[Samurai]

Shirady won't close without warning. There was no warning when I traveled on 25th. Don't expect it to close on 2nd.

[Cooltronics]

Hello All,

We are planning to drive down to a resort called “Wild Woods SPA & Resort” near Shiroor, Bhatakal and not sure of the road to take as this is our first long drive on the west coast.

We were able to get a lot of information about several places on Western Karnataka but confused because of lots of alternatives and not sure of the current state of roads and preference to take.

Following are some of the roads which can be taken as per our analysis:

A) Bangalore - Tumkur - Kadur -Tarikere - Shimoga - Thirthahalli - Agumbe - Someshwar - halady - Koteshwar - Kundapura - Maravanthe - Shirror - Resort
This road is recommended by the resort and some comments also mentioned this road to be picturesque but 2 lanes. Google maps shows approx. 11.5 hours of travel time which seems quite high

B) Bangalore - Hasan - Dharmasthala - Karkala - Udupi - Drive on NH 17 till the resort
This road helps bypass Mangalore and helps reach Udupi following which picturesque NH17 can be followed in afternoon/evening

C) Bangalore - Tumkur - Chitradurg - Rannabennur - Bankapur - Mundgod - Yellpaur - Kumta - Honaver - Kundapura - Shirror
This road is passing through main national highways (NH 4 and NH 17) but the distance is quite long and overall time taken also seems to be long

OR
Bangalore - Tumkur - Chitradurga - Davangere - Sagar - Honavar - Murudeshwar - Bhatkal - Resort
This road looks optimum to me but I am not sure of road conditions from Davangere to Honavar via Sagar and especially the Ghats section

D) Bangalore - Tumkur Chitradurg - Davangere - Shimoga - Jog Falls - Honaver - Kondapur


E) Bangalore - Shravanbelgola - Bhadravati - Shimoga - Sagar - Honavar - Murudeshwar - Bhatkal - Resort
This road looks another alternative to option C) i.e. NH 206 and looks quite effective but again not sure of the road conditions and preference

What we are looking at?
i) We would prefer to try a circular route and not take single route while going and coming back
ii) We plan to leave home by 6 AM and would like to cover the Ghats in day time (preferably)
iii) Would be good to travel on better roads vis-à-vis scenery OR whatever takes to our destination early. We can experiment with alternate route on way back home
iv) Any pointers to good restaurants on the way would be really helpful.
v) Please do share in case we have missed any route and its better.

We highly appreciate your feedback

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Cooltronics

We were able to get a lot of information about several places on Western Karnataka but confused because of lots of alternatives and not sure of the current state of roads and preference to take.

Bangalore - Tumkur - Kadur -Tarikere - Shimoga - Thirthahalli - Agumbe - Someshwar - halady - Koteshwar - Kundapura - Maravanthe - Shirror - Resort
This road is recommended by the resort and some comments also mentioned this road to be picturesque but 2 lanes. Google maps shows approx. 11.5 hours of travel time which seems quite high

Best option. You can try a modification:
Bangalore - Nelamangala-Kunigal-CRPatna-Arsikere - Shimoga - Thirthahalli - Agumbe - Someshwar - Ampar-Vandse-Hemmadi- Maravanthe - Shirror -

What we are looking at?
i) We would prefer to try a circular route and not take single route while going and coming back

Try the Honnavar-Shimoga-Chitradurga-Tumkur-BLR route back.

ii) We plan to leave home by 6 AM and would like to cover the Ghats in day time (preferably)

Agumbe is a small section which you should able to cover fast.

iii) Would be good to travel on better roads vis-à-vis scenery OR whatever takes to our destination early. We can experiment with alternate route on way back home

Suggested is the best option from a road point of view.

Any pointers to good restaurants on the way would be really helpful.

Use break-points before CR Patna while on the way. Swathi Delicacy, CCD, Mayura etc.

[unk9ja]

Route update:

Traveled to Udupi on 22/12 and back on 27/12.

Onward: Banashankari 1st stage - ORR - Gurguntepalya - Tumkur road - Nelamangala turnoff - Kunigal - Hassan - Sakleshpura - Gundya - BC road - Mangalore bypass - Surathkal - Udupi
Total kms covered: 418 kms

Time taken: 9 hrs. Started at 0530 and reached at 1430 with 2 stops for breakfast and lunch in between.
Road conditions: Bnagalore to Hassan, excellent. Hassan to Sakleshpur, good but slightly bumpy roads. Sakleshpura to Gundya, excellent ghat roads. Gundya to BC road, bumpy roads. Look out for occasional potholes and a rumbler somewhere near the area where there was a tanker accident some years back. These are on the curves and catches you by surprise. BC road to Udupi, excellent. The Mangalore Udupi stretch is now almost complete and is a breeze.

