Originally Posted by anainar

But your plans are very aggressive. Bangalore - Nagpur in one day is going to be very strenuous.

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

The road through MP to Delhi is supposedly bad at the moment,unless you have a reason to go through MP.Otherwise reccomended route would be BLR-PUNE-BOM-AHMEDABAD-UDP-KISHENGARH-JAIPUR-GGN.

In the light of caring advice given by you and ranjitp1, my itinerary is under thorough revision! I shall finalise it in a few days.

[issigonis]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

In the light of caring advice given by you and ranjitp1, my itinerary is under thorough revision! I shall finalise it in a few days.

>>> J.Ravi,

Also that hvk, anainar and deky will provide very valuable inputs on :

1. routes, road conditions and optimal travel times
2. accommodation tips
3. sightseeing inputs ( I remember reading anainar's detailed Udaipur thread time and time again!)
4. petrol/diesel pump stops

If you wish to do Barmer ( maybe later sometime, there is a member here who lives in Baroda with a white Linea who had also done Munabao-sorry can't recall his handle right now).

Regards, drive safe

Thanks, issigonis, for kind advice.

I have revised my itinerary by avoiding Nagpur route altogether.

Night 1: Bangalore to Pune [844 km]

Day 1: Pune

Day 2: Pune to Bhavnagar [783 km] & halt

Day 3: Palitana

Day 4: Bhavnagar to Mount Abu [400 km] & halt

Day 5: Mount Abu/Dilwara temple

Day 6: Mount Abu to Jodhpur [231 km] & halt

Day 7: Jodhpur to Jaipur [332 km] & halt

Day 8: Jaipur to Delhi [273 km] & halt

Day 9: Delhi

Day 10: Delhi

Day 11: Delhi to Agra [216 km] & halt

Day 12: Agra

Day 13: Agra to Udaipur [660 km] & halt

Day 14: Udaipur

Day 15: Udaipur to Mumbai [783 km] & halt

Day 16: Mumbai

Night 16: Mumbai to Bangalore [995 km]

Day 17: Arrival Home, sweet home!

[hvkumar]

Good plan, Ravi. You could throw in Jaisalmer also.

[ranjitp1]

Yes ,you should be going to Jaisalmer,you just cant keep it away!

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Good plan, Ravi. You could throw in Jaisalmer also.

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Yes ,you should be going to Jaisalmer,you just cant keep it away!

Thanks, hvkumar and ranjitp1. Sure. I will definitely visit Jaisalmer provided time permits!

[ranjitp1]

You could go to Jaisalmer from Abu.It is around 400kms/should take you around 7hours.

Bhavnagar-Abu-Jaisalmer-Jodhpur-Jaipur-Delhi-Agra-Udaipur-Mumbai

[narendra_urs]

Folks,

Even I'm planning a trip to Rajasthan in December. Here's my tentative plan.

Day 1: Bangalore ---> Nagpur (1061 kms)
Day 2: Nagpur ---> Jaipur (936 kms)
Day 3: Jaipur local sight-seeing
Day 4: Jaipur ---> Jodhpur (334 kms)
Day 5: Jodhpur local sight-seeing
Day 6: Jodhpur ---> Jaisalmer (263 kms)
Day 7: Jaisalmer local sight-seeing
Day 8: Jaisalmer ---> Mount Abu (408 kms)
Day 9: Mount Abu ---> Udaipur (163 kms)
Day 10: Udaipur local sight-seeing
Day 11: Udaipur ---> Hyderabad (1161 kms)
Day 12: Hyderabad ---> Bangalore (568 kms)

The driving responsibilities will be shared by two people and we intend to drive only between 5:00 AM and 7:00 PM. Since the trip is planned on my Cruze AT, I feel achieving an average of 100 kmph is doable. Please share your insights on my travel plan.

Cheers,
Naren

[hvkumar]

Naren, I think the plan is too aggressive, considering that roads are not so good to merit consistently high speeds.

Day 1: Possible with very early morning starts and non-stop driving, but not within your time frame. With stops for food, impossible. Maybe you should target Nirmal or Adilabad at most.

Day 2: Jaipur? Why this route? This is not the fastest, best route is via Bombay. Nagpur-Bhopal road is in bad shape. You can't make good speeds anywhere on NH3 till Shivpuri. NH from Kota to Jaipur has many bad sections. Looks like you used GM to compute your route (distance matches when I tested it), but that route is not feasible because of some bad roads in interior RJ. The optimal route - bearing in mind road conditions - would be Nagpur-Bhopal-Biaora-Guna-Shivpuri-Baran-Kota-Tonk-Jaipur.

I think it bets you get to Jaipur via Bombay. For a fast driver, on Day 1, you can clear Bombay and get to Vapi, and on the second day, push it aggressively to Jaipur.

I think you should keep aside more time for Jaipur and restrict Jodhpur to half a day.

For someone from Bangalore, Mt Abu will be a total let-down as a hill-station, except for the beautiful Dilwara temples.

Driving from Udaipur to Hyderabad? Man, are you flying? The problem with you guys is you trust a dumb online map - I tested your route on GM and found ridiculous routing, the route it plots will not get you to Hyderabad even in 2 days! Even in the fastest route - again via Bombay, you cannot reach in 1 day! No further comments from my side.

I think you need to go back to the drawing board again.

In case you want an alternative plan (without retracting too much), I would suggest the following:

Bangalore-Bombay-Ahmedabad-Jaisalmer-Jodhpur-Jaipur-Udaipur-Ahmedabad-Bombay-Bangalore.

