[speedsatya]

Has anyone done the hassan - charmadi - mangalore route recently ? Will be travelling with a toddler.

Worried about the bad stretches on Shiradi. Will be driving the Amaze

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

Has anyone done the hassan - charmadi - mangalore route recently ? Will be travelling with a toddler.

Worried about the bad stretches on Shiradi. Will be driving the Amaze

If you refer to few posts above, looks like charmadi is a better option.

I will be driving via shiradi next week because i need to go near kukke. May be if road is really bad ,i will take charmadi while returning. As the uphill climb on shiradi seems bad

[the_joker]

An update on the road conditions:

I had been to Dharmasthala yesterday. I did not take the Shiradi route, but I tried two routes via Charmadi. While going, I went through Hassan - Belur - Mudigere - Kottigehara. I took a deviation after Mudigere while returning. I came via Kottigehara - Mudigere - Haanbaalu - Sakleshpura - Hassan.

The roads inside Hassan and Belur are completely destroyed. The ghat itself is decent, narrow in places, but before the ghats, roads are really bad in sections. The return route via Mudigere - Haanbalu is a single road. It becomes troublesome when you encounter an oncoming bus. But the traffic is sparse. Road before Haaanbaalu is broken but in a better condition than the road to Belur. After Sakleshpura, the roads are good till Bangalore.

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

Has anyone done the hassan - charmadi - mangalore route recently ? Will be travelling with a toddler.

Worried about the bad stretches on Shiradi. Will be driving the Amaze

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

If you refer to few posts above, looks like charmadi is a better option.

I will be driving via shiradi next week because i need to go near kukke. May be if road is really bad ,i will take charmadi while returning. As the uphill climb on shiradi seems bad

I got an update from my cousin today that the Shiradi ghat's condition is not good. He took 1.5 hours from Sakaleshpur to Gundya. His Vista didn't scrape anywhere though.

I had driven in Charmadi ghat around 4 months back. The ghat section in Chikmagalur section was good with occasional small pot holes whereas the stretch in Dakshina Kannada region all the way until B.C road was excellent. They have re-laid the entire ghat around 6 months back. I don't know the recent condition though. Its better to inquire about the latest condition since DK has received highest rainfall in last 4-5 months.

EDIT: Just now noticed that the_joker has updated the latest conditions of Charmadi.

[TheTeacher]

I will be driving from Mysore to Udupi on the 16th. There don't seem to be too many choices - 6 of one, half a dozen of the other :(

Planning to go via Hassan, Belur, Mudigere, Charmadi to Ujire. Thanks the-joker for the feedback.

From Ujire, I have two choices:

1) Ujire --> Moodabidri --> Hejmadi --> Mangalore - Udupi Hwy to Udupi

2) Ujire --> Karkala --> Moodubelle --> Udupi

Any suggestions as to which would be better?

From Udupi I am planning to go to Sonda on the 17th and come back the same day. The route is Udupi --> Kundapura --> Honavar

From Honavar, in the past I have gone via Kumta and Sirsi. The Kumta-Sirsi stretch goes through ghats and invariably there is a delay of 1 to 1.5 hours due to landslide, construction, overturned truck, etc. The alternative is to go Honavar --> Siddapur --> Sirsi. Or even Kundapura --> Hosanagara --> Sagara --> Siddapur --> Sirsi.

Anybody have any advice?

Thanks.

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by TheTeacher

From Udupi I am planning to go to Sonda on the 17th and come back the same day. The route is Udupi --> Kundapura --> Honavar

From Honavar, in the past I have gone via Kumta and Sirsi. The Kumta-Sirsi stretch goes through ghats and invariably there is a delay of 1 to 1.5 hours due to landslide, construction, overturned truck, etc. The alternative is to go Honavar --> Siddapur --> Sirsi. Or even Kundapura --> Hosanagara --> Sagara --> Siddapur --> Sirsi.

Anybody have any advice?

Thanks.

I had driven for some distance in Sirsi - Kumta road in July and it appeared to be good at Sirsi side. The ghats had tarmac on concrete. I had been to Sirsi and surrounding areas in July and you can find the route information/conditions in this travelogue:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...on-malnad.html

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by TheTeacher

1) Ujire --> Moodabidri --> Hejmadi --> Mangalore - Udupi Hwy to Udupi

There is no road like this. Moodabidri-Mangalore doesn't go via Hejamadi.

[TheTeacher]

Well, sorta. Route 70 starts a little north-west ofr Guruvayankere (which is west of Belthangady), goes through Moodabidri, and joins Hwy 17 at Karnad. If you zoom out a bit, Google shows that intersection point as Hejmady. My bad! My point was that coiming on Route 70, I could join Hwy 17 going north towards Udupi.

