[subbu567]

Originally Posted by livyodream

After hearing about bad road condition on the usual route (Shiradi, Charmadi), tried Chirtadurga- holalkere-Shimoga-Tirthalli-Agumbe-Hebri-Brahmavar-Manipal.

This route was much faster compared to the route I usually take ( Charmadi 2-3 times a year) even though the distance increases by ~30kms.

Hi, thank you for this suggestion. Planning to take this on the 3rd towards Manipal. Would you mind sharing the time taken and the start time please?

[binand]

Originally Posted by Koolkalmadi78

Any recommendation in terms of pit stop if I am starting from Bangalore by 5:00 AM?

5AM start should take you to Hotel Dhruvathare in good time - place should be open but not crowded.

[subbu567]

Originally Posted by subbu567

After hearing about bad road condition on the usual route (Shiradi, Charmadi), tried Chirtadurga- holalkere-Shimoga-Tirthalli-Agumbe-Hebri-Brahmavar-Manipal.
Hi, thank you for this suggestion. Planning to take this on the 3rd towards Manipal.

I just realized that part of the state(Shivamogga) is going in for polls on 7th and a few rallies are scheduled next couple of days(3rd-5th,May) so sticking with Shiradi ghat, will update on latest conditions.

[null]

Travelled back to Bangalore last evening. We need a new thread for "The art of travelling between Hassan and Bangalore" next.

The traffic is almost bumper to bumper at high speeds with people cutting across lanes from left and right in this narrow 2 lane highway. And, as we near Kunigal (75km to Bangalore), it just gets worse and horrible from the Kunigal toll.

Any alternate route to travel from Yediyur/Kunigal to Bangalore to beat this nonsense?

People used to travel through Magadi (just after Kunigal, turning right before the toll) earlier. How is this stretch now? Road quality? The chaos that prevailed after NICE road junction (towards the city) should have been minimized now because of the median now I assume?

Any other less known route? OK even if it takes another 10-15 mins extra as long as its comfortable.

[livyodream]

Originally Posted by subbu567

Hi, thank you for this suggestion. Planning to take this on the 3rd towards Manipal. Would you mind sharing the time taken and the start time please?

We left at 4:30AM. total travel time was 8hours including 45 minutes break in between.

Also, heard from someone that hebri to manipal road which was going through widening since a year is now complete.

PS: There is a diversion where one does not have to go to Shimogga town (which we clearly missed), do keep an eye on that.

[manjubp]

Originally Posted by null

Any alternate route to travel from Yediyur/Kunigal to Bangalore to beat this nonsense?

People used to travel through Magadi (just after Kunigal, turning right before the toll) earlier. How is this stretch now? Road quality? The chaos that prevailed after NICE road junction (towards the city) should have been minimized now because of the median now I assume?

Any other less known route? OK even if it takes another 10-15 mins extra as long as its comfortable.

Via Magadi, entry to Bangalore is nightmare. If you are somewhere in Bangalore West, it is okay. I would avoid going through Magadi, rather I would time my travel.

[subbu567]

Originally Posted by livyodream

We left at 4:30AM. total travel time was 8hours including 45 minutes break in between.

Thanks for the prompt response- I ended up taking the Shiradi ghat road, due to election rallies in and around Shimoga.

Time of departure from Hennur - 5 am
Arrival in Manipal - 12:15 pm
Breakfast at Adithi restaurant at Ananda wellness centre, Dharmasthala at ~950am.
Decent restrooms and simple food in a nice setting without much crowd.

Other than that took a couple of random breaks for Ice apples( lots of them, enroute!)

Nothing else to report on the route, few places have broken concrete sections on the ghat. Manageable by any type of car.

Planning to take Madikeri route back.

[subbu567]

Originally Posted by subbu567

Planning to take Madikeri route back.

Came back via Coorg:

DOJ :6/05/2024

Started from Manipal - 6 am
Reached Virajpet at -1020 am; Distance 235 kms
One convenience break in between.
Car : Jimny AT

Couple of breakfast joints around Sullia - but did not stop as were crowded
Roads were generally good- except for an ~ approximate 15 kms distance between BC road and Mani. one particular stretch underneath a long overbridge- is particularly bad with literally no tar and huge potholes. Since we were early we could cross in about 15 mins as there was sparse traffic. But this section has the potential for huge pileup's during peak hour/ holiday traffic.
Barring that it was breezy all the way - with nice windy roads and fantastic sceneries all the way. The stretch after we take the bye-pass near Madikeri towards Murnad/ Virajpet is narrow and requires patience and care.

Finished our work in Virajpet and left around 12 and reached home, Hennur via Nice road at 410 pm- There was a 10 mins congestion on the left turn towards Airport from Tumkur road and the ORR.

So this section is doable in about 8 hrs~ 460 kms. If the destination is south Bangalore will be faster by 45 mins or so.

A Note about eateries : There are many good options from Virajpet to Bangalore, we have had very good and consistent experience with Krishna vaibav on the right coming from Coorg side. There are many signboards starting from upto 20 kms in advance.
We had the worst of experiences with the Kasturi Nivas on MEW first exit( Just next to Halli Mane). Poor order intake, mix up of orders and delayed delivery.

Thanks to Binand, fellow traveller for his valuable inputs and to all forum members

[binand]

Originally Posted by subbu567

Couple of breakfast joints around Sullia - but did not stop as were crowded

I have had breakfast at this place a couple of times:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/4sEdMv7momYHLqSn7

Nothing great, just your basic idly/dosha + coffee. Nothing really bad either. Among the hundreds of Udupi hotels that you see on highways. Just that it is a rare one in the Mangalore-Madikeri highway.

[mm_shen]

Came back to Bangalore from Mangalore via Shiradi!

