One of the best things about the trip other that visiting some nice places and exploring the culture, is travelling to that place and witnessing some great terrains, sceneries and meeting new people. Road trips are nice way for friends, family and even the loved ones to get to know about each other and discover the different aspects of others life when outside.
One such trip is the Goa road trip where people from Mumbai travel a distance of nearly 600 kms by road. With a huge fuel cost and time taken why do people still make it a road trip? There are several reasons why people prefer road trip over just travelling through an airplane or public transport like a train or bus.
Reasons to Choose the Road Trip
Some of the major reasons to choose a private vehicle and going on a road trip over just faster or more convenient way of transport is the fact that a road trip itself is a complete trip in itself.
1. Beautiful Sceneries
Most of the people love to watch some beautiful landscapes through the window while traveling and enjoy the music or some nice chats with their friends and the group. The western Ghats outside the windows are great escape from the stress in life but also provides the wonderful viewpoints during monsoon and sunset.
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2. Wonderful Places to Stop on-route
With a long road trips on the western Ghats there are ought to be some places which can be visited by the travelers during such a trip for a getaway from troubles and problems to rather get to see some of the most breathtaking landscapes and to click some picture and make best of the memories.
3. Arctic Seasonal Waterfall, Mumbai
This is one of the few seasonal waterfalls that have the most beautiful scenery and can be great break for a long journey. As it can be easily made out it is a season waterfall and during summers it is dry.
4. Amrutanjan Bridge
A lot of poets and writer find this bridge one of the most interesting place to be as it can provide them great ideas on how to write. This bridge has a wonderful picturesque scenery that looks like it is real big painting. It is located in Pen and the road is surrounded by trees and all other plants which makes it one of the best place to snap some pictures.
5. Malavli Hills
Another great landscape to take some of the best and memorable pictures. Travelers who are travelling in group specially along with their friends can come here to relax as it is 5 mins away from highway and hence it will have less crowd as compared to other places.
6. Pashan Lake
This lake is situated in Pune and is one of the most famous lake there as it has huge number of visitors. It provides with the best sport for picnics and hence some pre getaways before the ultimate getaway in Goa.
7. Talking or Playing Verbal Games with Friends or Family
If a group is travelling then they would more likely to enjoy a lot on a road trip as it gives them more time to enjoy the trip with each other. When the group reaches a destination, they get busy with places to visit and explore the culture. But in the car or even a bike they can talk about various stuff which they might not find time to in usual life. Even some of the most common verbal games like antakshari and other major games can be played which nowadays is rarely played in normal life or are on the verge of disappearance due to the mobile games. Hence, a car trip can be very beneficial when it comes to increase in bonding rather than just the trip.
8. Enjoy the Weather
The best part of travelling through road is that everyone can enjoy the weather in Goa and the journey. A good weather makes the journey more fun and enjoyable when travelled on harsh weather days. The best time to visit Goa in Road trip is from December to January as there are some festivals in Goa that cannot be missed. There are numerous festivals like the Sunburn and many more that are must attend if someone lives close to Goa.
Food to Eat during Road Trip
Another important aspect of road trip is to try some different food and through road trip and explore some of the best restaurants and new dishes. There are lot of private owned restaurants and eating outlets that offer some delicious food. While private restaurants and dhaba can have a variable taste and depends upon person to person on how one finds their food delicious or which dish they can find delicious. There are some famous food outlets that have some amazing building structure and are at the most prominent places.
1. Café Coffee Day
Having a nice cup of coffee can make trips energetic and make sure everyone has the energy to do some interesting stuff during the traveling. It is located all over the highway at some points, but the most prominent outlet is on the Mumbai Pune Bypass Road.
2. McDonald’s
It is one of the oldest franchise that provides the best burgers to all its customers and have been in India form a huge amount of time. The most famous outlet is on the Kolhapur district where hundreds of orders are filled in a day.
How to Plan the Road Trip
While making a road trip or any trip it is important that certain things are planned before the trip from the route, time and the money that need to be spent. It is important as no one would like to face any major problems like getting stuck somewhere without cash or unable to find a place to eat.
1. Route to Take
There are two routes that are available to take when travelling from Mumbai to Goa which are NH4, Mumbai-Pune-Satara-Kolhapur-Belgaum-Goa. This is the most preferred route as it has four lane roads and some amazing scenic routes where tourists can enjoy the beauty of the Western Ghats. The Other route is NH66 and it is nearly 20 kms short from the previous one but goes through the paddy fields and plantations.
- NH4 :This route is more preferred by the people as it has wider road and less windy which makes it easier for people with motion sickness. There are some famous places like waterfalls and forts that come in the way here where if the travelers like can make some stops to capture the moments of their life. Some of the famous attractions her are Rankala lake, Panhala Fort, and the Jyotiba temple along with the Bhimgad wildlife Sanctuary to make stops and capture the pictures of beautiful landscapes and animals. Also, the drive from Mumbai to Pune on Mumbai Pune express highway is one of the smoothest and cuts the time of the journey a lot.
- NH66 : It is little winding road and not a great route for people with motion sickness however certain part of the road comes across the green cover of nature and plantations and makes it a pleasant trip. There are some beaches at Ganpatipule which attracts more traffic usually. There are some places like Karnala bird sanctuary with 150 species of birds and some small towns located at the edge of river Vashishti where some of the tastiest mangoes are cultivated. The drive is along the Ghats which makes it chilling and wonderful.
2. Vehicle and Fuel
It’s very important that the car or bike is taken care properly. There is enough fuel in the car when travelling all the time as it is a long distance of roughly 600 kms. Vehicles need to be taken care as they are the most reliable things, we need on the road trip. Also, the journey is long enough with some stretched uninhibited places where getting stuck might not be a good idea. Some of the facts to keep in mind are:
- Keeping an extra tire while travelling
- Notice the road signs
- Look for speed breaker
- Keep a note on fuel tank.
3. Cost
Cost is always important an important factor and on road trip it can cost a little extra as the fuel cost increases a lot. For bikes it can be a little cheaper but for car it is very expensive. Since bikes give better average, the cost of fuel is around 4000 whereas the cost of fuel for car is 7-8000 depending upon the mileage and price of the fuel. There are lot of toll plaza which costs around and there could be around 2500 and hence budget should be planned accordingly. After all this planning the trip for Goa which is one of the ultimate tourist destination in India can be visited by travelling through road a distance of astonishing 600 kms. At the end Goa trip through with friends and family is always worth making a day or two day road trip even though tiring but most fun in any way possible.
