Team-BHP - Hyderabad to Gokarna.. Best Route for driving down?

Hi,

We are planning to go to gokarna for this new years. Planning to leave thursday evening 6pm and reach gokarna max by non on friday (31st). What would be the best route to drive down (going by a maruti swift).. there are two options

1) Google maps suggest the jadcherla, raichur, gangawati, hubli,gokarna.. this comes out to be 650 kms.. I have driven till hampi/hospet before in this stretch but the jadcherla-raichur 70km stretch was really bad even for an innova.. How is the road after hospet area on this route..
Route: Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India to Gokarna, Karnataka, India - Google Maps

2) Hyd-Sholapur-Bijapur-Hubli-Gokarna.. this comes out to be 720 kms.. how are the roads on this section.. especially the sholapur-Hubli section.. If even this one has bad sections than i guess option 1 suits us better.. If not then we dont mind the 70 kms extra as we'll get to see the gol gumbaz.. Also any shorter but not so bad route to bijapur(via gulbarga.. can see some smaller roads which can lead there but not sure how good they are especially night driving)
Route - Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India to Gokarna, Karnataka, India - Google Maps

Thanks in advance for ur fast reply :)

Vivek, i guess not many have done this route recently. I had travelled upto hospet during the start of the monsoon (july '10) and the route # 1 - via mahbubnagar, raichur, hospet is a decent one. Jadcherla to Raichur was not that bad except for 10KM before Raichur power plant.

Route # 2, i cannot offer much advice but AFAIK, NH9 has heavy traffic upto sholapur, round the clock. I would avoid it.

I think the best route would be:

1. NH9 Till Homnabad
2. NH218 till Hubli
3. NH63 till Ankola
4. NH17 to Gokarna.

You should get the best route that way.

Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India to Gokarna, Karnataka, India - Google Maps

@ET. I would say it would be still worth taking NH9 as he can then latch on to 218. That I think would be the best to hit Hubli.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivek_vt (Post 2187661)

I did Hyderabad-Raichur on last saturday, i do it very frequently as Raichur is my home town.The jadcherla-raichur route is not bad except for few small bad stretches like

Mehboobnagar to Deverakadra Road-Drive carefully after you cross Mehboobnagar town,there are few big potholes en route to Deverakadra.

The road at Karnataka border is not that bad, except on the krishna bridge and at the entrance of Raichur town.A bypass has come up which will lead you directly on to the Hubli route.

The final route would be Hyd-Jadcherla-Mehboobnagar-Raichur-Sindhnoor-Gangavati-Koppal-Gajendregad-Gadag-Hubli-Ankola-Gokarna

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExtremeTorque (Post 2189365)

Route # 2, i cannot offer much advice but AFAIK, NH9 has heavy traffic upto sholapur, round the clock. I would avoid it.

As suggested by Arun, please abstain from this route.

I think your option 1 is the best. But if you like more time on an excellent highway then Hyd - Jadcherla -Kurnool- Gooty . And here take NH 63 towards Bellary
But I am not sure of the condition of NH63 but it was pretty bad like 3 years back. Road upto Gooty is excellent though. Once you reach Hospet, it intesects with your route 1.

thanks all for the help.. While going i took the bijapur road.. and while coming back, gagwati raichur..

Will post a travelogue whener i find time.. the road till bijapur is super swesome.. just a 2 lane road but too good to drive (esp homnabad to bijapur) took 5.5 hours .. 2AM to 7:30 Am(includes chai break) for covering 380 kms .. hyd to bijapur... (on a rented innova). Roamed gol gumbaz for two three hours.. After that the road till hubli is being made so speed reduces a lot and some unmetalled road too... but the drive was good.. (8 hours)

Hubli to gokarna section is decent.. even on ghat roads 60 can be maintained ocassionaly touching 80-90. (3hours)

While coming back, the hubli gangawati stretch is very very bad for 25 kms near gangawati.. but the gangawati raichur mehboobnagar stretch was way better than 6 months ago.. potholes r there but can be spotted if u go 80.. (night time)
total time returning took 14 hours..

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhappyharsha (Post 3152741)

Hi,

I plan to go to Gokarna in the first part of July. can someone please: tell me the current road condition and the best route possible?

Also, I have not driven this far before... can you suggest any break points?

Regards,
Sri Harsha.

Shamshabad-Mahbubnagar-Raichur-Sindhanur-Gangawati-Koppal-Gadag-Hubli-Yellapur-Baleguli Cross-Ankola-Gokarna.

http://goo.gl/maps/vFhNI

Can be done in around 12-13hrs with breaks (Approx 700kms).If you want to break,Hubli has plenty of stay options (Hans,Clarks,Gateway,Metropole).

Roads are good,as rains are yet to kick in.Traditional 2 laned roads.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryuu (Post 4268763)

Planning a quick weekend dash to Gokarna from Hyderabad. All night drive with two of us driving. Any updates on the HYD-RAICHUR-SINDHANUR-HUBLI-GOKARNA route?

Hubli-Yellapur-Ankola-Gokarna is usually good. Its the Hyd-Hubli section drive at night which I am not comfortable with. Make a early noon start to make it to Hubly by late evening. Then it should be fine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ampere (Post 4268772)

Thanks for the advise. Is it because of the road condition or external factors? I have done till Hampi during day time and found the roads average at best.

Leaving by noon is not an option we have sadly. We can start by 5 PM at best if we are being hopeful or latest by 6. Are there any other alternatives?

Thanks,
Ryuu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryuu (Post 4268790)

Thanks for the advise. Is it because of the road condition or external factors? I have done till Hampi during day time and found the roads average at best.

Not sure safety/security conditions. HYD folks comments better. I thought it was desolate. But good to confirm with others.

Quote:

Leaving by noon is not an option we have sadly. We can start by 5 PM at best if we are being hopeful or latest by 6. Are there any other alternatives?

My point was mainly to do with uneven roads, pot holes which can be difficult to tackle at night.