I would like to take my grandmother to Shirdi, and we would be leaving from our residence in Mumbai. So I need to know how to go to Shirdi from Mumbai by road. I would be driving to Shirdi myself which is why I need some help in knowing how to get there. I am hoping that I can make it a one-way day trip.
Hello, @Sehaaj! Welcome to the forum! There are two routes that you can take to reach Shirdi from Mumbai: Route No. 1 via Ghoti - Mumbai > Thane > Asangaon > Igatpuri > Ghoti Budruk > Sinnar > Pathare > Shirdi. This route is about 241 kilometres long and can take around 4 hours to cover. This is considered as the best route to reach Shirdi from Mumbai. This route avoids the traffic in the other route that I'll give to you. So from Mumbai to Igatpuri, road conditions are excellent. It's a four lane highway with divisions and roads are smooth. You can maintain a moderate speed in this stretch. You can reach Igatpuri in about 2 hours or less. From Igatpuri to Sinnar, road conditions are good. Most of the roads are two lanes without dividers though. The sceneries from this route are quite beautiful so you must prepare your camera for that. This stretch would take around an hour or so to cover. You would then reach Sinnar which goes through Pathare until Shirdi. The first part of this route has four lanes and in good condition. The second half is a two lane road which are a mix of good and bad patches. The last stretch also has two lanes and are in better condition that the second half. You can reach Shirdi in about an hour or so. Route No. 2 via Nashik - Mumbai > Thane > Asangaon > Igatpuri > Nashik > Manmad > Yeola > Kopargaon > Shirdi. This route is about 255 kilometres long and can take around 4 or more hours to cover. This is the less chosen route for reaching Shirdi since this one has more traffic en route. It's also less scenic than the previous route. But in case you'd like to take this route, then here's a breakdown of its conditions. From Mumbai to Igatpuri, just refer to the observations provided above. Road conditions here are good and you won't encounter much issues. It can take around two hours to cover this stretch. We now go to Igatpuri until Nashik, the initial part of the highway is okay with some bad patches. Traffic is quite bad here though especially with the trucks arriving from Pune. It can take around an hour to reach Nashik with this stretch. From Nashik until Yeola, roads are in good condition and driving the road is quite smooth. There's an initial rough patch at the start of the journey but manageable. You can reach Yeola in about 1 hour and 30 minutes. From Yeola to Shirdi, this is an easy drive and you can reach Shirdi in about less than an hour. So as I've said, I recommend the first route as it's more scenic and has less traffic. You can easily make the trip a one day trip as the distance isn't that long to cover. Your issue might be the darshan at Shirdi Sai Baba Temple so do book in advance so you won't encounter any problems or delays. For the first route, here are some directions to guide you in your journey: From Mumbai, take the Sion Road until you reach the Eastern Express Highway going to Thane. This highway would then merge with the Mumbai National Highway 3. Go through this highway until you reach Ghoti Budruk. Then, take the Nagpur-Aurangabad-Mumbai Highway until you reach Sinnar. Continue on until you reach the Shirdi-Puntamba Road, then turn left. You would have arrived in Shirdi by now. I hope this helps you!