Overall I would suggest to use route 2, via Solapur in usual cases except during the harvest season as sugarcane pandemic will slow you down.
BHPian ankitsharma recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Here is the latest information on the Hyderabad -> Goa route. I had followed a customized route shared by some Goan dude who lives in Hyderabad and frequently does this route.
Hyd -> Zaheerabad -> Humnabad -> Kalaburagi -> Jevargi -> Sindagi -> Bagalkote -> Tilari ghat -> Mapusa -> Candolim.
Started at 6 AM. This route was very good until kalaburagi (Covered Kalaburagi in just 4 hours including breakfast) and then the roads started getting narrower. Was left with undivided 2 lane road and the traffic was terrible. After Devargi it was even worse and there were patches where road construction was going on. Then from Badami until Belgaum it was good again and I covered good distance. Again from Belgaum google suggested a faster route via Tilari ghat and that is when things went bad. Since this was the MH patch, the road had to be bad laden with potholes. The ghat area was really long and I somehow made it to Candolim by 9 PM.
Total time taken was 15 Hours with 2 big meal breaks (1 hour total) and few stretching breaks of 15 minutes overall. The roads were mostly good on this route except where the construction was ongoing and after entering MH. Good eateries en-route.
Food Spots:
Hotel 24 for breakfast/Dinner. This is near Humnabad. Good, clean and new place.
Kanthi Resort Badami for lunch. You will have to take a detour near Bagalkote of around 2-3 kms but this is a proper resort and the food is good.
While on the return trip, took the most traveled route via Amboli ghat (as suggested by google) but avoided the Nippani -> Sangli route and took the bypass.
Arpora -> Amboli -> Sankeshwar -> Sangli -> Sangola -> Solapur -> Omerga -> Hyd
Started at 10:50 AM.This route had a mix of roads and traffic. While this route passes mostly through NH, the road conditions were not the best. Goa till Amboli ghats was a breeze but Amboli ghat itself was jam packed at multiple places (probably if you leave early this might be avoided). Amboli till Sangli was a massacre. Undivided 2 lane roads with as much traffic as possible and at this time of the year, sugarcane overloaded trucks/tractors/carts/whatever vehicle you can think of hogged the roads. It was really a pain to pass them. I covered only 200 Kms in the first 5 hours
Then as soon as I entered NH 166, which is in very good condition, I picked up pace and covered around 250 Kms in around 2.5 hours. At Naldurg again this sugarcane pandemic started and the traffic was stuck for several kms. Took a dinner break at Omerga and then directly headed to Hyd. Reached around 12.
Took almost 13.15 hours via this route. Roads were very bad around Amboli ghat and then mixed patches till Sangli. Then starting NH 166 till Naldurg, good roads where triple digit speeds can be achieved. Much traffic from Naldurg to Omerga and then the usual roads till Hyd. Since it was late there was not much traffic around Sangareddy.
Food Spots:
You will find ample of restaurants in and around Ajara.
Punjabi Dhami in Omerga and then near Bidar.
Overall I would suggest to use route 2, via Solapur in usual cases except during the harvest season as sugarcane pandemic will slow you down.
Also there are very less to no eateries on this route.
Route 1 is good when driving a low slung sedan. After the roads construction is finished this might be a better route. Also I avoided Vijaypura from Kalaburagi on this route and was stuck on State Highway. Probably the NH can be taken and it should be better and faster.
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