Mumbai - Vaishnodevi - Mumbai

magiceye · 15th July 2010, 10:47

Hi guys,
Am planning a drive to Vaishnodevi in 3rd week of September from Mumbai in my Indica with my wife. Will be lone driver.
The route I have planned is
Mumbai-Baroda-Jaipur-Jammu-Katra-Amritsar-Jaipur-Ahmedabad-Mumbai. Total distance 4068kms. Wish to halt in Baroda to meet up with cousins.
Need your inputs regarding route/road conditions/places to stay. Have planned 10days for this. Feasible?
Night halts in Baroda/Jaipur/Jammu/Katra/Amritsar/Jaipur/Ahmedabad.

Thank you guys

sindabad · 15th July 2010, 10:55

This one is on my wish list albeit from Pune. Please do post a detailed travelogue.
Having been there once way back in 2002 I remember the Vaishnodevi Shrine Board has good hotel arrangements in Katra. 10 days should be good enough IMHO.

TaureanBull · 15th July 2010, 12:10

The entire route you are travelling has excellent roads. The number of halts you are planning are far too much IMO. I dont know which car you would be driving. But IMO you can easily cover about 700 kms+ in a day without getting much tired.

The day or two saved here can be utilised to hit Patnitop. Its well within range.

Lightening-Fast · 15th July 2010, 12:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

The entire route you are travelling has excellent roads. The number of halts you are planning are far too much IMO. I dont know which car you would be driving. But IMO you can easily cover about 700 kms+ in a day without getting much tired.

The day or two saved here can be utilised to hit Patnitop. Its well within range.

TaureanBull, i guess he has already mentioned that he would be travelling in an Indica. And i agree with you that you can easily cover upto 700Kms a day. Been to Vaishnodevi twice. Best place in India i have seen till date. At more than 6500 mts above sea level, its altogether different experience. You can drive all the way till Katra which is the base town from where you start climbing. There are plenty of options to stay. The moment you land in Katra, people will try to recommend you some hotel or the other and based on your budget, you can make a choice. Have a safe trip and JAI MATA DI!!

hvkumar · 15th July 2010, 12:37

Please go via Delhi, better road than going via Rohtak which may be indicated as the shorter route.

Jaipur would be a good place to halt if you leave from Baroda in the morning, but I would suggest you push it a little more till Behror on the RJ-HR border so that you are 100 kms short of Delhi. THereby, you will be able to reach Katra the next day, else you ma have to make one more halt.

Speeds on NH1 have slowed down thanks to road widening in Panipat-Ambala sectors, is bad between Jalandhar and Jammu via Pathankot.

In Behror, ideally stay in RTDC. Need not halt in Jammu since Katra is just 1.50 hours further down.

For return journey, you turn off at Pathankot for Amritsar. You can come on NH1 from Amritsar via Jalandhar or take a totally different route to Udaipur via Faridkot, Bhatinda, Sriganganagar, Bikaner and Jodhpur, although that will involve long boring drives through the desert with poor facilities. If you do that, lave Amritsar in the morning, you can stop over at Bikaner and Udaipur on the way.

magiceye · 15th July 2010, 12:43

Thank you so much HVK. Will rework my itin accordingly.

deky · 15th July 2010, 13:07

Baroda to Jaipur is 800 odd kms but its an excellent drive. Make sure you leave NH8 and take NH76 to chittorgarh after Udaipur, take the Chittor bypass and then NH79 to Kishangarh and there you will be on NH8 again. This 800 kms is possible in 10 hrs without pushing hard. Just be carefull on the ghat section around Shyamlajee though. That section is prone to lots of accidents.

Jaipur- Jammu one day is possible but very tiring. The road and the traffic between Jaipur and Delhi is hopeless, irrespective of the time of the Day you travel. This is due to the widening of the road + few flyovers that are under construction. It will take you a minimum of 5 hours.

Then crossing Delhi another 1 hour atleast and then as HVK has mentioned further on NH1 the speeds are pretty slow.