From Udupi travelled to Byndoor on 23/12 and back on 25/12. Road condition till Kundapura is excellent with a couple of diversions enroute. Kundapura to Byndoor is a pain with road widening works and slow moving lorries. The total 65 kms took 1.5 hrs.

Return route: Udupi - Mangalore - Kumbla - Badiadka - Mulleria - Jalsoor - Subramanya - Gundya - Sakleshpura - Hassan - Kunigal - Magadi - Nice road - BSK1st stage.

Had to attend temple ritual in Kumbla and hence the deviation.

Route condition: Udupi to Mangalore, excellent. Mangalore to Kumbla, broken patches near the check posts at Talapady, otherwise is good. Kumbla to Mulleria, good twisiting roads. Mulleria to Jalsoor, excellent roads. Jalsoor towards Subramanya, initial 5 kms is a single lane, good for a lorry to move on. After this stretch it is good till Gundya. Encountered lot of vehicles after Subramanya till Gundya. Gundya to Sakleshpura, good except for the slow moving elephantine traffic. Sakleshpura to Hassan, good. Hassan to Bangalore, excellent.

Total kms covered: 492 kms
Time taken: 9.5 hrs.

[Cooltronics]

Originally Posted by ampere

Best option. You can try a modification:
Bangalore - Nelamangala-Kunigal-CRPatna-Arsikere - Shimoga - Thirthahalli - Agumbe - Someshwar - Ampar-Vandse-Hemmadi- Maravanthe - Shirror -
Try the Honnavar-Shimoga-Chitradurga-Tumkur-BLR route back.
Agumbe is a small section which you should able to cover fast.
Suggested is the best option from a road point of view.

Thank you so much for clarifying and suggesting alternative.
Just needed few more help
a) How is the route from Shimoga to Halady & Koteshwara ? Till Shimoga we have AH47 and post that we have NH 66 route
b) Any idea how much time will it take to reach Shiroor ? The map says 11.5 hours but the resort people are quite confident that it should not take more than 9 hours.
c) Do we have any big city post Shimoga and Koteshwara ? This is to plan the refuelling and also having something to eat.
d) How are the roads ? I would be driving my Verna and just worried about potholes after living in Bangalore


Can you please help check this route ?

https://goo.gl/maps/6UJNgse6MK72

It shows an additional 35 KM but the time taken "on google maps" is 2 hours less and travelling is mostly through main highways.

OR
https://goo.gl/maps/FgHLLQW4kGF2
This route is from Shimoga to Honavar via Sagar and then to Shiroor

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Cooltronics

a) How is the route from Shimoga to Halady & Koteshwara ? Till Shimoga we have AH47 and post that we have NH 66 route

Shimoga-Tirthahalli-Agumbe is a belter. Agumbe ghats is OK and can be done in 20 minutes. Someshwar-Ampar-Vandse is decent to good.

There is a Shimoga bypass also possible. But wont confuse you on this. This can potentially save some time. But if you dont know the route correctly you can lose your way.

Here is the route for your reference. : Route Link

b) Any idea how much time will it take to reach Shiroor ? The map says 11.5 hours but the resort people are quite confident that it should not take more than 9 hours.

If you start at 5, you should be in Shimoga by 10. Thirthahalli is another 70-80 minutes, 40 minutes to Agumbe, 20-30 minutes to get down and another 90 minutes to Shiroor.

c) Do we have any big city post Shimoga and Koteshwara ? This is to plan the refuelling and also having something to eat.

Beyond Shimoga there is nothing.

d) How are the roads ? I would be driving my Verna and just worried about potholes after living in Bangalore

Pretty good roads all the way.

https://goo.gl/maps/6UJNgse6MK72

It shows an additional 35 KM but the time taken "on google maps" is 2 hours less and travelling is mostly through main highways.
OR
https://goo.gl/maps/FgHLLQW4kGF2
This route is from Shimoga to Honavar via Sagar and then to Shiroor

Harihar-Sagar is not good. Kargal SH to BHatkal is very desolate. Wont recommend. Good to stick to Agumbe option is what I would suggest.

