After a lot of so called research, we finalized the following:

Bangalore to Goa:
NH 4 -> NH 206 -> NH 17 route, that’s Bangalore -> Tumkur -> Shimoga -> Talaguppa -> Sirsi -> Karwar -> Panjim

link

What we thought was a good road was not so great to start with and took us about 15 hrs to reach Goa. I would not recommend  this route to go to Goa, especially after what we discovered on our way back.

Goa to Bangalore:
This time one of our friends called up their driver who had gone from Goa to Bangalore few days before the new year. We inquired about the best route from Goa to Bangalore and I was a bit surprised when he told the route.

It was like, hit NH 17 -> NH 63 -> NH4, that’s Panjim -> Karwar -> Dharwad Bangalore By Pass -> Tumkur -> Bangalore.
At first it sounded like a round about, but we took his word and started our journey at 7am in the morning from Panjim.
Panjim to Karwar – There’s nothing much to write about the roads in Goa.
Karwar to Dharwad By Pass – Roads are good, but a a few small Ghats here and there. Overall I’ll rate it as a good road.
Dharwad By Pass to Tumkur – The best part of the trip. Awesome roads throughout.

We completed our return trip in just 11hrs including a 1hr break for lunch, fuel & tea. That’s just 10hrs of driving.

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Conclusion:
Even though the NH 17 -> NH 63 -> NH 4 looks like a longer route, it can be covered much faster than the NH 206, simply because of the awesome roads. Don’t take the NH 206 to go or come back from Goa, try the NH 4 once and you’ll fall in love with that highway.

Vehicle details:
Number of vehicles – 3 (Swift – Petrol, i10 – Petrol, Punto – Diesel)

Happy New Year

Update from Arun(via comments):
Just returned from a road trip to Goa. Great roads until Hubli and then to South Goa via Karwar (again great roads). Thanks for your tip about NH 17 -> NH 63 -> NH 4 – absolutely the right thing to do. Watch out for some bad patches on the road from Hubli to Karwar. On the road to Hubli, and alhough the road is brilliant – do watch out for the speed breakers at junctions (no marking on these). 9 hours both ways with an 1.5 hour stop.

Merry Christmas everyone!

This black box is for the people who can’t see the snow effect on my blog, courtesy ‘Let It Snow!‘ plugin by Aen Tan.

Happy Holidays, Have fun!

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