[narayans80]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

1. Is this road trip doable in a single day?

It is possible, but it will be a 21-22 hour drive. You may do it, if you can do such super long drives and will be rested on the days following the drive.

The closest alternative will be to do a 1.5 day drive. You can do:

- Madras-Kolhapur on day 1 and Kolhapur-Bombay on day 2 if its an early morning start.
- Madras-Hosur/Tumkur/Chitradurga on day 1 for an afternoon start and rest of the distance on the following day.

Originally Posted by dre@ms

Staying at Hubbali or Belgaum seems the best option. Can any of you precisely jot down the route (city/villages to avoid etc)

Its a straightforward route and you can't avoid or miss anything in terms of route. Keep GMaps on and it'll take you through NICE. It will however about timing:

- Start time at Madras to avoid the traffic until Sriperumbudur.
- Office timings in Bangalore. This should be manageable due to NICE.
- Target early morning/afternoon times for Kolhapur-MPEW entry point section to minimize 2-wheeler traffic on the MH section.

[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by kutoos

1. There is the Chandramoleshwar (Shiva) temple in Unkal near Hubbali.
2. The beauty of the AH47, is that it bypasses most towns. However, based on my experience here are a few lookouts

a. From Attibele toll Plaza to Nice Road, you may get caught up in the phenomenal Bangalore traffic. Make sure you are not caught in this juction from say 9 AM -11. Other bangalore folks can clarify...

Originally Posted by narayans80

The closest alternative will be to do a 1.5 day drive.

Its a straightforward route and you can't avoid or miss anything in terms of route. Keep GMaps on and it'll take you through NICE.

All the above points noted. Will always prefer early morning starts to munch max miles with less traffic.

Tentative plan as of now,
1. 16th 5AM start from Chennai and stay at Hubbali - Has suggested in earlier posts, Clarks Inn has some good ratings and hence that would be an option. Any others, welcome.
2. 17th 6AM start from Hubbali and reach Thane by noon?

3. Return planned on 24th and reach Chennai on 25th.

Ask - which would be a better place to rest apart from Hubbali? Belgaum or Kolhapur? Plan is to reach Thane before 12PM the next day.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

Ask - which would be a better place to rest apart from Hubbali? Belgaum or Kolhapur? Plan is to reach Thane before 12PM the next day.

Belgaum to Kolhapur is an easy 90 minute drive on some very fast roads at least till you hit the Kognoli (KA-MH Border) toll.

So if you are doing good on time, and find Belgaum way too early, you can always stay at Kolhapur and it would be ideal too.

The advantages would be:

-Next morning you may not need to negotiate traffic crossing Kolhapur if you started from Belgaum at even 7am

-You have already covered another ~100 kms and so less to drive today

Now again, you need to remember that Hubli to Belgaum will have 30 kms of undivided lane driving experience - This for some can be exhaustive if you end up getting into a lot of crawl, wait and overtake truck cycles in those 30 kms and then you realise Belgaum is a better option to stay than pushing it to Kolhapur.

Hence, ultimately you will have to take a call based on all these factors on where you can stop for the night.

[kutoos]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

Ask - which would be a better place to rest apart from Hubbali? Belgaum or Kolhapur? Plan is to reach Thane before 12PM the next day.

If you need to reach by 12, the option then is to push till kolhapur for the first break.

Distance breakup
Hubli to Belgaum is 100 Kms
Belgaum to Kolhapur is 115 Kms

It will take you 3 hours from Hubli to reach Kolhapur.

To reach thane by 12, you will have to get an early start if halting in Belgaum say by 4 AM
From Kolhapur, a 6 AM start will do.

If you decide to halt in Kolhapur, there is the Mahalakshmi temple, but looking at your punishing schedule, not sure if you can get time for a quick visit as the temple may be closed.

Look up Hotel Vrishali Executive in Kolhapur which is decent place to stay.

Cheers

[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Hence, ultimately you will have to take a call based on all these factors on where you can stop for the night.

