[musafir_blr]

So, any guesses where the food and bio-breaks will be provided for passengers?

Not sure where they will provide the break, but I feel the lunch break should be in Davenagere or Ranebennur. Or might be in Chitradurga only for early lunch?

Another query I had was whether the bus is going to entertain Pune & Mumbai passengers or not. If so, where will be the drop/pick-up point for such passengers?

If they do so, I guess they have to drop pickup at hinjewadi.

Any idea on the route to be taken in the Kolhapur->Surat leg of the journey?

I assume they will continue using the NH4 till Mumbai and then NH8 from mumbai through Godbunder as mentioned in this thread only. Not the question I have, will these buses take the Pune -> Mumbai Expressway or will consider the NH4 only?

[libranof1987]

^^ Even if they do encourage Pune/Mumbai passengers, I think they'll charge them the whole fare; else, it'll turn out to be a loss for VRL.

[hemanth.anand]

this was the most relevant thread i could find for this.

Bangalore-Ahmrdabad. 1 Tata Safari. 4 drivers. August 10th.
Possible in 1 day?
how many hours will it take?
what should be our departure time?

For an idea, VRL takes totally 27 hours including 2.5 hours inside bangalore for pickup

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Bangalore-Ahmrdabad. 1 Tata Safari. 4 drivers. August 10th.
Possible in 1 day?
how many hours will it take?
what should be our departure time?

For an idea, VRL takes totally 27 hours including 2.5 hours inside bangalore for pickup

BLR-Pune : 850kms :12-15hrs dependent on

-speeds/jams at MH Toll Booths
-Traffic between Satara & Khed Shivapur & Mumbai Pune Expressway start.
-Breaks for food/bio breaks
-Unexpected traffic jams enroute
-Fuel stops

Expressway to Ahmedabad:approx 12hours(+-) (2-2.5hrs to Panvel)(Panvel to Ghodbunder approx 1.5-2hrs)(Ghodbunder to AMD 7-9hrs).

[rkamath]

Hello,

The spouse and I are planning a December end roadtrip from Bangalore to Little Rann of Kutch; with the two of us sharing the driving.

The Route we will be taking: B'lore - Pune - Ahmedabad - Dasada ( this is where our resort is )
With the reverse route for the return journey. I have already gone through the extensive threads on route suggestions and road conditions.

We plan to stay over-night at Pune and Ahmedadbad. I have tried MakeMyTrip / Trip Advisor to short list hotels and failed miserably.

I would really appreciate any recommendations from fellow travellers for Highway Hotels (Budget:2-3K). Requirements are parking space for our Linea, clean linens, clean bathrooms and preferably a place which accepts credit cards.

We would also be ok with staying at Lonavala / Khandala instead of Pune and any place enroute ahead of Ahmedadabad. I would ideally like to have 2 to 3 options for each overnight stay to be on the safer side, so I welcome suggestions and recommendations.

Thanks,
Rohini

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by rkamath

Hello,

The spouse and I are planning a December end roadtrip from Bangalore to Little Rann of Kutch; with the two of us sharing the driving.

The Route we will be taking: B'lore - Pune - Ahmedabad - Dasada ( this is where our resort is )
With the reverse route for the return journey. I have already gone through the extensive threads on route suggestions and road conditions.

We plan to stay over-night at Pune and Ahmedadbad. I have tried MakeMyTrip / Trip Advisor to short list hotels and failed miserably.

I would really appreciate any recommendations from fellow travellers for Highway Hotels (Budget:2-3K). Requirements are parking space for our Linea, clean linens, clean bathrooms and preferably a place which accepts credit cards.

We would also be ok with staying at Lonavala / Khandala instead of Pune and any place enroute ahead of Ahmedadabad. I would ideally like to have 2 to 3 options for each overnight stay to be on the safer side, so I welcome suggestions and recommendations.

Thanks,
Rohini

Pune,plenty of hotels on the Pune-Mumbai Bypass of NH4.The reccomended ones are:

Holiday Inn (http://www.holidayinn.com/hotels/us/...hj/hoteldetail)

http://www.sadanandregency.com/

http://www.vitshotelpune.com/

www.sayajihotels.com

Ginger Wakad http://www.gingerhotels.com/pune-wak...l-profile.aspx

Ahmedabad

Best Western Takshila.This is on the SP Ring Road itself albeit in the other direction to where you need to head to but it shouldnt be a big problem to detour back on the same ring road towards Dasada .Excellent place this one. http://www.bestwesterntakshashila.com/contactus.htm

Platinum Inn http://www.platinumhotels.in/

Staying at Lonavla and Khandala imo is a big waste of time unless you want to stay there.Wouldnt suggest it as a stopover.

[rkamath]

Thank you so much Ranjitp1 for that swift and detailed response! May you live long and prosper!

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by rkamath

We plan to stay over-night at Pune and Ahmedadbad. I have tried MakeMyTrip / Trip Advisor to short list hotels and failed miserably.

