[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

I have taken this route twice

Perhaps, in the unseen future, when ISRO lands its first manned mission on Mars and finds tyre marks and other signs of human habitation on the ground, rest assured that a Bhpian has driven that route just then .

Seriously, this forum never ceases to amaze me. The road we are discussing is used very rarely, except by locals. Lo and behold, a Bhpian has treaded that lonely path too!

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

Perhaps, in the unseen future, when ISRO lands its first manned mission on Mars and finds tyre marks and other signs of human habitation on the ground, rest assured that a Bhpian has driven that route just then .

I do make frequent visits to the estate for professional reasons. The estate is just a KM away from the point where this particular road starts. The estate caretaker ('writer' as they are called colloquially) was the one who lead me through this path first time.
I guess not many tourists know about the Deviramann temple nearby. Such a beautiful spot that is, where the temple is located. The evenings present a perfect picture of tranquility. No blaring horns, no peak hour rush. Only Nature and her best hues.

[samsan02]

Originally Posted by NPV

Take #1 via Hassan, Belur. By far the best route.

Hi All,
Need lots of information. Planning for a trip this week on 10th to Chikamagaluru. Will be starting from Bellandur area from Bangalore.

1>WHich is the best route out of Bangalore?
2> Will be travelling with family 2 kids and one 7 yrs and another is 4.5 months.
3> Enroute please suggest rest areas/stopovers for lunch and bathroom breaks.
4> Please suggest nearby places to visit within 25 kms. Its for 2 nights stay, given we have a small baby. Can't plan far away sight seeings.Will be staying at the Taj gateway.
5> Suggest places for Lunch in Chikamagaluru.
8> Any other tips?

Thanks in Advance.
Regards
Samsan

[ampere]

Originally Posted by samsan02

Which is the best route out of Bangalore

Not many options there. If you are starting very early, go through the city itself (MG Road, IISc, Yashwantpur). If you are starting late take the NICE. Its quite a roundabout. Hence I wont recommend this for you to start late! Also check out the current condition of the ORR all the way till Tumkur road. That also is a better option.

Enroute please suggest rest areas/stopovers for lunch and bathroom breaks.

- Post Kunigal bypass you have Adigas and Swathi Delicacy.
- Post Belur Cross toll you have CCD and Mayura
- Udayapura (after CR Patna) has A2B and Kamat.

Please suggest nearby places to visit within 25 kms. Its for 2 nights stay, given we have a small baby. Can't plan far away sight seeings.Will be staying at the Taj gateway.

Belur/Helebid temples are the best ones and also most promising. You can also easily visit them with the kid.

Suggest places for Lunch in Chikamagaluru.

Well if you are in Taj, there is nothing else to suggest! There is the town canteen which serves dosas. But its been a while for me. Will let others comment on that.

Any other tips?

Mark your route on how to go past Hassan to the Belur road. (Route Link)

The above link is what I used to follow. But I dont know if it still is the best option. Check with others.

- So basically be on the Hassan bypass.
- First Exit is Mysore road Exit. Second is for Arkalgud
- Go past both of these. They are big intersections with markings.
- About 1.5 km from the second exit, you should see a road to the right. Take that one. It used to be in bad condition. Don't know how is it today.
- Take that road, go past railway cross to end up on the main road. On your left, you should see a fork and the one to the right is the Belur road.

Hope that helps.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by ampere

The above link is what I used to follow. But I dont know if it still is the best option. Check with others.

This one still holds good Ampere. So this should do for now as it is the easiest and fastest to bypass Hassan onto Belur Road.

I was returning from Mysore and on the way to Belur last December and wanted to check the road conditions of the stretch between Arakalgud Road to Santhepete circle (The second Intersection as you mention) thinking that It will be easy to take this as this one has a Railway Overbridge while the other two do not and ended up only to experience some horrible roads soon after the ROB for the next 500 meters.

There have been times when I have waited for a train to pass but then the wait is not really longer.

The road is around 600 meters from Bypass exit to merging with the erstwhile BM road at Thaneeruhalla and what stands better from yesteryear is that this stretch is redone barring the short (100-150m) stretch from Bypass Exit to the Railway Gate. Soon after the Railway gate, the tarmac is good. Earlier, during rainy season, this used to be a mess.

[samsan02]

Originally Posted by ampere

Hence I wont recommend this for you to start late!

Thanks for the detailed information. Appreciate it. Thanks for the route link to bypass Hassan.Starting early always fails me. Will try it this time. I will rely on google maps for the routes.

I was aware of Halebidu /Belur temples, but with the given sun/summer, not sure if our 7 year old will enjoy it thou. Lets see.

Any thing on the way I can cover while reaching the Taj Gateway. Next day I would like to plan something nearby. Anything else you recommend?

Thanks.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by samsan02

Any thing on the way I can cover while reaching the Taj Gateway. Next day I would like to plan something nearby. Anything else you recommend?

You can cover one of the 2 (Belur/Halebidu) while you go to Chikkamagulur. Both are on the way. Halebidu is slightly off the main course but not far.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by samsan02

Any thing on the way I can cover while reaching the Taj Gateway. Next day I would like to plan something nearby. Anything else you recommend?

Ahead of the Taj Gateway, the road that leads to Kadur has a place called Ayyanakere, a scenic water body. Not much in terms of distance or time and may consume around 25 minutes to reach there from your hotel.

You may want to visit this one of the evenings and return back to base.

Shravanabelagola will be another POI enroute with a detour of 2 hours (including exit from main highway, visit and merge back to the highway) but given the harsh summer conditions, this is ideal to be visited only during early mornings or dusk.

