How to reach Goa
Goa is well connected with the rest of the Indian states by rail, road and air. In addition there is even a boat ( catamaran) service to Goa from Mumbai.
Goa by Road: National Highway 17 ( NH 17) passes right through Goa in a generally north south direction. Apart from being the atrial road of the state , NH 17 connects the northern and southern states around Goa like Maharastra, Karnataka and even Kerala. Within Goa NH 17 passes via major towns like Panaji and Margao.
P
arallel to NH 17 is the state highway with crisscrossing connections that run along the beach line.In addition the shorter highway NH 17A that joins the west cost of Goa to its east . NH 17A connects Mormugao Harbour to the NH 17 at Cortalim.
Parallel to NH 17A in the east west orientation is the new NH 17B. This highway connects the Goa airport ( Dabolim airport ) with harbor. NH 17B joins the main highway NH 17 at Verna.
Major Towns along NH 17 : Panvel ( Maharastra ) --- Mahad ( Maharastra ) --- Chiplun ( Maharastra ) --- Ratnagiri ( Maharastra ) --- Panaji ( Goa ) --- Margao ( Goa ) --- Karwar ( Karnataka ) --- Kumta ( Karnataka ) --- Bhatkal ( Karnataka ) --- Udupi ( Karnataka ) --- Surathkal ( Karnataka ) --- Mangalore ( Karnataka ) --- Kasargod ( Kerala ) --- Kannur ( Kerala ) --- Thalassery ( Kerala ) --- Vadakara ( Kerala ) --- Kozhikkode ( Kerala ) --- Kodungallur ( Kerala ) --- North Paravur ( Kerala ) --- Cochin ( Kerala )
NH 4A connects the capital Panaji to Belgaum ( Belagavi ) in Karnataka via Ponda and Molem of Goa. The same highway ( NH 4A) is used to access the roads ( SH 34 and NH 4 ) that leads to Dharwad and Hubli ( Hubballi), both are big towns of Karnataka.
NH 17 together with NH 4 connects Mumbai and Pune.
Approximate distance from Mumbai ( Gateway of India ) to Goa ( Panaji ) distance is 580 km ( 360 miles). Driving time 16 hours on an average including breaks at regular intervals.
Pune to Goa ( Panaji) the distance is 420 km ( 260miles). Driving time is about 12 hours.
Belgaum to Panaji distance is about 120 km (75 miles)
There are a few combination of routes to drive from Bangalore to Goa. The distances and other factors ( road condition , traffic, facilities , scenery on the way etc ) varies widely according to the route selected.
Route 1 : Bangalore - Nelamangala - Tumkur - Tiptur - Arsikere - Kadur - Tarikere - Shimoga - Sagar - Honavar - Karwar - Panaji . Distance approximately 700 km (435 miles)
This route is a combination of NH 4 (Bangalore to Tumkur), NH 206 ( Tumkur to Honavar), NH17 (Honavar to Panaji)
Route 2 : Bangalore - Tumkur - Hiriyur - Chitradurga - Davanagere - Hubli - Dharwad - Panaji . Distance approximately 600 km (370 miles) .
Here NH 4 is all the way up to Dharwad from Bangalore and then towards SH 34 connects to NH 4A that leads up to Panaji.
Route 3: Bangalore - Tumkur - Sira - Chitradurga - Davangere - Ranibennur - Haveri - Sirsi - Mirjan - Ankola - Karwar - Canacona - Palolem - Madgaon - Panaji . Distance is approximately 650 km.
For the above routes from Hubli, there are many routes for Goa, depends on which part of Goa you are driving to.
For example Hubli - Dharwad - Belgaum - Sawantvadi - Panaji route distance is about 250 km ; Hubli - Dharwad - Londa - Ponda - Panaji route distance is about 185km. The road conditions too varies especially these stretches passes through the (western)ghat region.
Air: Airport in Goa ( GOI ) is in Dabolim which is located in approximately at the center of the Goa on its west cost facing the Arabian Sea.
Almost all the major domestic airlines operate regular flights to Goa from various Indian cities. The Domestic connections for Goa include from Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calicut, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Srinagar, Trivandrum. The frequency of flights from Goa to Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai are more.
Domestic operators to Goa includes Goair, Indian Airlines, IndiGo Airlines, Jet Airways, JetLite, Kingfisher Airlines, Kingfisher Red, MDLR Airlines, Paramount Airways, SpiceJet
There are many direct international flights to Goa. International connections to Goa include Sharjah , Frankfurt, Dubai, Kuwait, London-Gatwick (seasonal), Manchester ( seasonal ), Gothenburg-Landvetter, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stockholm-Arlanda , East Midlands (seasonal), Moscow-Domodedovo, Yekaterinburg.
International flight operators to Goa :Air Arabia, Condor Airlines , Indian Airlines, Monarch Airlines, Novair, Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomson Airways, Transaero, Ural Airlines. Many of them operate seasonal/chartered flights while some of them operate regular international flights to Goa.
See also the Mumbai to Goa train connections.
Goa
Mumbai to Goa route map