[Samurai]

That road hits NH17 at Mulki. But the mention of Mangalore is confusing.

Go with the second option via Karkala.

[hallik9]

Will need to drive from Bangalore to Kundapur this weekend to attend a wedding.Still pondering if I need to take the Shiradi route or the Charmadi one.(haven't done this for years now)
Any suggestions?

[treadmark]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

You have plenty of budget lodging options in Mangalore/Udupi. In Mangalore, you can consider 'Ganesh Prasad', Ayodhya or even Ginger. In Udupi, there is Kediyoor, Woodlands and Karavali. Ginger and Karavali or on NH, so easy to get in and out.

Originally Posted by roamingrao

With a 6am / 7am start from Bangalore and slow

Originally Posted by KALSANKRPAI

I have been reading several posts on the road condition between Bangalore to Mangalore particularly on the Shiradi Ghats which is supposed to be worst as on date You can also think of Bangalore>Hassan>Belur>Mudigere route

@roamingrao, @KALSANKRPAI @JMaruru : A big thank you to all three for your valuable suggestions on route and accommodation.

Originally Posted by speedsatya

Has anyone done the hassan - charmadi - mangalore route recently ? Will be travelling with a toddler.

Worried about the bad stretches on Shiradi. Will be driving the Amaze

I did Bangalore > Hassan > Belur > Mudigere > Charmadi > Belthangady > Mangalore. The road was good for most part of the stretch with occasionally battered condition but still drive-able and can be easily ignored when compared to what we hear about Shiradi ghat. With an early morning start from Bangalore I could maintain an average speed of 60 kmph.
My stay was at Ginger and as usual it was budget accommodation with full value for money.

[Pakman]

Originally Posted by hallik9

Will need to drive from Bangalore to Kundapur this weekend to attend a wedding.Still pondering if I need to take the Shiradi route or the Charmadi one.(haven't done this for years now)
Any suggestions?

Originally Posted by speedsatya

Has anyone done the hassan - charmadi - mangalore route recently ? Will be travelling with a toddler.

Worried about the bad stretches on Shiradi. Will be driving the Amaze

I took the Charmadi route last Saturday based on the suggestions earlier on in this thread. Much, much better compared to the Shiradi route which I had driven 3 months back. This was the first time I was taking the Charmadi route. I was driving a City and didn't face much issues with the GC.
As already mentioned by the_joker and treadmark, very few parts of the route are bad (inside Hassan town, inside Belur town and couple of kilometres between Bankal and Kottigehara).

The road between Belur-Kottigehara and Ujire-Belthangady is two-lane and might slow you down if you are behind a larger, slower vehicle, otherwise a pleasure to drive.

The ghat road also is narrow compared to Shiradi but in a much better shape.
Would recommend this over Shiradi any day.

To top it, the weather was rainy with fog covering the ghats which made the drive pleasant, though we missed on some of the wonderful Western Ghat vistas.

[sushrutha]

Last week, took the BLR-Tumkur-Arsikere-Kadur-CKM route.
The road is in beautiful condition, except for the by-pass at Tumkur.
Kadur-CKM, though the road is good condition, but some parts of the left/right portion have been dugup to lay tar for the edge/side potholes

Originally Posted by the_joker

The roads inside Hassan and Belur are completely destroyed.

I'm sure about the Belur town road it's in worst condition, but Hassan city roads are not bad at all, roads have been recently relaid for most of the stretch. it's in good condition except near KSRTC depot/ opp rlwy station. I travelled in my Civic yesterday, it was quite managable.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by sushrutha

I'm sure about the Belur town road it's in worst condition, but Hassan city roads are not bad at all, roads have been recently relaid for most of the stretch. it's in good condition except near KSRTC depot/ opp rlwy station. I travelled in my Civic yesterday, it was quite managable.

Agree. The roads inside Hassan Town (BM Road) was undergoing repairs even 3 months before and was getting a new layer of asphalt and I sensed it way better than what it used to be a few weeks before. I assume most of the stretch starting from Azad Circle till Thaneeruhalla.

When it comes to Belur: The roads get bad right from the main circle till the Bus stand (1 KM) but not so bad that you need to think of an alternative.

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Agree. The roads inside Hassan Town (BM Road) was undergoing repairs even 3 months before and was getting a new layer of asphalt

Yep.
It's an unplanned & shoddy construction of lane seperator median between SDM college-hospital & Gorur road cross. They have cut short the width of the road & made it as 2-way road by adding median, most of the Electric light poles are not relocated to adjacent free area. The road is good only for 1 vehicle to traverse.
Overtaking is not possible, untill they remove/relocate the poles.
If 1 vehicle breaks down at this stretch, traffic will just go haywire.