[Blue Thunder]

I am planning a drive from Bangalore to Masinagudi via Mysore, and back.
On the return trip, which would be a better route? Via Mysore or the other route via Kanakapura? What would be the time required to travel from Masinagudi to Bangalore? Thanks in advance!

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by Blue Thunder

I am planning a drive from Bangalore to Masinagudi via Mysore, and back.
On the return trip, which would be a better route? Via Mysore or the other route via Kanakapura? What would be the time required to travel from Masinagudi to Bangalore? Thanks in advance!

Depends on the day and time you are returning. If it is this Sunday post lunch, then the kanakpura route would be better. If it is a weekday, both routes should be fine.

Gundlepet to Bangalore ( NICE jn ) via kanakpura on an avg will take 3.5 hrs and I think masinagudi-gundlepet will be around 1hr. So 4.5 to 5 hrs driving time.

Mysore road on a Sunday evening will take longer. On a normal run should be around 4 hrs from gundlepet. May be slightly unpredictable due to work happening between nangangud and Mysore.

[iamnarayang]

Friends. I am going on a three days trip to Ooty on Friday, April 29th morning, with my family. I am planning to leave at 5:30 AM from BTM Layout, Bangalore. I have never driven to Ooty before. Can you please suggest the best route?

[pganapathy]

Originally Posted by iamnarayang

Friends. I am going on a three days trip to Ooty on Friday, April 29th morning, with my family. I am planning to leave at 5:30 AM from BTM Layout, Bangalore. I have never driven to Ooty before. Can you please suggest the best route?

If you are planning to leave early then the Bangalore Mysore highway will be fine. You will likely only get some traffic at Mandya and Mysore. Once you hit Mysore take the ring road. Even if it is longer, the road is good and traffic will be less. Additionally, going through Mysore means you need to know the roads otherwise you can wind up getting confused. From Mysore the road is the one via Nanjangud. Enjoy your trip

[iamnarayang]

Originally Posted by pganapathy

If you are planning to leave early then the Bangalore Mysore highway will be fine. You will likely only get some traffic at Mandya and Mysore. Once you hit Mysore take the ring road. Even if it is longer, the road is good and traffic will be less. Additionally, going through Mysore means you need to know the roads otherwise you can wind up getting confused. From Mysore the road is the one via Nanjangud. Enjoy your trip

Thank you. Can you also please suggest a good restaurant for breakfast on the way? Normally i stop at Kadamba, after Chanapatna when going to Mysore. but considering my early departure, it will be too early for breakfast at Channapatna. Is there any good restaurant near / around Mandya?

I will be leaving Ooty on Sunday, May 1st afternoon. I suppose Mysore road should be avoided and take Kanakapura road instead?

[pganapathy]

Originally Posted by iamnarayang

Thank you. Can you also please suggest a good restaurant for breakfast on the way? Normally i stop at Kadamba, after Chanapatna when going to Mysore. but considering my early departure, it will be too early for breakfast at Channapatna. Is there any good restaurant near / around Mandya?

I will be leaving Ooty on Sunday, May 1st afternoon. I suppose Mysore road should be avoided and take Kanakapura road instead?

In Mandya, Haripriya is a good restaurant. When going to Mysore it is on the right side. A little earlier, in Maddur, there are various options. Adigas, opposite that Thimmadas and then Maddur Tiffanys.
On your return avoid the Mysore Bangalore highway if possible on Sunday evening. Traffic is generally bad between 4 and 9 pm

[NPV]

Originally Posted by iamnarayang

Can you also please suggest a good restaurant for breakfast on the way? Normally i stop at Kadamba, after Chanapatna when going to Mysore. but considering my early departure, it will be too early for breakfast at Channapatna. Is there any good restaurant near / around Mandya?

As you already know, the Bangalore-Mysore road has several options all the way for breakfast/food breaks. Most of the places open around 6:45-7am.
You can even stop at Adigas near Maddur or Shivalli or Maddur Tiffany's.
There are even a couple of food courts now, the second one being very close to Mysore outskirts.
If you start very early and none of these are open when you drive past, you can take the Mysore ORR by turning right at Columbia Asia hospital signal and stop at Kalyani which is a very good place, no detour also as this leads to Hunsur Road and is on the way to Madikeri.
On your return, you can stop at Nijaguna in Gundlupet or De Shell restaurant part of the Misty Rock Hotel campus (both these are almost opposite Coffee Day)
OR you can stop at Nijaguna Residency in Chamarajanagar and return via Kanakapura.

[iamnarayang]

Originally Posted by NPV

If you start very early and none of these are open when you drive past, you can take the Mysore ORR by turning right at Columbia Asia hospital signal and stop at Kalyani which is a very good place, no detour also as this leads to Hunsur Road and is on the way to Madikeri..

Thank you for your suggestion. One small correction though. I am going to Ooty and hence the right turn at Columbia Asia Hospital may not be valid. Instead I will be taking a left turn at the same spot. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Regards, Narayan.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by iamnarayang

Thank you for your suggestion. One small correction though. I am going to Ooty and hence the right turn at Columbia Asia Hospital may not be valid. Instead I will be taking a left turn at the same spot. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Regards, Narayan.

