Delhi - Goa - Hyderabad with a lot of detours

zuch · 23rd October 2010, 22:21

My first real post in the Street and Travel Experiences section, the first of many more to come.

So here's some background. I'm getting married in November! Both of us are really fond of travelling and heading outdoors. We've been planning a long road trip ever since we met 5 and a half years ago but we never got a chance. And as we get married there's just no other way we want to celebrate it

Here's what's planned and what's not

Start: Delhi (where the wedding is)
Essential: Goa (it's a honeymoon after all)
Finish: Hyderabad (where I work)
Time: 2 weeks

Planned Route

Day 1: Delhi - Ajmer
Day 2: Ajmer - Neemuch
Day 3: Stay at Neemuch
Day 4: Neemuch - Surat
Day 5: Surat - Pune
Day 6: Stay in Pune

This part of the journey is more or less fixed for various reasons. At Ajmer we want to visit the dargah and it will be the first day; so a warm up drive of 380 Kms will suffice. We will stay overnight at Ajmer.

Next day we want to have lunch in Udaipur along with my wife's friends. But we don't intend to stay there, instead we will be staying at a 400 year old haveli in Piplia Village near Neemuch, MP. This belongs to a friend and his family and they have converted some of the rooms into a guest house for tourists.

The haveli is surrounded by a fort and a small village. The village has a 375 year old temple with beautiful stone carvings and add to that 200 acres of farm land where they cultivate various crops. The whole experience is out of this world. I was there last year with another friend when we were driving down from Pune to Delhi. It was just amazing.

After Neemuch we will continue to Pune halting overnight at Surat. My wife has not been to Pune but I've lived there for a year and I just love the place.

Since we'll have too much of travelling without moving our feet the plan in Pune is to climb Sinhagarh early morning and come back via the route that leads to the Katraj tunnel. As I said we love to head outdoors

After the trek if we have some energy left we plan to visit some good eating and drinking places in town.

Now we have another 8-9 days to get to Goa and then to Hyderabad. Initial plan was to just go to Goa and stay there for 6-7 days but now we're considering other options like stopping at Daman or visiting Mahabaleshwar / Panchgani.

Ideally we would have just left it open this way and decide on what we feel like doing then. But we'll be travelling through early December and that's the holiday season, so we need to make some reservations, especially in Goa.

So any suggestions on what places we can add to our trip?

ranjitp1 · 24th October 2010, 18:26

Pune-Goa would take you one full day with drive & recuperation

1+ 3 nights in Goa is ideal.We could stay on endlessly!

4 & 5 th night you could drive to Hampi

6th day morning you could leave after breakfast taking the route Hampi-Bellary-NH7-Hyd.

At Hampli.Royal Orchid has a new place and is pretty good.Royal Orchid Kireeti at Hospet.Or else Hotel Malligi is the hot favorite.

If you are not taking the Hampi circuit,then leave Goa after breakfast stopover at Amboli for some photoops and then target to reach Solapur by evening.(Panjim-Solapur is approx 9-10hrs).Stay the night at Solapur and next day leave for Hyd.At Solapur.Hotel City Park is an ok place.(www.hotelcityparksolapur.com)

zuch · 25th October 2010, 09:40

Thanks Ranjit! That's an excellent suggestion.

We both loved the idea of going to Hampi. I was thinking that the journey from Goa to Hyderabad would be uneventful but this makes it exciting.

Another twist, after we looked up the route for Hampi we are now planning to go to Karwar and Dandeli as well.

So this is the tentative plan from Pune

Day 7: Pune - Goa
Day 8-9: Stay in Goa
Day 10: Karwar
Day 11: Dandeli
Day 12 - Dandeli - Hampi
Day 13 - Hampi
Day 14 - Hampi - Hyderabad

Also we are not making any reservations after three nights in Goa. That way we will leave it open and have some flexibility as we should have in a road trip.

Now I've got to start looking up all the routes. Here's an overview of what I think so far. Will research each sector in detail going through other threads.

Delhi - Udaipur -> NH8 all the way

Udaipur - Neemuch -> NH76 towards Chittaur and go straight from Mangalwar instead of turning left with the Highway

Neemuch - Surat -> Need suggestions here. Should I come back to Udaipur and then take NH8 from there?

