Roadtrip : Bangalore to Goa and back: Bangalore to Goa and back by road: Part 1

Alright we are back from our heavenly trip to Goa from Bangalore and I thought to share my experience for all the road warriors who wish to do so in future.

We planned this trip well in advance so all the routes, stays etc were planned through Google Maps Big thanks to Google..

Here is what our itinerary was

Day 1 - Leave Bangalore (early Morning), covered Jog falls (Shimoga) and then halt at Murudeshwar
Day 2 - Leave Murudeshwar for Goa
Day 3 - Enjoy North Goa
Day 4 - Enjoy North Goa
Day 5 - Enjoy South Goa
Day 6 - Enjoy South Goa
Day 7 - Enjoy South Goa
Day 8 - Head back to Benguluru

Statistics
Car: Santro Xing XG

Average Spped: 120km/hr

Total Distance covered : 1800+ kms (total trip)

Benguluru to Jog Falls - 390kms - Time taken 5.5 hrs
Jog Falls - Murudeshwar - around 90 - Time taken 3hrs
Murudeshwar to North Goa - 160+ kms - Time taken 4hrs
North Goa to South Goa - 67+ kms - Time taken 1.5 hrs
South Goa to Benguluru - 690+ kms - time taken 9.5hrs

Detailed Trip information / experiences

Day 1 - Benguluru to Jog Falls - 390kms - Time taken 5.5 hrs
Road information - Benguluru -> Nice Road -> Tumkur (NH 206) -> Tiptur -> Sagar -> Shimoga -> Jog Falls

We started early morning at 5am from our place in Benguluru headed towards NICE road to Tumkur. The road was excellent and we could drive at the speed of 120km/h. In about 40mins we are at the Tumkur toll plaza. Crossed the toll and took the NH206 towards Tiptur. After driving for about 3hrs non-stop we took a coffee break at one of the road side coffee shops and started again without wasting any time. In about 1hr we were at Jog Falls. The road throughout was excellent except few bad stretches of about 1~2km 3-4 times. The drive was very scenic with paddy fields all through the route.

Jog Falls: Once we reached the Jog Falls parked our car and straightaway headed for the falls. The parking is available right on the falls viewpoint at a cost of 20Rs. The day was very hot (about 32C degrees) and we were all sweating. We saw the Jog Falls in about 20mins and did'nt find it too exciting .. mainly coz of it was too hot weather and then the falls are average falls and not something worth driving only to see it. Ofcourse we took some pictures and then headed straight to Murudeshwar - our next stop. Before starting from Jog, we had some snacks from one of the restaurants (so called) at Jog. There are not much options available there, so please make sure you either carry the food you want to have or survive on whats available. We carried some puffs, biscuits, cakes etc for us to feed us in case nothing is available.

After leaving Jog, we were back on NH206 again on the way to Murudeshwar and believe me the drive was excellent and very very scenic. I took loads of pictures on the way and reached Kasarkod. Here are few pictures on the way to Kasarkod...

At Kasarkod we had our first lunch break at Kamat. The food was good with limited options. We quickly finished the lunch, and headed towards Murudeswar. The road from Kumta/Kasarkod to Murudeshwar (NH17) was all broken up (pot holes all the way) i guess 'coz of heavy rains. The drive was painful and we could reach Murudeshwar in about 60 mins. We parked our car in the parking lot provided by the temple authorities. But then we noticed a good hotel (RNS Residency) besides the temple and decided to stay there for a night. The Hotel was ok but the staff was not very friendly. But, since we didn't had many options, we decided to make ourselves comfortable. The hotel rooms were clean and the view was breathtaking overlooking the sea on one side and the temple/lord Shiva statue on the other side. We quickly freshened up, had some coffee/snacks and headed to the Statue/Museum. Museum is very well maintained and was a good experience. We visited the temple and the priest offered a very good pooja to the Lord Shiva (archana). We finished this up and headed to the beach after taking some pictures. The beach is right next to the temple.

Murudeshwar Beach: The beach was very good, calm and clean. It was mostly occupied by fishermen and was a good sight and with good photo taking opportunities. The beach had little/baby crabs floating on the water. Children were a little scared in the starting but then they got used to it and jumped into the water immediately. They played there in sand with their sand toys, had fun in the water and then we came out of it after an hour or so. By this time it was already the sunset time so we took some pictures or sunset and went to the hotel. At hotel we relaxed for a while and then had dinner at the sea side restaurant with a great sea view. After a good dinner we went back to hotel and relaxed. Kids were asleep and I was busy taking some night shots of the sea from my room balcony overlooking the sea. The pictures came out very good :) and i was happy. After taking few pictures we slept and had a good sleep.

