[adityasiera]

Hello Tbhpians!!

We have planned to go visit Ooty for our annual vacation this time.

Dates : 27th Dec - 1st Jan

Tentative itinerary

Day - 0 - 26 Dec- Sleep, sleep and sleep

Day 1 - 27th Dec - Hyd (00:00 Hrs) > B'lore (bypass) > Mysore >Mudumallai - (booked the resort till 29th.)
Day 2 - 28th Dec -
Day 3 - 29th Dec -
Day 4 - 30th Dec -
Day 5 - 31st Dec - Drive to ooty and celebrate the new year in Ooty.
Day 5 - 1st Jan - Ooty > Blore
Day 6 - 2nd Jan - Blore (03:00 Hrs) > Hyd

Need the suggestions of experts on what to do/places to go etc.

thank you!!

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by adityasiera

Day 1 - 27th Dec - Hyd (00:00 Hrs) > B'lore (bypass) > Mysore >Mudumallai - (booked the resort till 29th.)
Day 2 - 28th Dec -
Day 3 - 29th Dec -
Day 4 - 30th Dec -
Day 5 - 31st Dec - Drive to ooty and celebrate the new year in Ooty.
Day 5 - 1st Jan - Ooty > Blore
Day 6 - 2nd Jan - Blore (03:00 Hrs) > Hyd

Easier looking for info on any of the zillion existing Ooty travelogues on the forum.

Here are links to a few.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...hyderabad.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...asinagudi.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...-lowlight.html

[Tindrums]

I went to Ooty from Hyderabad on my VW Vento

Hyderabad to Devanhalli was uneventful (Time taken about 6 hours). Devanhalli is not particularly marked on the road signages. One would see Chickballapur on the mileage indicators. Devanhalli is 11 kms after that. As you approach Devanhalli, a service roads goes off the NH. Unsure of the turning to Dodaballapur, I went on the service lane into the village and turned right only to emerge right back on the NH!.

Dodaballapur road was reasonable and speeds depend on the traffic. I was clipping 80-100.. Road conditions were good (though a little narrow). There was a massive hole in the road near the bridge though.

From Dodaballapur, I turned to what I thought was the Neelamangla road. After driving a sizeable distance and not noticing any Neelamangla markers, I looked up the Map on the mobile and discovered I was on the Dobbaspet road and not on the Neelamangla road. I still have not fathomed how that error occurred. I think both the roads are close left turns from Dodaballapur. I continued on the Dobbaspet road to emerge on the same road (NH4 Mumbai - Chennai) only a meagre 27 kms and 1 toll further down the Neelmangla road. The Dobbaspet road was good and the traffic was very light.

NH4 had very heavy traffic. The Nice road entry comes on the left after two tolls. NICE road to mysore road was excellent. You can clip as high as you want (road conditions).

Mysore road SH17 I think is the best SH I have ever driven. The traffic appears a little heavy but it is a fast traffic and again you clip in excess of 130 if you want.

From Mysore (after two days stay) I took the NH212 till gundlupet and then to the forest road through Bandipur and Madhumalai forests. The TN police stopped me at the border and did a thorough checking for liquor. This included opening gift wrapped stuff that my wife had done for her friends.

The drive through the forests were fantastic.. we could see deers(cheetal), one or two big stags, lots of peacocks..

After Thepekkadu I took the Gudalur road on the ascent and the Masinagudi road on the descent.
The Gudallur Road is in terrible condition. At some places it vanishes and you are off-roading. Substantial traffic on roads and you may have to overtake several buses and trucks. The road is in the middle of what appears to be forest with trees(as compared to Masinagudi.) Some of the trees were very straight and quite tall.

The Masinagudi road condition was excellent. The 36 hairpins are awesome and the slopes are steep. I do not recall such steep slopes before in any of other hill stations (including Shimla, Mussouri, Nainital and Mt Abu) . The hairpins follow in quick succession without much gaps between them. There was hardly a straight section on the ghats. Completely curvy all the way from top to bottom.

The Masinagudi road suddenly became extremely narrow (though the surface was good). This was on the plains and not on the ghat section. The road was narrower than a single lane. The forests in this section appear to be more of the small trees/bush variety. This was for a very long distance till the road meets Theppekadu. It was sufficient for only one vehicle.

If you can (1) travel early and avoid traffic and (2) handle steep ghats then this is the road for you.

The return leg was covered in a straight long drive. Started from Ooty at 6 am and reached hyderabad at 730 pm. Single Driver (me). Breakfast, Lunch, shopping (small onions, jackfruit, chikoo and cauliflower on the roadside at different places) halts.

On the return journey I managed to get into the correct road Neelmangla - dodaballapur and regretted that decision. The road was crowded, and not in condition for a long stretch. I felt the 27 extra kms for Dobbaspet road was probably worth it.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Tindrums

On the return journey I managed to get into the correct road Neelmangla - dodaballapur and regretted that decision. The road was crowded, and not in condition for a long stretch. I felt the 27 extra kms for Dobbaspet road was probably worth it.

Crowded? Now thats news. I have not seen much crowd on that route except for at Nelamangala. Also was it that bad, that you would prefer 27 extra km?
It was rough I knew. But was it that bad?

