[MorePower]

Covered the Mumbai - Bangalore stretch on sunday in 15 hours.
Left Chembur at 4.50 am. Reached Sai International before Kolhapur at 9.50 am. Had lovely hot batatawadas made on order. Next halt was near Haveri but this was more a stop by the roadside to polish off some homemade lunch. Reached tumkur by 6 pm but was slowed down by the traffic snarls at the toll nakas to get into bangalore. Finally reached home at arekere mico layout by 8 pm.

2 unmarked speed breakers to watch out for;
- 1 just before the harihar bypass, this is where the road forks into 2.
- 1 just at Tumkur bypass

Barring that, one crater at the end of that Harihar bypass, just before you rejoin the 4 laned highway.

Another crater in the centre lane, right under the railway overbridge at Chitradurga. Need to watch out for this.

Thank you amp, parag and abhijitvp for the tips. Next trip coming up in November

[ampere]

Originally Posted by MorePower

Covered the Mumbai - Bangalore stretch on sunday in 15 hours.
Left Chembur at 4.50 am. Reached Sai International before Kolhapur at 9.50 am. Had lovely hot batatawadas made on order. Next halt was near Haveri but this was more a stop by the roadside to polish off some homemade lunch. Reached tumkur by 6 pm but was slowed down by the traffic snarls at the toll nakas to get into bangalore. Finally reached home at arekere mico layout by 8 pm.

Great to hear that! And in fact Chembur also gives me memories. Spent quite many of my summer vacations in there! 5 hours to Sai is quite a healthy pace. Of course you have the luxury of e-way.

[paragsachania]

Since its Chembur, reaching eway would have taken less than 30 minutes and another 90 minutes you would be halfway through the Pune bypass at that hour of the day.

From here SAI is an easy 2.5-3 hours. That converts to ~5 Hours to Sai which I think is a very normal pace (Considering the time of start and area in Mumbai)

By the way, there is one speedbreaker (Huge one and separated by about 40 meters) in a village before Haveri towards Pune/Mumbai.

This is precisely the map location : http://goo.gl/maps/DXtbv

However, there is no speedbreaker while you are driving down to Bangalore and is removed.

The one mentioned also has a prominent sign along with a flashing orange lamp post for cautioning you at night.

[kala]

Originally Posted by MorePower

Reached tumkur by 6 pm but was slowed down by the traffic snarls at the toll nakas to get into bangalore. Finally reached home at arekere mico layout by 8 pm.

Looks like this is becoming a regular pattern on all highways leading to Bangalore. Taking 2 hours for 75 kms on tolled roads is simply ridiculous - And most of the delays are caused by the toll collection mechanism itself ! :

[ampere]

Originally Posted by kala

Looks like this is becoming a regular pattern on all highways leading to Bangalore. Taking 2 hours for 75 kms on tolled roads is simply ridiculous - And most of the delays are caused by the toll collection mechanism itself ! :

In spite of fast clearing at toll booths, I invariably take in excess of 90 minutes to cross Tumkur from Bangalore. I think more than toll booths the average speeds are way lower thanks to irregular traffic patterns and heavy traffic what ever may be the time of the day.

And then add to it the initial time spent getting past Bangalore city (even during early morning hours)

[ambivalent_98]

Hi,
I am off to Pune from Bangalore. Any updates on how good / bad the roads are especially after crossing over into Maharashtra. I know the speeds reduce due to the ridiculous number of 2 wheelers on the highway...Anyway is the "AH" work still hitting traffic ? Any info will be helpful.

[Limpid]

Planning to drive to Pune either on evening of 31st or early morning (3:30, 4PM) of Nov 1st. Anyone also travelling around this time? we can sync up.

[Drivethru]

Originally Posted by ambivalent_98

Hi,
I am off to Pune from Bangalore. Any updates on how good / bad the roads are especially after crossing over into Maharashtra. I know the speeds reduce due to the ridiculous number of 2 wheelers on the highway...Anyway is the "AH" work still hitting traffic ? Any info will be helpful.

Hi roads are a bliss till kolhapur, kolhapur satara is bad, satara Pune is worse. There are quite a few diversions on the Pune satara section? As you rightly said after you hit kolhapur there will be significant increase in two wheeler traffic. After you enter MH you will also for first time pay through your nose (toll charges) for roads which have not been built. Else where on this thread you will find lot of useful info on the Bangalore Pune highway. Have a safe trip.

[vikramv4u]

Hi,

Me, my wife and my Parents are planning a road trip to Mumbai around Dec 18. This is our tentative itinerary:

Dec 18: Depart early morning around 7AM and proceed to Chitradurga Fort (ETA 1130AM-12Noon). Sight-seeing in the fort. Proceed for Lunch and then depart around 3PM. Arrive at Hubli around 730PM and head to a hotel for overnight stay.

