[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by INNOWAGON_CL

I would suggest Hotel Sankam at Belgaum as this is a better hotel compared to the ones like Raysons, Maratha etc. at Kolhapur. Also fuel is cheaper in COCO available at NH4 in Maharashtra compared to Karnataka NH4

Well Sankam is better but we did not want to drive till midnight to Belgaum. We reached Kolhapur at 10:30pm so thought it's better to stop have dinner and sleep rather than push ourselves to drive till midnight. This is a better option. If you start early like 8am from Kolhapur traffic is very less till Belgaum and you can really cover miles. In the night I don't even cross 90kmph. From Kolhapur to Belgaum the road was brilliant and traffic was scarce in the morning resulting in less than 1.5 hours from Kolhapur to Belgaum. In the night this would have taken close to 2 hours.

Originally Posted by issigonis

>>>

goandude,

Re. doing the Bangalore run over two days, am checking on which will be a better option - halting in Belgaum or in Hubli? Bombay - Belgaum for me is about 515 kms, Add another 100 kms for Hubli. My total drive will be 1067 kms, end to end.

Regards

Belgaum is the best option. From Mumbai to Pune if you add 2 hours to my post you will need 8-9 hours from Mumbai to Belgaum at max.

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by Fauji

a) You can comfortably cruise at 120 KMPH on this Highway. No worries. It also depends on which car you are driving.

b) There are many places for breakfast/lunch. You can see it in the thread.

c) There are no bad roads except for road humps between Chitradurga and Davanagere. Apart from that, truck traffic increases after Chitradurga after evening. Two wheeler traffic increases between Satara and Pune between 8-10 AM and 5-7PM

Folks,

Fauji's post gives me confidence. I will be driving to Pune from Bangalore (and back). I will start at ~ 3 AM on Friday morning, and plan to reach Taj Vivanta in Pune around 12PM. That is 9 hours door to door. Is that doable? Or should I budget for 10 hours door to door?

120kmph cruise speed is comfortable, but want to make sure that I am not hitting any traffic bottlenecks on the way e.g. Kolhapur - Pune as so many have mentioned.

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

Folks,

Fauji's post gives me confidence. I will be driving to Pune from Bangalore (and back). I will start at ~ 3 AM on Friday morning, and plan to reach Taj Vivanta in Pune around 12PM. That is 9 hours door to door. Is that doable? Or should I budget for 10 hours door to door?

120kmph cruise speed is comfortable, but want to make sure that I am not hitting any traffic bottlenecks on the way e.g. Kolhapur - Pune as so many have mentioned.

Nilanjan,

Definitely doable as you plan to leave early. Traffic will pick up only from Kolhapur onwards. You can cruise to Kolhapur in six hours in your fortuner. However I will recommend to keep ten hours to reach Pune outskirts with 30 mins break. From there traffic conditions in city will have impact.

[nileshch]

Originally Posted by Fauji

You can cruise to Kolhapur in six hours in your fortuner

An average of 100kmph would be a big ask, even if you were to start at 3am! There are 3-4 service road diversions on NH4 between Bangalore and Chitradurga due to flyover construction. That along with the relatively heavy truck traffic at night will slow you down.

[nilanjanray]

Ok, so I am budgeting 10 hours (incl. 30 min break) to reach Pune outskirts, and 1 hour to reach the hotel within Pune. 11 hours door to door. If I start at 2 AM, I should reach by 1PM. Main bottleneck would be Kolhapur - Pune in the morning.

Or maybe I should start at 1 AM and target to reach Kolhapur around 7.30 AM so that I can miss the traffic.

Google maps tells me I will require close to 14 hours to cover the 900 odd kms - Sarjapur Road to hotel :-(

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

Ok, so I am budgeting 10 hours (incl. 30 min break) to reach Pune outskirts, and 1 hour to reach the hotel within Pune. 11 hours door to door. If I start at 2 AM, I should reach by 1PM. Main bottleneck would be Kolhapur - Pune in the morning.

Good enough. Leave around 2 AM. I just checked my diaries. Except for the first hour wherein i generally average 85 KMs, i could average 95-100 for the next five hours till Kolhapur. This was when i left NICE road junction at Bannergahtta road at 5.30 AM in Scorpio. You will be driving Fortuner and leaving earlier so it should be more comfortable.

[goandude]

Originally Posted by issigonis

>>>

goandude,

Re. doing the Bangalore run over two days, am checking on which will be a better option - halting in Belgaum or in Hubli? Bombay - Belgaum for me is about 515 kms, Add another 100 kms for Hubli. My total drive will be 1067 kms, end to end.

Regards

The advantage of stopping at Belgaum is that the hotels are just off the byepass. Where as in Hubli one has to take a detour into the city, losing time and distance. The 100 km between belgaum and hubli can be done in 90 minutes as it is a great road. so I leave belgaum early and enter Bangalore by 1 - 2 pm, when traffic is relatively less and can still do some work in the afternoon/ evening.
P.S. I am in Colaba and take about an hour to reach expressway.

[issigonis]

Originally Posted by goandude

The advantage of stopping at Belgaum is that the hotels are just off the byepass. Where as in Hubli one has to take a detour into the city, losing time and distance. The 100 km between belgaum and hubli can be done in 90 minutes as it is a great road. so I leave belgaum early and enter Bangalore by 1 - 2 pm, when traffic is relatively less and can still do some work in the afternoon/ evening.
P.S. I am in Colaba and take about an hour to reach expressway.

