[aparanjape]

The Pune - Nashik NH50 highway has become a nightmare from a travel standpoint. Until a few years back, common travel time was 4 hours. Now, thanks to crazy traffic, this can take 6 hours or longer!

Recently tried a good alternative. Nashik -- Thane Toll Naka -- Mumbra bypass (old NH4) -- Panvel -- Pune. The distance is about 50-60 km more, but travel time is less, and drive is a lot better: Pune - Panvel via expressway..and Thane - Nashik NH3 4-laning is nearly complete, including the Kasara Ghat.

Don't think I am going to take the NH50 route going forward.

[jigbarai]

Yep, you are absolutely right.
The alternative route you tried out is definately much more enjoyable to drive on. Apart from the Panvel - Thane stretch, it is absolutely great.

Although it might turn out a tad costlier thanks to added distance, the e-way and the tolls on NH3.

[hvkumar]

Don't even think of coming via Mumbra, it is a terrible road most of the year.

Anywhere entering the Bombay region nowadays, there are huge traffic jams mainly of in-transit trucks.

[roadie_swift]

I fully agree. Driving on the traditional Pune-Nasik route is a horrid experience. The route you have suggested seems good, apart from the Panvel-Thane route, like HVK said - it may prove to be actually worse than the NH50.

@HVK - Sir, could you suggest another alternative to reach Nasik from Pune?

Cheers,
R_S

[hvkumar]

The Bombay route is bad all the time, congested by day and night (worse in the night because of truck traffic). I think NH50 remains the only viable route for the moment.

[hrishig]

( Modes please merge the thread if already present)

I want to travel from Pune to Nasik via Very good Road Or else train. ( I will have very small babies with me , so don't want to take risk of going over bad roads)

The direct road is always blocked & takes around 7-8 hrs if you are stuck in traffic (which frequently happens).

So wanted to know if there is any other alternative or kind of express way .

I am also exploring option of train. Problem is there is only one train (11026) & I want to know if this train generally goes on time or not? If there is a delay , what will be the duration.

Last question , are there any connecting trains ( Via kalyan/ karjat) that can save time for the journey?

At the end I want to cover pune - nashik in less than 6 - 6.30 hours in A/C environment and without any major vibrations ( Because of babies )

[350biker]

Originally Posted by hrishig

( Modes please merge the thread if already present)

I want to travel from Pune to Nasik via Very good Road Or else train. ( I will have very small babies with me , so don't want to take risk of going over bad roads)

The direct road is always blocked & takes around 7-8 hrs if you are stuck in traffic (which frequently happens).

So wanted to know if there is any other alternative or kind of express way .

I am also exploring option of train. Problem is there is only one train (11026) & I want to know if this train generally goes on time or not? If there is a delay , what will be the duration.

Last question , are there any connecting trains ( Via kalyan/ karjat) that can save time for the journey?

At the end I want to cover pune - nashik in less than 6 - 6.30 hours in A/C environment and without any major vibrations ( Because of babies )

As stated by you, there are only 2 ways to reach nasik
1) by train (takes minimum 7 hours)
2) by road (takes minimum 6 - 8 hours)

These days there is ALWAYS some or the other traffic jam on Pune - Nasik route because the bridge near Sangamner is under construction and only one side is open.

I would suggest you either leave early (in non- peak hours) from pune around 5 am in the morning and reach nasik in lss than 6 hours.

OR

the other option is to travel to Mumbai and join the nasik highway from thane and then reach nasik.

Usually on the express way, it will take you not more than 2 hours to reach thane. Again from thane, it should take you around 2 and half hours to reach nasik.

The advantage is that both these routes are express ways. (Current Mum- Nasik route is almost an expressway route)

I usually travel Mum-Nsk on weekends and i reach in less than 3 hours from Mumbai City (Kandivali) to Nasik. The only care that i take is that i leave very early in the morning before the usual Mumbai traffic starts and hence i am able to cross Thane early.

Let me know if you need any help regarding the same.

[PuntoMania]

Well, I should have taken hvkumar's advice. I decided to take this alternate route on Friday. So here's the route I took :

• Take the expressway from Pune.
• At the end of the expressway take is a right for "MIDC Taloja"
• At the end of this road, there is a T junction, left goes to Kalyan, took that.
• After this comes the Mumbra patch and then Thane which joins the Mumbai Nasik Highway

Started my journey from Hinjewadi at 5:10 pm. Got off the expressway at 6:40 pm. Then it took me 1 hour and 20 minutes to cross the Taloja, Mumbra and Thane sections (which in total may be about 25 km). There was a massive jam there and there were a lot of trucks lining up on this road. I was stationary for a very long time.

At 8 pm I was able to join the Mumbai - Nasik Highway from the Thane tollgate. Took a 45 min break for dinner. From this point onwards it took me 2 hours and 45 minutes (8:45 pm to 11:30 pm) to cover some 130-140 km to Nasik.

Overall time taken for the journey was 5 hours, which is normally the maximum time it takes me to cross the two laned Nasik Pune Highway with traffic bottlenecks at Sangamner, Narayangaon and Sinner . Altogether the toll for this alternate route is approximately Rs 300 compared to Rs 23 for the Nasik Pune Highway, and the time taken is also maximum.

No use of taking this route - However I'd do it again, only for driving my car over the fantastic Kasara Ghat section. Boy that road always gives me the goosebumps.

