Kolkata to Goa by CAR

Need help guyz planing to visit Goa...may b in Oct 2007....15th may b the date for start from Kolkata by car.Ok now the help I need how to reach Goa within 2.5 days/3days keeping in mind single driver.
Need tips for route,places to stay(enroute)food,hazards etc.Plz do note we will have two ladies with us

Help Help plz

Calcutta to Goa is 2200 km.

That means 730 km a day , each day, for 3 days. Are you sure the solo driver and passengers will be upto it? Can get tiring being 13/15 hours everyday on the road.

we r thinking on 60km/hr(including brekF and Launch)11hrs pure driving.Capz need ur help

Long distance, I take 50km an hour average, which includes whatever stops I may make. I don't make long stops, forty five mins for meals, maybe fifteen minutes every three hours otherwise.

750 km is therefore usually a 15 hour drive. I have tested this out with actual drives.. Hyderabad/Jabalpur, Hyderabad/Goa (both of which are 750/800km) and others, so I find it a good rule of thumb.

Another question. Does whoever driving have Indian highway driving experience? If not, you can easily add two hours a day to my estimate.

Ok Capz the driver himself is an Indian and have all req ppr with him.And sayin can drive 80KM/Hr net drivin for 10 hrs.Excluding breaks (2hrs of Break)

So, by his estimate he will do 750 km in 750/80 + 2 =11.5 hrs.

My questions would be

-are you comfortable with him attempting to average 80 kmph on the Indian highways, over 3 days? Note this would include getting in and out of cities, car issues, petrol and such breaks etc, and highways are unlikely to be smooth throughout the 2200 km. In certain stretches you will be lucky if you can do 40 without rattling your bones.

-are you comfortable with a total 2 hour break in a days drive, for 3 days?

He seems like a professional driver. I would take what he says with a pinch of salt, however.

I would also not be driving in hours of darkness in areas in eastern and central india you will have to traverse, with women in the car.

I agree with Capt. . Having done some long trips myself, i can safely say that on Indian roads ( barring the mumbai-pune expressway or some of the latest stretches in the GQ), you should look at an average of 50-55 kmph covering breaks. And if you want to drive for multiple days, keep the total driving time to around 10-11 hours.

I have done around 710 km from Hyd to Mysore once - alone -, and it took me around 12 hours, and it was quite tiring ( primarily because i wanted to reach Mysore by sunset and ended up pushing a bit - not a good idea on a long trip especially towards the fag end of the day ). And that is one day. Consider repeating that for 3 days.

Instead of doing it in 3 days, you will find it much more relaxed if you stretch it to four days.

The mistake I made when I was young(er??) was in trying to reach my destination too fast. Missed some interesting places just off my routes that way.

Of course, this was pre internet days, when information wasn't all that easy to come by...

Now, instead of doing Hyderbad Delhi in two days, I do it in three or four. (1550km)

How is this???

Kolkata---->Bhubaneshwar/Berhampur/Vizag

X---->Vizag

Vizag---->Hydrabaad

Hydrabaad---->Hubli

Hubli---->Panjim

NH we decided :NH6,NH60,NH5,NH9,NH13,NH63

The Kolkatta to Vizag leg I haven't done, so no comments.

Vizag/Hyderabad, good.
Hyderbad/Panjim... consider Sholapur/Bijapur/Belgaum/Panjim with stop at either Bijapur or Belgaum.

Bijapur has a couple of interesting places... the gol gombuz, the Jama Masjid and the Ibrahim Roza (supposed to be the inspiration for the taj mahal)

The road upto Bijapur is good. Bijapur/Belgaum can get iffy, and Belgaum/Panjim is often iffy in the ghat (hilly) section.

edit Hyderabad/Bijapur should be 400km
Belgaum/Panjim 170 km
Bijapur/Belgaum 200 approx

quick route from Hyderabad

http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/pock...ajisolapur.htm

my earlier distances seem to be out by 20/30km.

Kolkata--->>>Bhubaneswar=441KM
Bhubaneswar--->Vizag=425
Vizag--->Hyd=650
Hyd--->Hubli=560
Hubli---Panaji=187

Now we r confused on point whether to stay @Bhubaneswar or go straight to Vizag??

Some points I follow for long trips ( take what suits you )

- Start early - I always start at around 5 am or so. It helps you get out of the city fast, and also gets you cover a good distance before the breakfast stop. I usually have a breakfast stop after 150 km or so.

- Dont rush through your stops. I usually have 45 min breakfast and lunch stops ( sometimes 1 hr for lunch ), a 15 min stop for tea at around 11 am and another 30 min stop at around 4 pm or so.

- I always try to reach the destination before nightfall. Which means I plan for around 12 hours max on the road.

- if you have two drivers, alternate after each stop. around 2 and a half hours is what i usually do in one stretch.

- Have a map ready and study the route well before you start!

- go to sleep early if you want to drive next day too . I usually crash by around 9.

- the stretch immediately after lunch is always a little difficult. This is a time when all passengers doze off. Make sure that the front seat passenger doesnt. usually he is the co-driver, and always make sure to have a conversation going.

- It also helps to have a light lunch. :-)

- there are many other points on what to look out for your car etc, but i guess you will easily get it from many sites in the internet.

By the way, which car are you planning to use for the trip?

Kolkata - Vizag wil be a long stretch. and you will have to do another 650 km the next day. Looks a little tough to me.

Kol--->Vizag will b tough yeah we reco the fact.But we r planing to have day+Night rest @ Vizag then to Hyd.
BTW car is Santro