[adi99]

Originally Posted by Bullfrog

Swift (that too new one) is a strict 'No No' on this stretch.

Originally Posted by kadri007

Please dont even dream of taking Shiradi ghat road. Its just horrible.

Thank you Bullfrog and Kadri.

Originally Posted by bullinb

Neither. Stick to the route you had originally planned. That is the best route to Udupi as of now. I'd driven down around Christmas and the condition was good. A couple of frequent travelers that I know of also swear by it.

Bullinb, You are saying no to Charmadi as well? This is what I originally planned.

Blore - Magadi - Kunigal - Hassan - Mudigere - Kottighera - Charmadi - Belthangady- Mudabidri - Karkal - Udupi

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by adi99

Blore - Magadi - Kunigal - Hassan - Mudigere - Kottighera - Charmadi - Belthangady- Mudabidri - Karkal - Udupi

This might be the best of the options available, as of now.

There is also another option of approaching kottigehara, by proceeding further towards sakleshpur from hassan, and taking a right towards kottigehara/horanadu after 3 kms from sakleshpur town.

Take your pick!

[bullinb]

Originally Posted by adi99

Bullinb, You are saying no to Charmadi as well? This is what I originally planned.

Blore - Magadi - Kunigal - Hassan - Mudigere - Kottighera - Charmadi - Belthangady- Mudabidri - Karkal - Udupi

The best route is,

Bangalore - Magadi - Kunigal - Channarayapatna - Hassan - Belur - Chickmagalur - Vastare - Aldur - Balehonnur - Magundi - Balehole - Kalasa - Samse - Kudremukh - Bajagoli - Karkala - Manipal - Udupi

see this post for distance break up.

Alternatively, if you are OK with about 25km of bad roads between Agumbe and Hebri, the option below is about 40km shorter.

Bangalore - Magadi - Kunigal - Channarayapatna - Hassan - Belur - Chickmagalur - Vastare - Aldur - Balehonnur - Jayapura - Sringeri - Agumbe - Hebri - Manipal - Udupi

Either way you should be able to cover the distance in about 7 to 8 hours.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by bullinb

Alternatively, if you are OK with about 25km of bad roads between Agumbe and Hebri, the option below is about 40km shorter.

Bangalore - Magadi - Kunigal - Channarayapatna - Hassan - Belur - Chickmagalur - Vastare - Aldur - Balehonnur - Jayapura - Sringeri - Agumbe - Hebri - Manipal - Udupi

Either way you should be able to cover the distance in about 7 to 8 hours.

Three curves of Agumbe are in a mess(i guess 4,5 and 6) and going down is ok.. but climbing up is tricky.. stick to the left while going down and way up, stick to the right on these curves

after someshwara, to hebri, may be now its less than 10KM that is narrow and in bad shape, rest is ok(can be driven 60kmph) and after hebri its ok

this is my personal feedback after a drive on 26th Jan

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

There is also another option of approaching kottigehara, by proceeding further towards sakleshpur from hassan, and taking a right towards kottigehara/horanadu after 3 kms from sakleshpur town.

Take your pick!

But will be longer by 25kms, if compared with Belur-Mudigere stretch.
One has to take right at Aanemahal, 3kms after Sakleshpura.
Route is as follows.
Sakelshpura-Aanemahal-Hanbal-Jannapura-Mudigere.
Single lane road till Jannapura.
But Hanbal-Jannapura-Mudigere is in pathetic condition.

[recshenoy]

sheesh, every where i see pot holed roads. not even a single decent route to commute between costal city and capital city of a state. :(

now that the roads arent repaired, the condition is going to be worse once it starts raining. Such a sad state of roads.

My friend has decided to take up the Mysore Madikeri route! lets wait for his feedback

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by recshenoy

sheesh, every where i see pot holed roads. not even a single decent route to commute between costal city and capital city of a state. :(

now that the roads arent repaired, the condition is going to be worse once it starts raining. Such a sad state of roads.

My friend has decided to take up the Mysore Madikeri route! lets wait for his feedback

I heard that Mysore-madikeri would mean more bad roads(kushalnagar-madikeri-sampaje) around 40-50kms

When i talked to few guys in Kamat who had taken shiradi, they were like..its horrible, but its just 15-20 kms, rest is good road

[kadri007]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

I heard that Mysore-Madikeri would mean more bad roads(kushalnagar-madikeri-sampaje) around 40-50kms

When i talked to few guys in Kamat who had taken shiradi, they were like..its horrible, but its just 15-20 kms, rest is good road

Mysore - Madikeri route is longer and time consuming, the roads after Mysore is narrow. No point taking this route if you are heading to Udupi.

