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No, there are no worries about scrapping the car. One of the bad patch what I mentioned was the same as mentioned by fast_elegance, it is a section of road without tarmac. You just need to slow down to keep your tyre safe.

Couple of other places are towards Jog after Sagar, they have cut across the road for some pipe work or something I guess.

I started from Silkboard around 04.45 AM or so, reached Jog after a break of around 45 mins for breakfast at 11.30 AM, most of the route was taken cruising around 80 KMPH.

I too skipped Tumkur bye-pass and went through the town since it was early and also due to the comments that bye-pass is not in good shape.

I was on look out for your Ritz, however guess you were travelling around one hour behind us.

Someone said not to take the flyover, but instead take left under the flyover to get to the tumkur bypass. There was also another comment to avoid the bypass. So I am wondering what is the route to get into Tumkur and get out. Could you please share?

You need to take the flyover and after some distance there is a sign indicating the exit to enter Tumkur town. There are clear boards indicating the direction towards Shimoga after you enter the town.

Isn't the Tumkur bypass exit before the flyover?

The bypass is right adjacent to the flyover. I think the point is, the bypass is so bad, and if is into this stretch early, its much easier to go through the town.

Hey folks, planning to drive down to Thirthahalli this weekend. :D

Have driven down these roads twice before. The last time was in March this year, but I am a bit weary now since I have been hearing/reading updates about deteriorated roads due to recent rains in Shimoga.

I will be starting from Jayanagar by around 5 a.m and taking the Nice Road to Tumkur road.

Can someone please suggest me the best road from there on to reach Thirthahalli ? please:

Also, it will be really helpful if somebody can advise a good place to stop over for Breakfast enroute.

Bangalore-Tumkur-Sira-Chitradurga-Channagiri-Shimoga-Thirthahalli

Some rough section around Channagiri-Shimoga. But other wise good roads.

Kamat at Sira. Its on the other side just before Sira bypass.


Shimoga-Thirthahalli is awesome!

I took the NH206 about 10 days back to drive to Jog. I started at 5:30AM, entered Tumkur town and then proceeded on NH206 towards Shimoga. The Tumkur bypass road is in bad condition as per the updates.

The roads were good throughout the route. There is a small patch of broken road after Birur railway crossing however it is manageable.

I am not sure of Shimoga - Thirthahalli section. I drove the Sagar-Ripponpet-Thirthahalli stretch and that was in good condition.

I stopped at Matha Sagar restaurant for breakfast. This is on the RHS few kms before Tiptur.

I second Amperes suggestion.
No need to worry about road conditions, I went there last weekend and roads are in good conditions all around.
There is a small bad patch around Channagiri- Shimoga section, but nothing to worry about.

Also, if feasible try to start a bit early , ~ 4.00 AM. The toll booths on NH 4 will be much better then.

Agree. Here's my report from last week travel

The roads were awesome almost all the way to kollur. The route taken was

Bangalore -> Tumkur -> Tiptur -> Arsikere -> Kadur -> Shimoga -> Thirthahalli -> Agumbe -> Someshwara -> Vandse -> Kollur

Road conditions rating

Bangalore -> Tumkur -> Tiptur -> Arsikere -> Kadur -> Shimoga: *****

Good roads but expect traffic if you start late. Road conditions are very good throughout with no surprises, potholes
I went into Tumkur town as advised by others on this forum. There were no turns to be taken and I sailed through without any confusion.
There is a small bad patch of few meters after birus railway crossing, but not so bad. My city handled the roads with ease and it's not a concern.

Stopped at Kadur Vinayaka Cafe. The food was just awesome and we enjoyed it very much. This is a small place which is on your right side. As you enter kadur, there is a small speed breaker and the cafe is right after that.

Shimoga -> Thirthahalli -> Agumbe -> *******

Shimoga - Thirthahalli is just too awesome. The roads are through lush greenery and the tarmac is smooth, although up and down traffic is on the same route. Be aware of private buses as they pass you too close. Expect animal crossings.

Agumbe -> Someshwara - ****

This is where you will climb down to somweshwar. Roads are good, but slippery and with lot of tarmac being slowly eroded away. Tight hairpin bends

Someshwara -> Vandse -> Kollur ***
I got bad roads for a few kilometers after someshware, approx 8 Kms and then the roads were average to good until Vandse. From Vandse to Kollur, barring a few pot holes here and there, the drive was again on smooth tarmac. My city scraped once which was probably due to my carelessness when navigating a huge speed breaker, but it was a mild one.

In a rough calculation about 94% of the roads in this path are really really good.

To beat the traffic you can Tumkur-Chitradurga-Channagiri-Shimoga. You would hardly find any traffic. And you get 4-lane till Chitradurga.

Can anybody let me know how the roads are from Channrayapatna to Arsikere? I am planning on going to Jog Falls and would like to know if the Bangalore->Channrayapatna->Arsikere->Shimoga->Sagar->Jog route is better or if the usual route via Tumkur->Tiptur->Birur->Shimoga is better?

I want to try this alternate route as I can confidently cruise on the Bangalore->Mangalore highway till I reach Channrayapatna and gain some time.

Even I dont know about that and I so much want to try it out myself. Because, I believe it should be quite good. At least the exit road from NH48 looks very good.

Though I have not taken this route, while in Thirthahalli our homestay owner said this was his preferred route to Bangalore.
As per him it is a good balance between Tumkur Arsikere route which has many villages and Chitradurga route which has more toll booths.

I tried this sometime last year and the road was good except for a very small stretch ~200 metres where it was being relaid somewhere near a village called Gandse (I think). This road will take you to Arsikere just beside the Arsikere town police station where it merges with NH206 (also known as BH Road locally).

*Oh BTW, the Hassan-Arsikere road was simply hell to drive on, surface is like the moon! :Frustrati