My $0.02:

If you're planning to reach Pune by 7 PM or so, then it'll be worthwhile to carry on and halt on the outskirts of Mumbai, preferably Panvel, right after the expressway ends. It will not take you more than 2 hours [max] after Pune. This way, with an early start and some luck, you will be able to avoid heavy traffic till start of NH8 and further.

Cheers,
Vikram

[rkamath]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

If you're planning to reach Pune by 7 PM or so, then it'll be worthwhile to carry on and halt on the outskirts of Mumbai, preferably Panvel, right after the expressway ends. It will not take you more than 2 hours [max] after Pune. This way, with an early start and some luck, you will be able to avoid heavy traffic till start of NH8 and further.

Thanks Vikram for this, we were thinking about the traffic in the morning actually. We plan to leave B'lore at 3am Friday Morning ( we are very early risers ) to avoid traffic at this end and hope to make our stop at Pune before 5pm.

We also thought of requesting an early checkout from the Hotel to get a headstart and avoiding rush hour ( we're hoping that it being a Saturday may make things better ).

Please do let me know your thoughts on this.

Thanks again,
Rohini

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by rkamath

Please do let me know your thoughts on this

If you're leaving B'lore at 3 AM and have 2 people to share driving duties, then IMO you definitely should shoot for staying in Panvel/Thane. Even with sedate driving, I guess you should reach there by 8 PM latest. Another similar early start the next day, and you might be in a position to reach your final destination without a stopover in Ahmedabad too

Sorry, I can't help you with suggestions on where to stay in Panvel/Thane. If you need very detailed driving + lodging + miscellaneous instructions for this trip, please PM forum member "hvkumar".

Cheers,
Vikram

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by rkamath

Thanks Vikram for this, we were thinking about the traffic in the morning actually. We plan to leave B'lore at 3am Friday Morning ( we are very early risers ) to avoid traffic at this end and hope to make our stop at Pune before 5pm.

We also thought of requesting an early checkout from the Hotel to get a headstart and avoiding rush hour ( we're hoping that it being a Saturday may make things better ).

Please do let me know your thoughts on this.

Thanks again,
Rohini

With a 3am start from Blr,Panvel is a 14-15hr drive ofcourse subject to traffic conditions,breaks etc enroute and add an extra 60-90minutes to Thane.

There is Vihang's Inn at Thane http://www.vihangsinn.com/location.htm which is decent for a stopover.If driving 12+ hours is not something that you have in mind and if you are looking for a lazy easy going drive then stay at Pune and Ahmedabad.

To get to NH8 while coming from MPEW(Mumbai Pune EW),below is the route:

http://maps.google.co.in/maps?saddr=...via=2&t=m&z=14

[Figopian]

Reviving an old thread.
I am planning to drive to Ahmedabad from Pune. (Actually I will head upto Mt. Abu or Udaipur therafter but planning first halt at Ahmedabad). I am hoping the road is good all the way till Ahmedabad and should be able to complete the travel within 12 hours or early considering breaks for breakfast, lunch, etc? I hope to have dinner at Ahmedabad.

Any better options?

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by Figopian

Reviving an old thread. I am planning to drive to Ahmedabad from Pune. (Actually I will head upto Mt. Abu or Udaipur therafter but planning first halt at Ahmedabad). I am hoping the road is good all the way till Ahmedabad and should be able to complete the travel within 12 hours or early considering breaks for breakfast, lunch, etc? I hope to have dinner at Ahmedabad. Any better options?

Pune - Ahmedabad in 12 hours is quite do-able. However, if your destination is Udaipur, then you can stretch and do Pune-Udaipur in a day too; i.e. assuming you're able to leave Pune in the wee hours and you're not travelling with infants/kids, which necessitate frequent breaks. It's almost the same distance from Pune as Bangalore, but with fewer diversions.

Cheers,
Vikram

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by Figopian

Reviving an old thread.
I am planning to drive to Ahmedabad from Pune. (Actually I will head upto Mt. Abu or Udaipur therafter but planning first halt at Ahmedabad). I am hoping the road is good all the way till Ahmedabad and should be able to complete the travel within 12 hours or early considering breaks for breakfast, lunch, etc? I hope to have dinner at Ahmedabad.

Any better options?

Last year I had driven from Pune to Ahmedabad in approximately 11 hours; 7:00am to 6:00pm. This is doable.
Unless you have some work in Ahmedabad or if you cannot drive for such long durations, IMO you don't need to stay in Ahmedabad when your final destination is Udaipur.
If you leave Pune by say 5AM, you can reach Udaipur by 9PM or 10PM.

Edit: Google maps also shows 12 hours driving time between Pune and Udaipur. Add 3-4 hours for breaks and other factors.

[Figopian]

Vikram, Hemant, thanks!
So I guess same would be the case if I want to go upto Mount Abu? I can actually think of halting at Dombivli at my cousins place so that I can save on those extra 2-3 hours and starting from Dombivli at say 6:00 AM should take me to Mt. Abu/Udaipur by 8:00 PM?
I was trying to halt at Ahemedabad just so that I dont have to drive at night, but if it is safe road to travel with wife and a 7 year old kid then I can think of stretching myself a little more.