[ash_blore]

My wife and I am planning to drive to Pune on 20th morning from South Bangalore. Based on this thread I will start from home @ 4:30AM at the latest.

I plan to carry my own breakfast but need need help planning a good hygienic place for lunch, evening snacks. Any post covid pointers from regular travellers?

Also, based on the 4:30AM start what time can I expect to reach Pune ?

[MorePower]

I drove from JP Nagar to Mumbai on 12th Dec. Started at 5 am, reached Chembur at 9.30 pm. This was with short breaks for breakfast, lunch, re-fuel and bio breaks totalling 1 hour. Plus an additional 45 minutes that I lost due to a flat tyre.

We packed all our meals so didn't eat out anywhere. But we did stop at CCDs to use the restrooms.

FastTag worked at all toll plazas except Khed-Shivpur. They made a manual note of my car regn. number and let me go. Did not pay cash.

Watch out for the speed gun / interceptor a few hundred metres ahead of Apoorva resorts, Davanagere. Strangely, they were parked in the service lane that vehicles had to take due to diversions.

Road conditions as mentioned in the previous posts; KA overall very good barring the diversions due to flyover constructions. Heavy traffic in MH, especially around Kolhapur. Poor road conditions between Satara and Pune. Have to watch out for potholes and undulations in the road.

Originally Posted by ash_blore

My wife and I am planning to drive to Pune on 20th morning from South Bangalore. Based on this thread I will start from home @ 4:30AM at the latest.

I plan to carry my own breakfast but need need help planning a good hygienic place for lunch, evening snacks. Any post covid pointers from regular travellers?

Also, based on the 4:30AM start what time can I expect to reach Pune ?

We crossed Pune around 7 pm, having started from JP Nagar at 5 am. But as mentioned in my previous post, lost almost an hour due to a flat tyre. Depending on your average speed and duration of breaks, I would say 12-14 hours to Pune would be a safe bet.

Didn't eat out anywhere so can't comment on the current situation at restaurants. But our favourite stop for lunch in previous trips used to be Sai International after Kolhapur. Clean restrooms, ample parking, good food, especially if you enjoy Maharashtrian fare. But it is on the other side of the highway, so you will have to cross over.

[dreamliner17]

I happen to see another route on google maps-
Mum-Pune-Pandharpur-Vijaypura-chitra Durga-tumakuru-Bangalore.

This route takes 2 hr more than the usual Satara-Belgaum route and it seems to have lesser toll as well.

Has anyone take this route? Do you recommend it?

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by dreamliner17

Mum-Pune-Pandharpur-Vijaypura-chitra Durga-tumakuru-Bangalore.

Not worth for Bombay-Bangalore. Works if you are doing Bangalore-Shirdi or Aurangabad.

If you really want to try, do Bombay-Pune-Solapur-Bijapur-Chitradurga-Bangalore.

Solapur-Bijapur also has 4-laning WIP and associated diversions.

[dreamliner17]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Solapur-Bijapur also has 4-laning WIP and associated diversions.

I feel, if both the routes have diversions and ongoing work, I might as well take the route with lesser toll. Also, if the Bijapur route is more scenic, I don’t mind taking a chance. Yes it may add 1-2 hours to my total travel but I don’t want to pay more toll for bad roads/poor sections.

[cyberwhizs]

Originally Posted by dreamliner17

I happen to see another route on google maps-
Mum-Pune-Pandharpur-Vijaypura-chitra Durga-tumakuru-Bangalore.

This route takes 2 hr more than the usual Satara-Belgaum route and it seems to have lesser toll as well.

Has anyone take this route? Do you recommend it?

Have driven portions, not the whole section.

Pune - Pandharpur, if you plan to do via sholapur road i.e. bigwan - indapur etc , the section should be fine, it was widened, remodeled etc few years back and should be ok. However if you plan to hit Pandharpur via any interior roads either from satara or via jejuri, baramati or phaltan, do reconsider as it is a single carriageway with narrow stretches and average road conditions in the best of times. However, I do not know the current road situation.

Viyaypura-Chitradurga , old NH13 , used to be a single carriageway badly maintained and full of quarry trucks, it skirts around ballari.

It is no way a 2 hour detour. It has been quite a while since i traveled on old NH13. In the past it was a road that was best avoided. Even if condition have improved over the years my guess is - it is not a 2 hour detour as google suggests.