Was tiered due to the heat and long drives in the past five days. Thought of driving very slowly and not exceed 80 kmph.

Left Mangalore at 10 AM and reached 8th Mile at 7 PM. Had reached outskirts of Nelamangala at 5 PM. A huge bottle neck was created where Kunigal highway merged into Tumkur road. Lot of pilgrims from Dharmastala. Took me a good 1.5 hours to cross this stretch. Once onto Tumkur road, the traffic flowed even though it was crowded.

The roads were jammed between BC road to Kalladka due to the ongoing work. The bad patches upto Gundya were manageable. Ghats were also ok. Took Shakleshpur bypass and could traverse cross Skaleshpur in a jiffy. The bypass entry and exit is not clearly marked. I missed this road while going to Mangalore. Saw many cars move into Sakleshpur town while coming back to Bangalore.

Stopped for lunch right after Sakleshpur at a newly opened restaurant called ShivSurya. https://maps.app.goo.gl/AaFT4HoV9RAYLVu66. Decent place for food, clean washrooms for the ladies.

[livyodream]

Took Shiradi (Manipal-karkala-ujire-Dharmasthala-Nelyadi-Shiradi) after 5 years of relentless driving on all other possible routes.

Even though the route is rough, dusty, broken, patchy and filled with deviation and road construction work, it still was the fastest ever when it comes to time taken for me.

Left Manipal at 5am, was at Goraguntepalya at 11:50 with 10 minutes of break in between. Being a Monday, there was hardly any traffic though out which helped in keeping up the pace.

This route will work till monsoon sets in. Post that, will not recommend.

[binand]

I had driven to Manipal yesterday (12/5) via Shiradi. Some observations:

1. Hassan-Sakleshpur is now entirely dual carriageway, except for a small section (a hundred metres or so, maybe?) on Alur bypass. They are building a toll booth on this bypass. It looks like to be in the newer design for toll booths (not orthogonal but at an angle to the carriageway, no actual booths, only Fastag scanners).
2. Construction is in full swing and there are diversions galore on Hassan bypass.
3. I see people have taken the Sakleshpur bypass, but when we reached there the flyover was blocked off and the road going underneath had a necessary right turn into the town (the straight was cut off by some parked vehicles). Had to skip. At the far end also didn't notice access to be smooth.
4. Extensive construction work on about the first 30% of the Shiradi. Now we can make out how the widened road will look like. Last 70%, nothing happening.
5. Maybe I'm noticing this for the first time - many new restaurants in the Kunigal-Yediyur-Hirisave section. There's an MTR, other veg-only restaurants, and even some (American) fast food places.
6. Very painful drive from NH 75 turnoff to Ujire. Perhaps some event at Dharmasthala - it was resembling an average Kerala road in terms of traffic.
7. Crossing Belthangady was also painful. Next time, I'm going to drive till Uppinangady and skip both these sections altogether.

Totally took about 7.5 hours with a breakfast break at Dhruvathare.

[solobiker250]

Hei guys,

Just thought of sharing a quick update on the 3 day trip I did starting last Saturday on my Yamaha FZ250. Solo ride. Of course.

Long story short:

• If on bike, go via Malavalli for BLR-MYS
• Great roads till Madikeri.
• A friend who came back 3 days ago said there is some work happening just after Mani towards Mangalore
• Other friends who came by car said Sakleshpur - Shirady Ghat - Mani was painful. Too much work going on and lot of dust. They took the route back through Madikeri.

Long story:

Saturday: Bangalore - Kanakapura - Malavalli - Mysore - Hunsur - Kushalnagar - Madikeri. Amazing roads. Took this route because I read from other members that riding on service lane along mysore express highway would be very painful. (No rains). Started at 7:15am. Reached 12:45pm. 278kms

Sunday: Madikeri - Sullia - Puttur - Mani. 98kms. Went in the morning and came back in the afternoon. Again, great roads. Just one small diversion. No rains going forward. Heavy rains for almost about 45 mts while coming back. I still road through the rains as I had good protection.

Monday: Madikeri - Kushalnagar - Hunsur - Mysore - Malavalli - Kanakapura - Bangalore. Started at 7am. Heavy rains almost immediately as I started. Almost 1.5 hours. I rode through it again. Stopped just before I reached Hunsur. No rains thereafter. Reached by 1pm.

[karthikkv]

Originally Posted by karthikkv

I am planning to travel to Mangalore mid May in a hatchback. I'm planning to take the Hassan > Sakleshpur > Uppinangady > Mangalore. I heard the Sakleshpur bypass is open and there are very dusty bad patches post Gundya but I'm assuming this is still the shortest and the fastest route if we can bear with the dust and some bad patches. Please let me know if any of you guys have taken this route or if there are some alternatives which are faster. I'm planning to leave on a Saturday morning around 8 AM.

Update on this. Due to my bad knee I decided not to take my car. Instead took the KSRTC Airavat, with the rains, Sakleshpur to Mangalore route is a nightmare. Glad didn't go here on my hatch. Due to the rain and horrendous overtakes from some "enthusiastic drivers" blocking trucks caused long jams in the ghats. The bus left Mangalore bus stand at 3 PM and reached Majestic around 12:30 AM with just one stop for dinner at the infamous Surabhis Nx (Don't know why Airavats still make a stop there. Both the food and restrooms are really bad there)

[TorqueyTechie]

We (2 families) are traveling to Kundapura this weekend and were looking for help on :
1. Route option
2. Good restaurants (Clean restrooms mandatory)

Google shows 2 routes :
1. Bangalore - Kunigal - Chennarayapatna - Agumbe - Kundapura
2. Bangalore - Tumkur - Tiptur - Tirthahalli - Agumbe - Kundapura.

Based on road conditions, what would be the best option to pick? Please suggest