I have recently bought a new car, and I would like to take my family to Shirdi in it. It would be my first time going to Shirdi and that too by car, so I need some guidance on the journey. I am from Aurangabad so my journey would start from there and I would first like to know what the distance between Aurangabad to Shirdi is? Also how long would it take me to reach Shirdi from Aurangabad by car?
Hello, @Om, welcome to the forum! (Images from Wikimedia, Wikiwand and My Bus Blog) Overview The small town of Shirdi is one of India's most popular pilgrimage sites. It was once the home of the globally known Sai Baba of Shirdi. Even now, the guru is revered holy by many pilgrims and so visit Shirdi, where a temple stands in honour of him. It is not only the Hindus that visit Shirdi though as Sai Baba is known to be revered by people of different religions as well. Millions of pilgrims visit the city every year, not only to visit the temple, but also to pay their respects to the holy guru. Fortunately, Shirdi is approachable from many cities, by road, by rail or even by bus. Distance Between Aurangabad and Shirdi The distance between Aurangabad and Shirdi is about 109 kilometres, if you take the Nagpur Aurangabad Mumbai Highway. It can take you around 2 hours, more or less, to cover this distance by driving. There are also other routes that you can take but they are about 120 kilometres long. By taking any of those routes, you increase your travel time from 2 hours to about 2 hours and 30 minutes, sometimes reaching into 3 hours. Of course, all these journey durations all depend on the stopovers you make along the way, the time you leave Aurangabad and any other delays you might encounter throughout your road trip. Aurangabad to Shirdi Routes There are different routes that you can choose from to reach Shirdi from Aurangabad. We would highlight them below and also highlight the advantages and disadvantages for each route. 1. Route No. 1 via Nagpur Aurangabad Mumbai Highway Aurangabad > Shahajapur > Nagpur Aurangabad Mumbai Highway > Lasur > Sanvatsar > Nimgaon > Shirdi This is the first route that you have which takes you through the Nagpur Aurangabad Mumbai Highway. This is the shortest route too, which is about 109 kilometres long. Overall, road conditions here are quite good, although there are some bad patches of roads. From Aurangabad to Shahajapur, roads are pretty good, smooth and easy to drive in. From Shahajapur to the Nagpur Aurangabad Mumbai Highway, roads are also quite good, two lanes at the most and easy to drive in as well. The last stretch from the end of the highway until Shirdi have okay roads. There are some bad patches but nothing too major that you cannot pass through. 2. Route No. 2 via Vaijapur Aurangabad > Fatiyabad > Deogaon > Garaj > Vaijapur > Sanvatsar > Shirdi This is the second route which is about 120 kilometres long. It takes you through Vaijapur instead of the national highway. This route is good as well although if you're travelling after monsoon season, it's best to avoid this one. The roads can be affected by rains so much that potholes and rough patches are inevitable. From Ahmedabad to Vaijapur, road conditions are okay but there are lots of bad patches. You would be passing by small villages along the way and along with you on the roads are bikes, tractors and even trucks, making the journey longer. It can take you around two and a half hours to cross this stretch alone. The remaining stretch from Vaijapur to Shirdi is better and it won't take you long to reach the latter. 3. Route No. 3 via Gangapur Aurangabad > Pandharpur > Jalgaon > Dhoregaon > Gangapur > Sanvatsar > Shirdi This is your last option for reaching Shirdi from Aurangabad. Some travellers take this route to bypass the bad stretches around Vaijapur. This is also the usual route taken by those coming from Mumbai. Some MSRTC buses also pass by this route so traffic is inevitable when using this. This route is roughly 122 kilometres long and can take around 2 hours and 30 minutes to cover by car. Most of the roads are in good conditions but there are also some bad patches, about 30% maybe. This route takes you through villages too so you cannot speed up unlike with the first route. At the most, you would be driving around 60 kilometres per hour with this one. Conclusion As you can see, the distance between Aurangabad and Shirdi varies depending on the route you take. It's between 109 kilometres to 122 kilometres, with the route via Nagpur Aurangabad Mumbai Highway being the shortest one. Since this route takes you to the national highway, it's your best option as roads are better here as compared to the other routes. With this route, you can reach Shirdi within 2 hours, reaching 2 hours and 30 minutes at the most. You can choose the other routes if you want to pass by smaller villages and observe rural life. Otherwise, journey duration is quite longer with them so might not be the best option for those who have limited time.