If you do end up taking this route, do post in detail, i am really curious.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by cyberwhizs

Viyaypura-Chitradurga , old NH13 , used to be a single carriageway badly maintained and full of quarry trucks, it skirts around ballari.

Those are history now. I've driven the entire stretch from Solapur to Chitradurga in Jan 2020 and the update was posted here. Solapur-NICE entry ramp takes roughly 10 hours even with the 2.5-3 hour Solapur-Bijapur drive with diversions.

[cyberwhizs]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Those are history now. I've driven the entire stretch from Solapur to Chitradurga in Jan 2020 and the update was posted here. Solapur-NICE entry ramp takes roughly 10 hours even with the 2.5-3 hour Solapur-Bijapur drive with diversions.

Read your update in the other thread. Wow, That means there is a viable alternative to old NH4. Will keep this in mind the next time i plan a trip to bengaluru/hampi. Goodbye to the horror that old NH13 was. Whew! Thanks.

[Dr.AD]

I did a Bangalore-Mumbai drive last week, with a break in Pune for work.

I drove from Bangalore to Pune, stayed in Pune for a couple of days. Then drove to Mumbai and then drove back from Mumbai to Bangalore with a stop in Pune again.

This was a work trip as I had meetings in Pune and Mumbai. This drive was done in my BMW 320d.

Here are some of my thoughts and tips after this drive:

1. It took me roughly 12 hours of actual driving time (excluding breaks) in each direction. With breaks for lunch etc added, it was about 13.5 hours for the total drive.

2. The diversions between Chitradurga and Hubli are not as bad as I had imagined. The diversions are well marked and the road surface is good even in the diversions in most places (there are some speed-breakers and occasional potholes, but mostly it is OK). The 320d managed this well without any issue whatsoever. Thus, the diversions are easy to manage even in a low GC sedan.

3. However, due to the occasional random potholes and the speed-breakers, one has to be slow and careful. You have to pay a lot of attention and drive with caution. I would not recommend this section in the night. Please drive this section in the daytime when you can see the road surfaces and the diversions.

4. In general, it adds about 30 minutes of additional time between Chitradurga and Hubli. But other than that, it is perfectly doable with no real issues. The diversions are no where bad enough to require considering alternate routes. Other than the annoyance of having to exist the beautiful highway and take diversions, there is not much problem here. If I have to travel again somewhere (e.g. Goa) where I have to take this road, I will take this again without a hesitation.

5. The road between Satara and Pune is in bad condition, as always. Nothing new here since last 10 years! I would advice to drive this section too in the daylight as much as possible. Again, this is bad but not so bad as to worry about car or consider alternative routes. This is easily doable in any sedan too. Just be slow and careful.

6. FastTag worked everywhere in the entire drive, and I did not pay cash anywhere except for the NICE road in Bangalore. Even the Hubli-Dharwad bypass (which is still an undivided highway) which was notorious for cash only policy till recently accepts FastTag now!

7. However, the toll booths between Kolhapur and Pune are very badly managed, and although there are separate FastTag and cash lanes, nobody followed this. I was shocked to see that most of the people were still paying cash, and worse yet, were still using any lane they wished. Each toll booth in that section is a big hurdle to cross and one has to literally fight with other vehicles to find a place in the lanes (the vehicles were not following proper lanes and many random lanes formed were merging in the end into the toll lanes, causing huge delays). This was especially bad while driving from Pune to Bangalore, after an early morning start from Pune. The mornings on these booths are a mess. This is a painful experience, and requires a lot of patience and calmness to deal with this. Please be prepared to face this situation and be calm and patient!

8. Many of my usual eateries on this road were closed. If you are planning to eat at some specific place, please check in advance if that place is still open.

9. On a positive note, I saw many new Reliance and Shell petrol pumps that have opened up on this route (in both directions). I refueled at a Reliance pump near Nipani while driving to Pune, and at a Shell pump near Hubli while driving back to Bangalore. These are easy to spot from the highway.

Hope this information is helpful to others driving this route.

[ash_blore]

Drove to Pune today from BLR. As suggested started early from South BLR at 430am. Stopped at CCD after Chitrdurga for quick coffee and rest room break. Next stop was at Shell after Dharwad. This has good clean toilets and snacks/coffee for purchase. We carried my own food so ate it there.
Next stopped at Hotel Amar before entering Maharashtra for a quick coffee. Then headed direct to Pune.

