[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Bangalore-Kanyakumari

All through via NH7.

Bangalore-Salem-Namakkal-Dindigul-Madurai-Virudhunagar-Kanyakumari: 11hrs

This stretch is 4 lane till Kanyakumari and hence can be done in 8-9 hours or even before that depending on your speed and number of breaks. If you start around 4 in the Morning from Bangalore, you can reach KK by 12:00. If you are starting late then make sure not to enter Salem during peak hours(especially 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM) because it may take extra 30mins or more to cross Salem during peak hours.

Salem - Kanayakumari will be a breeze.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by abbey4u

1. Delhi - Mumbai - Starts on 9th Night and reach mumbai by next evening.
Q: Is it possible? How is the road condition after ahmedabad?

Make sure:
- Don't miss Jaipur bypass. NO proper signage at Chandwaji where Jaipur bypass on NH8 begins. Watch out for the "Mahindra World City" sign pointing up the ramp to the bypass.
- Don't miss the turn into Sardar Patel Ring Road to bypass Ahmedabad city, from Ranasan Circle
- Better to stay in Baroda than Ahmedabad, since you ahve HOtel Plazio on bypass itself or many hotels inside city not very far inside, at Fatehganj
- Bharuch-Ankleshwar bypass sees traffic congestion in the River Narmada bridge. Stick to the left lane so that you can use the "closed"-down second bridge which is open to cars only.
- If you have no business in Bombay, take the road towards Thane at Ghodbunder & go direct to New Bombay via Thane, Mulund, Airoli & Turbhe. Do not take the conventional "NH4 bypass" indiated in all maps and Navigators.

2. Mumbai - Goa
Q: Which route considering it will be raining?

Best time to be on NH17. Ghat roads fro over half the distance.

3. Goa - Mid Halt on the way to Kanyakuamari/Mid Way

LOts of traffic congestion in South KA and North KL. Best you will do is to reach Kozhikode. All day drive. Consider detours to see Bekal Fort, Muzhapilangad Beach & Parassinakadavu Muthappan temple.

Q: Can i drive all the way to kanyakumari? Road condition? Expected travel time? Any other tip?

Next day from Kozhikoe. All day drive. Can be miserable with heavy traffic. But good fun for anyone who has not driven or seen KL before. Take NH17 till KOchi, expect super-narrow roads approaching Kochi. Bypass Kochi & Trivandrum. Not easy though for TVM. TVM-KK NH47 is also a miserable drive. This day will be the most tiring. NO alternative route unless you want to go Goa-Bangalore-KK, which si no fun at all since you are also returning to Bangalore the same way from KK.

4. Kanyakumari to bangalore.
Q: Is it better or should i take the same route towards goa and divert towards pune

NH7 to Bangalore, NH4 from there all teh way. Consider skipping Bangalore city by taking NICE Road and halting overnight at Chitradurga.

5. Pune - Shirdi - Ahmedabad
Q: Again road condition? How much time for shirdi?

NH4 till Pune is fine, except for some minor issues due to road widening.
Navigating Pune city can be difficult. Go via Ahmednagar to Shirdi, avoid NH50 via Sangamaner.
From Shirdi, take the following route (excellent)
Shirdi-Kopargaon-Manmad-Malegaon-Dhule-Navapur-Bardoli-Surat bypass-Ankleshwar-Bharuch-Baroda-Ahmedabad

In Ankleshwar, do NOT take NH8 bypass, instead turn left into town and go through it crossing Narmada River via the Golden Bridge and then Bharuch town to resume NH8 after the town to avoid getting jammed for 30-60 minutes on the bypass.

