[KishoreC]

Originally Posted by JVH

North of Bangalore - towards Airport road, between Mekhri circle and Hebbal flyover. So, I guess NICE would not be a suitable option

You could have taken the Dabaspet - Dodballapur - Yelahanka - NH& to Hebbal road. That way you could have avoided the Dabaspet - Yeshawantapur stretch.

[ndalal02]

Originally Posted by anainar

I drove this route yesterday starting from Bannerghatta road and could'nt believe my timings atleast upto Tumkur. I touched Tumkur Coffee day in 1 hour 10 minutes, starting from L&T South city by 7:05 AM, was stopping at Coffee day at 8:15 AM. NICE Road does work well for South Bangalore and Bannerghatta road people. Was at Ghar Dhaba after Ranibennur by 11:45 had a nice lunch.I lost time taking a power nap for 45 minutes from 12:45 till 1:30 and then the raid gods opened up after Kohlapur. It was raining cats and dogs and I could drive only at 60 KMPH because of poor visibility for almost two hours till I crossed Satara, stopped for coffee in between . Still I managed to enter my Warje home by 7:20 PM. Without those, it could have been just 10.5 hours.

So, through NICE road, one can easily shave off an hour.

The stretch between Chitradurga - Ranibennur - Haveri is treacherous. Some filling of potholes activity is going on, but the road are in very bad condition. Have to be extremely watchful.

Nainar

Hey I am driving to Mumbai this weekend.
Are you saying, you did Bangalore - pune in roughly 12 hours with one break each for coffee, lunch and nap (and of course bad roads between chitradurga and haveri) ? If yes thats amazing.

Thanks,
Nirav.

[Akadian]

Originally Posted by longford

Great Inputs , guys. fantastic bits of info.

The good foodie stuff collected so far are
1. In Dharwad, there is a Link Bazaar peda. Aparently, is a hot item to get even by local standards and elusive since the fella makes only 50 odd kgs a day.
2. There is this wada mirchi stuff along the hubli-dharwad stretch, pretty famous, they say.

Any other noteworthy stops for food or views that can enrich the trip?

Hi there,

When you enter Karnataka from the Maharashtra side, you will get a couple of road-side eating joints. The joints are not anything noteworthy but since you are looking for local delicacies, do pick up a couple of boxes of "Belgaum Kunda". It is delicious and I'm sure you will savor it

Cheers

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by longford

Great Inputs , guys. fantastic bits of info.


Any other noteworthy stops for food or views that can enrich the trip?

You could stop any where in Kolhapur and try 'Misal pav' there. You would see smoke coming out of your ears I'm sure

Originally Posted by anainar

The stretch between Chitradurga - Ranibennur - Haveri is treacherous. Some filling of potholes activity is going on, but the road are in very bad condition. Have to be extremely watchful.

Nainar

I think potholes are ok and if you drive slow enough, they are managable, its the other larger and powerful vehicles who want to go faster which scare you and want you to go that much faster.

Originally Posted by Akadian

It is delicious and I'm sure you will savor it

Cheers

Its Misal Pav for you too.

[anainar]

Originally Posted by ndalal02

Hey I am driving to Mumbai this weekend.
Are you saying, you did Bangalore - pune in roughly 12 hours with one break each for coffee, lunch and nap (and of course bad roads between chitradurga and haveri) ? If yes thats amazing.

Thanks,
Nirav.

Yes, the major killer of time is Koramangala - Tumkur stretch. I am used to spending anywhere between 2.5 - 3 hours in that stretch, and this time did it in 1 hour 15 minutes. And I keep a constant speed of 130-140 and drive at 160 when I see empty stretches, mostly in the Belgaum Kohlapur stretches which are extremely well laid.

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

I think potholes are ok and if you drive slow enough, they are managable, its the other larger and powerful vehicles who want to go faster which scare you and want you to go that much faster.

I agree. Normally it is at these stretches the fu**ed up buses/local trucks try to overtake cars bullying them, knowing very well that the cars will overtake them in the next clean stretch. But that is highway driving and one has to keep cool. I have never seen interstate trucks trying to do such tricks though, they give space graciously.

I will be driving back next Monday mostly back to Bangalore. Hope the pot hole filling has happened.

Nainar

[ndalal02]

Originally Posted by anainar

Yes, the major killer of time is Koramangala - Tumkur stretch. I am used to spending anywhere between 2.5 - 3 hours in that stretch, and this time did it in 1 hour 15 minutes. And I keep a constant speed of 130-140 and drive at 160 when I see empty stretches, mostly in the Belgaum Kohlapur stretches which are extremely well laid.

I agree. Normally it is at these stretches the fu**ed up buses/local trucks try to overtake cars bullying them, knowing very well that the cars will overtake them in the next clean stretch. But that is highway driving and one has to keep cool. I have never seen interstate trucks trying to do such tricks though, they give space graciously.

I will be driving back next Monday mostly back to Bangalore. Hope the pot hole filling has happened.