The roads inside MH are 4 lane and the traffic is more so going is not as smooth as inside KA. From Satara it is 6 lane again but the roads are not built well, too many dips in road and the ride is super bouncy.

Overall good drive and reached Pune city by 2PM and hotel by 2:15pm. Took little less than 10hrs including the above breaks.

[prasanna.sub82]

Hi friends,

I plan to drive out from Mumbai to Bangalore on 23rd Dec, with wife and 2 kids in tow. Had a few Qns to take guidance on:

1. While I have earlier done the drive in a single run, I am considering taking a night halt at Belgaum. Would the "Fairfield by Marriott" be a good and safe option to break for the night? Anyone who has stayed there during the pandemic and has feedback to share??

2. Any new travel restrictions between MH and KA road travel? I scoured the news but could not notice anything. MH has inbound restrictions from 4 states but KA is not among them, and today MH has also announced night curfews (11pm to 6am) till 5-Jan. Has anyone who may have driven in the last week or 2 have anything to share on the Covid checks (if any)?

3. I noticed someone mentioning speedguns near Davanagere, and I also noticed several new signages on the Pune - Mumbai expressway to limit speed to 100kms.. a friend of mine got penalised for cutting over 100kmph. Any feedback on the stretches one really needs to take it slow? On good stretches, I generally used to touch about 120-140kmph, but now I am not sure if this would be an issue :-(

[narayans80]

No restrictions or CoVid on KA side as of now, and it's unlikely there'll be any.

There is no real need to do 120+, Pune-Bangalore can be done in 11 hour driving time (even with diversions in place). This is a high traffic corridor plus this is sugarcane harvest season, you'll have to keep your eyes peeled for those X marked contraptions on the MH side.

Interceptors on Shammanur bypass have been there for a while now, speed limit is marked as 80 kmph just ahead.

[ghodlur]

Did a Bangalore Pune drive on 16th Dec covering 851 kms and got an average of 21.6 kmpl. Started from Bangalore at 4.40 am and reached Pune at 1820 hrs with 4 halts of 20 mins each. The total driving time was 12 hrs door to door. Initially till dawn break drove at 70 kmph, then increased to 80 kmph and was cruising comfortably at 100 kmph. The car drove superbly without a sweat. Had carried own food and tea hence only washrooms of good hotels were used.

Pain points:
1. Diversion between Chitradurag and Davangere. 14 of them in total.
2. 2 laned road between Dharwad and Hubli. Overtaking has to be an extremely careful affair in this stretch.
3. Uneven roads between Satara and Pune
4. Trucks, cars all hogging in Fastag lanes

Good feel:
1. Roads in KA (except diversion) were butter smooth
2. All major cities/towns bypassed
3. Fastag was super smooth. Total of 975 rs in 15 tolls (11 KA tolls, 4 MH tolls).Max toll 95 rs and min toll was 20 rs.

[jkrishnakj]

Originally Posted by prasanna.sub82

Hi friends,

I plan to drive out from Mumbai to Bangalore on 23rd Dec, with wife and 2 kids in tow. Had a few Qns to take guidance on:

1. While I have earlier done the drive in a single run, I am considering taking a night halt at Belgaum. Would the "Fairfield by Marriott" be a good and safe option to break for the night? Anyone who has stayed there during the pandemic and has feedback to share??

:-(

If you can push another hour and reach Hubli, you can also try Naveen's Lake Side. Good hotel and I have stayed there a few times in the past. From Hubli, you can reach the NICE road junction at Bangalore in about 6 hours and it eases the drive out on day 2.

[Peepsimus]

Hi Friends,

I am planning a Bengaluru to Rajkot drive coming weekend with a stopover in Pune. With an early morning start from Bengaluru, plan to be in Pune by evening.

Coming to the need for help - Originally I had planned to have an early morning start from Pune (~ 4am) to beat Mumbai traffic and reach Rajkot in time to beat the 9pm curfew in Rajkot. But now with a night curfew in place in Maharashtra as well, and my lack of understanding about what's allowed and not allowed in Maharashtra during night curfew, I am unsure if a 4am start from Pune would be possible. Starting at 6am would likely put me in a lot of traffic in Mumbai and I might be cutting it too close to make it to Rajkot before 9pm. Traveling with family and hence breaks needed would be more than my previous solo runs.

Any pointers on the Pune start situation would be very helpful.

Thanks in advance.