Surat - Mumbai -> NH 8 again, need to figure out how to avoid getting into Mumbai city. There are other threads here I believe and I'll look them up

Mumbai - Pune -> No brainer

Pune - Goa -> I remember a recent thread suggested that NH 17 is in decent shape right now. Should we consider that? or take the easier NH 4 route?

Karwar - Dandeli -> No idea on what route to take. Planning to ask the locals since the distance is short.

Dandeli - Hampi - Hyderabad -> Need to look this up in detail

Here's a rough map that I made using google maps that shows the full route. It's going to be over 3000 Km

THE Road Trip - Google Maps

Another thing I need to decide is how to take my car from Hyderabad to Delhi before the wedding. Should I drive it down or send it via a transport service. Heart says drive down

EssYouWe · 25th October 2010, 09:51

Hey... congratulations bro!

Won't be able to offer a lot of advice, but Ganpatiphule is a great beach en route Pune-Goa. Its a nice, small and uncrowded place, would be perfect for a night stop-over if you so desire.

What car will you be traveling in? All the stretches seem reasonable, and you should be able to make them safely.

+1 to driving your car down.

zuch · 25th October 2010, 10:09

Thanks EssYouWe

The car will be my beloved Fiesta 1.6 which is also know as 'The White Swan' . 2 and a half years and 30K Km old.

EssYouWe · 25th October 2010, 10:15

Should be an interesting drive!

Please maintain a travelogue and click loads of pics. Would love to see them later.

PS: No invite to bhpians for the wedding?

deutscheafrikar · 25th October 2010, 13:07

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...est-route.html
I think this may help at the most you need to reverse the order of the route.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zuch

Surat - Mumbai -> NH 8 again, need to figure out how to avoid getting into Mumbai city. There are other threads here I believe and I'll look them up

Pune - Goa -> I remember a recent thread suggested that NH 17 is in decent shape right now. Should we consider that? or take the easier NH 4 route?

Don't know how soon the NH17 will be fixed after the heavy rains.

23rd October 2010, 22:21	#1
zuch BHPian Join Date: May 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 122 Thanked: 0 Times	Delhi - Goa - Hyderabad with a lot of detours My first real post in the Street and Travel Experiences section, the first of many more to come. So here's some background. I'm getting married in November! Both of us are really fond of travelling and heading outdoors. We've been planning a long road trip ever since we met 5 and a half years ago but we never got a chance. And as we get married there's just no other way we want to celebrate it Here's what's planned and what's not Start: Delhi (where the wedding is) Essential: Goa (it's a honeymoon after all) Finish: Hyderabad (where I work) Time: 2 weeks Planned Route Day 1: Delhi - Ajmer Day 2: Ajmer - Neemuch Day 3: Stay at Neemuch Day 4: Neemuch - Surat Day 5: Surat - Pune Day 6: Stay in Pune This part of the journey is more or less fixed for various reasons. At Ajmer we want to visit the dargah and it will be the first day; so a warm up drive of 380 Kms will suffice. We will stay overnight at Ajmer. Next day we want to have lunch in Udaipur along with my wife's friends. But we don't intend to stay there, instead we will be staying at a 400 year old haveli in Piplia Village near Neemuch, MP. This belongs to a friend and his family and they have converted some of the rooms into a guest house for tourists. The haveli is surrounded by a fort and a small village. The village has a 375 year old temple with beautiful stone carvings and add to that 200 acres of farm land where they cultivate various crops. The whole experience is out of this world. I was there last year with another friend when we were driving down from Pune to Delhi. It was just amazing. After Neemuch we will continue to Pune halting overnight at Surat. My wife has not been to Pune but I've lived there for a year and I just love the place. Since we'll have too much of travelling without moving our feet the plan in Pune is to climb Sinhagarh early morning and come back via the route that leads to the Katraj tunnel. As I said we love to head outdoors After the trek if we have some energy left we plan to visit some good eating and drinking places in town. Now we have another 8-9 days to get to Goa and then to Hyderabad. Initial plan was to just go to Goa and stay there for 6-7 days but now we're considering other options like stopping at Daman or visiting Mahabaleshwar / Panchgani. Ideally we would have just left it open this way and decide on what we feel like doing then. But we'll be travelling through early December and that's the holiday season, so we need to make some reservations, especially in Goa. So any suggestions on what places we can add to our trip?
	() Thanks