So your best bet as suggested by HVK would be to stop at RTDC Behror and then push of for Jammu/Katra via Delhi early in the morning say around 0400hrs.

Also I believe that Pathankot to Jammu road is in excellent shape now. The 4 laning is complete and its a beautifull drive. But please do not take it as a fact till someone confirms it.

Good luck and Jai Mata Di

hvkumar · 15th July 2010, 13:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by deky

Also I believe that Pathankot to Jammu road is in excellent shape now. The 4 laning is complete and its a beautifull drive. But please do not take it as a fact till someone confirms it.

Good luck and Jai Mata Di

That is good news if it is true, but when Ramky went that way to Ladakh last month, he reported that it was incomplete. A 4-lane Pathankot-Jammu road would be a great thing for those going to Katra and Srinagar.

bajica · 15th July 2010, 13:23

Hi,

This would be a good journey to do. Would recommend you to check the route in Google maps. Over there you can type the start point and end point. For each night halt, type the city eg. Mumbai - Jaipur. Once the route is shown, it will also show you the distance alongside this. Based on distance, you can plan this in a better way for night halts since only you would be driving and you would definitely require good rests in between the drives.

Umesh

deky · 16th July 2010, 10:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by bajica

Hi,

This would be a good journey to do. Would recommend you to check the route in Google maps. Over there you can type the start point and end point. For each night halt, type the city eg. Mumbai - Jaipur. Once the route is shown, it will also show you the distance alongside this. Based on distance, you can plan this in a better way for night halts since only you would be driving and you would definitely require good rests in between the drives.

Umesh

Hello Umesh, welcome to the Forum

Why rely on google when Team Bhp forum has its own application called "Hvkumar". I am sure Hvk Sir has travelled and mapped more routes within India that the google sattelite has done

. Trust me with his knowledge of routes and places to stay he would beat google any time.

Umesh for Indian roads google is good but Hvkumar knowledge is the best and the latest. I am sure 100% of the members will agree with me on this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvkumar

That is good news if it is true, but when Ramky went that way to Ladakh last month, he reported that it was incomplete. A 4-lane Pathankot-Jammu road would be a great thing for those going to Katra and Srinagar.

Actually Ramky Sir is in a way right, its incomplete in patches so there a few diversions. But what I meant was that the quality of the road is good and its much better than what it was say last year.

Vishal Rajan · 14th October 2010, 15:40

Hi Guys ,

Its a great thought of doing Mumbai - Vaishnodevi -Mumbai . while a few wish to do it , I have done this route thrice .Thou I dont keep a log of things like the way HVK does . But let me tell you ,this route is addictive . The pain is till you reach ahmedabad due to the traffic, Then you have a cop at he end of the expressway waiting for you ... so do not forget to put a yellow strip on the right side of your head lamp. Ahmedabad is doable in 8 / 9hours . if you are a foodie then all along Rajathan you have some good dhabas serving great food . if you leave early then you can pull it on till jaipur .. as a matter of fact one of my trips were in an indica . My suggestion is to hunt for hotels out side city limits or hole upin a small town and ask for the best and you will get a great deal. as rightly put in Jaipur - jammu is a days work except for traffic snarls in and around delhi. If you want a country side drive then take the diversion from rewari ,bypass delhi and the road joins Panipat ..But then thats a choice. Once you cross Delhi, all along till jallandhar you will have great hotels , connectivity etc along the highway Pathankot and beyond , there is heavy security .. infact the security is tight post delhi .. a regular question " kaha ja rahe hai aap?" .. checking karnee hai etc .. tell them, mata kedarshan karne ja rahen hai and they will just let you go. pull on till karta . take rest for the night and start the climb the next evening . dont stay on top .. walk back post darshan and take rest in your hotel .. Take the amristsar route , visit golden temple, jalianwalabagh, wagah border etc .. the bhatinda route , ganganagar, bikaner, jaisalmer , barmer ad then cut int o gujarat ahmedabad and back home to mumbai .punjab will greet you with some fantastic earthy feel
avoid nights on bikaner jaisalmer as therer are lots of robberies . Roadsa re arrow straight .. no help for miles and no one to ask questions for miles .. its a diferent planet

