Background: This plan also came into existence during discussions with Nandan. We met one evening after his road trip to his native place (Delhi – Patna – Delhi) and were discussing longer trips when the idea of Delhi-Goa came up. Nothing much was discussed at that time but the idea got registered in my mind.
I did some research and presented an itinerary few days later to Nandan and rest of the gang. I was trying to utilize the holiday, 15th of August 2008 which was a Friday. It was an 11 day trip with 6 off days required. The dates were to be from 9th of August to 19th of August. It was a big trip, no doubt and it is generally difficult to plan 6 off days together with 4-5 working people so again it was only me and my better half who could plan this at the end.
The two of us left for Goa on August 9th early morning from Noida.
We planned to complete Delhi to Mumbai in 3 days and Mumbai to Goa in one day. Following was the itinerary:
Day -1 : Delhi – Udaipur
Day -2 : Udaipur – Vadodara
Day -3 : Vadodara – Panvel (near Mumbai)
Day -4 : Panvel – Goa
Day -5,6 : Stay at Goa
Day -7 : Goa – Pune
Day -8 : Pune – Vadodara
Day -9 : Stay at Vadodara
Day -10 : Vadodara – Jaipur
Day -11 : Jaipur – Delhi
You see that Vadodara is very active stop on both sides of trip because my elder brother stays there. We kept one day as buffer and finally spent it at Vadodara on return journey.
Most of the time we were on road so covering the entire journey in one post will become monotonous and humongous. I will try to break the journey into three parts:
1. Delhi to Vadodara
2. Vadodara to Goa
3. Back from Goa to Delhi
Day 1 : Delhi – Udaipur
Delhi – Jaipur – Kishangarh – Bhilwara – Chittaurgarh – Udaipur
We started at 5 am as we were in Noida and it takes some time to reach NH-8 from there. It was beginning of August, “the” monsoon season in North India. The weather was OK though I was little worried about it as the sky was cloudy but it was not raining. We reached NH-8 in 40 minutes as roads were clean in morning and by dawn we were somewhere near Manesar after Gurgaon. Road was good and surroundings were very green as it had rained couple of days back.
At around 100Kms from Delhi, we had an accident. Not a big one, but could have been if there were some other vehicle behind us on the highway. We were at about 100 kmph and suddenly from the divider, two dogs came running to cross the road right in front of our car. I could not see them coming as the divider was covered with green bushes/grass due to the rainy season. I somehow managed to not hit the first one but when second one appeared, I was too close to the dog to avoid collision. The dog just disappeared again in fields at the left side of the road, so do not know what happened to him. We were safe in the car, the front bumper got damaged but not too badly. We pulled over and calmed down, checked the car and continued our journey.
Entering Jaipur Bypass
Road from Delhi to Jaipur is very well known for its good surface quality and in morning you can drive little more relaxed. Around 9 am we took Jaipur bypass and few minutes later took our first break. It was beautiful around with pleasant weather. We had tea and some sandwiches as our breakfast which we were carrying from home. We usually carry our breakfast as it saves time and gives us an opportunity to stopover wherever we want. Normally we carry hot water in a flask, sugar, milk sachets, tea bags, coffee sachets for instant tea/coffee and sandwichs/cakes/biscuits etc for breakfast.
break for breakfast
After 15 minutes we were back on the road. We were quite familiar with this route because of last year’s Vadodara trip . Road from Jaipur to Kishangarh is awesome. Generally it is 6 lane but while crossing cities and towns turns into 4 lane flyovers. You can easily cover this stretch in around 1 hr, also depends on your interest in high speed driving :-). My wife & I controlled my self to not exceed 110km/hr.