Is it really worth Rs 300 extra + 55 km extra ? Naah, I doubt it.

[CANPUSH]

Another option could be - Travel from Pune to Ahmednagar - Shirdi,
After Shirdi take road to Sinnar but turn right at Derde-Chandwad towards Vinchur to join Aurangabad - Yeola - Nashik road. Turn left to go to Nashik via Naitale, Niphad.

It may be little longer distance and take approximately same time but definitely less taxing as upto Shirdi it is four lane road and ahead traffic is much less than Sinner - Nashik traffic.

Frankly, I have not traveled between Vinchur and Shirdi after 2007 but that time road was good.

[bshankar]

The best route between Pune and Nashik is NH3 (Nashik - Thane Toll gate) > NH4 to Kalamboli junction > Mumbai - Pune Expressway. The total distance is about 300 Kms which is about 50 - 60 Kms more than the direct Pune Nashik NH50 highway but the former is a much better, safer and faster drive. NH3 and NH4 are both dual carriageway. We left Nashik at 9.08am and were in Pune by 2.10pm including a 30 minute break for food and fuel.

[rajcs]

Thats pretty fast. But how did you negotiate that horrendous traffic between thane and kalamboli. Also is the NH3 widening complete and is it entirely dual carriage now? I traveled this route over three years ago.

[350biker]

Hi Bshankar, I too would recommend to use the same route, however i feel that the amount of toll that one ends up paying on this route is just too much.

[ninjatalli]

Minor update - had to make a short trip to Shrirampur, a town just a shy away from Shirdi. The original plan was to also hit Nashik which was later cancelled.

The route planned was Pune - Wagholi - Ahmednagar - Loni - Shrirampur ( - Nashik). Except for the last 40 kms detour from the highway to the town of Shrirampur, the entire stretch was on clean, good 4-lane roads. Entire distance was just a shy over 220kms and took us 3 odd hours, which included a breakfast halt of 30 mins and a 30 mins detour drive to Shrirampur. Return drive took us similar duration, except for the additional traffic faced in the evening as compared to near-empty roads in the morning.

I'm quite sure the additional 90 odd kms to Nashik from Loni (not traversed by us) should not take more than 1.5 hours, from which I can presume a direct trip from Pune to Nashik could be done in less than 4 hours. Would recommend this route for people heading to Nashik over the NH50 & via Mumbai options. Toll paid by us was on three occasions, the total amount being less than 100Rs one side.

[antz.bin]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Minor update - had to make a short trip to Shrirampur, a town just a shy away from Shirdi. The original plan was to also hit Nashik which was later cancelled.

The route planned was Pune - Wagholi - Ahmednagar - Loni - Shrirampur ( - Nashik). Except for the last 40 kms detour from the highway to the town of Shrirampur, the entire stretch was on clean, good 4-lane roads. Entire distance was just a shy over 220kms and took us 3 odd hours, which included a breakfast halt of 30 mins and a 30 mins detour drive to Shrirampur. Return drive took us similar duration, except for the additional traffic faced in the evening as compared to near-empty roads in the morning.

I'm quite sure the additional 90 odd kms to Nashik from Loni (not traversed by us) should not take more than 1.5 hours, from which I can presume a direct trip from Pune to Nashik could be done in less than 4 hours. Would recommend this route for people heading to Nashik over the NH50 & via Mumbai options. Toll paid by us was on three occasions, the total amount being less than 100Rs one side.

Roads inside Ahmednagar district will always be extremely good (Thanks to a certain Mr. Vikhe Patil ). However, I don't think thats a very good idea since going to Nasik from Loni will still bring you back to Sangamner - Nasik stretch which is what everyone wishes to avoid. The Stretch between Alephata and Sangamner usually has the least traffic so there is no use in avoiding it and then getting stuck in the worst traffic area of Sangamner - Sinnar - Nasik.

I have tried the Mumbra bypass route once in the past but it was exactly as described by hvkumar. Would it be any different if we went all the way till CBD Belapur - Kalwa - NH3 - Nasik ?

If this is also as bad as the Mumbra route, the fastest way to do Pune-Nasik is by leaving for Nasik @ 5.30AM and reach around 9.30/10:00 AM. Another way to save time is to NOT stop at Daulat and rather stop just after crossing Chandanapuri ghat (the treacherous one). There are 2-3 dhabas to the right immediately after the ghat ends and all of them serve *decent* breakfast / tea.

[aniket.tiwari27]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

The Bombay route is bad all the time, congested by day and night (worse in the night because of truck traffic). I think NH50 remains the only viable route for the moment.

Hello Sir,

I plan to visit trimbakeshwar tomorrow. Planning to leave early by 5am from Kharadi, Pune and want to return the same day. As we all know, NH50 - Pune Nashik road is always heavy on traffic and is just two lane. Hence, tiring to drive.

What would be your suggestion for the alternate route or I should stick to the usual route?

Google map search results 3 routes -
1. NH50 (the usual route - 247 Kms)
2. NH3 (305kms via Pune-Mumbai expressway - Kalamboli - Mumbra - Kasara)
3. NH50 and SH44 (271kms - Diversion from Narayangaon connecting NH3 at Ghoti via Junnar, Bhandardara)

How about considering the 3rd option? Hows the road looking at the current rains?

What do you suggest is the safest and fastest route considering I need to do this in one day and I will be the single man driving.

Regards,
Aniket