That is correct. Suggest you to take Left turn at Columbia Asia hospital and go via Lalith Mahal Palace/Mysore Turf Club road (near to Zoo)and join the Nanjangud Road.

BTW, remember that road construction work is going on between Mysore-Nanjangud-Gundlupet as per reports in this thread, so be aware of it and drive carefully.

-Ravi

[NPV]

Originally Posted by iamnarayang

Thank you for your suggestion. One small correction though. I am going to Ooty and hence the right turn at Columbia Asia Hospital may not be valid. Instead I will be taking a left turn at the same spot. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Oops, sorry.
For Ooty, yes you can go to the left of Mysore ORR or drive straight into the city and go via the Palace (Nanjangud road). You can even consider stopping at Kamat Madhuvan opposite the Palace.
From here it is a straight road to Nanjangud and Gundlupet.
Alternatively, for your onward journey also you can consider the Kanakapura route (this way you can avoid the Nanjangud work in progress sections). In that case you can stop at Nijaguna Residency, Chamarajanagar and then reach Gundlupet. At Gundlupet, the road forks to the right for Sulthan Bathery on the Kerala side. Don't take the right turn, go straight here towards Bandipur and then Mudumalai on the TN side.
Again you have the option of continuing straight via Gudalur or turning left towards Masinagudi and taking the 36 hair-pin bend route.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by iamnarayang

Friends. I am going on a three days trip to Ooty on Friday, April 29th morning, with my family. I am planning to leave at 5:30 AM from BTM Layout, Bangalore. I have never driven to Ooty before. Can you please suggest the best route?

I had posted an update on Gundlepet-Mysore-Bangalore in the Bangalore-Calicut thread after my trip to Kerala last week. Reproducing it here

Nangangud Mysore work is still in progress. In December this stretch was a lot of deviations with some parts of completed 4 lane sections. Now it is mostly completed 4 lane sections with some deviations. A new bridge at nangangud is nearing completion. As is one near that industrial area. Took the newly opened right ring of the Mysore ring road. Took 1 hr 20 min from Gundlepet to Columbia Asia signal. This included a 10 min block in the construction zone. Once the work completes, this should reduce to 1hr at steady 80kmph speeds.

Mysore Bangalore was smooth. Most of the humps seem gone now and even the barricades were there only in 2-3 places. Columbia Asia to nice jn took 2 hrs with slow progress through mandya and ramanagara. So overall flow seems much smoother without humps and barricades.

While going I had taken the Kanakpura route with a 5 am start from Bangalore. Good roads through out. On your return, if you reach Gundlepet after 2.30-3 PM, better to turn off towards Chamrajnagar-kanakpura route. But expect good amount of traffic between Kanakpura and Bangalore. It is 2 lane road and in all probability you will hit Kanakpura after dusk, so need to keep that also in mind.

If you have never driven Kanakpura-Chamrajnagar and intend to take it on your return, would recommend taking it for the To journey also so that you get a bit familiar with the route.

[redcruiser]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

If you have never driven Kanakpura-Chamrajnagar and intend to take it on your return, would recommend taking it for the To journey also so that you get a bit familiar with the route.

I also agree with this point rajeevraj. Especially because there are lot of sharp curves in this route.
Restrict your speed especially when doing night driving.Overtaking should be done with caution in this route as it is 2 lane road.

[procrj]

Will be driving to Ooty this weekend:
Onward: Bangalore - Mysore - Nanjangud - Masinagudi - Ooty
Return: Ooty - Gudalur - Gundlupete - Chamrajnagar - Bangalore

Remember reading on this thread or the kerala roads thread that the road from Gudalur to Gunlupete was recently laid and is very good but has a lot of speed breakers. Can anyone confirm the same? If that's the case, then will probably return via Masinagudi - Chamrajnagar.

[kala]

Originally Posted by procrj

Remember reading on this thread or the kerala roads thread that the road from Gudalur to Gunlupete was recently laid and is very good but has a lot of speed breakers. Can anyone confirm the same? If that's the case, then will probably return via Masinagudi - Chamrajnagar.

You may not have that choice sometimes. During high traffic periods (such as Sunday afternoons) the police block off the Masinagudi road for downhill traffic and so you may be forced to go via Gudalur.

Also the only part you'd be avoiding would be the Gudalur to Theppekkadu section. You would still have another 15-20 kms of forest road from Theppekkadu to the Bandipur exit gate.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by procrj

Will be driving to Ooty this weekend:
Onward: Bangalore - Mysore - Nanjangud - Masinagudi - Ooty
Return: Ooty - Gudalur - Gundlupete - Chamrajnagar - Bangalore

Remember reading on this thread or the kerala roads thread that the road from Gudalur to Gunlupete was recently laid and is very good but has a lot of speed breakers. Can anyone confirm the same? If that's the case, then will probably return via Masinagudi - Chamrajnagar.

Yes, Gudalur to Theppakadu is newly laid and is awesome but with good amount of speed breakers which is very much essential to reduce speed inside forest roads. This is very much needed, as too many accidents happening on wildlife as people drive rashly inside forest roads and honk stupidly.

As kala mentioned, you may not have choice to drive down hill as Masinagudi route is usually open only for uphill traffic in weekends/major holidays period.

-Ravi