[rajeshchand]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Make sure:
- Don't miss Jaipur bypass. NO proper signage at Chandwaji where Jaipur bypass on NH8 begins. Watch out for the "Mahindra World City" sign pointing up the ramp to the bypass.
- Don't miss the turn into Sardar Patel Ring Road to bypass Ahmedabad city, from Ranasan Circle
- Better to stay in Baroda than Ahmedabad, since you ahve HOtel Plazio on bypass itself or many hotels inside city not very far inside, at Fatehganj
- Bharuch-Ankleshwar bypass sees traffic congestion in the River Narmada bridge. Stick to the left lane so that you can use the "closed"-down second bridge which is open to cars only.
- If you have no business in Bombay, take the road towards Thane at Ghodbunder & go direct to New Bombay via Thane, Mulund, Airoli & Turbhe. Do not take the conventional "NH4 bypass" indiated in all maps and Navigators.

I am looking to do a trip of Delhi to Kochi (Kerala). I have previously done this trip up or down through the Delhi-Agra-Gwalior-Bhopal-Betul-Nagpur-Hyderabad-Bangalore-Kochi and i have done it the reverse too and couple of times, of course they were in a Scorpio. After having bought a BMW X1 i am planning to do the same on the Delhi-Jaipur-Udaipur-Ahmedabad-Baroda-Mumbai-Bangalore-Kochi route.

I believe the roads are far better in comparison to the routes through central India. Few of my questions are:

Which is the better route, the Mumbai route or Central India route. Couple of hundred kms distance extra should not be an issue as if the roads are better then i can catch up on the distance covered through speed of my Beemer, so extra distance is not an issue but the road condition.

Which are the places to halt between Delhi to Mumbai, my plan is to halt the first day at Jaipur, as i will start late evening from Delhi around 4 pm and reach Jaipur and stay and then start next day morning for Mumbai straight, is it doable, if so what time it will take for the Jaipur Mumbai stretch.

Which are the places to halt between Mumbai to Kochi, my plan is to do Mumbai-Bangalore on same day and then do Bangalore-Kochi the next day, what are the suggestions, is this a better option or are there any other alternate route, as i said my requirement is speed and i do not mind couple of hundred extra kilometers if i can zip on expressways or 4 lane road, though if there is a scenic alternate route i do not mind changing plans, suggestions are welcome.

If this whole route is too long, i can always fall back upon the Central India route as that is a tried and tested one for me having driven on it couple of times 2 years back.

I have always got the answers from team-bhp members especially hvkumar which have always made my trip pleasurable , so this time around too waiting for some cool ideas, tips and suggestions, thanks in advance guys.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by rajeshchand

I am looking to do a trip of Delhi to Kochi (Kerala). I have previously done this trip up or down through the Delhi-Agra-Gwalior-Bhopal-Betul-Nagpur-Hyderabad-Bangalore-Kochi and i have done it the reverse too and couple of times, of course they were in a Scorpio. After having bought a BMW X1 i am planning to do the same on the Delhi-Jaipur-Udaipur-Ahmedabad-Baroda-Mumbai-Bangalore-Kochi route.

Gwalior-Indore road is not in good shape, and now that rains have begin, will be worse.

Which are the places to halt between Delhi to Mumbai, my plan is to halt the first day at Jaipur, as i will start late evening from Delhi around 4 pm and reach Jaipur and stay and then start next day morning for Mumbai straight, is it doable, if so what time it will take for the Jaipur Mumbai stretch.

Before the road widening began on Delhi-Jaipur, I used to do Delhi-Bombay in under 20 hours. So doing Jaipur-Delhi in a long day in a fast car is not impossible. However, leave early (4 am) from Jaipur and limit your breaks to, say, 1 long break of 1 hour. There are many superfast sections where you can test your top speed limits.

Which are the places to halt between Mumbai to Kochi, my plan is to do Mumbai-Bangalore on same day and then do Bangalore-Kochi the next day, what are the suggestions, is this a better option or are there any other alternate route, as i said my requirement is speed and i do not mind couple of hundred extra kilometers if i can zip on expressways or 4 lane road, though if there is a scenic alternate route i do not mind changing plans, suggestions are welcome.