Rest is a breeze. step on the gas and forget about every thing .. My advise to you is since the Journey is long . one must maintain a speed of not more than 110 /120 kph.. better for the car , lesser strain on all moving parts ..I have a scorpio and innova now and I dont exceed this speed but drive continuous for 18 /20 hours . I recently did mumbai jhansi via udaipur , kota , shivpuri etc . thats another story

cheers and jai mata di

Mumbai Ahmedabad 9 hours
ahmedabad - udaipur 4 hours
Udaipur - Jaipur 4 Hours
Jaipur Delhi 4 Hours
Delhi - Jammu - 12 hours

cyberwhizs · 7th February 2013, 19:17

I have been thinking of undertaking this journey for the last couple of months or so. I have been thinking about driving down from mumbai, friends and family are giving me an 'are you mad look', take the train, take the plane is the general advice. But for some weird reason, my heart is still set on driving. The recent cold wave, fog in the north and situation at the border made me rethink a bit. With the situation back to normal or near normal i have started thinking again.

I plan to drive alone, have an indica/fiesta at my disposal. I do have some time at my disposal so would not mind spending some time enroute. I have done long drives - 1000Km+ in a day but then the roads couldnt be better - NH4. I do not plan to drive in the night and prefer dual carriageways wherever possible.

Do let me know your thoughts and suggestions.

hvkumar · 7th February 2013, 19:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberwhizs

I have been thinking of undertaking this journey for the last couple of months or so. I have been thinking about driving down from mumbai, friends and family are giving me an 'are you mad look', take the train, take the plane is the general advice. But for some weird reason, my heart is still set on driving. The recent cold wave, fog in the north and situation at the border made me rethink a bit. With the situation back to normal or near normal i have started thinking again.

I plan to drive alone, have an indica/fiesta at my disposal. I do have some time at my disposal so would not mind spending some time enroute. I have done long drives - 1000Km+ in a day but then the roads couldnt be better - NH4. I do not plan to drive in the night and prefer dual carriageways wherever possible.

Do let me know your thoughts and suggestions.

Comfortable 3-day drive one way.
Avoid Jaipur/ NCR by taking the Bhatinda super highway from Kishangarh.
Despite that it is a 2-laned road from Kishangarh till Pathankot, the roads are fantastic.
With winter slowing fading away, the days of heavy fog will soon be over.

cyberwhizs · 7th February 2013, 19:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Comfortable 3-day drive one way.
Avoid Jaipur/ NCR by taking the Bhatinda super highway from Kishangarh.
Despite that it is a 2-laned road from Kishangarh till Pathankot, the roads are fantastic.
With winter slowing fading away, the days of heavy fog will soon be over.

Thanks, that was super quick, basically your recommendation is to stick to NH8. Can you also let me know specific night halt points, if this materializes this will be my first drive to the states in the north. request guidance.

hvkumar · 7th February 2013, 19:46

Please follow this detailed route plan for Bombay-Jammu:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzW9...it?usp=sharing
It has got full details of hotels & facilities en route.

You can ideally stop over at Hotel Meera/ Hotel Padmini in CHittorgarh on Day 1, Hotel Rajvi Palace in Hanumangarh on Day 2 & reach Vaishno Devi on Day 3.