In case you want a different return route, you can try Ahmedabad-Surat-Dhulia-Aurangabad-Osmanabad-Zahirabad-JHyderabad-Bangalore, but I think that would also be a drag.

[narendra_urs]

hvkumar, Your feedback is indeed invaluable to me. We'll go with Bangalore-Bombay-Ahmedabad-Jaisalmer-Jodhpur-Jaipur-Udaipur-Ahmedabad-Bombay-Bangalore route. We'll recreate the day-wise schedule based on your other inputs and share the details for a final sign off from you

[anainar]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

Thanks, issigonis, for kind advice.


Day 2: Pune to Bhavnagar [783 km] & halt

Day 3: Palitana

Am curious about Bhavnagar. That is like going in a U and then turning backup towards Mt.Abu. Is that a famous place? Things to be seen or you have some work there?.

Your plan looks very doable. In fact you can thrown in a day at Jaisalmer instead of Mumbai. From Jodhpur it is quiet closeby. The deserts are to be seen and experienced in the evenings and early morning. You can drive to Jaipur from Jaisalmer either via Jodhpur or even via Bikaner. The roads from Jaisalmer to Bikaner are arrow straight with sparse traffic.

Enjoy the trip.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Driving from Udaipur to Hyderabad? Man, are you flying? The problem with you guys is you trust a dumb online map - I tested your route on GM and found ridiculous routing, the route it plots will not get you to Hyderabad even in 2 days! Even in the fastest route - again via Bombay, you cannot reach in 1 day! No further comments from my side.

Second you on that. Online maps give just distances. But the terrain makes it different. A distance of 400kms in Rajasthan can be done 4-4.5 hours while the same may take 12-13 hours in J&K. And then you add the other variables like road condition, double laned or divided carriageway etc. Google Maps/Satellite navigation is dumb in the sense that it does not capture this information. Atleast they should capture the divided carriageway information in the maps so that users will be better guided. I have a Satguide and cant forget the fact that the stupid device made me go through the gullies of Jodhpur to Mehrangarh fort. When checked with a local he pointed me to a fantastic divided carriageway! So, use the devices/online data as pointers but read up to add those other variables.

Nainar

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by anainar

Am curious about Bhavnagar. That is like going in a U and then turning backup towards Mt.Abu. Is that a famous place? Things to be seen or you have some work there?.

Bhavnagar is only for Palitana which is nearby. The 800-odd Jain temples atop the hilltop are something to be seen at least once in your lifetime, never mind your religious affiliations.

To get to Bhavnagar, he can go from Baroda via Borsad and Velvadhar. And from there, come to Rajkot/Bambanbhore and either go via Samakhiyari/Radhanpur/Palanpur to Mt Abu or via Ahmedbad/Palanpur.

[issigonis]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Naren, I think the plan is too aggressive, considering that roads are not so good to merit consistently high speeds.

Driving from Udaipur to Hyderabad? Man, are you flying? The problem with you guys is you trust a dumb online map - I tested your route on GM and found ridiculous routing, the route it plots will not get you to Hyderabad even in 2 days! Even in the fastest route - again via Bombay, you cannot reach in 1 day! No further comments from my side.

I think you need to go back to the drawing board again.

In case you want an alternative plan (without retracting too much), I would suggest the following:

Bangalore-Bombay-Ahmedabad-Jaisalmer-Jodhpur-Jaipur-Udaipur-Ahmedabad-Bombay-Bangalore.

>>>
I think it is good policy to have a range of 600-750 kms (maximum) travel per day. At least for India. One should factor in
i. road surface
ii. traffic conditions
iii. type of travellers ( i.e.,young adult males/family/elderly)
iv. objective of travel ( sightseeing, fast driving, off roading)
v. time of day driving (day/night/dusk)
vi. logistics ( petrol pumps, restaurants, hotels, availability of clean/hygeinic
toilets
vii. law & order issues

I think anything above 800 kms even in a powerful (>250 Nm torque, auto transmission etc.) entails risk.

Excellent alternative plan, hvk

Originally Posted by hvkumar

I think you should keep aside more time for Jaipur and restrict Jodhpur to half a day.

>>>
hvk,

If sightseeing is the objective for Jodhpur, then how about doing Mehrangarh, Chittar Palace (Umaid Bhawan Palace), Jaswant Thada, Mandore, Kailana Lake in the course of half-a-day?

Originally Posted by hvkumar

For someone from Bangalore, Mt Abu will be a total let-down as a hill-station, except for the beautiful Dilwara temples.

>>>

Completely agree. Mt. Abu can hardly be termed a hill station by anyone, from anywhere- the only (and it is terrific) attraction is the mindboggling Dilwara.

Regards
issigonis

[Judemayne]

Is there a direct route from (starting bangalore) Ahmedabad to Jiasalmer w/o touching either Udaipur or Jodhpur? The reason being go anti clockwise-Jaisalmer-Jodhpur-Jaipur-Agra-Udaipur-Vadodara-Pune-Bangalore (back)

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Judemayne

Is there a direct route from (starting bangalore) Ahmedabad to Jiasalmer w/o touching either Udaipur or Jodhpur? The reason being go anti clockwise-Jaisalmer-Jodhpur-Jaipur-Agra-Udaipur-Vadodara-Pune-Bangalore (back)

Yes there is a direct route from AMD to Jaisalmer,I did that route a couple of weeks back.AMD-Mehsana-Palanpur-Disa-Tharad-NH15-Sanchore-Barmer-Jaisalmer.Approx 10hrs of drive,excellent road,not a soul on the road except for the occasional truck or camel.But amazing landscape.