there quite close to the bus stand but depends if you prefer proper hotels this place may not be for you

[khoj]

Originally Posted by Akadian

Hi Khoj,

Kota comes before Jhalawar on NH12 when one travels from Jaipur in that direction. So, I hope you do know that you will first be traveling away from Jaipur when you go to Jhalawar from Kota and you will basically have to come back till Kota from Jhalawar and then proceed onwards to Jaipur on NH12.

As far as road conditions go, the going is good from Kota till Jaipur on NH12 but the road is not that great between Kota and Jhalawar. As far as Chittor to Kota is concerned, it is the famous NH76 (part of the E-W corridor). You should not have much of a problem on this section

Hi Akadian,

Thank you for the information(s). Could you provide some more details regarding these two stretches (Kota-Jhalawar-Kota & Kota-Jaipur) in terms of distance, type of road, approximate travel time and major towns/settlements along the way.

I have been to Kota more than a decade back and stayed at the company guest house as there were no hotels worth looking into at that time, but things should have changed in all this while.


@ampere
Thank you for the information.

[Akadian]

Hi Khoj,

I'll definitely do my best to share as much information as possible. Major towns on the way from Kota to Jaipur on the NH12 are Bundi (about 40 kms from Kota) and Tonk (about 150 kms from Kota). Total distance from Kota to Jaipur via NH12 is in the range of 250 kms. Road conditions are decent all along and I don't remember any rough stretches as such. You should take 3.5 - 4 hours at a leisurely pace with a tea break in between.

Kota to Jhalawar is close to 80+ kms on the same highway NH12 but the road is not as good as the Kota - Jaipur stretch. It may take you 1.5 hours plus to do this stretch and the going is a little rough. It is not like there are huge potholes or something but the surface itself feels rough under the wheels. Between these two towns there are no major cities / towns that I recall

[ampere]

As far as I know (This is really-really old info), there are two routes from Kota from Jaipur, which go via Cittorh. One is via Bundi and the other via Rawat Bhata, Singoli, Begu and Chittorh. Not sure how is the road status.

[anainar]

Originally Posted by khoj

Hi Akadian,

Thank you for the information(s). Could you provide some more details regarding these two stretches (Kota-Jhalawar-Kota & Kota-Jaipur) in terms of distance, type of road, approximate travel time and major towns/settlements along the way.

I have been to Kota more than a decade back and stayed at the company guest house as there were no hotels worth looking into at that time, but things should have changed in all this while.


@ampere
Thank you for the information.

I dont know upto Jaipur, but the Chittorgarh-Kota road was four laned and it is NH76. You wont have any problems at all. From Kota to Jaipur you may have to take NH12, about which I dont know.

Nainar

[Akadian]

Hi Khoj,

If you are going to Jhalawar from Kota even after coming to know that it is in the opposite direction from Jaipur and that the road conditions are not that great. Then I have one small request . Do visit Jhalrapatan, see the Sun temple there and post some pics on T-BHP. I know I'm being selfish expecting you to do somethng I've personally wanted to do but if you do have the time

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Akadian

Hi Khoj,

If you are going to Jhalawar from Kota even after coming to know that it is in the opposite direction from Jaipur and that the road conditions are not that great. Then I have one small request . Do visit Jhalrapatan, see the Sun temple there and post some pics on T-BHP. I know I'm being selfish expecting you to do somethng I've personally wanted to do but if you do have the time

Make that two. I grew up in these areas !

[phamilyman]

There is a really awesome road from Dausa down southwards which is some rajasthan state mega highway project or such. It was functional last dec when i went via tonk route (CRAZY traffic till Tonk and absent roads from tonk to sawai madhopur) - just check for that as well

[black_panther]

From Udaipur take the GQ upto chittor bypass and take the detour from there towards Kota.

The EW corridoor upto Kota bypass is in great shape.

About 7km before Kota, you need to take the diversion that goes inside Kota. Drive straight till you meet the NH12 junction. There is large HP PP at the junction.

In case you need to stay at Kota, RTDC Hotel Chambal is decent with excellent service.

[khoj]

@anainar, phamilyman & black_panther thank you for your inputs. I will look out for your pointers.

@akadian & ampere. I will make that side trip to Jhaltarpan.

However you will now have to bear with me until my return leg. A meeting has been moved forward and I have to be in Delhi on the 30th for the same. Anyhow I will now be proceeding straight from BOM to DEL and will do the Kota, Jhalawar sector on the return journey. By the way these are all official work tours so I do not have much choice in the sense wherever Jhalawar might be towards or away from Jaipur.

As of now I leave BOM on the 28th to reach Chittor hopefully in time for the evening light & sound show and then undertake Chittor to DEL on the 29th which is a Sunday, thereby giving the Bhiwari/Rewari/Gurgaon to Delhi evening evening rush hour traffic a complete miss.

Do let me know if there are any other attractions on this route and I would love to look them up as on the return journey I will have plenty of time and will not be rushing back to BOM.

[Akadian]

That is fantastic, dear friend. No time pressure on the way back. Then I have a suggestion. Bundi is beautiful. Spend some time there as well. When you pass via the NH12, the side view of the old town on the hill is so captivating that I just can't describe it in words

[anainar]

Originally Posted by Akadian

That is fantastic, dear friend. No time pressure on the way back. Then I have a suggestion. Bundi is beautiful. Spend some time there as well. When you pass via the NH12, the side view of the old town on the hill is so captivating that I just can't describe it in words

I was told the same as well by the Fort Bassi guys. They proposed a visit to Bundi village and spend half a day there. I was hard pressed for time and drove down to Pune.

Nainar