Saptashrungi to Trimbakeshwar Distance via Nashik — Drive Hours (2026)

Saptashrungi to Trimbakeshwar is about 90 to 95 km by road via Nashik, a drive of roughly two and a half to three hours. As a full loop from Nashik and back, covering both temples, the day comes to about 190 km and close to five and a half hours at the wheel.

📏 Distance and drive time, leg by leg

The two temples sit on opposite sides of Nashik. Saptashrungi is to the north, Trimbakeshwar to the west, and the practical road between them passes the city.

Together these legs come to about 190 km, starting and ending in Nashik.

🛣️ Which road the car takes

Nashik to Saptashrungi uses the Dindori road north out of the city. It runs through Dindori, about 25 km out, then Vani at roughly 40 km, and on to Nanduri at the foot of the hill.

The road is a two-lane state highway through grape country. It is paved the whole way, with speed breakers at the villages, so the average speed stays near 40 km an hour.

Saptashrungi to Trimbakeshwar retraces the same road to Nashik. The car then skirts the city and joins the Trimbak Road, which passes Anjaneri about 20 km out and reaches Trimbakeshwar soon after. Our Nashik to Trimbakeshwar post covers that last leg in detail.

⛰️ The Nanduri ghat

The ghat is the part of the route people ask about most. It is about 10 km of paved hill road from Nanduri to the top village, with a steady climb and a run of hairpin bends.

• In daylight and dry weather: an easy, scenic drive of 25 to 30 minutes.

• In the monsoon: fog and wet bends slow it down. Darshan itself has been suspended for days in spells of very heavy rain, so check before a July or August trip.

• During Navratri and the Chaitra yatra: private vehicles are often stopped at Nanduri and Yatris go up by state transport bus. Ask before you set out.

• After dark: the road is unlit. Plan to be off the hill before sunset.

The car parks in the top village, near the funicular trolley station. From there it is a three-minute trolley ride or about 500 steps to the shrine, as our Saptashrungi darshan guide explains.

🔄 Which order to drive it

Both orders cover the same kilometres. What changes is when you meet the ghat and when you meet each temple's queue.

Saptashrungi first, then Trimbakeshwar is the order that works for most people:

• The ghat is driven in the cool, clear morning.

• You finish with the Devi before her noon aarti, which runs about 12 to 1 pm.

• The day ends with the short 28 km leg, so you are home in under an hour.

Trimbakeshwar first, then Saptashrungi suits only one kind of Yatri: someone who wants the 5:30 am opening at the Jyotirlinga, when the queue is shortest. The cost is a long drive home from the hill in the evening.

Who should choose what:

• With elders or children: Saptashrungi first. The longest drive is over by lunch.

• On a Monday: Saptashrungi first. You reach Trimbakeshwar for the afternoon palkhi to Kushavarta Kund.

• Already staying in Trimbakeshwar: darshan there at opening, then the hill.

⏱️ Where the time really goes

Driving is under half the day. On an ordinary weekday the loop breaks up roughly like this:

That is about twelve hours door to door. The parts that stretch are the two queues, not the road.

At Trimbakeshwar the free queue is shortest in the first hour after the 5:30 am opening and grows after 5 pm. Our best time of day post gives the hour-by-hour picture. Kushavarta Kund is a few minutes' walk from the temple, so it adds no driving.

🚌 Why this loop does not work by bus

State transport buses do run on both legs, but not between the two temples. Every connection goes through Nashik CBS.

• The first bus from Nashik CBS to Saptashrungi Gad leaves around 5:00 am and takes close to two hours.

• The last bus down leaves the hill around 6:30 pm.

• Buses from Nashik to Trimbakeshwar are frequent, but you must first get back to the city and change.

Two changes and two waits add about three hours to the day. By bus, each temple is better given its own day.

🏨 Where to stay for this route

Nashik is the natural base, because the route passes the city twice. A room near CBS, Mumbai Naka or Panchavati puts you close to both the Dindori road and the Trimbak Road.

Staying in Trimbakeshwar works if dawn darshan matters most to you, but it adds 28 km to the morning drive to the hill. Rooms on Saptashrungi Gad are simple, mostly bhakta niwas, so most Yatris on this loop do not stay the night there.

Drive the hill in the morning, keep the short leg for the evening, and the kilometres stop feeling long. Jai Saptashrungi Mata, Har Har Mahadev.