[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by Capri89

There is an upcoming Mumbai - Solapur - Bangalore travel in a weeks time.

For ETD 5.30 am Mumbai (Prabhadevi) which is the best route to cross Pune ?

I average around 70 with breaks. Can I cross Pune by 8 am ?

If its a weekday expect a good traffic at 8 am in Pune, so you will need to factor additional time for that.

If its weekend, you can make through but you may encounter traffic at Hadapsar or Urli Kanchan. Post that the highways will see 2 wheeler traffic for the shorter distances.

[sandeepsc]

I have a upcoming drive to Munnar from Mumbai(Sion) from 24th December. I have planned to halt at Tumkuru for night and on next day 25/12 head towards Munnar. The first phase is about 900 KM. Which is the fastest route to reach Tumkuru as there are lot of mixed reactions about Satara-Belgavi route. Google still shows Satara-Belgavi route as fastest even though this route has ongoing construction activities and diversions. How much extra time should I consider if going through Solapur route?

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by sandeepsc

How much extra time should I consider if going through Solapur route?

If it helps, on a Saturday, two weeks back. It took 10 hours including 2 food stops of around 30 mins each + a fuel stoppage of 5 mins for Beed to Bangalore NICE road junction. 5.30 AM to 3.30 PM. We were constantly in ~110 KMPH range.

From Aurangabad, guess you can add another couple of hours.

[traveller_riz]

Originally Posted by sandeepsc

I have a upcoming drive to Munnar from Mumbai(Sion) from 24th December. I have planned to halt at Tumkuru for night and on next day 25/12 head towards Munnar. The first phase is about 900 KM. Which is the fastest route to reach Tumkuru as there are lot of mixed reactions about Satara-Belgavi route. Google still shows Satara-Belgavi route as fastest even though this route has ongoing construction activities and diversions. How much extra time should I consider if going through Solapur route?

Hi Sandeep, it depends at the time of the day you are leaving. I'm planning from Mumbai to Bangalore on 21st. I will halt at Hubli on 21st night as I'm travelling with family. I'm thinking of taking the same route. I will try to update here on 21st evening..

[rakesh_r]

Recently did a Palakkad to Pune trip via Hosapet - Solapur route. The tarmac conditions aren't that good as compared to Pune-Chitradurga stretch. Almost the entire section is badly patched, some sections have cracked patches. But its not a deal breaker and the bad sections can easily be tackled. This is where i thanked my Gurkha's suspension and the RT tyres, which made sure I could manage the bad patches without effecting my average speeds. The Hosapet - Vijapura stetch is riddled with lots of unmarked speedbreakers. One has to be careful while driving at night, almost every crossing has a speed breaker. For the night i stayed at Kyriad Illkal. Found the hotel to be pretty decent, the bonus point being, very close to the highway with good amount of parking space.

[superutp]

Doing a Thane to Bangalore trip starting tomorrow. Planning to take the Solapur route. I last did it in March of this year and felt fairly decent. Since I am travelling with my wife and Pet dog, may take a stop at Chitradurga, though the last time on the return we did the entire Bangalore to Thane in one go.

Planning to start at 5am to avoid the traffic across Pune towards the Hadapsar side. Will report back.

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by superutp

Doing a Thane to Bangalore trip starting tomorrow. Planning to take the Solapur route. I last did it in March of this year and felt fairly decent. Since I am travelling with my wife and Pet dog, may take a stop at Chitradurga, though the last time on the return we did the entire Bangalore to Thane in one go.

Could you please share the depart and arrive times for the B'lore > Thane trip?
Also, what time did you traverse the pune city?

[superutp]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

Could you please share the depart and arrive times for the B'lore > Thane trip?
Also, what time did you traverse the pune city?

If I recall we started at 5am from Bellandur, reached Thane around 9pm. Pune took almost 1.5-2hours to cross since we hit it around 5pm (peak traffic though it was a Saturday)

[Capri89]

Originally Posted by superutp

Doing a Thane to Bangalore trip starting tomorrow. Planning to take the Solapur route. I last did it in March of this year and felt fairly decent. Since I am travelling with my wife and Pet dog, may take a stop at Chitradurga, though the last time on the return we did the entire Bangalore to Thane in one go.

Planning to start at 5am to avoid the traffic across Pune towards the Hadapsar side. Will report back.

Eager for your feedback especially the crossing of Pune.
Starting from Mumbai on the same route on 23rd morning.

[rg12]

Originally Posted by rg12

I have an upcoming drive from Bangalore to Navi Mumbai next week. Planning to start early from Bangalore at 4 am.

1) What's the latest update on BLR - Hubballi - Belagavi - Kolhapur - Satara - Pune - Navi Mumbai route?
2) Is this the fastest route (inspite of the diversions and ongoing construction work on NH48)?

Any other suggestions which can help.

Thanks in advance.

Did this route yesterday:
BLR - Hubballi - Belagavi - Kolhapur - Satara - Pune - Navi Mumbai

Started at 4 am from Whitefield, Bangalore and reached Navi Mumbai at 6:30 pm. This includes few small breaks for breakfast, refueling etc., all amounting to 1 hour 15 minutes. So, overall 13 hours 15 mins drive time.
In Karnataka, roads are good except single lane road between Hubballi and Dharwad. Road widening work slows you down.
Major bottleneck is, Belagavi to Kolhapur section where innumerous diversions with speed breakers are there. It slows you down significantly. Due to sugarcane harvesting season, lot of small / mid sized carriers also, slow you down.
Post that, Kolhapur - Satara - Pune section is business as usual.