On Kishangarh you get 2 options for Udaipur, via Ajmer (NH-8) and via Bhilwara (NH-79) .I had this impression that NH-8 should be better than NH-79 probably because of Delhi-Jaipur (NH-8) experience. But NH-8 between Kishangarh and Udaipur was not upto my expectations in my last trip. The road is in good condition but because of trucks, petty traffic, no divider and hilly stretches, you need to struggle if you want to speed up to reach Udaipur before dark. For more details on this route, you can go through my earlier journey’s details at Delhi-Vadodara-Delhi Road Trip (Part-1).
This time we decided to take NH-79 instead of NH-8 to reach Udaipur quickly. This route is a little longer but road condition is much better. This stretch is also part of Golden Quadrilateral.
We were progressing at a good pace and were on track on our plan to reach Udaipur before dark. We took another break near Bhilwara for lunch. It was Bhilwara Midway and we had satisfactory meal there. After having a cup of tea post lunch, we moved on.
It was around 2 pm and 200Kms were left for the day. I was pretty comfortable at that time because around 4.5 hours were in hand before dark but as soon as we reached Chittaurgarh we faced a jam. Chittaurgarh does not have by-pass yet, work is in progress for the same. We lost around half hour there and then after crossing the city were again on a better road.
Chittaurgarh to Udaipur is around 120 Kms and it took us around 1 hr to reach Udaipur bypass & from there we spent some extra time in city to reach our hotel. We checked in around 5:15 pm. I was happy as we reached well before dark covering more than 700kms from Delhi.
We spent some time at hotel. Refreshed ourselves, had tea and some snacks there. After some time we left for lake which was not very clean because of rainy season. Finally we went for dinner at Garden Restaurant where we had all our meals in the last trip. They offer a very good quality thali at Rs 99. Try it if you get a chance to go there sometime.
Garden Restaurant
Day 1 was a success and every thing was on track in our Mega trip. We were more than 700Kms from home and lot more had to be to covered in the next few days to reach Goa.
Day 2 : Udaipur – Vadodara
Udaipur – HimmatNagar – Vadodara
According to plan, this day’s drive was comparatively easy. We had to cover around 350 kms to reach Vadodara. Our estimate was to reach at my brother’s place around noon but some times things don’t happen the way we plan. Because of easier day we left Udaipur little later than usual i.e around 6:30 am. First few kilometers were covered very quickly as it was still early morning but after driving for 70-75 kms from Udaipur we had to stop.
NH-8 was blocked by some school students. We, along with hundreds of people had to stop. Initially we thought that this would get cleared in sometime but soon we realized that this is going to take longer than we were expecting.
NH-8 blocked by school students
According to the locals, students were very upset because of poor hostel conditions & classes and were blocking the road because they wanted to talk to the District Magistrate. It took around 2 hrs to resolve this whole scenario and then another 15-20 minutes to come out of the jam created due to the 2hr road blockage on both sides.
Back again on the road it felt as if we’d just started as only 70-80 kms had been covered since morning. Soon we crossed Rajasthan and entered Gujarat. Roads are quite good and straight in Gujarat so we took advantage of it and drove faster.
The road from Udaipur to Vadodara is very well maintained in both the states, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Road is more scenic on Rajasthan side but tar become more black once you enter in Gujarat. Roads in Gujarat are straight so you can drive little fast but at the same times it becomes boring as well.
Entering Gujarat
As we’d already lost more than 2 hrs in the jam and hadn’t had any breakfast this morning, we took an early lunch break. We had our lunch at some place 50 kms before Ahmedabad.
Finally we entered Vadodara around 3 pm and reached my brother’s place in another 1/2 hr. Vadodra feels like home as i’ve been visiting my brother since past 5 years. We were meeting after a long time so we all spent some time together and had a relaxed evening. I got my car checked from the local service station.
I was little worried about the next day because till this point we had information on roads and stoppages because of our last trip. But beyond this point, we were getting into an unknown territory.
We did our homework by discussing some routes for getting out of the city quickly and entering the Mumbai road (NH 8) next morning and then went off to sleep.
Day 2 was complete. We were anxious, but not aware that the toughest day of the trip was about to start. Leaving here for now, rest of the journey in next post.
