[teknophobia]

A friend and I are planning to drive from Ahmedabad to Goa and back near the end of May.

We will be taking NE1 and then Western express highway followed by Sion Panvel highway till panvel. However, we are a little confused regarding the best route to take, whether to Take NH17 directly from Panvel or to take the Mumbai Pune Expressway switching to NH4 and then NH 17.

Any info in this regard (and the route as a whole) would be very welcome. If anyone has done this route, we would also like a reasonable estimate of the time we would require bearing in mind that both of us are seasoned highway drivers.

[deutscheafrikar]

do a search in all the pages in this section and you will find post relating to both the NH17 and the NH4 from Mumbai to Goa.

[whistlingwoodz]

went thru various links on google before my brain started functioning, and thts when i remembered why anywhere else if got this forum so, just a small query : going to Goa from ahmedabad, vehicle: Innova would like to know better option for a halt between mumbai - goa. Our plan: we will be starting at night around 10 on saturday, travel all the way to mumbai or may be outskirts. "thinking" to spend the day at some tempting location like lonavala, khandala and then proceed to Goa the next day (Monday). please suggest if this is good enough. we have enough no. days for the trip 7 days more importantly, kindly suggest a better place to halt for the day after crossing Mumbai. also, we would 'obviously' love to avoid the traffic as well as travel through a scenic route

any kind advices: most welcome!

~ thanks

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[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by whistlingwoodz

going to Goa from ahmedabad,a halt between mumbai - goa. Our plan: we will be starting at night around 10 on saturday, travel all the way to mumbai or may be outskirts. "thinking" to spend the day at some tempting location like lonavala, khandala and then proceed to Goa the next day (Monday). please suggest if this is good enough. we have enough no. days for the trip 7 days more importantly, kindly suggest a better place to halt for the day after crossing Mumbai. also, we would 'obviously' love to avoid the traffic as well as travel through a scenic route

If you are not keen on spending time at khandala or lonavla,then you could stop for the night at pune,there are plenty of places to stay on the mumbai-pune bypass road.amd-pune should take you around 12-14hours.(8hours to Ghodbunder+2hours to reach the MPEW+1.5hours to reach Pune).If its khandala or lonavla,then there are plenty of resorts as per your budget for you to choose from.Pls bear in mind that the MPEW might have fog with winter setting in,so late night and early morning drives would take some time with visibility going low.

[whistlingwoodz]

thanks man, we are planning to leave at around 10 PM on saturday. so we should be reaching near mumbai around 6-7 am sunday. we do not want to extend the distance too much while reaching goa. if pune to goa takes almost same time and distance just as lonvala-goa, then we might consider that option. btw....can you please clarify MPEW??? any further suggestions/options would be helpful.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by whistlingwoodz

thanks man, we are planning to leave at around 10 PM on saturday. so we should be reaching near mumbai around 6-7 am sunday. we do not want to extend the distance too much while reaching goa. if pune to goa takes almost same time and distance just as lonvala-goa, then we might consider that option. btw....can you please clarify MPEW??? any further suggestions/options would be helpful.

MPEW is mumbai pune expressway.lonavla to pune is hardly 45mins.pune to kolhapur would be 3.5hrs and kolhapur to panjim is another 4hours

[Sandy28]

Hi folks

I am back with my next trip plan. Had done Abad-Trichur (Kerala) last July but due to the monsoon season, had taken the Pune-Kolhapur-Karwar-Udupi-Kerala route instead of the Konkan route. So am planning a trip to Goa this May to satisfy my urge to conquer the Konkan ghats :-).

Broad plan as of now is to start early morning on 12th May from Abad, night halt at Chiplun and reach Goa by mid day of 13th May. Since it is summers, I think the route should be clear. Seek your valuable guidance / inputs / suggestions on the route, accomodation option in Chipun etc. Also is Ahmedabad - Chiplun doable in a day or will it be stretching things a bit too much?

Thanks

[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

Hi folks

I am back with my next trip plan. Had done Abad-Trichur (Kerala) last July but due to the monsoon season, had taken the Pune-Kolhapur-Karwar-Udupi-Kerala route instead of the Konkan route. So am planning a trip to Goa this May to satisfy my urge to conquer the Konkan ghats :-).

Broad plan as of now is to start early morning on 12th May from Abad, night halt at Chiplun and reach Goa by mid day of 13th May. Since it is summers, I think the route should be clear. Seek your valuable guidance / inputs / suggestions on the route, accomodation option in Chipun etc. Also is Ahmedabad - Chiplun doable in a day or will it be stretching things a bit too much?

Thanks

Suggest you do Panvel on day one, stay somewhere near Panvel and next day do the beautiful NH17 drive to Chiplun, you can do Panvel - Panaji, 6 AM - 6 PM. I feel it would be no fun doing A'bad-Chiplun, it would be stretching it too far, by the time you cross Panvel, enter NH17, it would be dark and you would not enjoy it at all.

A friend recently did the Goa -Panvel - Ahmedabad drive, so will get details of hotels from him.

--Ramky
======

[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by ramkya1

Suggest you do Panvel on day one, stay somewhere near Panvel and next day do the beautiful NH17 drive to Chiplun, you can do Panvel - Panaji, 6 AM - 6 PM. I feel it would be no fun doing A'bad-Chiplun, it would be stretching it too far, by the time you cross Panvel, enter NH17, it would be dark and you would not enjoy it at all.

A friend recently did the Goa -Panvel - Ahmedabad drive, so will get details of hotels from him.

--Ramky
======

So far my experience has been that even if I start by 5.00 am I can hit Thane by around 2.00 pm. So Panvel should be around 3.30 pm. Thats the reason I thought of targeting Chiplun. I dont want to drive through the ghats after dark. But wouldnt 3.30 pm be a bit too early to end the day? Is there any other place between Panvel and Chiplun that I could target to reach by around 6.00 pm (ofcourse a decent accomodation facility will also be a deciding factor as I am with family)?