Nothing better than gong via Bangalore. You can do Coimbatore in 17 hours or so (excluding breaks), so if you can push it a little more, getting to Kochi itself in under 20 hours may not sound impossible. However, expect delays in Avinashi-Coimbatore & Palakkad-Trissur sectors. If you wish to take a break somewhere en route, maybe Salem offers the best choice of hotels.

[rajeshchand]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Gwalior-Indore road is not in good shape, and now that rains have begin, will be worse.




Before the road widening began on Delhi-Jaipur, I used to do Delhi-Bombay in under 20 hours. So doing Jaipur-Delhi in a long day in a fast car is not impossible. However, leave early (4 am) from Jaipur and limit your breaks to, say, 1 long break of 1 hour. There are many superfast sections where you can test your top speed limits.




Nothing better than gong via Bangalore. You can do Coimbatore in 17 hours or so (excluding breaks), so if you can push it a little more, getting to Kochi itself in under 20 hours may not sound impossible. However, expect delays in Avinashi-Coimbatore & Palakkad-Trissur sectors. If you wish to take a break somewhere en route, maybe Salem offers the best choice of hotels.

hvkumar, this means my plan is a good one. Will keep tweaking it posting it here, is there anything that i need to keep in mind on the way, this being a new route.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by rajeshchand

hvkumar, this means my plan is a good one. Will keep tweaking it posting it here, is there anything that i need to keep in mind on the way, this being a new route.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...llZaktkanpMcmc

You can check out Delhi-Udaipur-Bombag-Bangalore-Coimbatore-Trissur route in the above link

[robimahanta]

Originally Posted by rajeshchand

hvkumar, this means my plan is a good one. Will keep tweaking it posting it here, is there anything that i need to keep in mind on the way, this being a new route.

I do Salem-Kochi almost every month in a low GC (130mm) Skoda Laura. Avinashi- Coimbatore is much better now but the Palakkad-Thrissur section is deteriorating. Its nothing to get worried about in an X1 as a lot of luxury cars frequent this road.
Let me know if you need any further details.

[Ajitsingh208]

Hi,

I have also been planning the Delhi Kanyakumari trip in Dec. and after going through the various posts, I have made a rough itenary, we will be 3 drivers in my Tata Safari that's why we are aiming to do long stretches on some days,
Day 1 Delhi- Mumbai- Pune
Day 2 Pune- Gokarna, Karnataka -- 540 kms
Day 3 Gokarna, Karnataka - Bekal, Kerala - 300 kms
Day 4 Bekal, Kerala - Kochi, Kerala - 375 kms
Day 5 Kochi - Alleppey - 60 kms
Day 6 Alleppey - Kollam - Kanyakumari - 250 kms
Day 7 Kanyakumari - Bangalore - Palolem beach south goa
Day 8 south goa
Day 9 north Goa
Day 10 Goa - surat/vadodra - 850/975
Day 11 vadodra/surat - Delhi - 1000/1200 km.

Does this look reasonable and the stoppages okay?
I have no idea about which places to cover in Kerela, have merely picked up these places from the forum. If there's a better option or if we should spend more time at any one place and maybe drive through without staying for the night at another, Please let me know.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Ajitsingh208

Day 1 Delhi- Mumbai- Pune

All fine,except for your day1,Day 7,Day 10which might end up as a 24hr+ drive if jams have their way.

Delhi-Jaipur: 5hrs
Jaipur-Udaipur:7hrs
Udaipur-AMD:4-5hrs
AMD-Baroda:1hr
Baroda-Ghodbunder:6-7hr
Ghodbunder-Pune:2-3hrs

Kanyakumari to Palolem is also a very long drive.