That’s quite a good narration coming up. I was wondering about your trip after you had asked me some details about Goa.
The roads look quite amazing. No one can resist 100+ on these roads. :)
Will wait for rest of the story.
Aditya is back in business after an year long hiatus and as often happened in the past he came out with something extremely useful; especially for me as Im planning to drive up to Udaipur soon.
Your post carries all the necessary information but leaves out the flab. The lucid style makes it a pleasure to read on. Waiting for the next.
it is inspiring me to take my long awaited dream trip to Udaypur & other places in Rajasthan.sooner or later i will go on this trip.
quite nice narration.
thanks
ashoksharma
Thanks cuckoo, for your comment and for your guidance at that time!! Will post next part very soon.
Thanks Patrick, for your words! Do check my earlier posts delhi vadodara delhi road trip part 1 and delhi vadodara delhi road trip part 2 for more information about roads from Delhi to Udaipur.
Do post your experiences here after your trip. Best of Luck!
Thanks Ashok for your comment. Hope your dream comes true soon! Do share your experiences with us on ghumakkar.
Brilliant description of the mammoth journey. Going to Goa from Delhi by train is an uphill task (Some 32 hours journey) in itself. Going by car must be heroic.
Look forward to Part II of the Goan Experience.
Der aaye Durust Aaye. I have been waiting for this for quite some time :) since I have been following up on where the story is from Adi.
We missed it since my work at work had a big milestone in 2nd week of September (and irony is that it moved further by a week). But I would make it by reading the three part series and may be making use of it some day in real terms.
The Thali at ‘Garden Restaurant’ used to be at Rs 50 in 2005. I can bet that even at Rs 100, its worth a meal and if you have time, you can look at old-auto-heritage-beauties of HH Arvind Singh Mewar.
When is Part 2 coming ?
Excellent write-up. I was just beginning to enjoy travelling with you when you suddenly stopped at Vadodara. Eagerly waiting for you to continue the journey.
Hi Aditya..im from goa and planning to take a road journey from gurgaon to home …but all alone…is it safe to trvel alonen hw much time do you think it will take..
Thanks to Ram & Sudhir for your words.
Nandan, As it was a long journey, it took little longer to complete the story :-). 2nd part will be live very soon.
Amit, I think there is as such no big security issue on this stretch but try to start early and complete your driving hours before dark. I will suggest not to drive alone on such a long stretch because you may require any kind of support/help during this long trip so it’s better if you have more people in your car.
You can complete one side of journey in 3 days comfortably by taking 2 stops in your journey. It is around 2000 Kms if you follow NH-8 and then NH-17 to reach Goa.
Thanks Aditya..can u tell me which maps to carry..n are there any bypasses for the major cities which fall in the way
Amit, You can take maps prints from mapmyinda.com or maps.google.com but for crossing Mumbai pay extra attention. (if you are not going to stay in mumbai).
You can go through the next article in series (https://www.ghumakkar.com/2009/03/23/delhi-goa-delhi-road-trip-a-driving-marathon-part-2/) for road details of further journey upto Goa.
Most of the cities have by passes and few are under-construction so most of the times you will be driving out of city traffic.
Best of luck and do post about your journey here.
Hi,
Aditya….I want to do Delhi Goa Delhi in mid 15 May to 30 May…09 with wife and 13 year boy on Logan 1.4GLX …….Pl suggest wud it be safe and fun……I have done Nanital,Dharamshala and Agra in the past….Max I have done 600Km in a day….
regards
vishal@jobtry.com
9810502028
Hi Vishal,
Glad to know about your plans but i think may is probably not the best time to go for such a long drive as weather will not be on your side most of the time.
Also drving long distances in a day is not advisable on summers as engine and tyres get heated to risk levels some times so I will advise you to go for this drive in probably just after monsoon in Sept-Oct.
