[Pakman]

Originally Posted by prasad14

Hi,

Which one of these two options is better in term of road conditions?

1. Mangalore-Belthangady-Mudigere-Belur-Hassan-Bangalore.
2. Mangalore-Uppinangadi-Dharmasthala-Mudigere-Hassan-Bangalore

Also, from Ullal (Summer Sands resort), would coming via M'lore university
save any time or is it reco'd to come to Mangalore itself?

Prasad

Option 1. The second option seems a bit circuitous and also, the road between the highway and Dharmasthala might not be in the best shape.
Nor sure about the road via M'lore university, but I suggest coming via Mangalore as it is a four lane road and should be considerably quicker.

[livyodream]

Did a Blr-shiradi-kundapur-Sigandhur-Shimoga-Chitradurga-Blr last week.

Blr-Shiradi - road does not exist.

Kundapur - Sigandhur - Pure WRC kinda driving from kollur to sigandhur. half of the car parts never made it to blr i suppose

Sigandhur-Shimoga- few rough patches here and there till Sagara . But very much manageable at 50-70 kmph speeds.

Shimoga-Chitradurga-Blr - Race mode. Took 4 hours to reach (1.50 hrs from chitragurga to blr.)


From now I would be taking this route to kundapur as total drive time would be max of 7.5hrs with best possible road.

[unk9ja]

Did Bangalore - Mangalore on Shiradi on 17th. The drive from Sakleshpur to Dharmastha deviation took 1.5hrs. Bad but manageable. The only mantra is make your own road, don't let others drive you or get behind one of those numerous lorries that dictate their own terms. The start was at 1400 on the ORR at Magadi road intersection. Took the Magadi road to get out of Bangalore. Reached Mangalore at 2130 with a 45 minute break in between. The road after the Gundya will spring some surprises with big bad potholes at some corners which comes up unexpectedly. Good part is except for the lone hump at the beginning of Shakleshpur, the Baleno never scraped its bottom on the entire route.

[hallik9]

Folks,
If you plan to visit Kundapur or Kollur,this should be a better route until Shiradi is repaired.

Bangalore-Tumkur-Shimoga-Agumbe-Halady-Kundapur or Kollur.
The roads are in very good condition and no craters like you find on the Shiradi route. My cousin drove this route last evening and he managed to travel from Kundapur to Bangalore in 8 hours(with a 20 minute break)

[srsriharsha]

I am planning on a 4 day visit to the following places Jog, Udupi, Katil, Sringeri, Horanadu kukke on a civic. Can I get some help with t he road conditions and the best possible route. Also if there are any other suggestions?

[MorePower]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Yesterday I drove to Bangalore via Shiradi.

The Shiradi is totally destroyed. In most places, there is no road left. So I switched my driver hat to offroader and enjoyed the drive.

I'm planning to drive to Mangalore from Bangalore on Friday. This will be my first drive to Mangalore and need some help planning this out. My plan is to leave Arekere Mico Layout on Friday, 5 am.

- What should be my route? If Shiradi is so bad, what's the alternative?
Also I read somewhere on this thread that Neelmangala can be avoided by taking the Magadi route. Is that a good option?

- Will be travelling with my wife and 3 yr old so what are good halts enroute for breakfast and bio breaks?
- How long will it take my to reach mangalore, more specifically mangalore university if I leave Bangalore by 5 am?

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by MorePower

I'm planning to drive to Mangalore from Bangalore on Friday. This will be my first drive to Mangalore and need some help planning this out. My plan is to leave Arekere Mico Layout on Friday, 5 am. - What should be my route? If Shiradi is so bad, what's the alternative? Also I read somewhere on this thread that Neelmangala can be avoided by taking the Magadi route. Is that a good option? - Will be travelling with my wife and 3 yr old so what are good halts enroute for breakfast and bio breaks? - How long will it take my to reach mangalore, more specifically mangalore university if I leave Bangalore by 5 am?

We also drive to the same area ( Manjinady near Mangalore University ). Alternate route is via Charmadi. ( Bangalore - Hassan - Belur- Mudigere - Charmadi- BC Road ). From BC road you have to drive backwards towards Melkar and take the right towards Konaje ( as you mentioned Mangalore University ). I have mentioned earlier in this thread that the route via Charmadi is in good shape but is slower because of narrower roads and lots of winding roads. It's difficult for people prone to travel sickness. Also , there aren't any restaurants between Hassan and BC Road , so it's better to stop for breakfast before Hassan. A very scenic route this is , but somehow the last drive ( especially on the return) was very tiring. Should take you around 7-9 hours of total driving time through Charmadi Driving via Nelamangala is anytime faster when you start early mornings. A 5 am start from Bangalore would mean you can stop after Channrayapatna for breakfast around 730-8am. We usually stop at Kamat.

[Pakman]

Originally Posted by MorePower

- What should be my route? If Shiradi is so bad, what's the alternative?
Also I read somewhere on this thread that Neelmangala can be avoided by taking the Magadi route. Is that a good option?