Apart from these, while at Belur or Halebidu, please make sure you visit them before 10AM. Since the entire floor of the Belur Temple (and the main complex of Halebidu Temple) is of stone slabs, it is really hot to walk on that with bare feet although they have put carpet on the path that most tourists can walk on but then, you will be restricted only to these areas.

So it should be either before 10AM or after 5PM.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Ahead of the Taj Gateway, the road that leads to Kadur has a place called Ayyanakere, a scenic water body. Not much in terms of distance or time and may consume around 25 minutes to reach there from your hotel.

Ayyanakere is a beautiful place and one of the not so frequented places one should see. I had been there last year and there were very few people and the view was scenic. Apart from that, there is also another lake called Hirekolale which is about 5kms from Chikkamagaluru town which is another beauty. This is the lake that supplies water to the town and it is an awesome place to go early in the morning and enjoy a walk, hike and some relaxation. I just hope these two places havent seen the wrath of the tourists like how Mullayyanagiri and BBGiri have seen. Planning to visit sometime soon.

[mpksuhas]

+1 to Ayyanakere, here is a pic of the place I took couple of years back.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Apart from that, there is also another lake called Hirekolale which is about 5kms from Chikkamagaluru town which is another beauty.

Here's one of the blasts from the past from Hirekolale

This is the lake that supplies water to the town and it is an awesome place to go early in the morning and enjoy a walk, hike and some relaxation.

Not anymore ever since Yagachi Dam at Belur became functional. Most of the water supply needs (especially drinking) comes from Yagachi dam. That Pipeline that you see running adjacent to Belur-CKM road originates from Yagachi Dam.

I just hope these two places havent seen the wrath of the tourists like how Mullayyanagiri and BBGiri have seen. Planning to visit sometime soon.

Unfortunately not! Sadly, Hirekolale has become "Famous" and will end up becoming another destination with mad rush on weekend in years to come. There are a lot of people who now know about this lake.

In fact, the tank bund which was as wide as a car's path is now expanded to resemble a wide field, to allow parking of cars and 'et al.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by samsan02

Hi All,
Need lots of information. Planning for a trip...

Staying at Taj is itself a pleasant experience. The food is good too except that the elaborately and beautifully described dishes on the menu turn out to be mundane ones that we prepare in our homes daily. And, prohibitively expensive too. Mind you, the portions are also rather small.

For vegetarian fare, Hotel Vishnu on IG road is good. Mangala Fishland on the same road serves a pretty decent fish meal with the added advantage of a separate family section. But you may not find it too attractive/spotlessly clean. The eatery inside Hotel Grand Krishna too is good, both for vegetarians and non vegetarians. If you are free and want your children to enjoy a good meal while playing, you can have a day trip to Cofeegrove. Food is very good there link.

A number of new hotels have mushroomed in the last 3-4 years. Have to say that at all these places, the quality of food is hit or miss.

Plan the journey in such a way that you cover Belur while on your way to Chikkamagaluru. Return via Ayyanakere-Belavadi-Halebeedu-Hassan-Bengaluru.

As for tips, please be aware that of late, specially during weekends, local traffic cops seem to be targeting non KA 18 cars. Last Saturday, a friend of mine was fined for not wearing seatbelt! So, carry all the original documents including the PUC certificate.

Also, include some warm clothing and umbrellas in your luggage. It has been raining cats and dogs on and off.

Originally Posted by ampere

- About 1.5 km from the second exit, you should see a road to the left. Take that one. It used to be in bad condition. Don't know how is it today.
- Take that road, go past railway cross to end up on the main road. On your left, you should see a fork and the one to the right is the Belur road.

I think the highlighted word should read right.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by samsan02

Hi All,
Need lots of information. Planning for a trip this week on 10th to Chikamagaluru. Will be starting from Bellandur area from Bangalore.

1>WHich is the best route out of Bangalore?
2> Will be travelling with family 2 kids and one 7 yrs and another is 4.5 months.
3> Enroute please suggest rest areas/stopovers for lunch and bathroom breaks.
4> Please suggest nearby places to visit within 25 kms. Its for 2 nights stay, given we have a small baby. Can't plan far away sight seeings.Will be staying at the Taj gateway.
5> Suggest places for Lunch in Chikamagaluru.
8> Any other tips?

Had done a Chikmagalur trip a couple of months back. Short travelogue in this link

I also started from the Belandur area and took the NICE Road. Started early and visited Belur on the way. On the return stopped at Halebidu.

[samsan02]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

You may want to visit this one of the evenings and return back to base.

Thanks, I will surely try to do this in the evening.

Originally Posted by dailydriver

Also, include some warm clothing and umbrellas in your luggage. It has been raining cats and dogs on and off.

Thanks for the tip on food and packing.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Had done a Chikmagalur trip a couple of months back.

Thanks for the info.

I will be starting late due to packing and other stuff, lets see how it goes.

[samsan02]

Thanks for all the inputs.

Started late on 10th, and reached at 6 p.m at Chikamagalur, nothing much after that as it was raining badly. Next day visited the Scenic drive up to the Estate Cafe, which was a good experience. And evening was at Ayyankere lake. It was very good, thou not full of water due to summers. On 11th visited the coffee museum in Chikamagalur which is actually good experience and was able to cover halebidu on return. Belur we skipped since we did Halebidu and had not much time left for return.
Returned to Bangalore by 10 p.m same day. Roads have been good till Hassan, Chikamagalur- Halebidu- Hassan was also decent except for few pot holes here and there.
High peaks or wild life safaris were ruled for being with small baby. Otherwise it was a nice short trip.

Thanks again Guys.