[honeybee]

I am planning to drive out next month. Kolhapur and Pandharpur are definitely in, and most likely Satara will also be part of the itinerary. Planning to start on 15 May and be back on 18 May night. Do not intend to take up night journey as it will only be me and wifey.

The general plan is:

15th: Start early in the morning, visit Satara, halt for a couple of hours and then reach Kolhapur/Kagal. Spend night at Kagal.
16th: Nothing specific planned
17th: Have to reach Pandharpur by night. Nothing planned for the day yet.
18th: Start from Pandharpur post lunch and be home by night.

I shall be driving a Santro (most likely) and with good roads, can maintain around 100kmph. Also the travel will be more of a recreational outing, so any interesting place where we can spend an hour or two, relax and probably take some photos, would be nice.

I know the road upto Kolhapur will be no problem, but has anyone driven from Kagal to Pandharpur/vice versa? Any idea what kind of road or traffic we should find?

[Abhay]

I have recently driven from Satara "phata" (just after the toll ) to Pandharpur (via Gondavale) and the road is decent (much better than the road from Pandharpur-Pune via Phaltan). I do not know about the Kagal-Pandharpur road but in case it is poor, you could directly go to PP from Satara and then head to Kolhapur. While coming back to Mumbai the distance would be greater but the road back would be nicer/quicker.

Of course gurus like AshishPallod will be here any minute to give better options to you!

That particular area is quite barren with nothing else but pomo orchards, and if you are the religious kind then the Gondavale ashram/math could be a possible stop for you.
Pandharpur does not have anything apart from the temple either. So if you are looking for some good vistas on the road in this weather it might be hard.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

best route will be

mumbai-satara-kolhapur[ nh4, no problem],

kolhapur-miraj-sangola-pandharpur[ wide road],

pandharpur-mhaswad-gondawale-satara-mumbai.[ recent report from mobike008 shows that the road is good].

please, do not take pandharpur-phalatan-pune route. the stretch between malshiras and velapur is really bad.

[Akadian]

Originally Posted by honeybee

I am planning to drive out next month. Spend night at Kagal.
has anyone driven from Kagal to Pandharpur/vice versa? Any idea what kind of road or traffic we should find?

Hi honeybee,

I've done Kolhapur to Solapur as well Kagal to Sangli. So, I guess I'm the best person to take your query

The Kagal to Sangli route is actually better than the Kolhapur - Sangli stretch as it is not crowded. The Kolhapur - Sangli route is usually crowded like anything during the day time except maybe very early morning.

From Kagal go to Kasba Sangaon, ok. No issues as it is a close by place and anybody will tell you how to proceed. From Kasba Sangaon, proceed to Hupari via Yalgud and from Hupari to Ichalkaranji. From Ichalkaranji, go towards Jaisingpur. After that it is the same road as the Kolhapur - Sangli way.

Sangli to Pandharpur is no issue as the road gets better in a way.

If you have anymore queries, do get in touch.

Cheers

[honeybee]

Akadian,

I have been to Sangli and while the condition of the road is good, the traffic makes it a pathetic experience. As the road isn't much wide, the constant traffic of trolleys and jeeps makes it extremely difficult to build and sustain a good pace.

Also I have been in and around Ichalkaranji and met some of the worst roads I have driven on in the last few years. This was when I drove from Narsinh Wadi to Kolhapur, when instead of taking a better road, we mistook a few turns and went through Ichalkaranji. Probably wasted a good part of an hour.

Ashish, thanks for the suggestions. My original plan for the return journey from Pandharpur to Mumbai was through Phaltan and Saswad, but if it has bad roads, I guess your suggestion makes good sense.

All halts with be with relatives. We originally had planned for about four days for this whole journey, but chances are we might get just about two to do it. We may have to stay at Pune till evening of 16. So the best option in that case seems to be to drive from Pune on 16th evening, either reach Satara which is close by and halt for the night, leave early morning 17th, reach Kagal, and then leave Kagal in the afternoon to make for Pandharpur. Or drive from Pune to Kagal on 16th, omitting Satara and then halt there for the night. Wife's relatives stay at Kagal, while mine stay at Satara. So it's a difficult situation

[Akadian]

Hi Honeybee,

I agree that the Narsingwadi to Ichalkaranji bit is bad but it is not the same with Kagal to Ichalkaranji. That is a better road any day compared to the village to village route from Narsingwadi to Ichalkaranji. I've used all those roads you are talking about

Cheers

[_abhay_]

Hi All,

I am planing to do Mumbai - Pandharpur - Narsoba Wadi - Kolhapur - Mumbai next week.

I will be driving alone with my mom in my Santro. Ive driven numerous times to Goa on the infamous NH17 (do have good driving experience).
Considering the above conditions, please suggest me good route, needs to be hassle free as i am alone.

Regards
Abhay K

[VBN]

Originally Posted by _abhay_

Hi All,

I am planing to do Mumbai - Pandharpur - Narsoba Wadi - Kolhapur - Mumbai next week.

