[ampere]

Originally Posted by us.dash

My co-passengers would be my wife, who drives, and my son who is 1.5
who thinks he can drive.
1st question, am I being stupid

:-)
For the drive nothing is bad. But yes for a five night holiday you may two to three of them on the road. You need to account for that part.

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by us.dash

1st question, am I being stupid? Would everyone be on the road as it is such a long weekend. The Independence Day weekend saw jams for hours on the expressway. I am sure it was true for other highways also.
2nd question, how bad is the Pune Satara stretch and the Pune bypass stretch.
3rd question, are the roads in Karnataka as good as before

If you leave early in the morning, you can make it to Chennai by evening.

Pune - Satara is bad. It is atrocious of them to collect toll on that stretch. I would advise you to do this stretch in daylight.

Karnataka roads are butter smooth, especially when you enter from Maharastra.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

If you leave early in the morning, you can make it to Chennai by evening.

I he leaves Bombay by 3AM (say for example), he would be in Pune by 6AM, in Bangalore outskirts by 5-6PM and in Madras by 11-12 night.

Thats about 19-20 hour drive. With the family, if he can make it, nothing like it. But that would be quite hectic.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by us.dash

Mumbai - Chennai - Mumbai plan

With 2 drivers its definitely possible to do Bombay-Madras in a day, given you start 3ish from Bombay and enter Madras around midnight (best time to enter). If you have packed food maybe you can cut down some of the time spent in food stops.

[us.dash]

Definitely possible but not probable is the feeling I get. Honestly don't see myself pulling in 19-20 hrs of driving. So may have to halt at Bangalore, and as Ampere says that takes away 2 nights out of a 5 night trip :(
Still it was good thinking about it, hopefully when the little one is a bit older.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by us.dash

Definitely possible but not probable is the feeling I get. Honestly don't see myself pulling in 19-20 hrs of driving. So may have to halt at Bangalore, and as Ampere says that takes away 2 nights out of a 5 night trip :(
Still it was good thinking about it, hopefully when the little one is a bit older.

Really good on your part, to actually understand the limitations and fatigue factor and not get carried away by the thrill of driving. That is how sanity should prevail. Even I would have thought the same way.

I do understand many of us can do it. But the important part is for us to objectively realise, if we can do it ourselves and decide accordingly. I myself have improved over the years. Started with 200-300km per day max to 400/500 to 800/900 (4-lane).

[rpunwani]

Originally Posted by ampere

Really good on your part, to actually understand the limitations and fatigue factor and not get carried away by the thrill of driving. That is how sanity should prevail. Even I would have thought the same way.

I do understand many of us can do it. But the important part is for us to objectively realise, if we can do it ourselves and decide accordingly. I myself have improved over the years. Started with 200-300km per day max to 400/500 to 800/900 (4-lane).

I totally agree with Ampere. It's very easy to get carried away when doing long distance driving and not realise the fatigue and loss of concentration that sets in.

I have done two road trips in the last one year and generally limited myself to daytime driving and 600 km per day. Only on two occasions I did 800+ km, that too in an automatic car with cruise control. On one of those long drives from Bangalore to Pune I lost concentration for a fraction of time and had to brake hard to avoid contact with a pedestrian. Better to be slow and safe than sorry !

[siddutta]

On the way from Pune to Bengaluru I want to visit Karwar /Gokarna ?? is there a better option to drive than Pune ---> Satara ---> Karad ---> Kolhapur ..> Belgaum ---> Hubli ---> Karwar /Gokarna .??

I was thinking if there is a more scenic way along the coast. Should I take a detour at belgaum towards Goa and reach Karwar ? Are the Roads OK ? the idea is not to be at Goa but to enjoy the drive...

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by siddutta

I was thinking if there is a more scenic way along the coast. Should I take a detour at belgaum towards Goa and reach Karwar ? Are the Roads OK ? the idea is not to be at Goa but to enjoy the drive...

The road to reach from Belgaum to Goa is via scenic Chorla Ghats. Further to this, you will probably have to spend time navigating Goa traffic (usually progressing) at least till you cross Margaon after which you can reach Karwar in the next 60-90 minutes.

The roads are in good shape - Both Chorla Ghats as well as the Goa-Karwar via NH17.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by siddutta

I was thinking if there is a more scenic way along the coast. Should I take a detour at belgaum towards Goa and reach Karwar ? Are the Roads OK ? the idea is not to be at Goa but to enjoy the drive...

Its not an alternative route. Its a big detour, which would ultimately lead you to stay some where in between overnight. If you are OK with it, then by all means.