Nainar

I am planning to start from Sarjapur Outer Ring road at 4 AM on Saturday 26th. Is it advisable to take the NICE road? I guess I will have to take it from Banerghatta road. I am not very sure since NICE road is not complete and also the traffic on the Bangalore - Nelamangala - Tumkur stretch should not be a issue at 4 in the morning.

Thanks,
Nirav.

[manish123]

I had completed my trip from Koramangala Bangalore to Mumbai in the third week of Aug. I have put up the distance/avg speed of my trip which I believe could be a good indicator to people who are planning for this route. I drove Palio and on free roads, I would go upto max of 120kmph, but mostly driving at around 100-110kmph.
I took a night halt at Belgaum since this was my first trip. But, it is definitely do-able trip in a day and thats what I will be doing in my next trip.

[Selective]

Originally Posted by JVH

North of Bangalore - towards Airport road, between Mekhri circle and Hebbal flyover. So, I guess NICE would not be a suitable option

While entering Bangalore, enter NICE road and take the first exit which leads to Magadi road. After few kms on Magadi road, you will intersect ring road. From there, take left turn on the ring road, which leads to Yeshwantpur or keep going straight and join West of Chord road. This way it is easy to enter Yeshwantpur, Malleshwaram, RMV etc.

[Selective]

Originally Posted by ndalal02

I am planning to start from Sarjapur Outer Ring road at 4 AM on Saturday 26th. Is it advisable to take the NICE road? I guess I will have to take it from Banerghatta road. I am not very sure since NICE road is not complete and also the traffic on the Bangalore - Nelamangala - Tumkur stretch should not be a issue at 4 in the morning.

Thanks,
Nirav.

At 4AM, you can take tumkur road from Yeshwantpur, should not be a problem. But for better drive (road), you can take NICE road.

[JVH]

Originally Posted by KishoreC

You could have taken the Dabaspet - Dodballapur - Yelahanka - NH& to Hebbal road. That way you could have avoided the Dabaspet - Yeshawantapur stretch.

Originally Posted by Selective

While entering Bangalore, enter NICE road and take the first exit which leads to Magadi road. After few kms on Magadi road, you will intersect ring road. From there, take left turn on the ring road, which leads to Yeshwantpur or keep going straight and join West of Chord road. This way it is easy to enter Yeshwantpur, Malleshwaram, RMV etc.

Thanks guys! Will try out the options next time.

[longford]

Thanks to pervez_prince and akadian for their recommendations on the food stuff.. Looking forward to the missile-pavs and soothing kunds ;-)

The 130 km stretch of Chitradurga-Haveri still has the concensus of being a really bad road. Hopefully, they will get it fixed before Dushera.

I am also thinking whether it would be advisable to take a detaour to Hampi/Hospet and then NH13 to Chitradurga. Kilometer-wise it is an additional 110 odd kms. But then I shall be able to do some sight seeing and also by pass the pain.

Whats say guys? Has any of us tried this stretch Haveri-Hampi-Chitradurga?

Thanks again to the wonderful posts shedding valuable on ground info. Appreciate it.

[anainar]

Originally Posted by longford

The 130 km stretch of Chitradurga-Haveri still has the concensus of being a really bad road. Hopefully, they will get it fixed before Dushera.

That is quiet a wishful thinking. Those roads have been bad for ages. No solution in sight at all. If that is laid properly, one can do Bangalore - Pune under 10 hours safely.

I dont know about Chitradurga-Hampi- Haveri road. But once I did stop at Chitradurga and visited the fort, spending a couple of hours. That is the only sight seeing I did enroute.

Nainar

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by anainar

If that is laid properly, one can do Bangalore - Pune under 10 hours safely.

Saaaaar! Everyone doesn't drive a Ferrari like you do . Serious, what is your ride?

Originally Posted by longford

Thanks to pervez_prince and akadian for their recommendations on the food stuff.. Looking forward to the missile-pavs

Missile pavs, lol, yes thats what they are.

[ndalal02]

Originally Posted by Selective

At 4AM, you can take tumkur road from Yeshwantpur, should not be a problem. But for better drive (road), you can take NICE road.

Hey thanks mate for the advice. Not sure which one I am going to take but will update on the road conditions once I am back.

Thanks,
Nirav.

[anainar]

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

Saaaaar! Everyone doesn't drive a Ferrari like you do . Serious, what is your ride?

Noooooo, people do Bangalore-Mumbai in 12 hours even in this condition. This treacherous stretch takes 3-4 hours of time. Belgaum - Pune ( @350 kms ) can be done in 4:00 hours. Bangalore - Chitradurga ( 200 kms ) can be done in 2:30 hours( through NICE road of course ). Chitradurga - Ranibennur-Haveri ( @150 kms )takes easily 3-4 hours. If laid properly this should also be doable in 1:45 minutes Haveri - Belgaum - @160 kms is eternal bliss and can be done in 1:45 minutes. Add up all this and it will be around 10 hours.

Ride does not matter. Law of averages always catch up beyond a point. I drive a Corolla and I do not hesitate to touch 160-180 in Haveri-Belgaum stretches and Belgaum - Kholapur stretch.

Nainar