Dec 19: Have an early breakfast (around 7AM) and head out around 730AM OR head out at 7AM and then have breakfast en-route and head towards Andheri East, Mumbai (ETA 5-6PM)

Questions:
1) Do you think this itinerary is do-able? Is the journey on day 2 gonna be very stressful and tiring? (I am an experienced city driver with almost 1 Lakh KMS under my belt, but I do not trust the speed-breakers on the highways and hence keep the max speed to 100). I have read about most speed breakers being marked, but still apprehensive in general.
2) Can we reach Hubli around 730PM or earlier - I would not want to drive after dark ideally? For our overnight accommodation near Hubli, does anyone have any suggestions? Do not want anything flashy or expensive and off-the highway, so any options would be much appreciated
3) Any other sight-seeing recommendations en-route? We are ok extending our trip by another day if need be for any sight-seeing options
4) How do I find out Indian Oil COCO pumps en-route? OR i will have to stick to Indian Oil credit card accepting fuel stations - Any recommendations?

Any other road-related info would be much appreciated..

Thank you,

Vikram

[honeybee]

On the second day you will surely have to drive in the night to reach Andheri.

Highways in MH may have more traffic than in KA.

And to reach Andheri you would have to suffer through the Mumbai traffic. After highway driving the city driving may be a radical change.

Overall it is definitely doable.

[ashkamath]

Originally Posted by vikramv4u

Hi,

Me, my wife and my Parents are planning a road trip to Mumbai around Dec 18. This is our tentative itinerary:

Dec 18: Depart early morning around 7AM and proceed to Chitradurga Fort (ETA 1130AM-12Noon). Sight-seeing in the fort. Proceed for Lunch and then depart around 3PM. Arrive at Hubli around 730PM and head to a hotel for overnight stay.

Dec 19: Have an early breakfast (around 7AM) and head out around 730AM OR head out at 7AM and then have breakfast en-route and head towards Andheri East, Mumbai (ETA 5-6PM)

Questions:
1) Do you think this itinerary is do-able? Is the journey on day 2 gonna be very stressful and tiring? (I am an experienced city driver with almost 1 Lakh KMS under my belt, but I do not trust the speed-breakers on the highways and hence keep the max speed to 100). I have read about most speed breakers being marked, but still apprehensive in general.
2) Can we reach Hubli around 730PM or earlier - I would not want to drive after dark ideally? For our overnight accommodation near Hubli, does anyone have any suggestions? Do not want anything flashy or expensive and off-the highway, so any options would be much appreciated
3) Any other sight-seeing recommendations en-route? We are ok extending our trip by another day if need be for any sight-seeing options
4) How do I find out Indian Oil COCO pumps en-route? OR i will have to stick to Indian Oil credit card accepting fuel stations - Any recommendations?

Any other road-related info would be much appreciated..

Thank you,

Vikram

Hi Vikram, I guess it is a fairly relaxed itinerary. Once you are through the Jalahalli cross on to the toll road, then it is a fairly comfy drive. Toll booths will take about 3-10 minutes each depending on the traffic, but otherwise it is a fairly cool drive and perfectly do-able. Just be on look out when approaching villages or junctions as I remember unmarked speed breakers between Chitradurga and Davangere. The time between Bangalore to Hubli (400 Kms) is generally 7 hours and if you are adventurous you can do it under 5 hours ( I did it a couple of times). so you should be in Hubli before sunset even with sedate driving and halts at Chitradurga and elsewhere.

Regarding sight seeing with an extra day you could actually come down to Goa ( 300 Kms from Hubli Via kalghatgi, Yellapur, Karwar-Goa) and visit temple / beaches , relax, stay over night and start early to Mumbai via Savantwadi-AMboli Ghat-Nippani-Kolhapur(NH4) route or Chorla-Belgaum-NH4 to Mumbai. very scenic and enjoyable and one extra day fully utilised.

I say as above coz the distance between Hubli to Mumbai and Panaji to Mumbai is same at 580 Kms and you get the taste of Goa

[vikramv4u]

Thank you very much! I do not want to do after dark driving on highways. I am familiar with Mumbai, so as long as I cross the expressway I think I am fine

[vikramv4u]

Originally Posted by ashkamath

Regarding sight seeing with an extra day you could actually come down to Goa

Thank u for your inputs.. Yeah, Goa is an option but coming to Goa and spending just a day or two will not do justice By sight-seeing locations I was looking at something within 40-50 Kms off the highway ideally, not too long. I think Parag, in an another post had suggested the Utsav Rock Garden, so maybe that's do-able.. Was thinking of Gokak falls but I am skeptical of water being there at this time of d year, so need to see..

Anyone has any idea about how much water there is at Gokak? Is it worth the detour and how are the roads?

[honeybee]

Post expressway the Thane Belapur road is undergoing concrete work and will have traffic jams. You can either drive down this till Airoli or look for the Vashi/Mankhurd exits.

Andheri E means you would go through the JVLR which should have light to medium traffic in the eveing in the direction you are going.

[ampere]

Here is a very active thread for all your answers.


http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...teries-83.html