15th July 2010, 10:47	#1
magiceye BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 239 Thanked: 117 Times	Mumbai - Vaishnodevi - Mumbai Hi guys, Am planning a drive to Vaishnodevi in 3rd week of September from Mumbai in my Indica with my wife. Will be lone driver. The route I have planned is Mumbai-Baroda-Jaipur-Jammu-Katra-Amritsar-Jaipur-Ahmedabad-Mumbai. Total distance 4068kms. Wish to halt in Baroda to meet up with cousins. Need your inputs regarding route/road conditions/places to stay. Have planned 10days for this. Feasible? Night halts in Baroda/Jaipur/Jammu/Katra/Amritsar/Jaipur/Ahmedabad. Thank you guys
	() Thanks

15th July 2010, 10:55	#2
sindabad BHPian Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Pune Posts: 40 Thanked: 9 Times	This one is on my wish list albeit from Pune. Please do post a detailed travelogue. Having been there once way back in 2002 I remember the Vaishnodevi Shrine Board has good hotel arrangements in Katra. 10 days should be good enough IMHO.
	() Thanks

15th July 2010, 12:10	#3
TaureanBull Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: New Delhi Posts: 1,071 Thanked: 326 Times View My Garage	The entire route you are travelling has excellent roads. The number of halts you are planning are far too much IMO. I dont know which car you would be driving. But IMO you can easily cover about 700 kms+ in a day without getting much tired. The day or two saved here can be utilised to hit Patnitop. Its well within range.
	() Thanks

15th July 2010, 12:37	#5
hvkumar Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 7,369 Thanked: 3,454 Times	Please go via Delhi, better road than going via Rohtak which may be indicated as the shorter route. Jaipur would be a good place to halt if you leave from Baroda in the morning, but I would suggest you push it a little more till Behror on the RJ-HR border so that you are 100 kms short of Delhi. THereby, you will be able to reach Katra the next day, else you ma have to make one more halt. Speeds on NH1 have slowed down thanks to road widening in Panipat-Ambala sectors, is bad between Jalandhar and Jammu via Pathankot. In Behror, ideally stay in RTDC. Need not halt in Jammu since Katra is just 1.50 hours further down. For return journey, you turn off at Pathankot for Amritsar. You can come on NH1 from Amritsar via Jalandhar or take a totally different route to Udaipur via Faridkot, Bhatinda, Sriganganagar, Bikaner and Jodhpur, although that will involve long boring drives through the desert with poor facilities. If you do that, lave Amritsar in the morning, you can stop over at Bikaner and Udaipur on the way.
	() Thanks

15th July 2010, 12:43	#6
magiceye BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 239 Thanked: 117 Times	Thank you so much HVK. Will rework my itin accordingly.
	() Thanks

15th July 2010, 13:07	#7
deky Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Jaipur Posts: 1,194 Thanked: 1,247 Times	Baroda to Jaipur is 800 odd kms but its an excellent drive. Make sure you leave NH8 and take NH76 to chittorgarh after Udaipur, take the Chittor bypass and then NH79 to Kishangarh and there you will be on NH8 again. This 800 kms is possible in 10 hrs without pushing hard. Just be carefull on the ghat section around Shyamlajee though. That section is prone to lots of accidents. Jaipur- Jammu one day is possible but very tiring. The road and the traffic between Jaipur and Delhi is hopeless, irrespective of the time of the Day you travel. This is due to the widening of the road + few flyovers that are under construction. It will take you a minimum of 5 hours. Then crossing Delhi another 1 hour atleast and then as HVK has mentioned further on NH1 the speeds are pretty slow. So your best bet as suggested by HVK would be to stop at RTDC Behror and then push of for Jammu/Katra via Delhi early in the morning say around 0400hrs. Also I believe that Pathankot to Jammu road is in excellent shape now. The 4 laning is complete and its a beautifull drive. But please do not take it as a fact till someone confirms it. Good luck and Jai Mata Di
	() Thanks

15th July 2010, 13:23	#9
bajica BHPian Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Mumbai Posts: 46 Thanked: 63 Times	Check the route via google maps.. Hi, This would be a good journey to do. Would recommend you to check the route in Google maps. Over there you can type the start point and end point. For each night halt, type the city eg. Mumbai - Jaipur. Once the route is shown, it will also show you the distance alongside this. Based on distance, you can plan this in a better way for night halts since only you would be driving and you would definitely require good rests in between the drives. Umesh
	() Thanks