If you still want to continue with your plans because of vacations etc. I will suggest to start very early(around 3-4am, i think quite possible in summers) and not take more than 500-600kms a day. It will be pleasant drive in mornings and try to reach your destination by noon or afternoon.
You have 15 days in hand so you can also plan more overnight stops in your route hence less kilometers per day.
Do get back to us with your story after your trip. Best of Luck!
Delhi Goa route is fun. I usually complete Delhi – Mumbai in 20 hrs with enough breaks, as my daughter is 5 and son 11.
And yes I drive safe!!
Hi
Will be doing the Delhi Goa trip in November this year.Dont want to do more than 450 to 500kms a day( age catching up at 50 +) and travelling with three dogs:-) . where do you think we should make our night halts?
Hi Aditya, your notes seems to be very informative. I’m planning to do Delhi – Goa – Delhi next week. We will depart from Delhi on 2nd Oct Morning and we hope to be back to Delhi on 15th or 16 th Oct. We will go there in an Innova. I’m sure that your travelouge is going to help me a lot.
hi
thanks for sharing. i too have planned a driving marathon…mumbai-indore-agra-ambala (via delhi)-shimla-manali-chandigarh-agra-indore-mumbai….
ur travelogue is of great help … now instead of mumbai-indore-agra .. i think mumbai-udaipur-jaipur-agra will be better as the roads are four lane …. ur comments?
regards
onil gandhi
Hi Guys,
I am planning a road trip from Delhi to Mumbai with a single halt at Udaipur in June.Pl give me advice regarding feasibility,road conditions and do’s and dont’s.Vehicle is a Mahindra Xylo and we are four plus our dog,a golden labrador.Thanks,
Faujidoc
Great, Delhi to Udaipur is easily doable if you start little early and take Delhi-Jaipur-Kishangarh-Nasirabad-Bhilwara-Chittorgarh-udaipur route. According to the Google Maps it is around 680Kms and you should reach Udaipur by evening. Udaipur to Mumbai is around 750Kms and again you can take advantage of good roads of Gujarat and Maharashtra to complete this distance by evening if you start early and take fewer breaks.
Mahindra Xylo should be good enough for the journey, I heard it has plenty of space for 6-7 people on long drive. If you have more than one driver in your car, it would be better. It really helps on such long stretches.
Do update us back after your trip. Good Luck.
Hi aditya
yar m plannin a trip delhi to goa by bike.we are 12-15 persons.we hav 20-25 days for tht.we all just want to hav advnture nd fun right on the way to goa.actualy i just want a suggestion frm u abt the places we can explore on the way.which root we should follow so that we culd see the pretty nature actuly.
hi.
i am doing the same route next month.i just wish to know how can i cover great rann of kutch in gujarat also?
i mean what route should i take from new delhi?
hello all! planning to go by my indica car within 15 days,i want to travel till evening,and in night i want to take a halt.for sleep! can you suggest me good buget hotels in the way?? and i am going to take same rout as here,please advise me something,will be very thankful for replyss!!
i m planning to do DELHI-GOA-KANYAKUMARI TRIP in coming august with my bullet , is it safe with a bike to travel so long … we are 4 guy planning to go on two bullets from delhi .. where will we take a break journey ..
it was successful trip! thanks to this page for guiding the route,i followed same route and without any difficulties i have reached last year,again planning to soon:) but i did one mistake i took Samtawadi route and it was hell!!! road was Kharab very very very bad and dangerous and bad route ,my guide dont take this route better long but clean route.
Aditya,
Greetings!
thanks for a great post.
a friend of mine & I are intending to have bicycle ride from Delhi go Goa! any advises for us?
and also, do you know anyone who did travel on bicycle on this route?
thanks
Behruz
hi, thank you for writing such detailed informative description. It was very useful in our trip of Gurgaon to Goa earlier this month. Info about taking Ghodbandar road from NH 8 towards Palvel was really useful.NH 8 in Gujarat is amazing.Thanks again.
jyotsna