[SamuraiJack]

Oct 1- 15 road trip.

Best roads

1. NE 1 Ahmedabad >> Baroda
2. Jaipur >> Chittorgarh >> Udaipur.
3. Belgaum >> Bombay.

Worst Roads.

1. Has to be "Rohtang Pass".
2. Chitradurga >> Dharwar.
3. Rewari >> Kiratpur (Harayana roads suck! and so do interiors of Punjab)
3. Udaipur >> Jaipur NH 8

[issigonis]

This is not an exhaustive list :

Bad Roads

1. Andheri Kurla Road especially 3-4 kilometres either side of Saki Naka/ roads in Kurla/roads in the Mahakali Caves and Jogeshwari areas ( all in Mumbai)
2. Roads (highways in UP and in WB)
3. Daman flyover ( on way to Devka beach, in Daman)

Good Roads

1. National roads in South Africa ( viz. N4/N2)
2. Road from Kathgodam to Kaladhungi ( Uttarakhand)
3. Road from Charoti Naka to Dahanu and onwards to Bordi ( north of Bombay)
4. Road from Lonavla to Aamby Valley ( off the Mumbai-Pune Expressway)

I've focussed only on the physical infrastructure and not on traffic conditions/behaviour of road users.

Regards

[ac 427]

the worst road i have every driven....

the road from Rohtang pass all the way up to manali. I saw many altos with broken axels because of that.

the best road, the Baroda - Ahemdabad highway. the best road.

cheers,
ac

[ph03n!x]

Best road got to be NICE stretch near Bangalore, and the worst got to be stretch from Tiptur to Hassan...

[addyhemmige]

The best roads I've driven on:

1. The old NH-48 from Bangalore to Mangalore. I've traveled on it umpteen number of times, but never ever got bored of it.
2. The ECR from Chennai to Mahabalipuram
3. Bangalore to Chennai via Hosur-Krishnagiri-Vellore

The worst roads I've driven on

Gonikoppal-Srimangala-Kutta-Mananthavady. Traveled here 2 weeks back and broke some backs in the process

[airguitar]

Greetings, fellow TBHP-ians. First post from me on these forums!

Just want to find out what's the most memorable stretch of road folks here have driven through.

The Talaguppa -> Bhatkal stretch ( the eerie silence on a rainy day marred by the sound of electric saws was indescribable ) passing through Kargal/Sharavathy valley and the Chikkamagalur -> Kemmannugundi stretch via Attigundi ( it was a bit after dusk when I did this and it was real exciting to see the scenery in fading light ) remain my personal favorites in my short period of driving addiction.

[hvkumar]

In the same region (although not the most memorable), I like the Londa-Supa-Anshi-Kadra-Sadashivgarh-Karwar route. Narrow twisty mountain roads, total wilderness, 2 wildlife sanctuaries, dark tropical jungles with the road itself in twilight in some places.

[aargee]

Since I haven't explored much, I love to drive in MC Road for the turns, Salem-Coimbatore for the straight excellent roads that touch the horizons, used to love ECR, but not anymore.

[paragsachania]

For me its the Charmadi Ghats for those twists and Hair Pin bends and of course the scenery of the western ghats.
Second comes Kalasa till Bajagoli via Kuduremukha and also the Sakleshpur to BC Road of NH48.

For my personal excellent average speeds it will always be Bangalore-Pune of the GQ.

[humyum]

Mumbai to Goa on the Old Goa Highway. Pure Racetrack.

Its like driving on the edge with the twisties suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

[roamingrao]

The road and drive to hometown !

That apart, we've had good memories of :

in order of ranking
As parag mentions, 1. Kalasa -Kudremukh - Bajagoli
2. Kundapura - Maravanthe across 5 bridges
3. Jog falls - sagar
4. Tirunelveli - Kanyakumari
5. Mahabaleshwar - Poladpur
6. Ratnagiri - Pawas - Rajapur

[swathyd]

It happened in 2008 September . The route was kollur, vandse , karkala , moodabidri , manipal , kulsekara . Took this route to avoid travelling through NH17 . Scenic beauty with out climbing up hills is what this route is like. Reminds the geography of south eastern kerala . Old houses with cattle sheds , old kerala like village atmosphere wherever there is inhabitation . Paddy fields which also reminds me of my mothers village before 27 years .

On the way you can see sporadic cashew plantations , some areca nut plantations as seen in central kerala . The entire route is like a replica of kerala before 5 decades .

[Thunderbird]

My most memorable drives:

1) Udupi - Karwar - Panaji
2) Karkala - Kudremukh - Kalasa
3) Charmadi Ghats

[sidharth_j]

Originally Posted by Thunderbird

My most memorable drives:

1) Udupi - Karwar - Panaji
2) Karkala - Kudremukh - Kalasa
3) Charmadi Ghats

Absolutely agree. The drive up to kudremukh is just awesome. On route there is this landscape that stretches out like from another world. Here's a picture (pardon the quality)

[airguitar]

@hvk : believe it or not, while you posted your response, I was doing that stretch ( atleast partly ) : Dandeli -> Ganeshgudi -> Supa backwater -> Londa -> Khanapur -> Bidi -> Haliyal -> Dandeli : was absolutely awesome ( will write a travelogue soon ) with jackals squatting on the roadside ( esp near Ganeshgudi !).

Also happened to do the Dandeli->Ulavi cross-> Anashi -> Kadra -> Sadashivagad-> Honnavar -> Jog yesterday. Again , a very beautiful and exciting drive. The sore-point really was the bad stretch for a few kms after Anashi. Likewise, quite a few stretches of NH-206 b/w Honnavar and Jog were disappointing. Although picturesque, painful potholey stretches. Has it always been like this or is it due to the rains ( knowing the Bangalore -> Jog stretch , I expected the Honnavar->Jog stretch to be comparable )

@siddharth,roamingrao,thunderbird : all of you refer to the kuduremukh->kalasa stretch : that's just as beautiful. In fact, we can extend it to the Sringeri->SK Border/Hanumangundi stretch ( @swathyd, haven't done Karkala : I'm sure it's going to be very similar as it's the same road as Sringeri->SKB ), quiet and scary, esp if you're driving alone :|.

The worst stretch ( despite good roads ) has got to be the Dobbaspet-> ORR stretch, esp late in the night when you're squeezing through between big things called trucks and you're fighting your own sleep after long trips ( I usually avoid this and go the Dobbaspet -> Doddaballapur road, but not sure how safe this is road is after say midnight )