14th October 2010, 15:40	#11
Vishal Rajan Newbie Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: mumbai Posts: 10 Thanked: 0 Times	Hi Guys , Its a great thought of doing Mumbai - Vaishnodevi -Mumbai . while a few wish to do it , I have done this route thrice .Thou I dont keep a log of things like the way HVK does . But let me tell you ,this route is addictive . The pain is till you reach ahmedabad due to the traffic, Then you have a cop at he end of the expressway waiting for you ... so do not forget to put a yellow strip on the right side of your head lamp. Ahmedabad is doable in 8 / 9hours . if you are a foodie then all along Rajathan you have some good dhabas serving great food . if you leave early then you can pull it on till jaipur .. as a matter of fact one of my trips were in an indica . My suggestion is to hunt for hotels out side city limits or hole upin a small town and ask for the best and you will get a great deal. as rightly put in Jaipur - jammu is a days work except for traffic snarls in and around delhi. If you want a country side drive then take the diversion from rewari ,bypass delhi and the road joins Panipat ..But then thats a choice. Once you cross Delhi, all along till jallandhar you will have great hotels , connectivity etc along the highway Pathankot and beyond , there is heavy security .. infact the security is tight post delhi .. a regular question " kaha ja rahe hai aap?" .. checking karnee hai etc .. tell them, mata kedarshan karne ja rahen hai and they will just let you go. pull on till karta . take rest for the night and start the climb the next evening . dont stay on top .. walk back post darshan and take rest in your hotel .. Take the amristsar route , visit golden temple, jalianwalabagh, wagah border etc .. the bhatinda route , ganganagar, bikaner, jaisalmer , barmer ad then cut int o gujarat ahmedabad and back home to mumbai .punjab will greet you with some fantastic earthy feel avoid nights on bikaner jaisalmer as therer are lots of robberies . Roadsa re arrow straight .. no help for miles and no one to ask questions for miles .. its a diferent planet Rest is a breeze. step on the gas and forget about every thing .. My advise to you is since the Journey is long . one must maintain a speed of not more than 110 /120 kph.. better for the car , lesser strain on all moving parts ..I have a scorpio and innova now and I dont exceed this speed but drive continuous for 18 /20 hours . I recently did mumbai jhansi via udaipur , kota , shivpuri etc . thats another story cheers and jai mata di Mumbai Ahmedabad 9 hours ahmedabad - udaipur 4 hours Udaipur - Jaipur 4 Hours Jaipur Delhi 4 Hours Delhi - Jammu - 12 hours Last edited by bblost : 21st October 2010 at 14:10. Reason: Refer forum rules esp rule 11. Thanks.
	() Thanks

7th February 2013, 19:17	#12
cyberwhizs BHPian Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Mumbai Posts: 255 Thanked: 175 Times	Re: Mumbai - Vaishnodevi - Mumbai I have been thinking of undertaking this journey for the last couple of months or so. I have been thinking about driving down from mumbai, friends and family are giving me an 'are you mad look', take the train, take the plane is the general advice. But for some weird reason, my heart is still set on driving. The recent cold wave, fog in the north and situation at the border made me rethink a bit. With the situation back to normal or near normal i have started thinking again. I plan to drive alone, have an indica/fiesta at my disposal. I do have some time at my disposal so would not mind spending some time enroute. I have done long drives - 1000Km+ in a day but then the roads couldnt be better - NH4. I do not plan to drive in the night and prefer dual carriageways wherever possible. Do let me know your thoughts and suggestions.
	() Thanks

7th February 2013, 19:46	#15
hvkumar Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 7,369 Thanked: 3,454 Times	Re: Mumbai - Vaishnodevi - Mumbai Please follow this detailed route plan for Bombay-Jammu: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzW9...it?usp=sharing It has got full details of hotels & facilities en route. You can ideally stop over at Hotel Meera/ Hotel Padmini in CHittorgarh on Day 1, Hotel Rajvi Palace in Hanumangarh on Day 2 & reach Vaishno Devi on Day 3.
	(2) Thanks