[vij4all]

Wanting to get away with the wife and kid on wednesday to Goa - never been there and this is my plan for now. I would like seniors and others to comment and advise.

18th - Wed - Depart from Thane around lunch time (not possible leave earlier and hence that will not get changed) and head straight to Belgaum and check in at Sankam Residency at 9ish. Have dinner, relax, wake up and have breakfast.

19th - Thu - Depart from Belgaum, come back to Nippani to take a diversion (never done this so would like tips on landmarks if any) and head towards Sawantwadi. From my guesttimate, it should take 6 hours. I have thought of the Lotus backwater resort at Aronda so will have to touch Sawantwadi.

20th - Fri - Checkout of Lotus and head towards north Goa, check into a hotel preferably on the beach so even if its raining, we can have fun

21st - Sat - Checkout of the north Goa hotel and head towards south Goa.

22nd - Checkout after breakfast and head back to Thane. Should I consider the old Goa highway or come back the way I went?

Thanks

[deutscheafrikar]

You don't have to come back to nipani or sankeshwar, from belgaum you can drive directly to amboli and then to sawantwadi. I guess it makes sense to drive back on the NH4 rather than the NH17 since you don't know the condition of the old Goa road after the heavy rains this year
Enjoy your vacation

[filcord]

Originally Posted by deutscheafrikar

You don't have to come back to nipani or sankeshwar, from belgaum you can drive directly to amboli and then to sawantwadi.

Yes, this is correct. The road is not great, but you should do an average of 60 kph easily. Be aware there was a landslide at Amboli recently, so progress may be slow there.

Instead of spending the night at Belgaum, how about at Kolhapur? That way you won't backtrack.

[COUGAR]

spend the night at Sai Residency ahead of Kolhapur and take the Phonda Ghat. Will be much faster and no backtracking.

[vij4all]

Ever since HVK had suggested Sankam, I kinda like that place. Been there twice earlier on my Chennai - Thane trips and hence..So if im on the kolhapur highway towards Belgaum and I cross Mcdonald's on my right, how far from there to Sai Residency? Will be it to my left or right?

And how much time will it take from there to Sawantwadi?

[hvkumar]

Vijay, Sai Resort is 52 kms after Karad (towards Kolhapur), 9 kms before the Kini Toll Gate and 29 kms before turning off NH4 to Kolhapur city. As our other friends have said, you will add 60 kms to your route if you were to go to Belgaum and come back. On the other hand, if you intend to Goa directly (without staying over in Sawantwadi), then you can proceed from Belgaum on NH4A via Khanapur and Anmod to Goa. No one has been on the Amboli ghat road after the landslide and one does not know how badly the road has been affected.

[vij4all]

HVK Sir, so the ponhad ghat route is better to take?

I will stay back at Sai Resort for the night and then how do i proceed further the next day?

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by vij4all

HVK Sir, so the ponhad ghat route is better to take?

I will stay back at Sai Resort for the night and then how do i proceed further the next day?

As HVK says,from Sai Resort,go onto Belgaum via NH4,enter Belgaum town and then go via NH4A(via Khanapur-Londa-Anmod-Mollem National Park-Ponda-Panaji).Belgaum to Panjim is around 160kms and the drive through NH4A is spectacular through the forests

[hvkumar]

Yes, as per ranjitp1's suggestion.
Please be wary that some potholes have developed on NH4A (as per issigonis who drove that way yesterday) around Anmod, but nothing to worry about.

[vij4all]

Okay now im a trifle confused and hope you pardon me for that.

(a) Dont go upto Belgaum and stay back at Sai Resort and take the Ponda ghat route as opposed to the Belgaum - Nippani - Amboli route so the route is somewhere between Kolhapur and Belgaum

(b) Go through Belgaum city and through Londa - Anmod etc to Panaji. In which case i can stay at Sankam ??

Also please bear in mind I need to reach Sawantwadi..

[hvkumar]

If you want to to Sawantwadi, then the best place to stay overnight is Sai Resort. And to go to Savantwadi, the best choice is to turn off after Nippani and go via Ajra, going all the way via Belgaum does not make sense. Go to Belgaum only if you want to go direct to Goa via Khanapur.

[deutscheafrikar]

Originally Posted by vij4all

Okay now im a trifle confused and hope you pardon me for that...

Lots of confusion here. I think Cougar meant Phondaghat which is different from the Bengaum Ponda route. You have to go through Kolhapur city to reach this phondaghat route.
You need to check into the mumbai pune goa thread to get a clear picture of the routes. Unless Ranjitp1 is willing to elaborate here.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Amboli ghat is still closed as per my friend in Ajra.


Best route to Goa at present is ---

pune-nh4-kolhapur-radhanagari-phonda ghat-kankawali-NH17-kudal-goa.

[filcord]

Originally Posted by deutscheafrikar

Lots of confusion here. I think Cougar meant Phondaghat which is different from the Bengaum Ponda route. You have to go through Kolhapur city to reach this phondaghat route.

Yep. Both names are very similar but are of two entirely different places.
Phondaghat is a mountain (ghat) that one crosses coming from Kolhapur NH4 to Sawantwadi NH17. This is entirely in Maharashtra.

Ponda is a town in the middle of Goa. The route from Belgaum to Goa goes via Anmod ghat (nasty road when I last went there a year back) to the commercial town of Ponda and then to Panjim or Margao.

[determinus]

Planning to drive Pune to Goa (convoy of 4 Innovas) this Sunday. What's the status on Amboli ghat / road conditions? Is Radhanagari the best option, if we need to go via Sawantwadi?

Sorry for cross posting and TIA!