Originally Posted by kutoos

If you need to reach by 12, the option then is to push till kolhapur for the first break.

Rather than KM I am looking at the time spent on driving since i am the lone driver.

1. Chennai to Clarks Inn, Hubli

• Gmaps denotes 12h.
• 2h for Breakfast/Lunch/Natures call which takes to 14h.
• Can reach around 7PM for a start at 5AM

2. Chennai to Sankam residency, Belgaum

• Gmaps denotes 13.5
• It would be around 16h including the above stopovers.
• Can reach around 9PM for a start at 5AM.

I am gonna stick to the above 2 places for stay since do not wish to stretch myself more, meaning gonna let go the 12PM reach to Thane.

Question - Is a prior booking needed for the above 2 hotels being it a weekend?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

Question - Is a prior booking needed for the above 2 hotels being it a weekend?

Mostly Yes. I have had cases where they decline rooms on weekends on Phone. At the same time, I have also booked at Clarks for someone driving down soon after they called me and asked to book.

These hotels never get full to brim unless its some typical long weekend or festive season. However, its good to call first and block (If they accept) or based on your progress during the trip, book it on the go using any popular travel portal and that works!

And even if you don't get at Clarks or Sankam, there are options around this too - President for Clarks and Ramdev/Marriott for Sankam although Marriott would be a tad costlier but bang on the highway, on the Kolhapur Belgaum Corridor and an easy access.

[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Mostly Yes. I have had cases where they decline rooms on weekends on Phone. At the same time, I have also booked at Clarks for someone driving down soon after they called me and asked to book.

Sure a deal. Will check with my better half too on what is the proposed place to stay. We do not know, they have shopping plans even in the nook and corner of earth

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

Rather than KM I am looking at the time spent on driving since i am the lone driver.

With an early start, you should be able to do Hubli in 12 hours with breaks. The critical part is an early start from Madras, this can make/break the progress you achieve.

With a 440am start I was at Krishnagiri at 800am. With a 600 am start, I was at Kaveripakkam at 740am So earlier the better.

Hosur-Hubli too me 5:45 hrs with a 20 min break. Hubli-Belgaum took about 70-75 min including the 2-laned Hubli-Dharwad section.

Ideally I'd suggest a Belgaum stopover on the onward, if you are good at early starts. This way you can atleast target to clear part of MH traffic next morning. With a Hubli stopover it'll be more difficult to target.

For the return, Davangere might be an ideal stopover. You might have to book the return, since it is a holiday weekend.

[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by narayans80

With an early start, you should be able to do Hubli in 12 hours with breaks. The critical part is an early start from Madras, this can make/break the progress you achieve.

I stay in Anna Nagar and hence reaching the outskirts would not be much of a pain.

Originally Posted by narayans80

Ideally I'd suggest a Belgaum stopover on the onward, if you are good at early starts. This way you can atleast target to clear part of MH traffic next morning. With a Hubli stopover it'll be more difficult to target.

I was going by Gmaps on the duration. But if it is a 12h drive (incl. breaks) to Hubli i will be glad to cover Belgaum.

Originally Posted by narayans80

For the return, Davangere might be an ideal stopover. You might have to book the return, since it is a holiday weekend.

Is this the only spot or there are any other places for a night halt. Hotel names?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

Is this the only spot or there are any other places for a night halt. Hotel names?

Again this is like choosing based on progress made.

Davanagere - Chitradurga = 50 Minutes
Chitradurga - Tumkur = 75 Minutes
Tumkur - Bangalore (Hosur Road) = 120 Minutes

There are good places to stay at Davanagere and then few at Chitradurga. And then if you are able to do good on timings and based on comfort levels, you can decide to stop either at Davanagere or Chitradurga.

Further to this, next best bet will be Tumkur.

Few hotel names:

Davanagere: Sankama Hotel & Southern Star
Chitradurga : Naveen Regency
Tumkur : Naveen Regency

At Davanagere, Southern Star is a new entrant so catch up with some good deals by calling them.