[Cooltronics]

Originally Posted by ampere

Harihar-Sagar is not good. Kargal SH to BHatkal is very desolate. Wont recommend. Good to stick to Agumbe option is what I would suggest.

Thanks a lot Ampere once again for helping me out
I will take the Agumbe road as you have mentioned. I would be able to start only by 6 - 6:30ish. Any idea about the Chitradurga --> Shimoga --> Sagar --> Honnavar stretch which I can take while coming back ?

https://goo.gl/maps/FgHLLQW4kGF2

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Cooltronics

Thanks a lot Ampere once again for helping me out
I will take the Agumbe road as you have mentioned. I would be able to start only by 6 - 6:30ish. Any idea about the Chitradurga --> Shimoga --> Sagar --> Honnavar stretch which I can take while coming back ?

https://goo.gl/maps/FgHLLQW4kGF2

BLR-Chitradurga is about 220. Assume 4 hours max. Another one for Shimoga. So ideally, you should take about 5-5.5 for Banaglore-Shimoga invariant of the route your take.

In this case you enter Shimoga via NH13. So head towards the bus stand and ask for the Honnavar road. Near bus stand you have Royal Orchid as a good place for a hotel.

Add another 3 hours for Honnavar. Good roads till the ghats near Honnavar. Assume 50km/h as an average at best.


Beyond Honnavar, its another hour.

[Thilak29]

I took Shiradi route two days back, its in good shape for 99% of the part - except for some potholes, wedges and uneven parts. Scary thing I noticed is left over rocks/boulders on the edge of road (either by broke trucks or construction work) - this can cause catastrophes, especially during night driving. So watch out for them!

Originally Posted by Samurai

Yesterday I climbed up the Shiradi Ghat after a while, and noticed some unexpected behavior from the concrete surface.
Have others noticed this?

Oh I did! I was so clueless while I experienced that! Thank you for sharing the reason.

[prak_s]

Originally Posted by jasonblr

Folks - anyone who can help on this route with some advice please?

I have been checking the newspapers daily - there is no word / update yet on the Shiradi Ghat closure on 1st Jan 2016. Anyone who passed through recently, did you see any board in the route saying so?

I traveled on the 26th from Gundya->Sakleshpur and found the road to be in pretty good condition. Didn't see any notice boards indicating a closure.

[jasonblr]

Originally Posted by jasonblr

Folks - anyone who can help on this route with some advice please?

I have been checking the newspapers daily - there is no word / update yet on the Shiradi Ghat closure on 1st Jan 2016. Anyone who passed through recently, did you see any board in the route saying so?

Shiradi ghat is not closed - neither was there any notice saying it is going to be closed.

Took 7hrs with 1 hr break from Bangalore to Mangalore

[kshastry]

Can someone who have recently done, comment about road condition from Thirtahally to Agumbe and all the way to Udupi? I heard that Agumbe ghat is in pretty bad shape. My car (Honda City automatic) has very poor GC. I am concernd.

[hangover]

I happened to visit the Adigas on this route. This is the one about 15 km after kunigal. It's on the right side while going from Blr.

Underwhelming I must say. I went on Friday night. It was jam packed with customers.

The staff are indifferent. Possibly because they are overwhelmed with customers.

I'm easy to satisfy. I don't mind paying a bit extra for decent food.

I wouldn't want to pay anything for cold tomato soup and cold rotis. Hot daal is not of any use if rotis are cold.

I complained to the supplier. He said he'll inform the cook. I assumed that meant I'd get a replacement hot soup.

No. The cook is made aware. That's all.

I feel restaurants should stop people from entering itself once they are above serving capacity.

I drove ahead and had something at a CCD. At least their coffee was hot.

On the way back I saw this Adigas was still as crowded. I was glad their cook was a bit more knowledgeable after my visit.

Further up near kunigal chikkere is a huge railways construction. This is the new Hassan Blr route. I drove up and took a few pictures.

[Added_flavor]

Originally Posted by kshastry

Can someone who have recently done, comment about road condition from Thirtahally to Agumbe and all the way to Udupi? I heard that Agumbe ghat is in pretty bad shape. My car (Honda City automatic) has very poor GC. I am concernd.

Yes Agumbe ghat is in a pretty bad shape. But I believe, by taking it slow on the broken curves, it can be navigated, since it's not a very long stretch that's broken. Also, if you want to avoid Agumbe, the only option is to take Koppa - Sringeri - Karkala - Udupi, which is too long a detour.

[hangover]

I'm unable to attach multiple images via my phone.