24th October 2010, 18:26	#2
ranjitp1 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 3,712 Thanked: 1,926 Times	Pune-Goa would take you one full day with drive & recuperation 1+ 3 nights in Goa is ideal.We could stay on endlessly! 4 & 5 th night you could drive to Hampi 6th day morning you could leave after breakfast taking the route Hampi-Bellary-NH7-Hyd. At Hampli.Royal Orchid has a new place and is pretty good.Royal Orchid Kireeti at Hospet.Or else Hotel Malligi is the hot favorite. If you are not taking the Hampi circuit,then leave Goa after breakfast stopover at Amboli for some photoops and then target to reach Solapur by evening.(Panjim-Solapur is approx 9-10hrs).Stay the night at Solapur and next day leave for Hyd.At Solapur.Hotel City Park is an ok place.(www.hotelcityparksolapur.com) Last edited by ranjitp1 : 24th October 2010 at 18:30.
	() Thanks

25th October 2010, 09:40	#3
zuch BHPian Join Date: May 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 122 Thanked: 0 Times	Thanks Ranjit! That's an excellent suggestion. We both loved the idea of going to Hampi. I was thinking that the journey from Goa to Hyderabad would be uneventful but this makes it exciting. Another twist, after we looked up the route for Hampi we are now planning to go to Karwar and Dandeli as well. So this is the tentative plan from Pune Day 7: Pune - Goa Day 8-9: Stay in Goa Day 10: Karwar Day 11: Dandeli Day 12 - Dandeli - Hampi Day 13 - Hampi Day 14 - Hampi - Hyderabad Also we are not making any reservations after three nights in Goa. That way we will leave it open and have some flexibility as we should have in a road trip. Now I've got to start looking up all the routes. Here's an overview of what I think so far. Will research each sector in detail going through other threads. Delhi - Udaipur -> NH8 all the way Udaipur - Neemuch -> NH76 towards Chittaur and go straight from Mangalwar instead of turning left with the Highway Neemuch - Surat -> Need suggestions here. Should I come back to Udaipur and then take NH8 from there? Surat - Mumbai -> NH 8 again, need to figure out how to avoid getting into Mumbai city. There are other threads here I believe and I'll look them up Mumbai - Pune -> No brainer Pune - Goa -> I remember a recent thread suggested that NH 17 is in decent shape right now. Should we consider that? or take the easier NH 4 route? Karwar - Dandeli -> No idea on what route to take. Planning to ask the locals since the distance is short. Dandeli - Hampi - Hyderabad -> Need to look this up in detail Here's a rough map that I made using google maps that shows the full route. It's going to be over 3000 Km THE Road Trip - Google Maps Another thing I need to decide is how to take my car from Hyderabad to Delhi before the wedding. Should I drive it down or send it via a transport service. Heart says drive down
	() Thanks

25th October 2010, 09:51	#4
EssYouWe Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2009 Location: Lucknow Posts: 1,391 Thanked: 18 Times	Hey... congratulations bro! Won't be able to offer a lot of advice, but Ganpatiphule is a great beach en route Pune-Goa. Its a nice, small and uncrowded place, would be perfect for a night stop-over if you so desire. What car will you be traveling in? All the stretches seem reasonable, and you should be able to make them safely. +1 to driving your car down.
	() Thanks

25th October 2010, 10:09	#5
zuch BHPian Join Date: May 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 122 Thanked: 0 Times	Thanks EssYouWe The car will be my beloved Fiesta 1.6 which is also know as 'The White Swan' . 2 and a half years and 30K Km old.
	() Thanks

25th October 2010, 10:15	#6
EssYouWe Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2009 Location: Lucknow Posts: 1,391 Thanked: 18 Times	Should be an interesting drive! Please maintain a travelogue and click loads of pics. Would love to see them later. PS: No invite to bhpians for the wedding?
	() Thanks