Related info

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

I stay in Anna Nagar and hence reaching the outskirts would not be much of a pain.

I was going by Gmaps on the duration. But if it is a 12h drive (incl. breaks) to Hubli i will be glad to cover Belgaum.

Trouble starts in the outskirts. Traffic is there all the way to Sriperumbudur and slightly beyond as well.

GMaps adjusts ETA based on your progress, I 'gained' 35 min over Shoolagiri-Madras drive from what GMaps estimated.

[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Few hotel names:

Davanagere: Sankama Hotel & Southern Star
Chitradurga : Naveen Regency
Tumkur : Naveen Regency

At Davanagere, Southern Star is a new entrant so catch up with some good deals by calling them.

Agree. Will stick to Devanagere or Chitradurga and check out Southern Star too.

Originally Posted by narayans80

Trouble starts in the outskirts. Traffic is there all the way to Sriperumbudur and slightly beyond as well.

GMaps adjusts ETA based on your progress, I 'gained' 35 min over Shoolagiri-Madras drive from what GMaps estimated.

Yes, the duration is dynamic and depend lots on current traffic snarls and my speed.

Hope the rains wouldnt be a deterrent during this period.

I have to postpone my drive due to lack of vacation between 16th to 25th. Hence it is now planned during the peak season 23rd to 1st

[ampere]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

I have to postpone my drive due to lack of vacation between 16th to 25th. Hence it is now planned during the peak season 23rd to 1st

The important point as others have already mentioned is the early start.

For Chennai there are 2 aspects:

- You need to get out of Ponamallee
- You need to beat the traffic and rough surface till Walajah toll.

I specifically mention Walajah toll because beyond that its the smooth 6-lane cruise.

For a drive till Hubli, I would definitely say start by 3:30 and not even 4. Will take you 25-30 minutes max to go past Poonamallee and another 70 minutes to get to the 6-lane. Once past, you will smooth sail to Krishnagiri.

You can take well earned breakfast break past the Krishnagiri toll. Quite many good places have come up. One of them which I can recommend is Adith Bhavan (Looks like an A2B twin, but the place is good).

In other words what I meant to say is that; a 330 AM start will take out most of your Chennai-Bangalore driving stress and you would have crunched many a mile before your first break (~250+ km!)

And yes of course a 3:30 AM start does not mean you sleep late thanks to office work or late night packing. 6 hours of sound sleep is a must! (Stating the obvious)

Hope that helps.

[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by ampere

The important point as others have already mentioned is the early start.

And yes of course a 3:30 AM start does not mean you sleep late thanks to office work or late night packing. 6 hours of sound sleep is a must! (Stating the obvious)

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the tip/advise .

Will definitely plan for a early start and will make sure to get a very sound sleep. Will make a note of the hotel @ krishnagiri too.

This i believe would give me some good time @ belgaum with another sound sleep.

[Makin Rulesz]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

<< Reviving a old thread >>

Planning a trip to Mumbai (Thane to be precise) next month (Mid of Dec'17) with wife and son on my ANHC. Starting on a Saturday and return on next Sunday.

1. Is this road trip doable in a single day?
2. If had to be split, where do we stay?
3. Shortest route?

Prior experience - Driven Hyderabad to Goa and Hyderabad to Ooty in single day

I have driven on this route as part of my drive to Udaipur in September. This was covered in 2 days with stopover at Pune. Started from Chennai at 3:00AM and reached Pune by 7:00PM with total driving distance of ~1200 KM. We had Breakfast at A2B Bommasandra, lunch at Sankam Residency Belagavi. This should give some idea on how to plan your drive.

You can maintain good average speeds until Kolhapur after that the Maharastra traffic will slow you down.

In addition to what others already mentioned about starting early, I suggest you to get Fastag, in case you don't have it already. This will help you save significant time and from the hassles of carrying cash.