The 15-20 KM of Shiradi roads are good enough to damage your car. Even though I traveled by bus, sleeping in Air suspension sleeper coach my body started to pain by the stress of the road. So imagine if you are driving the car yourself. So not a good option to try this road to spoil your holiday.

[dkamath]

Made an overnight trip by personal transport to M'lore, via. Madikeri. The good thing is, the new road goes on till Suntikoppa (starting from Kushalnagar), but the bad part is that the road from then on until Madikeri is blocked by concrete walls on either sides! There is a huge signboard indicating a diversion to be taken to reach Madikeri (and on the other end, to reach Suntikoppa), but like the Saarige bus ahead of me, i too decided to flaunt the sign and follow it . Frankly, didn't want to get lost in the middle of the night, with nobody to ask directions for.
A word of caution for those treading along the blocked path: The road's too narrow now, with the other lane dug up, and mounds of mud being stacked. Another vehicle from the opposite end (yes, those that flaunt the sign from the Madikeri end, hehe. And for me it was a nice meet with 2 Airavat's) will make you run for cover, to find a place to pull over.

Anyways, once the new road laying on the above stretch is complete, hopefully latest by onset of monsoon, a smooth drive from B'lore upto Madikeri awaits us

[civicsense]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

I heard that Mysore-madikeri would mean more bad roads(kushalnagar-madikeri-sampaje) around 40-50kms

When i talked to few guys in Kamat who had taken shiradi, they were like..its horrible, but its just 15-20 kms, rest is good road

I had taken the route from Kasargod-Jalsur-Sulya-Sampaje-Madikeri-Srigangapatna-Blr on Jan 26. The section between Sampaje and Madikeri is particularly bad. I did manage to navigate my Civic without bottoming out, but it meant very patient 1-st gear driving for a large part. Took me more than an hour to cover the 20-odd km. MAdikeri-Kushalnagara is relatively better, but only slightly. Work is in full swing to make this section better. I feel it will take another 6 months. From the looks of the completed road (from Kushalagara to Hunsur and further), this will turn out to be a brilliant route soon.

[recshenoy]

oh! some good new on new roads? any new of road repair from Madikeri to Sullya? Hope there will be a repair before monsoon!

[lohithrao]

ah..Good news on madikeri route! but better to avoid it till its completed gets risky..

btw any updates on nh48?

[adi99]

Originally Posted by bullinb

The best route is,
Bangalore - Magadi - Kunigal - Channarayapatna - Hassan - Belur - Chickmagalur - Vastare - Aldur - Balehonnur - Magundi - Balehole - Kalasa - Samse - Kudremukh - Bajagoli - Karkala - Manipal - Udupi

Thank you Bullinb, I am now in udupi and took the above route. The roads are good but a few rough roads after chikmagalur till Kudremukh. I think the total distance comes to about 470kms. Too many curvy roads after chikmagalur, sometimes it was fun to drive and sometimes its not coz you cannot drive more than 50 km/hr.

While having tea at Kalasa, one of the shopkeepers told me that Charmadi ghat is now repaired and its good. I will be taking the Charmadi route tommorrow to Blore and will keep you guys updated.

[bullinb]

Originally Posted by adi99

Too many curvy roads after chikmagalur, sometimes it was fun to drive and sometimes its not coz you cannot drive more than 50 km/hr.

Very true. That why I usually drive this stretch at night, when it is easy to spot the oncoming traffic by the headlamp beam, and take the racing line - a lot easier to drive and much faster.

[adi99]

Back to Blore.

Route: Udupi-Karkala-Belthangady-Charmadi-Kottigehara-Belur-Hassan-Kunigal-Magadi-Blore

Started at 3:30 AM, reached at 10:30 AM (NICE road). Total 7 hrs including 3 tea breaks and 1 for breakfast. Total kms - 425

The Charmadi ghat road is fantastic. 95% new road and 5% rough road. No potholes, yes, None. Even the road from Udupi to Kottigehara is superb.

After Kottigehara, I took a right before Mudigere (big mistake). Million potholes till you reach Belur. After that, no stopping. You can cruise between 120-140 kms/hr. So currently, Charmadi route is the best!