[abhijitaparadh]

Hello friends,
Me and my family are planning to drive down to Ooty from Pune in august last week or sept first week. I want to keep the schedule leasurely, as I am going on a holiday and NOT a race.

Other info:
Car : Honda Civic 1.8S MT
Members : Me, Dad, Mom, Sister
Drivers : Me and Dad.

Day 1: Pune-Kolhapur: Start after work at say 5 pm or so and reach Kolhapur till 9 pm.
Day 2: Kolhapur-Mysore: I have done this route twice before but always went through Bangalore due to some work or other. I heard that a new shorter road has opened up recently which goes via Hassan to Mysore. There is a diversion at some place named Harihar on NH4. I have heard that about 20 kms of this new road is absolutely in shambles. Any more information about this new route is appreciated.
Day 3: Mysore-Ooty : Via famous Masinagudi-40-hairpin-bends route. Stop on way for an elephant ride in Bandipur.
Day 4: Ooty
Day 5,6,7 : Red Hills Near Ooty : I am planning to keep car in Ooty. No way I am risking Civic over the horrible 25 kms road from Ooty to Red Hills.Will go to Red Hills Nature Resort by resort's Jeep.
Day 8,9 : Return journey via Hassan-Mangalore-NH17-Ratnagiri.
Have some work in Ratnagiri on the way...so planning to come back by this route.
Day 10 : Ratnagiri-Pune


I would like to know following things:
1. Any more information on new route that I have described from Kolhapur to Mysore? Any other alternate shorter/longer route? I wouldnt mind 20-30 kms more if the road is good.
2. Any more sightseeing that can be done along the way without wasting too much time, as we want to keep sufficient time in Ooty and red hills.
3. Current road condition of NH4 and other roads.
4. Any particular things to watch out for.

[esteem_lover]

Day 1: Pune-Kolhapur: Start after work at say 5 pm or so and reach Kolhapur till 9 pm.

I would advice you to take a good rest & start the next morning. Since you want to enjoy your driving as well, night driving is very taxing & not so enjoyable.
cheers

[abhijitaparadh]

Thanks esteem_lover,
Well....I am on holiday...so I will be at home only. Resting and preparing the car for drive.
After work was referring to dad's work

Also, if we start next day, dont you think, it would be too taxing to go Pune-Mysore in one day?

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by abhijitaparadh

Thanks esteem_lover,
Well....I am on holiday...so I will be at home only. Resting and preparing the car for drive.
After work was referring to dad's work

Also, if we start next day, dont you think, it would be too taxing to go Pune-Mysore in one day?

what is the distance ?
if it is too much, break for the night in a good town.

[abhijitaparadh]

Pune - Kolhapur about 250 KM.
The road is part of GQ...so 2 lanes on each side with lots of A1 plazas in between.

[abhijitaparadh]

I dont know the exact distance from Pune to Mysore via the new route that I am talking about but its a completed days drive.
It will be approx :
(Pune-Bangalore) + (Bangy-Mysore) - 100 (approx less distance due to new route)
which is approx
850 + 150 - 100
So approx 900km.
Taking avg speed of 70, its 15 hrs. Plus there will be a few stops in between for food etc.
I think 15 hrs driving on a single day will be too taxing even if there are 2 drivers.

If someone can provide me exact distances especially for the Hassan-Mysore section, I might think of leaving in morning from Pune.

[esteem_lover]

I feel that is possible, but if you need to, take a break somewhere.

PM hvkumar, he is the highway king of team-BHP.

[abhijitaparadh]

We planned like this because, we want to reach Ooty before lunchtime. And thats easily possible leaving Mysore in morning.
Also I travel Pune-Kolhapur pretty often, so I know the road very well.
But yes, I will discuss with my dad regarding your suggestion.
Thanks again!

[akroy]

Pune to Kolhapur is fine in the night as it is a excellent GQ....You can also do Pune - mysore non-stop (as u r 2 drivers it should not be a issue)....Start at 2AM from Pune, you should be in Hubli before 8AM....

If you want to BP bangalore, there are 2 routes:
1) Tumkur - Hebbur - Kunigal - Maddur
2) Neelamangala - Kunigal - Maddur

I dont know about Tumkur - hebbur stretch but u neednot have to travel all the way to Hassan....

You can also go through Bangalore as u have just take a right turn from NH4 for the ring road and it will take you to Mysore road and that bypass quite nice...

For you return journey, I suggest u need not come all the way back to hassan, instead you go to mangalore via Coorg in the following route (which is better than Shiradi ghats now) plus very scenic:

Mysore - Hunsur - Piriyapatna - Madikeri - Sulya - Puttur - Mangalore

Abhi

[condor]

Abhijit, IMO going through BLR is a better route. Most of the road from Harihar to BLR to MYS is a divided road. Bad patches are the by-passes at Harihar-Davangere, Chitradurga & Tumkur.

In BLR, you wont have to come into the city

The other roads mentioned are un-divided state highways.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by abhijitaparadh

We planned like this because, we want to reach Ooty before lunchtime. And thats easily possible leaving Mysore in morning.
Also I travel Pune-Kolhapur pretty often, so I know the road very well.
But yes, I will discuss with my dad regarding your suggestion.
Thanks again!