[Nissan1180]

We did this trip in our Baleno in 4 days (23rd to 26th December 2011).
Day 1: We left Ahmedabad on 23rd evening at around 4pm. The first halt was near Vapi at around 10 pm. After Vapi, we stopped on the Pune Expressway in the early hours of the day.
Day 2: We continued towards Belgaum and reached Belgaum at around 12 in the afternoon. After a quick lunch, we continued towards Panaji. The NH4 was in a horrible condition with potholes large enough to swallow the wheels of any sedan. Most of the stretch in Karnataka was unpaved and the drive was really tiring. We did this stretch in 6 hours and reached Palolem (our destination) at around 9:30 pm, after almost 29 hours of driving.
If you do take the Belgaum route, please be careful about the mining trucks that ply on the route- they're reckless and you'll often find parked ones blocking an entire lane.
Day 3- sightseeing- Panaji, Calungate, Baga, Aguada,etc.
Day 4- Left palolem at around 10 am. Again a continuous drive interspersed with short breaks. We took the Amboli route this time and it was in a better condition. However, some stretches are really bad and sugarcane bearing tractors moving at a snails pace make the single lane highways really painful to traverse.
Overall- you'll enjoy the drive. But if you're planning to drive alone, please take a break in Pune. The Ghat sections are tough to maneuver in the night for people not acclimatized to hill driving.

[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

So far my experience has been that even if I start by 5.00 am I can hit Thane by around 2.00 pm. So Panvel should be around 3.30 pm. Thats the reason I thought of targeting Chiplun. I dont want to drive through the ghats after dark. But wouldnt 3.30 pm be a bit too early to end the day? Is there any other place between Panvel and Chiplun that I could target to reach by around 6.00 pm (ofcourse a decent accomodation facility will also be a deciding factor as I am with family)?

If you're a non-stop driver and do not get stuck around Surat then 3-4 PM Panvel is a highly likely, by the time you reach Indaphur / Mahad it would be dark and by chiplun night, you can try a night break at Mahad. Next day if you start around 5, you get a chance to see the beauty of the route and yet make it to Goa by evening. I think this sounds like a more reasonable plan as you are confidant about continuous long distance driving.

A friend did the Pune - Goa drive through Savantawadi comfortably - 6AM - 7 PM - on a Honda City with family 15 day back, road was good, except for a small section.

--Ramky

[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by Nissan1180

We did this trip in our Baleno in 4 days (23rd to 26th December 2011).
If you do take the Belgaum route, please be careful about the mining trucks that ply on the route- they're reckless and you'll often find parked ones blocking an entire lane.
Overall- you'll enjoy the drive. But if you're planning to drive alone, please take a break in Pune. The Ghat sections are tough to maneuver in the night for people not acclimatized to hill driving.

Thanks Nissan for the details. But I dont plan to take the Pune-Belgaum route. Driving through the Konkan ghats is what is my major attraction for doing this trip. Pune-Belgaum NH4 I had already done last year when driving to Kerala and also on the return Bglore-Abad route.

Originally Posted by ramkya1

If you're a non-stop driver and do not get stuck around Surat then 3-4 PM Panvel is a highly likely, by the time you reach Indaphur / Mahad it would be dark and by chiplun night, you can try a night break at Mahad. Next day if you start around 5, you get a chance to see the beauty of the route and yet make it to Goa by evening. I think this sounds like a more reasonable plan as you are confidant about continuous long distance driving.

A friend did the Pune - Goa drive through Savantawadi comfortably - 6AM - 7 PM - on a Honda City with family 15 day back, road was good, except for a small section.

--Ramky

Thanks Ramky. After relooking at the route and distance based on your suggestions, I think it would be better to target Mahad by around 6.30 pm for the night halt and start early next morning for Goa. That way I can avoid ghat driving in the dark and also enjoy the scenic beauty of the Konkan ghats the 2nd day.

Saw 2 hotels on the net in Mahad - Hotel Saitej and Hotel Kuber Palace. Looked decent. Any comment on these property? Or any other suggestions?

[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

Thanks Nissan for the details. ..................................

Thanks Ramky. After relooking at the route and distance based on your suggestions, I think it would be better to target Mahad by around 6.30 pm for the night halt and start early next morning for Goa. That way I can avoid ghat driving in the dark and also enjoy the scenic beauty of the Konkan ghats the 2nd day.

Saw 2 hotels on the net in Mahad - Hotel Saitej and Hotel Kuber Palace. Looked decent. Any comment on these property? Or any other suggestions?

I have heard form my colleagues in the field that Kuber Palace is OK for a night stay. You can wait for inputs from others also here.

--Ramky
=====

[Sandy28]

Has any body visited the Doodhsagar falls recently? I would love to check out this beautiful place. Searched and read various threads on Doodhsagar but they are mostly older posts and written during the monsoon treks. Would like to know the best route to drive down to the falls from Panjim, the current road condition, feasibility of self driving etc. I read somewhere that cars can go only upto a point and then we need to hire a taxi, Is that so?

[h@r$h@l]

I dont want to start a new thread for the same route in discussion.

We are planning to drive to Goa from Surat in 3rd week march.

I looked up on Google Maps and figured out there are 2 routes. I drove on this route 3 yrs ago. Can someone pls update me which of the below 2 routes is better and whats the road condition if anyone has travelled on that route lately.

We plan to start from Surat by around 5 AM.

1. NH 8 and NH 17; 797 km, 14 hours 54 mins
2. NH 8 and AH 47/NH 4; 840 km, 13 hours 53 mins

Thanks.