>>>

Am veering to halting in Belgaum, at the Sankam.
I travel 40 kms from my place to enter the Expressway at the McDonald's Kalamboli; in the morning that distance will take one hour.

Will keep you posted.

Regards

[issigonis]

>>>

goandude,

My confirmed (onward) itinerary :

1. Depart from Bombay for Belgaum - 25th March : 5.30 am
2. Overnight halt in Belgaum
3. Depart from Belgaum for Bangalore - 26th March morning
4. Arrive in Bangalore - 26th March evening
-------------------------------------------------------------
5. Stay in Bangalore - 27th & 28th March
-------------------------------------------------------------
6. Depart from Bangalore for Kolhapur - 29th March : morning
7. Overnight halt in Kolhapur
8. Depart from Kolhapur for Bombay - late morning
------------------------------------------------------------

>>> khoj,Sprucegoose,

Game on?

Regards

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by issigonis

>>>

goandude,

My confirmed (onward) itinerary :

1. Depart from Bombay for Belgaum - 25th March : 5.30 am
2. Overnight halt in Belgaum
3. Depart from Belgaum for Bangalore - 26th March morning
4. Arrive in Bangalore - 26th March evening
-------------------------------------------------------------
5. Stay in Bangalore - 27th & 28th March
-------------------------------------------------------------
6. Depart from Bangalore for Kolhapur - 29th March : morning
7. Overnight halt in Kolhapur
8. Depart from Kolhapur for Bombay - late morning
------------------------------------------------------------

>>> khoj,Sprucegoose,

Game on?

Regards

I hope it's ok if I reply instead of Khoj or sprucegoose since we did this drive last weekend. Good plan but there's no point in halting at Kolhapur. Hotel rates are more and in the morning you can do Belgaum to Kolhapur within 1.5 hours. So you will stay in a worse hotel in Kolhapur which charges more than Sankam for 1.5 hours.

My choice would be to Belgaum halt unless you have already arranged for good cheap accommodation in Kolhapur.

[issigonis]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I hope it's ok if I reply instead of Khoj or sprucegoose since we did this drive last weekend. Good plan but there's no point in halting at Kolhapur. Hotel rates are more and in the morning you can do Belgaum to Kolhapur within 1.5 hours. So you will stay in a worse hotel in Kolhapur which charges more than Sankam for 1.5 hours.

My choice would be to Belgaum halt unless you have already arranged for good cheap accommodation in Kolhapur.

>>>

Vid6639,

The post was meant for khoj and Sprucegoose to respond to. Or are you trying to say that these two have already done this run last weekend with you?
I will be most likely be halting in Kolhapur on my way back, although I can take up your suggestion of halting in Belgaum, driving to Kolhapur and finishing my work there and then driving back home to balmy Bombay.

Regards

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by issigonis

>>>

Vid6639,

The post was meant for khoj and Sprucegoose to respond to. Or are you trying to say that these two have already done this run last weekend with you?
I will be most likely be halting in Kolhapur on my way back, although I can take up your suggestion of halting in Belgaum, driving to Kolhapur and finishing my work there and then driving back home to balmy Bombay.

Regards

I did it with other friends and not with Khoj and sprucegoose. I was just asking if it was ok for me to respond instead of them.

If you have work in Kolhapur then it may work for you.

I was thinking you were looking for a reply from them. I think I read your post wrong.

[goandude]

Originally Posted by issigonis

>>>

My confirmed (onward) itinerary :

1. Depart from Bombay for Belgaum - 25th March : 5.30 am
2. Overnight halt in Belgaum
3. Depart from Belgaum for Bangalore - 26th March morning
4. Arrive in Bangalore - 26th March evening
-
Regards

5:30 start from your place?? This would mean 6:10 at expressway start.
Presume you would be using your VV Jetta?
Will try to catch up.
FYI - My first stop for breakfast is the macdonalds just after khed shivpur toll.
I will be in Bangy for 3 weeks and then drive back.

[issigonis]

>>>

goandude,

My response as below.

Originally Posted by goandude

5:30 start from your place?? This would mean 6:10 at expressway start.

>>> A 5.30 am start will require about an hour to do the 40 kms stretch to McD Kalamboli/Expressway start due to chaotic lorry traffic on the Kurla -Mankhurd Link Road. Let me know what time you want to start from the Expressway start. May be we can synchronise our start.

Originally Posted by goandude

Presume you would be using your VV Jetta?

>>>

Yes.
I will not speed because I want to enjoy the drive and have to be mindful of the disorganised two/three wheeler traffic and the uneven roads on the Poona-Satara stretch.

Originally Posted by goandude

FYI - My first stop for breakfast is the macdonalds just after khed shivpur toll.
I will be in Bangy for 3 weeks and then drive back.

>>>

By my reckoning, if I start at 5.30 am and take an hour to reach McD Kalamboli, I will be able to roll into Ginger Wakad ( just off the Mumbai -Pune Bypass Road/NH4) at about 8/8.15 am for breakfast. Let me know if that will be convenient- I am tired of McD's breakfasts.
I am driving back on 29th.

Regards

[issigonis]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I did it with other friends and not with Khoj and sprucegoose. I was just asking if it was ok for me to respond instead of them.

>>>

Not at all, absolutely fine. As a matter of fact, I am thinking of staying at Belgaum on the return journey and driving to Kolhapur from there to finish the work and then wing back home.

Regards