- Will be travelling with my wife and 3 yr old so what are good halts enroute for breakfast and bio breaks?
- How long will it take my to reach mangalore, more specifically mangalore university if I leave Bangalore by 5 am?

speedsatya had already answered regarding the route. Charmadi over Shriadi.
Take the Nelamangala route, the Magadi one is longer and has more curves. Also, the state of the roads in Magadi might not be the best. From Mico layout, you can take NICE road all the way till Tumkur road and hit NH75.
Kamat at Udayapura is a good place to halt. Others are Kadamba inside Hassan town. Not many good options after Belur all the way until you get down the ghats at Ujire. You can stop at the petrol bunks for the breaks.

[ppr]

Anyone has any idea about the road from Bantwal - Moodabidri - Karkala - Tirthahalli - Shimoga - Harihar? Google maps shows 5 1/2 hours. Is the road good? How are the traffic conditions and do we have to go through a lot of towns?

Thanks
ppr

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by MorePower

I'm planning to drive to Mangalore from Bangalore on Friday. This will be my first drive to Mangalore and need some help planning this out. My plan is to leave Arekere Mico Layout on Friday, 5 am.

- What should be my route? If Shiradi is so bad, what's the alternative?
Also I read somewhere on this thread that Neelmangala can be avoided by taking the Magadi route. Is that a good option?

- Will be travelling with my wife and 3 yr old so what are good halts enroute for breakfast and bio breaks?
- How long will it take my to reach mangalore, more specifically mangalore university if I leave Bangalore by 5 am?

Hi MorePower,

We are planning to travel from Bangalore to Mangalore on November 22nd, Can you please share your experience on the roads once you are back and which route did you travel by and what is the condition of the roads now?

[MorePower]

Originally Posted by fusionbang

Hi MorePower,

We are planning to travel from Bangalore to Mangalore on November 22nd, Can you please share your experience on the roads once you are back and which route did you travel by and what is the condition of the roads now?

Hi fusionbang,

We travelled to Mangalore via Hassan-Belur-Mudigere-Charmadi ghat-BC road route. Once we got off the Blore-Mlore highway at Hassan to head towards Belur, the road narrowed down to 2 lanes.

Moderate village/town traffic throughout. Uneven surface in patches, especially after Belur but easily motorable.

Average speed was around 50 due to narrow roads, traffic and potholes. I left bangalore at 4.50 am. Reached Mangalore city by 12.45 pm, with an hour long breakfast break at Hassan.

The stretch, especially post Mudigere gets tiring. Lots of twists and turns so can get a bit sickening.

While returning, decided to take the mlore-blore highway. Overall road is good, moderate traffic. With shiradi in mind, was always alert and on the lookout for potholes, especially on the turns. You will find some before shiradi starts. Shiradi, as expected was bad. For a stretch of 20-25 kms, the road would simply give way to massive craters, each around 20-30 m long and spanning both the lanes. Not a patch of tar on the stretch. Had to manoeuvre the car carefully, often in first gear, sometimes in the opposite lane when there was no oncoming traffic so that I could get one side of the car on the little bit of even surface left at the sides.

With my Figo, was worried about scraping the bottom but it didn't scrape even once. Have to drive with a lot of patience. Let the impatient drivers pass by and you will be fine. After sakleshpur, the road is good. Though it took me 8 hours again (with a 45 min halt at Kamat, channarayapattna) while coming back. somehow didn't find this route as tiring as the earlier one. Hope this helps. Have a safe trip!

[fusionbang]

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Thanks MorePower for this wonderful update. It will be really helpful during my journey. I am planning to take shiradi route while going to mangalore, as it will be easy going down the hill even with the bad roads.

And while coming back probably I can take charmudi ghat-belur route.

Will update this post on my return with the experience.


Are you based out of Bangalore? We can get together sometime and be in touch.

Thanks in advance.

[Samurai]

Today I drove back from Bangalore to Manipal, via Mangalore. I decided to avoid the Dharmasthala route for couple reasons.

• It took me 3 hours for Manipal-Gundya via Dharmasthala last time, that is 45 minutes slower than my usual. This was because of excessive bad stretches and I couldn't go around slow vehicles in those narrow roads.
• The civil unrest in that area due to the Sowjanya murder case.

I strongly considered the balehonnur-agumbe route this time. But decided to go with the known devil at the last moment, while crossing Hassan. Although Shiradi is in terrible condition, the trail is really wide, letting me go around slow vehicles that are negotiating the craters. Did the Sakleshpur-Gundya stretch in 49 minutes today, it was downhill anyway. The craters are getting deeper. At least twice the GV jumped in air due to steep crests while exiting the craters.

Did Hebbal circle to Nanthoor circle in 5h::50m including breakfast break at Mayura. The 4 lane roads are really helping. I wonder how it will be when 4 lanes connect the entire route.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Did Hebbal circle to Nanthoor circle in 5h::50m including breakfast break at Mayura. The 4 lane roads are really helping. I wonder how it will be when 4 lanes connect the entire route.

Did not consider Charmadi ? Distances almost same and no traffic. And roads some what better.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by ampere

Did not consider Charmadi ? Distances almost same and no traffic. And roads some what better.

That ghat is narrow, quite difficult to overtake. If stuck behind any slow vehicle, it can be very frustrating.