Planning to travel back to Bangalore around 31st Dec or 1st Jan. Appreciate latest feedback on the same route in reverse direction or any other useful pointers.

Thanks,
RG12

[superutp]

Originally Posted by Capri89

Eager for your feedback especially the crossing of Pune.
Starting from Mumbai on the same route on 23rd morning.

Hi we took the google suggested route through Pune via Khadki, Malewadi (sorry I am not too familiar with Pune)
We started from Thane at 515am, and would have crossed pune by around 830. Not much traffic but it really starts building after 8
Overall our journey to just outside Tumkur took 15.15 hours. The Solapur route is still generally fine though this time I felt there were more trucks and too many 2 wheelers driving in the left lane throughout the route.
Effectively because of the traffic I took around 75 mins more to reach Chitradurga than my previous time in March

[hrman]

I used the Blr- Chitradurga -Hospet-Vijaypura-Solapur-Pune-Mumbai route.

I left bangalore on 21st Sat from Bannerghatta rd at 5 am, reached Vijaypura in exactly 8 hours. Had an overnight halt and left for Mumbai-Dahisar on 22nd Sunday at 5 am This part took 9.5 Hrs incl short breaks totalling 25 mins. I enjoyed this entire drive. The road conditions were better than the NH48 with far lesser diversions and, much lesser traffic till Pune.

There are some unmarked speed breakers after Hospet until Vijaypura, but it was during the daytime, so i was able to negotiate these. There was also this very long u turn just before Hospet over Tungabhadra i think, which was showing in Google maps, which i felt could have directly been a right turn off the highway towards Vijaypura. But this was a minor point.

The entry and exit from Pune in the Solapur route was also very time consuming and took me through Koregaon, Khadki etc. there are some speedbreakers nearing Indapur at some junctions, but there were some eunuchs begging at these points and made it easier to identify.

The expressway had the usual jam for 15-20 mins and the last toll took another 15 mins. But all in all I enjoyed this drive. I had cruise control set at 80 or 90 kms for about 70% of the drive from Bangalore upto Pune,

I got a healthy average of 18.2 kms (as per MID) with my Kia Sonet 1.0 petrol imt and unspirited, relaxed driving.

For my return to Bangalore, since I'll be with my mom, i have chosen the traditional NH 48 route through Belagavi planned for 4th Jan.

[autoweirdo]

Did Pune Bengaluru route on 22nd Dec. Following was route:
Pune - Indapur - Akluj - Pandharpur - Vijayapura - Chitradurga - Bengaluru

Took Akluj route just to explore new route as was quite bored of regular route for past 2years.

Indapur - Akluj - Pandharpur: 4 lane construction underway, except for bridge section roads are 4 lane till Akluj. Akluj to Velapur is single lane and post that 4 lane till Pandharpur.

Pandharpur - Vijayapur: 2 lane road with 50% road cemented. Post Mangalvedha bridge work going on at multiple places which will slow you down, roads are well tarred.

Rest updates are in line with what others have shared. Post Chitradurga there is one diversion before Sira where there was long jam. Rest 2 minor diversions till Tumkuru.

Also had a stop at Krishna Garden next to Almatti dam, good break and kids enjoyed a lot.

[sridhariyer]

Did a Bike trip Bengaluru - Mumbai

- Took the Bengaluru - > Chitradurga - > Vijayapura - > Satara - > Pune -> Mumbai Route

- Roads were very smooth throughout , only a new stretches of road between
Vijayapura - > Satara were bad but manageable (approx-10-15kms)

- Left Bellandur at 4.30 am , reached Satara at 4pm , Stayed the night at Fern residency Satara

- Next Morning left for Mumbai at 5.30 , Got traffic and heavy fog From Pune to Lonavala . reached destination by 12.00 .

- Roads were very smooth but only issues are finding good places for food between Chitradurga - > Vijayapura .

[Rajesh K R]

Hi, We did this route on our onward journey from BLR - Mumbai in Oct last week.

BLR-Vijayapura-Pandharpur-Akluj-Shirwal-Pune-Mumbai.

Akluj to Shirwal was a bit time consuming as it was a mix of double / single roads + construction etc.

Got to see the rural side of Maharashtra - in the Pandharpur-Akluj-Shirwal section.

Originally Posted by autoweirdo

Did Pune Bengaluru route on 22nd Dec. Following was route:
Pune - Indapur - Akluj - Pandharpur - Vijayapura - Chitradurga - Bengaluru

Took Akluj route just to explore new route as was quite bored of regular route for past 2years.

Indapur - Akluj - Pandharpur: 4 lane construction underway, except for bridge section roads are 4 lane till Akluj. Akluj to Velapur is single lane and post that 4 lane till Pandharpur.

Pandharpur - Vijayapur: 2 lane road with 50% road cemented. Post Mangalvedha bridge work going on at multiple places which will slow you down, roads are well tarred.

Rest updates are in line with what others have shared. Post Chitradurga there is one diversion before Sira where there was long jam. Rest 2 minor diversions till Tumkuru.

Also had a stop at Krishna Garden next to Almatti dam, good break and kids enjoyed a lot.