I am also planning to go to Kolhapur from Pune to visit the Mahalaxmi
temple. Is this a good time of the year to go - I am planning to go
the weekend after next. Is there a possibility of heavy rains?

How much time does it take assuming 1 or 2 stops as required?

Are there multiple routes, if yes, which is the best in terms of roads
& safety?

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by abhijitaparadh

Hello friends,
Me and my family are planning to drive down to Ooty from Pune in august last week or sept first week. I want to keep the schedule leasurely, as I am going on a holiday and NOT a race.

Other info:
Car : Honda Civic 1.8S MT
Members : Me, Dad, Mom, Sister
Drivers : Me and Dad.

Day 1: Pune-Kolhapur: Start after work at say 5 pm or so and reach Kolhapur till 9 pm.
Day 2: Kolhapur-Mysore: I have done this route twice before but always went through Bangalore due to some work or other. I heard that a new shorter road has opened up recently which goes via Hassan to Mysore. There is a diversion at some place named Harihar on NH4. I have heard that about 20 kms of this new road is absolutely in shambles. Any more information about this new route is appreciated.
Day 3: Mysore-Ooty : Via famous Masinagudi-40-hairpin-bends route. Stop on way for an elephant ride in Bandipur.
Day 4: Ooty
Day 5,6,7 : Red Hills Near Ooty : I am planning to keep car in Ooty. No way I am risking Civic over the horrible 25 kms road from Ooty to Red Hills.Will go to Red Hills Nature Resort by resort's Jeep.
Day 8,9 : Return journey via Hassan-Mangalore-NH17-Ratnagiri.
Have some work in Ratnagiri on the way...so planning to come back by this route.
Day 10 : Ratnagiri-Pune


I would like to know following things:
1. Any more information on new route that I have described from Kolhapur to Mysore? Any other alternate shorter/longer route? I wouldnt mind 20-30 kms more if the road is good.
2. Any more sightseeing that can be done along the way without wasting too much time, as we want to keep sufficient time in Ooty and red hills.
3. Current road condition of NH4 and other roads.
4. Any particular things to watch out for.

Getting to Mysore via Harihar, Shimoga, Tarikere, Chanrayapatna, K R Pet is the shortest.

Turn off NH4 at Harihar - take the Bangalore bypass, 2-3 kms after crossing the River Tungabhadra bridge, turn to teh right.

Road from Harihar to Shimoga always had a bad reputation, but it is still driveable.

From Shimoga onwards, current reports from other members are that the road is great. You don't have to touch Hassan, shortest route is to go to Chanarayapatna via Tarikere and Kadur.

From Chanarayapatna, take the KR Pet-Mysore road - I ahve no idea about its current condition, but normally it is not bad. This road will join Bangalore-Mysore road at Srirangapatna.

Kolhapur-Mysore will be a long day, I will check out the distances and revert. I have done Bombay-Coimbatore on this route once and also Bombay-Mysore on another occasion this way. Maybe my suggestion would be that you try to reach Belgaum on Day 1 so that you will have that much time extra time on Day 2.

Surprisingly in Oooty area, it is only teh main Ooty-Conoor-Mettupalayam road and a small stretch near Kalhatti on the Oooty-Gudalur/Mysore road that is in bad shape - all the other roads are in very good condition. hence, you may evaluate how the interior roads are to Red Hills resort (where is it?) before deciding to leave the car behind in Ooty.

From Ooty to reach the coast, you don't have to necessarily come back to Mysore/Hassan - you can take more exciting routes like from Ooty-Gudalur-Kalpetta-Kuthuparamba-Kannur-Kasargod-Mangalore - NH48 near Sakleshpur is in a bad shape anyway, and you may as well go through some splendid places in Wayanad area. North Kerala roads are not bad (report from my friend around 10 days ago).

NH17 is bad between Mangalore and Kundapura.

But by Sep when you travel, expect most of the roads to be ship-shape, so you will have nothing to worry.

I will PM you the relevant route distance and time info later.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by carboy

I am also planning to go to Kolhapur from Pune to visit the Mahalaxmi
temple. Is this a good time of the year to go - I am planning to go
the weekend after next. Is there a possibility of heavy rains?

How much time does it take assuming 1 or 2 stops as required?

Are there multiple routes, if yes, which is the best in terms of roads
& safety?

Pune-Kolhapur is a very short drive of around 250 kms. I must confess that I am very fast and I do this distance in 2.5 hours, but even if you are a relaxed driver, you should not btake more than 4 hours.

100 kms from Satara, Hotel Mahendra offers an ideal stop for chai. It is on the NH4 itself to your left just as you climb down the first flyover in Satara bypass.

The road retains its shape in the heaviest of rains, so you don't have to worry about road conditions. Heavy rains are safe to drive on this road, road shoulders and road markings good.

You have Reliance petrol pumps after Katraj and at Karad on the LH side.

[abhijitaparadh]

Thanks all for your suggestions.
I will keep you posted.

[abhijitaparadh]

hence, you may evaluate how the interior roads are to Red Hills resort (where is it?) before deciding to leave the car behind in Ooty

.

Red Hills Resort is about 25km from Ooty. for more info read this.

I have been to Red Hills before, but as I said we used to reach Ooty via Bangalore. The road from Ooty to Red Hills is just HORRIBLE.
Resort's Scorpio takes 1 and a half hr to go the 25km distance. (and charge Rs 500).