[dre@ms]

Long weekend next week and planning for a trip to Ooty from Hyderabad. Need your suggestions and advices. Tentative itinerary,
Oct 1st - Hyderabad to Bangalore to Mysore to Ooty. Are there any other routes?
Oct 2, 3, 4 - Stay in coonoor/ooty
Oct 5th - Return to hyderabad the same route or with any new route suggested.

Travelling in my City with wifey and 3 yr old son.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

Long weekend next week and planning for a trip to Ooty from Hyderabad. Need your suggestions and advices. Tentative itinerary,
Oct 1st - Hyderabad to Bangalore to Mysore to Ooty. Are there any other routes?
Oct 2, 3, 4 - Stay in coonoor/ooty
Oct 5th - Return to hyderabad the same route or with any new route suggested.

Travelling in my City with wifey and 3 yr old son.

Plan looks good. Start early so that you reach Ooty before sun down. They might not allow you to use the ghat road after dark. The route you plan to use is good and has lots of food options, and advisable especially when you're having an infant in the car. The other route via Kanakapura and Chamarajanagar has very few food options.

If you are not able to start by 5 am, then I suggest you stay over at Mysore overnight and start early next morning for Ooty. It is a 3-hour drive from there.

As you're going on a long weekend, ensure you have accommodation.

[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Plan looks good. Start early so that you reach Ooty before sun down. They might not allow you to use the ghat road after dark. The route you plan to use is good and has lots of food options, and advisable especially when you're having an infant in the car. The other route via Kanakapura and Chamarajanagar has very few food options.

If you are not able to start by 5 am, then I suggest you stay over at Mysore overnight and start early next morning for Ooty. It is a 3-hour drive from there.

As you're going on a long weekend, ensure you have accommodation.

I am planning to pack lunch and breakfast. Tentative to start by 3AM. We have relatives in Coonoor where we are gonna stay. So accommodation and food is taken care of. What is the other route you have mentioned.
I am bit afraid in following google maps has mentioned by another user who did this route already. Can i have route directions.
How much time would it take to reach if starting by 3 or a max 4? I stay in Kukatpally and reaching ORR would just take 20 min.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

I am planning to pack lunch and breakfast. Tentative to start by 3AM. We have relatives in Coonoor where we are gonna stay. So accommodation and food is taken care of. What is the other route you have mentioned.
I am bit afraid in following google maps has mentioned by another user who did this route already. Can i have route directions.
How much time would it take to reach if starting by 3 or a max 4? I stay in Kukatpally and reaching ORR would just take 20 min.

Details of the other route are in the other thread, as below:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...y-road-62.html

If you start by 4 am, you'll cross Bangalore by 1 pm. From there it is another 6 hours to Ooty. Add 30 minutes more to Coonoor.

[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Details of the other route are in the other thread, as below:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...y-road-62.html

If you start by 4 am, you'll cross Bangalore by 1 pm. From there it is another 6 hours to Ooty. Add 30 minutes more to Coonoor.

Thanks for the link. Will go through it. I am doing a general service to my car. Anything specific to take care? How about petrol bunks enroute?

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

Thanks for the link. Will go through it. I am doing a general service to my car. Anything specific to take care? How about petrol bunks enroute?

Plenty of fuel bunks between Bangalore and Mysore. The other route via Kanakapura has decent ones only at Bangalore and at Chamarajnagar.

Make sure your stepney is inflated correctly and the jack and lever are there in the boot. Ensure you have a spare headlamp bulb---most cars have one or two in the glove box.

[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Plenty of fuel bunks between Bangalore and Mysore. The other route via Kanakapura has decent ones only at Bangalore and at Chamarajnagar.

Make sure your stepney is inflated correctly and the jack and lever are there in the boot. Ensure you have a spare headlamp bulb---most cars have one or two in the glove box.

Sure. Have everything in place. Will make sure to double check during my service. Hope eveything goes as planned. Excited!!

[ampere]

Actually you can also do:

Hyd-Devanahalli-Doddaballapur-Nelamangalam-Neligere-Pandavpura-Srirangapatna-Mysore.

I think this would much faster route to Mysore. Route Link

You gain lot by bypassing Bangalore.

[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by ampere

Actually you can also do:

Hyd-Devanahalli-Doddaballapur-Nelamangalam-Neligere-Pandavpura-Srirangapatna-Mysore.

I think this would much faster route to Mysore.

You gain lot by bypassing Bangalore.

As per Google, this route is 12 minutes extra journey
How is the road condition?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

As per Google, this route is 12 minutes extra journey
How is the road condition?

For a small rough stretch in between, its good. And the most important part, you dont face Bangalore traffic and you also dont face the dreaded Bangalore-Mysore traffic. The Bangalore-Hassan is a proper 4-lane on which you drive till Neliigere and there on its a nice lane road.

[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by ampere

For a small rough stretch in between, its good. And the most important part, you dont face Bangalore traffic and you also dont face the dreaded Bangalore-Mysore traffic. The Bangalore-Hassan is a proper 4-lane on which you drive till Neliigere and there on its a nice lane road.

Thats a good news. I am new to this route and need to traverse with just the help of google maps. Is that ok or need to take any other precautions/apps?
And my City has just clocked 7.5k kms being 2.5 yrs old. Distance driven should be under 1k from my last service which happened 1 year back. Is a service now for this trip mandatory?