Hey guys 🙂

This is my first blog, so please bear with me if there are any mistakes. Also please drop down your views and suggestions below.

 

It all started off with me telling my dad about the plan. He insisted that we go in a Sleeper bus as it won’t be stressful. It took me 3 days to convince him that travelling in our car would be better. Now that we’re back from the trip, my dad is ready to go on another 1000+ kilometres trip (one way). Trust me it isn’t going to make you tired or strained, provided you plan your trip well with all the halts.

Bangalore – Tumkur – Davanagere – Hubli – Belgaum – Kolhapur – Satara – Pune – Ranjangoan – Ahmednagar – Shirdi.

This is the ideal route.

We planned to start by 5AM on Friday (28-09-2018) but ended up starting at 8AM due to  few issues. We started from HSR Layout. So we took the NICE road to avoid all the city traffic. We took the Electronic City NICE road entry and got out of it at Tumkur Road Exit. It costs you 180 rupees. But it’s kind of worth it if the NICE road was a little bit nicer than how it was when I last travelled. Tonnes of potholes. After exiting NICE road, got on to NH-48. Beautiful 6-lane road until Hubli (Hubbali) with parts of 4-lane in between. Hubli to Belgaum stretch is a single road without a divider, roughly 90 kilometres. But no worries, it’s a pothole-free road. It’ll take you the same time to cover those 90 kilometres as it would take on a 4-lane road. After Belgaum beautiful 4-lane road again, until Pune.

If you’re using Google Maps, once you cross Satara, please do not follow it if it asks you to take a route avoiding Pune, which it probably will. I made a mistake taking that route. That is a HORRIBLE piece of road. There is no road in few places, it’s just gravel. You won’t find another car accompanying you. That route is used only by trucks maybe because it makes the distance lesser which I’m not sure is true. I haven’t checked. But just avoid the route below.

Best way to reach Shirdi is via Pune. You can even go through the city. It won’t take too long. Once you cross the Pune city, you’ll again find a 4-lane National Highway. It’s butter smooth until Ahmednagar. Once you reach Ahmednagar, Google maps will again suggest you to take the Ahmednagar bypass. Ahmednagar bypass has no tar/cement. It’s just gravel all over. It’s again a million times better to go through Ahmednagar city. It won’t take too long. Ahmednagar to Shirdi is 4-lane again but with increased traffic which won’t make it look like a highway.

And finally, you’ve made it!!

On the way back too, follow the exact same route to have a buttery ride.

I’ll just put down a few points to remember at the end of the blog. You can take a screenshot of it if you find it useful. 🙂

 

And now, talking about the halts, I started off at 8AM. We reached Kolhapur at around 4. We went to the Kolhapur Mahalakshmi temple. It’ll take you 20 minutes to reach the temple from the highway. Less than 20 minutes for the Darshan.

I first had a plan of halting there, but I found it a little too crowded, and also it wasn’t too late or tiring for a halt so soon. So we continued. You can visit Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar which are near Satara. You can halt at any of those 2 places if it isn’t too dark by the time you reach. Otherwise, halt in Wai (a town in between Satara and Panchgani). You’ll find a lot of OYO rooms there. The view points in Panchgani are 15-20 minutes away from Wai. You can visit the viewpoints early in the morning next day. I do not suggest going uphill in the night as the roads have no lighting and there were a lot of potholes when I was there.

I halted in a OYO room in Wai. Wasn’t too great. Wasn’t too bad either. You can easily find a OYO room there. Make sure you install OYO Rooms and Treebo apps just to make finding a room easier.

Next day (Day 2), we left to Shirdi. Halted in Shirdi.

Day 3 – Return from Shirdi. You can leave around 7-8 AM and head to Lonavala directly, go around the place and reach Kolhapur/Hubli/Belgaum, depending on how tired you get.

If you’re going to Lonavala through Pune city, you’ll find Aga Khan Palace on your way. It isn’t some place you’ll regret not visiting. But yes worth a short break.

If you’re tired and you choose to skip Lonavala, head directly to Belgaum for your halt. I’ll link a Treebo hotel below. Totally worth a stay. Beautiful rooms, great service. Car parking is a little insufficient if the rooms are filled. Also, the directions to that place on google maps will take you to another hotel nearby (Navaratna Palace). And the contact number given in the Treebo website also doesn’t work. So, make sure you call the Treebo staff and ask them for the right number and contact them for directions.

Trust me you’ll forget all this pain you went through to find the hotel, as soon as you enter your room.

They charged me 1,850. Complimentary breakfast included. Also, you can order-in lunch/dinner to your room. Food was great too. Totally worth it.

Day 4 – Back to Bangalore.

 

POINTS TO REMEMBER

1. Do not worry about getting tired. You won’t have any strain if you make proper halts. And, You cannot get to visit Kolhapur, Panchgani, Mahabaleshwar & Lonavala or any other place nearby if You travel by Bus, train or Flight.
2. Day 1 Halt – Hubli/Belgaum/Kolhapur/Satara. Don’t stress yourself on day 1 itself. Take a break wherever required.
3. After passing Satara, DO NOT TAKE THE ROUTE AVOIDING PUNE.
4. Day 2 Halt – Shirdi
5. Take the same way back as I mentioned above – via Pune.
6. Day  3 Halt – Belgaum (try booking in Treebo Elite Residency). It’s easy to find it on the treebo app, as it’s the only treebo in Belgaum. And, if you don’t want to pay the 20% while booking, make your booking through a call to treebo customer care 4-5 hours before you want to check-in. Tell them you’ll check-in within 3-4 hours and they’ll make the booking.

Fun fact 😉 – You’ll get to go through a tunnel on your way to Shirdi, as soon as you cross Satara. And another one while coming back to Bangalore. Have fun!

 

Happy Journey!! 🙂

 

Treebo Link – https://www.treebo.com/hotels-in-belgaum/treebo-elite-residency-ramlingkhind-841/?checkin=2018-10-07&checkout=2018-10-08&hotel_id=841&rateplan=EP&roomconfig=1-0&roomtype=oak