The picture above shows the temple, Lord Shiva statue and the beach with fishermen pulling out their boats from the sea after a day long fishing trip.

Lord Shiva Statue @ Murudeshwar

Lord Shiva Statue @ Murudeshwar

Lord Shiva Statue @ Murudeshwar

Shot at Murudeshwar beach at - 8PM

Lord Shiva Statue @ Murudeshwar at night 9:30PM

Day 2 - Next day: I woke up early morning to take some sunrise pictures or the sea and took some fabulous shots. Then we all got ready, had breakfast, checked out form the hotel at about 8am and headed straight to Goa.

Road taken - Murudeshwar -> Kasarkod -> Honavar -> Karwar -> Panji -> South Goa
Journey time - about 3~4hrs

From Murudeshwar we started from NH17 and then continued on the same till we reached Goa. The road from Murudeshwar to Kasarkod was pathetic but then after that it was pretty good and after Karwar it was excellent. After about 2+hrs drive we reached Gokarna and headed to Om Beach. The drive to Om Beach from the highway was very good with some potholes in between but overall was very comfortable. The road was very narrow though but was expected. We reached the beach entry point where we had to park our car and go down to the beach. It was a 5 mins walk down the beach from the entry point. The first view of the beach and the sea was mind blowing.

We loved the beach sight, the beach sand and the cleanliness. We and kids played at the beach for a while and then had breakfast at one of the beach shacks which was open. This was our first experience of beach shack and was very good.. in fact excellent. We had some continental bfast and coffee and relaxed for a while. The beach was quiet so kids played at the beach for a while. Om beach is a little stony so have a good picture taking opportunities for people who like photography like me :)

After relaxing and taking some pictures, we headed back to the highway for Goa. It took us about 20 mins from the beach to the highway and we were back on track again.

We drove for about an hours time and we were at Karwar. We took some pictures of Karwar port and then headed to our hotel in North Goa. We reached our hotel in about 2hrs time.

Karwar port

The drive was fantastic and very very very scenic. We loved each km of the road except some bad stretches with loads of traffic. We also lost our way once and went into interiors of Goa (Panaji).. but then after asking the way out we were back on track in 20 mins. We reached our hotel Resorte Marinha Dourada near Baga beach and checked in. This was the first time we stayed at this resort. We checked the reviews of this resorte on TripAdvisor and were extremely satisfied with what we read and what we experienced.

Resorte Marinha Dourada: The resort is excellent place to stay with Family or alone as well. Thr rooms are spacious with kitchen (or without), fully A/C'ned, nice beds and a great view. The resorte has gym, restaurant, spa, jacuzzi, walking tracks, lakes, bar etc. They have most of the amenities what you would want on your holiday. The staff is very approachable and soft spoken. The resort has fishing lakes in front of it and which is a good sight to have. You can do fishing there if you have your fishing gear.. we didn't had so we could not :( This resort is about 2 kms from Baga beach so after having our Lunch at resort (which was again very good) we relaxed for a while and headed to Baga beach which was only 5 mins drive from the resort.We reached the beach and realised that instead of Baga beach we reached the Calangute which was also one of the beach on our list to see.. so without wasting any time we went to the beach.

Calangute Beach: First sight, crowded commercial beach with loads of shopping options on the way to the beach. The beach was good and clean but was crowded.

Calangute beach, Goa

While walking down the beach, we were approached by 10 people atleast for water sports and we refused to all as we wanted to relax first and then go for water sports etc. These folks bug you till you tell them, you're not interested.. so we told them we are done with it and they vanished :)) So, the kids got into their costumes and jumped into the water with me. We enjoyed playing in the water with Kids and took loads of pictures. After about 30mins the weather quickly changed and it started raining/pouring like anything.. we we all got drenched but we enjoyed the experience. After enjoying rains on beach for a while we were asked to leave the beach area by lifeguards as it was not safe to be there. So we packed our stuff and headed back to hotel.

At hotel we changed, relaxed and then headed back to Baga beach now for Dinner. So we decided to take a table at a nearby shack (St. Anthony shack) and had our dinner there. The person who served us was excellent guy. We tried Goa specialties and believe me the food was yummy-licious. Though we were not very hungry but still 'coz of the taste we had loads of food till we were full till our necks :) Dining at the shack was a great experience that I can’t forget that even till now. The staff was very good and responsive. The environment was so cool... the DJ played excellent music 80's english numbers and they had karaoke as well. Overall excellent experience. After spending 3hrs at the shack we went back to the resort and slept :(

St. Anthony Beach shack @ Baga Beach

St. Anthony Beach shack @ Baga Beach

St. Anthony Beach shack @ Baga Beach

St. Anthony Beach shack @ Baga Beach

St. Anthony Beach shack @ Baga Beach