Road Conditions To Goa?

[mclaren1885]

I would suggest the Bangalore-Shimoga-Karwar-Goa route. Came back that way some 2 months back and what scenic roads to drive on.

The Bangalore-Yellapura-Ankola-Karwar-Goa route is boring till you hit the Ankola ghats.

The stretch between Chitradurga-Haveri has frequent diversions (super dangerous at night if you are maintaining good speeds) and the road condition is bad too. If you are going to travel via this route, better to do it during day time.

Shimoga route is best traveled early in the morning so that you hit Shimoga by early morning and get to enjoy the scenery. Another advantage of this route is, you get to see Jog as well.

 

[TOPGEAR2010]

Thanks Mclaren

Actually more than the scenic beauty my priority at the moment is safety on road because it is rainy season. Also I am traveling only in day time.

 

[mukeshus]

I would suggest the Bangalore-Shimoga-Karwar-Goa route. Came back that way some 2 months back and what scenic roads to drive on.

The Bangalore-Yellapura-Ankola-Karwar-Goa route is boring till you hit the Ankola ghats.

The stretch between Chitradurga-Haveri has frequent diversions (super dangerous at night if you are maintaining good speeds) and the road condition is bad too. If you are going to travel via this route, better to do it during day time.

Shimoga route is best traveled early in the morning so that you hit Shimoga by early morning and get to enjoy the scenery. Another advantage of this route is, you get to see Jog as well.

Mclaren he has clearly mentioned that he want's to Goa via Hubli.
That too if he goes via Shimoga, Roads are not that good on the way to Shimoga.
But from Sagar to Jog & then via Honnavar is good.
So better he can take the Hubli route as its mainly highway, The deviations are manageable.
And i have done that stretch while going to Shirdi.
Only thing going via Hubli is you have lot of toll booths.
When i went to Shirdi the toll costs were about 1500 To & fro.

 

[TOPGEAR2010]

Thanks Mukesh. That's great info about toll.

 

[mclaren1885]

Looks like we think different ;)

I usually plan my travels looking for scenic routes even if they are a little longer. Yes, road conditions do matter a lot, last thing you would want is to get stuck in some bad roads and ruin the whole peace of mind you have set out on a holiday with.

I travel to Goa and back frequently. My hometown is Hubli, yet I prefer to take the Shimoga route.

Because:

1. Its scenic.
2. Less traffic.
3. No toll.
4. Takes me about the same time via both routes. Bangalore-Haveri takes me around 5-6hrs. Say another 2-3hrs to Goa via Ankola.

Last two times I went via the Shimoga route, I took roughly ~8-9hrs. In addition, unlike on the GQ the drive was never boring. And I would get a lot of places to take pics.

I usually take the Hubli route only when I have to visit my place.

 

[TOPGEAR2010]

Looks like we think different ;)

I usually plan my travels looking for scenic routes even if they are a little longer. Yes, road conditions do matter a lot, last thing you would want is to get stuck in some bad roads and ruin the whole peace of mind you have set out on a holiday with.

I travel to Goa and back frequently. My hometown is Hubli, yet I prefer to take the Shimoga route.

Because:

1. Its scenic.
2. Less traffic.
3. No toll.
4. Takes me about the same time via both routes. Bangalore-Haveri takes me around 5-6hrs. Say another 2-3hrs to Goa via Ankola.

Last two times I went via the Shimoga route, I took roughly ~8-9hrs. In addition, unlike on the GQ the drive was never boring. And I would get a lot of places to take pics.

I usually take the Hubli route only when I have to visit my place.

I totally agree with you. In fact last March I took the same route to go to Gokarna in one stretch with my wife and friend (shared drving) and his wife. Actually I am not sure about the roads there in this rainy season.
So I am thinking probably roads in this route (NH4->NH63->NH17) will be better and particulary less risky.

 

[mclaren1885]

Would you define *risk* for me please?

And yes, the route would be NH4-turn off at the bypass @ Gabbur, hit Yellapur-Kalghatgi-Ankola-Karwar-Goa.

Stretches to watch out for:

1. Chitradurga-Haveri.
2. Yellapur-Ankola - Road should have worsened after the recent rains.

 

[TOPGEAR2010]

Would you define *risk* for me please?

And yes, the route would be NH4-turn off at the bypass @ Gabbur, hit Yellapur-Kalghatgi-Ankola-Karwar-Goa.