Kanyakumari-Electronics City is a 10-11hr drive
Ecity-Tumkur:2hrs
Tumkur-Hubli:5-6hrs
Hubli-Ankola-Karwar-Palolem:3-3.5hrs

Goa-Baroda:

Goa-Thane(Ghodbundr):10-11hrs
Ghodbunder-Baroda:6-7hrs

I am sure you have taken into consideration these long drive times,as even if you have multiple drivers all three are travelling at the same so its as good as driving and the fatigue factor is more or less the same.

[Ajitsingh208]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

All fine,except for your day1,which might end up as a 24hr+ drive if jams have their way.

Delhi-Jaipur: 5hrs
Jaipur-Udaipur:7hrs
Udaipur-AMD:4-5hrs
AMD-Baroda:1hr
Baroda-Ghodbunder:6-7hr
Ghodbunder-Pune:2-3hrs

Any specific stretches that are prone to jams except for Delhi-Jaipur and is there a time window with some lean traffic on those stretches, maybe we can time our breaks to match the time window. We are planning to start from Delhi at around 5 pm if possible to beat the traffic else we'll start after 10pm.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Ajitsingh208

Any specific stretches that are prone to jams except for Delhi-Jaipur and is there a time window with some lean traffic on those stretches, maybe we can time our breaks to match the time window. We are planning to start from Delhi at around 5 pm if possible to beat the traffic else we'll start after 10pm.

The bridge over Narmada at Ankleshwar is another hotspot.Ghodbunder (entry into Mumbai)can be another hotspot.Also NH17 between Gokarna and Bekal is broken up at most places after the rains.But that should hopefully get done by December.

[Ajitsingh208]

Need some info, So Gujarat is dry and we need a permit to drink in Maharashtra. How do we get this permit?
Is this permit checking only prevalent in Mumbai or elsewhere too?
Also is there a permit for Gujarat as well which we can use to carry bottles across, we were planning on taking some bottles of Scoth from duty free and using them up on our night halts.

[rajeshchand]

Originally Posted by Ajitsingh208

Any specific stretches that are prone to jams except for Delhi-Jaipur and is there a time window with some lean traffic on those stretches, maybe we can time our breaks to match the time window. We are planning to start from Delhi at around 5 pm if possible to beat the traffic else we'll start after 10pm.

Just completed my drive from Delhi to Kerala and back. The only stretch where we found jam was at Narmada bridge at Ankleshwar, that too while on our way back. While going we though could squeeze ourselves through the small bridge meant for cars and bikes but while coming back we had to drive on the wrong side of highway for around 10km before getting to the tollplaza, there is the way around through the Baruch town, but that day cops were not ready to send us through that route and we ended upon getting onto the highway again only to be suggested to drive on the wrong lane or wait for 5-6 hours.

Originally Posted by Ajitsingh208

Need some info, So Gujarat is dry and we need a permit to drink in Maharashtra. How do we get this permit?
Is this permit checking only prevalent in Mumbai or elsewhere too?
Also is there a permit for Gujarat as well which we can use to carry bottles across, we were planning on taking some bottles of Scoth from duty free and using them up on our night halts.

Well, i was carrying couple of bottles with permit but was not checked anywhere along the route.

[vaibhavdalal]

Originally Posted by rajeshchand

Just completed my drive from Delhi to Kerala and back.

Can you please share the time taken for this travel so we can use it as a reference

[Ajitsingh208]

Originally Posted by rajeshchand

Just completed my drive from Delhi to Kerala and back. The only stretch where we found jam was at Narmada bridge at Ankleshwar, that too while on our way back. While going we though could squeeze ourselves through the small bridge meant for cars and bikes but while coming back we had to drive on the wrong side of highway for around 10km before getting to the tollplaza, there is the way around through the Baruch town, but that day cops were not ready to send us through that route and we ended upon getting onto the highway again only to be suggested to drive on the wrong lane or wait for 5-6 hours.
Well, i was carrying couple of bottles with permit but was not checked anywhere along the route.

Yeah, Please share your experience here, I am planning to do the same route in December, So where did you get this permit made?
Was it valid for Gujarat & Maharashtra?