I will be driving alone with my mom in my Santro. Ive driven numerous times to Goa on the infamous NH17 (do have good driving experience).
Considering the above conditions, please suggest me good route, needs to be hassle free as i am alone.

Regards
Abhay K

Hi Abhay, which rout did you finally take? And which route donou recommend for mumbai Aurangabad?

Regards

[satrab]

Originally Posted by VBN

Hi Abhay, which rout did you finally take? And which route donou recommend for mumbai Aurangabad?

Regards

Would suggest that you take the Mumbai-Pune-Ahmednagar-Aurangabad route. Excellent road all through. There will be some local traffic near Pune and between Nagar and Aurangabad, but otherwise should be great. There is an alternate route via Ghoti and Shirdi, but parts of that are not great.

[S_U_N]

Surprised to see that there is only one thread which comes up when I search for "Narsoba".
Well, so this should be the right place to ask.

We are planning to have to visit Narsobawadi and will drive down from Pune.
Which is the best route?
Kolhapur- Ichalkaranji - Kurundwad - Narsobawadi,
OR
Kolhapur- Jaysingpur - Shirol - Narsobawadi
OR
something else?

Longer route which is in better condition is preferred.
We will also have darshan at Kolhapur (perhaps while coming back.)

Also, since we plan to leave on Saturday and return on Sunday, I need
1. Accommodation options around Narsoba or some other place
2. Include one or two more places which we can visit.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

OR something else? Longer route which is in better condition is preferred..

I usually go to Narsoba Wadi via Sangli. However, Peth Naka to Sangli is in average condition most of the time. I've never stayed there, but best bet for you would be to stay in Sangli, which has lots of decent hotels. Sangli - Wadi is hardly a 45 minutes drive. If you are visiting Kolhapur, some other places of interest in the region that you can consider are Vishalgad, Pawankhind, Panhala, Jyotiba and Marleshwar [though this is slightly far away].

Cheers,
Vikram

[Figopian]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

Surprised to see that there is only one thread which comes up when I search for "Narsoba".
Well, so this should be the right place to ask.

We are planning to have to visit Narsobawadi and will drive down from Pune.
Which is the best route?
Kolhapur- Ichalkaranji - Kurundwad - Narsobawadi,
OR
Kolhapur- Jaysingpur - Shirol - Narsobawadi
OR
something else?

Longer route which is in better condition is preferred.
We will also have darshan at Kolhapur (perhaps while coming back.)

Also, since we plan to leave on Saturday and return on Sunday, I need
1. Accommodation options around Narsoba or some other place
2. Include one or two more places which we can visit.

Kolhapur- Jaysingpur - Shirol - Narsobawadi is the one you should take. Don't get into Ichalkaranji, it will waste some time and also it does not save any distance. This road via Jaysignpur - Shirol is good, you may get heavy traffic till Jaysingpur by-pass, should be okay after that.

If you have time and interest, may I recommend you to visit Khidrapur temple? Its around 20 odd Kms further from Narsobawadi but a very good ancient temple. I was there just a couple of weeks back and the architecture is mesmerizing for sure. It's not regularly visited by tourists, but seems MTDC is now promoting it.
Also, there is one place called "Ramling" a detour of around 5 Km one way before Hatkanagale on Sangli road. Again a very ancient place which has a shivling in a gufa surrounded by water, a very interesting place.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by Figopian

If you have time and interest, may I recommend you to visit Khidrapur temple? Its around 20 odd Kms further from Narsobawadi but a very good ancient temple. I was there just a couple of weeks back and the architecture is mesmerizing for sure. It's not regularly visited by tourists, but seems MTDC is now promoting it.
Also, there is one place called "Ramling" a detour of around 5 Km one way before Hatkanagale on Sangli road. Again a very ancient place which has a shivling in a gufa surrounded by water, a very interesting place.

Hi Figopian,

These places sound interesting. For the Khidrapur temple, where does one have to go 20 kms further? Towards Kurundwad, or some other road? For Ramling, is there any landmark where we need to turn before Hatkanagale?

Cheers,
Vikram

[Figopian]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

Hi Figopian,

These places sound interesting. For the Khidrapur temple, where does one have to go 20 kms further? Towards Kurundwad, or some other road? For Ramling, is there any landmark where we need to turn before Hatkanagale?

Cheers,
Vikram

From Narsobawadi, just keep on going towards Kurundwad, there are some sign boards in between which show the way to Khidrapur, but you should keep asking the locals about road to Khidrapur as there are a few turns you could easily miss.

For Ramling road, you should see a sign board just before Hatkanagale on your left side while going from Kolhapur to Sangli. Look our for Sanjay Ghodawat Institutes and this diversion is around 3 - 3.5 Km from there. See the map which will be helpful.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by Figopian

From Narsobawadi....See the map which will be helpful.

Thanks a lot!

One final question While coming from Pune, is the exit for Sangli/Miraj road after one passes Manugraph/Kolhapur Steels [on the right side of NH4] or before it?

Cheers,
Vikram