Stretches to watch out for:

1. Chitradurga-Haveri.
2. Yellapur-Ankola - Road should have worsened after the recent rains.

For me road without divider, narrow,less maintained, and with potholes are risky.
I am expecting NH4 roads should be wide and with divider as on GQ. Do not not know much about NH63 though.
What are the problems with the stretches you mentioned?

 

[mukeshus]

Would you define *risk* for me please?

And yes, the route would be NH4-turn off at the bypass @ Gabbur, hit Yellapur-Kalghatgi-Ankola-Karwar-Goa.

Stretches to watch out for:

1. Chitradurga-Haveri.
2. Yellapur-Ankola - Road should have worsened after the recent rains.

Mclaren the main reason for not suggesting the Jog route is that he want's to stay in the night .
And there is no hotels in Jog nor in Sagar.
So Hubli is a better option and he will cover the distance quickly.
As he gets a deviation to Ankola directly.
So Vagish, Better visit the Gokarna after you finish Goa.
That's a better option as you have to travel a lot to interiors.
If you want to try Jog have a check on this thread:http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/voyage-junction/1578-trip-jog-falls-karnataka.html
You will have a rough idea & must visit places on this stretch.
Feel free to ask any queries you have.

 

[TOPGEAR2010]

Mclaren the main reason for not suggesting the Jog route is that he want's to stay in the night .
And there is no hotels in Jog nor in Sagar.
So Hubli is a better option and he will cover the distance quickly.
As he gets a deviation to Ankola directly.
So Vagish, Better visit the Gokarna after you finish Goa.
That's a better option as you have to travel a lot to interiors.
If you want to try Jog have a check on this thread:http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/voyage-junction/1578-trip-jog-falls-karnataka.html
You will have a rough idea & must visit places on this stretch.
Feel free to ask any queries you have.

Thanks Mukesh. Gokarna I already visited in March 2010. So no plan as yet to visit Gokarna on this Goa trip. I am very thankful to you guys for good comments and thanks to TAI to have such wonderful forum created. I am sure this will help me a lot in this trip and future trips.

 

[mclaren1885]

Mclaren the main reason for not suggesting the Jog route is that he want's to stay in the night.

I thought he wanted to drive during the day? Then stay at night in Hubli when? Even if you maintain a steady speed of 100kmph you should be able to do Goa in ~12hrs. Say he leaves at 10am. he should reach Goa by 10pm including breaks.

And there is no hotels in Jog nor in Sagar.

True, but like I said earlier, why break the journey? The ideal place to stop would be Shimoga on the other route.

As he gets a deviation to Ankola directly.

Actually no. The turn off to NH63 is at Gabbur, which is around 5kms from Old Hubli Bus Stand at Rani Chennamma circle. New bus stand should be around 10kms away. Usually most good hotels are on the Hubli-Dharwad road. Which again IMO is going the opposite way if you are taking the NH63. So he will have to go into Hubli and come back all the way.

Once you hit Hubli, you have three routes to Goa for anyone else looking to go towards Goa.

1. Hubli-Yellapur-Ankola-Karwar-Goa.
2. Hubli-Belgaum-Khanapur-Anmod Ghats-Castle Rock-Ponda-Londa-Goa.
3, Hubli-Belgaum-Sawantawadi-Amboli-Goa.

If you take the first route the next morning, you can make a quick trip to Gokarna and then continue to Goa. Om Beach is indeed a nice place.

I took the 2nd route 2 months back while going to Goa as I had some work at Belgaum. Thoroughly enjoyed the drive.

Route 3 I hear is the most scenic of all the routes, haven't had the chance to take that route yet.

 

[mukeshus]

@Mclaren: In the other thread he(TG2010) has mentioned it clearly that he will be leaving bangalore at 9 or 9.30 am.
In my case i had left for Shirdi from Bangalore at 6 am Morning and could reach Hubli around 1.45pm.
Approx 7hours 45 mins.
Assuming that he would drive slowly to Hubli it will take 6 pm to Hubli which is 560 kms to be precise.
So TG2010 will reach Hubli & has planned to halt there.
And he doesn't likes to drive in the night.
-----------Next Post-----------

I thought he wanted to drive during the day? Then stay at night in Hubli when? Even if you maintain a steady speed of 100kmph you should be able to do Goa in ~12hrs. Say he leaves at 10am. he should reach Goa by 10pm including breaks.

True, but like I said earlier, why break the journey? The ideal place to stop would be Shimoga on the other route.