You can do Pune-Belgaum-Chorla-Goa-Karwar-Ankola-Gokarna-Honnar-Jog-Shimoga-Arsikere-Tumkur-Bangalore

[jkrishnakj]

I did a Bangalore - Pune trip last Friday, 13th Sept. Awesome roads inside Karnataka, was a breeze till Kolhapur.

After Kolhapur is where the issue started, the highway suddenly appears narrower and the traffic suddenly seems to be quite heavy.

For all the time gained in the Blr-Kolhapur section, everything and more was lost in the last stretch between Satara and Pune. Horrendous stretch.

I left Bangalore at 10.30 AM and reached Model Colony, Pune at 9.30 PM, with two breaks, one for 20 mins for lunch and a 10 minute coffee break.

But for the Satara-Pune stretch, it would have been stress free.

[siddutta]

Thanks Paragsachania...
Thanks Ampere... thanks again ..

I think I will do Mumbai - Pune-Belgaum-Chorla-Goa-Karwar-Ankola-Gokarna-Honnar-Jog-Shimoga-Arsikere-Tumkur-Bangalore with halts at Shimoga, Gokarna ,satara

I shall update after I am back...

Yesterday evening we bypassed Mumbai via Ghodbunder and Thane and reached Bangalore today at 9 am. Here are some observations:

1. While we took 1 hour 28 minutes on 18 Sep 2013 during the small hours, yesterday evening, we did in 1 hour 38 minutes in peak evening traffic; a small price of extra 10 mintues to pay for evening peak traffic!



2. While we paid 2 tolls each amounting to ₹ 30 after Ghodbunder-Thane toll of ₹ 20 last year, yesterday evening we did not pay those 2 x ₹ 30 after Ghodbunder-Thane toll of ₹ 20. We however drove through one non-functional toll plaza. Perhaps, MSRDCL has stopped collecting toll for Thane-Belapur and Sion-Panvel Expressway stretches now. But, we paid ₹ 195 for Yashwatnrao Chavan Expressway yesterday as against ₹ 165 last year.



3. Most of the potholes/craters on Pune - Satara section have been patched up well. However, the diversions are nightmares still. It continues to be a sin to pay toll for this horrible stretch.

4. When I enquired the price at Konduskar's pump on Kholapur bypass, I was shocked to learn that diesel costs ₹ 66+/litre, which made me refuel my XUV 500 at BP COCOO near Dharwad bypass costing ₹ 64.02/litre.

5. Our original plan of having late dinner at Sai Food Court, 35 km before Kolhapur, while driving from Pune to Bangalore, was shattered as we found it closed for the day at the late hours. However, we used their clean rest rooms and continued the journey. The adjacent Sai International was functional at the late hours. Later, we consumed biscuits, chikkies, sovouries, washed down by water for dinner at the road side.

[dass]

Are there any entry taxes to be paid for private vehicles when we enter Mumbai ? If yes, what is the amount to be paid and will they issue a receipt for the same and where is this collected?

[siddutta]

Last week I did a week long trip along with my wife and my daughters. Thought I shall update you all.

Day 1: Bangalore  Tumkur  Tiptur  Arsikere Tarikere Shimoga approx. 320 kms . Toll= less than 200 Rs.

Started at 6.30 am and reached at 1 pm. Stayed at Royal Orchid ( Rs. 3200 ) near the best stand. Probably it is the best hotel option for a family.

Day 2 : Visited the Lion Tiger safari ( some 20 kms away from Shimoga en-route Jog. Toll= less than 100 Rs. View the magnificent Jog falls and then drove down to Honnarvar and then Gokarna. We stayed at Samskruti Resort on OM beach Road for 3500 Rs. per night. It is again a good bet for a family.

Day 3 : Gokarna to Pune via the Kalighati hills ( not touching Angola, Hubli… Good roads without dividers, via villages and dense forest.. but lonely.. wont do it after sunset) -> Dharwad bypass Belgaum Kohlapur Karad Satara  Pune . Started at 11.30 am . Reached Baner 10 pm . Toll till Dharward =none , after that ~ 450 Rs. Roads are not that great in Maharashtra. From Satara to Pune, there are lots of Diversions and the highways are not that free also, i.e. feels like driving within towns.

Day 4 : Pune to Bombay via expressway . 4.5 hrs till Goregaon.
First time I drove on the famed Expressway. Either my expectations were high or the expressway needs repair.

Day 7 : Bombay to Bangalore : 17 hours Toll = ~ 1300 Rs.

Conclusions
1. Honda City I-vtec: awesome car for highway driving except for bad roads. If your route does not have highways , consider not driving Honda City.
2. I think I would buy IRB infra shares. They are minting money all the way between Bangalore and Mumbai.

Questions : is it a norm for national highways not to have street lights ?

My special thanks to @Paragsachania & @Ampere for their route advises