Actually no. The turn off to NH63 is at Gabbur, which is around 5kms from Old Hubli Bus Stand at Rani Chennamma circle. New bus stand should be around 10kms away. Usually most good hotels are on the Hubli-Dharwad road. Which again IMO is going the opposite way if you are taking the NH63. So he will have to go into Hubli and come back all the way.

Once you hit Hubli, you have three routes to Goa for anyone else looking to go towards Goa.

1. Hubli-Yellapur-Ankola-Karwar-Goa.
2. Hubli-Belgaum-Khanapur-Anmod Ghats-Castle Rock-Ponda-Londa-Goa.
3, Hubli-Belgaum-Sawantawadi-Amboli-Goa.

If you take the first route the next morning, you can make a quick trip to Gokarna and then continue to Goa. Om Beach is indeed a nice place.

I took the 2nd route 2 months back while going to Goa as I had some work at Belgaum. Thoroughly enjoyed the drive.

Route 3 I hear is the most scenic of all the routes, haven't had the chance to take that route yet.

The first route passes via Kirwati forest, And it has a decent hotel on that stretch.
Some "Nature's Paradise Hotel".
After that no hotel till they reach Ankola.

@Vagish:
Caution: Never fill the fuel in Villages nor in Highway .
As they are not maintained properly(Water might also come free with fuel).
I usually was filling full tank in cities .
My brand was shell on that stretch.

 

[mclaren1885]

@Mukesh: Bangalore-Hubli is ~410 kms. Certainly not 560.

Like I mentioned before since Hubli is our hometown, we travel often. Dad takes about 6hrs to reach at night time (speeds around 100-120kmph). So assuming he leaves at 9am, he should reach Hubli at 3-4pm. Hubli to Goa is ~4hrs. So he should be in Goa around 9pm max.

Why I suggest the following is, because you get to spend that extra day at Goa instead of wasting it on travel the next morning. Why not hit Goa by 9pm, get some rest and go the Fort Aguada to see the sunrise?

Bangalore-Goa is doable at one go with lots of stops. More so in an SX4.

 

[TOPGEAR2010]

@Mukesh: Bangalore-Hubli is ~410 kms. Certainly not 560.

Like I mentioned before since Hubli is our hometown, we travel often. Dad takes about 6hrs to reach at night time (speeds around 100-120kmph). So assuming he leaves at 9am, he should reach Hubli at 3-4pm. Hubli to Goa is ~4hrs. So he should be in Goa around 9pm max.

Why I suggest the following is, because you get to spend that extra day at Goa instead of wasting it on travel the next morning. Why not hit Goa by 9pm, get some rest and go the Fort Aguada to see the sunrise?

Bangalore-Goa is doable at one go with lots of stops. More so in an SX4.

Thanks again McLaren and Mukesh.
I generally wake up at around 10 AM (I know it is pathetic). So I can start from Bangalore not earlier than 11AM. With rainy season in mind and as I am also planning to stop at each opportunity on the way,I can only hope to reach Hubli by 7 PM (in case every thing goes fine and I do not get diverted from correct route to Hubli anywhere). Then as I said earlier I want to avoid night driving especially on NH63. So that leaves me taking shelter to a hotel in Hubli and do next morning start to Goa. More, after I am back from Goa.

 

[TOPGEAR2010]

Finally completed the trip. Bangalore->Hubli->Yellapur->Karwar->Margao->Varca. Driven 1598 KMs including wondering in Goa. Beaches are more or less deserted and especially there are a very few people in the water. Waves seemed rough. It is raining a lot. I got drenched couple of time in three days.
Anyway let me come back to road conditions. I started from my apartment at around 11 AM.It was already 1 AM when reached outside Bangalore. From bangalore to Chitradurg it was absolutely smooth. I could not resist myself touching 150 KMH mark at some occasions(it was more because I wanted to beat Sun in my race to Hubli and Sun getting set). I lost the race because of intermittent rain throughout and especially due to rough patches and diversions between Chitradurg and Haveri. reached Hubli by around 8 PM.
Morning 8:30, we started from Hubli on NH63 and reached Margao by 12. Both NH63 and NH17 were almost smooth. There were very minor wear and tear on NH63 hear and there which did not feel uncomfortable.

At least in day time I will recommend NH4->NH63->NH17 to Goa. In rainy night time, it should be avoided especially because of Chitradurg to Haveri patch.