[SunnyBoi]

Originally Posted by narayans80

I'd have to return to Madras from Nanjangud starting like 10-11AM on a Monday. Which of the 3 would be the best in terms of time and traffic:

1. Nanjangud-Mysore-Bannur-Kanakpura-BLR-MAS
2. Nanjangud-Mysore-NH 275-BLR-MAS
3. Nanjangud-CR Nagar-Dimbam-Sathy-Bhavani-MAS

I think 1, but want to be sure.

Option 2 in my opinion. There will be less traffic on a monday afternoon plus you will have plenty of lunch options, there literally is none with option 1

[NPV]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Which of the 3 would be the best in terms of time and traffic.

Weekday mid morning drive, so routes 1 and 2 should be good. Route 1 does not have many options for food and rest breaks but route 2 has a ton of them
Assuming you're heading directly to Madras without a stopover inside Bengaluru, both these routes give you the ability to take the NICE road and reach Hosur road for the other leg of your journey.

[cs_rajesh]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

For a peaceful drive, today took the Mysore - Bannur - Malavalli - Kanakapura - Bangalore route and it was indeed peaceful. Good roads and almost no jams.
Mysore Columbia Asia Jn to NICE road Jn - 140 Kms/2.5 hours.

On the same evening (i.e. Oct 2), I took the regular mysore to bangalore route via Mandya - Maddur - Chennapatna - Ramnagaram. I have to mention with a completely contrasting note, that I met horrible traffic at every town we crossed and lost time and peace of mind. Started on Mysore ring road junction meeting the road from Hunsur at around 5 PM and reached Rajarajeswari Nagar at around 9:45 PM and reached home by 10:30 PM. I was not sure of the Bannur-Malavalli-Kanakapura-Bangalore roads, as I always imagine them to be narrow and roads under construction and improper road width at several junctions and therefore, had avoided taking that road and I was wrong.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by SunnyBoi

Option 2 in my opinion. There will be less traffic on a monday afternoon plus you will have plenty of lunch options, there literally is none with option 1

Originally Posted by NPV

Assuming you're heading directly to Madras without a stopover inside Bengaluru, both these routes give you the ability to take the NICE road and reach Hosur road for the other leg of your journey.

Yes I am directly heading to Madras without stopping inside BLR. What would be the realistic target via NH 275 to reach NICE Road Mysore exit, Attibele toll with a 11Am start at Nanjangud with an hour for lunch thrown in. Target is to get past E-City before Bangaloreans leave office

[NPV]

Originally Posted by narayans80

What would be the realistic target via NH 275 to reach NICE Road Mysore exit, Attibele toll with a 11Am start at Nanjangud with an hour for lunch thrown in. Target is to get past E-City before Bangaloreans leave office

My estimate:
Nanjanagud-Columbia Asia hospital (Mysore ring road signal) - 45 minutes to 1 hour. Suggest you take the right side turn off to ring road from the nanjanagud road itself near APMC (and about 2 km before the Palace)

Columbia Asia hospital-NICE road entry on Mysore road near Kengeri - 2.5 hours

Add time for your lunch break.

Even with a 1 hour lunch stop you can reach NICE road entry by 3:30pm worst case, so you can exit NICE road and reach Attibele toll easily by 4:30pm and traffic in that direction towards Hosur/Krishnagiri should be manageable/low. The other side is where most Bangalore traffic will be on Hosur road

[SunnyBoi]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Yes I am directly heading to Madras without stopping inside BLR. What would be the realistic target via NH 275 to reach NICE Road Mysore exit, Attibele toll with a 11Am start at Nanjangud with an hour for lunch thrown in. Target is to get past E-City before Bangaloreans leave office

30 mins to reach Mysore, 15 mins to cross ring road, average 2 hours 20 minutes to reach NICE junction and add an hour for lunch. Add another 20 mins to reach electronics city

My guess is you should reach around 3.30-3.45PM at NICE exit on hosur road.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by cs_rajesh

I was not sure of the Bannur-Malavalli-Kanakapura-Bangalore roads, as I always imagine them to be narrow and roads under construction and improper road width at several junctions and therefore, had avoided taking that road and I was wrong.

The same were my thoughts too until I took this road last time.
Most of the initial part of the stretch from Mysore is like the pic below. A few meter stretch in the towns are not in a very good shape, but then it is a breeze once you get out of these small towns. A relaxing drive if taken during day light. On the flip side, no good restaurants en route like the ample numbers you see on the highway.

[SunnyBoi]

NH209 while being an awesome drive in the day, Its a lot more stressful in the night. Few onths back I drove from Blore to Mysore late evening and I had too many incidents - enough for me to decide not to drive on this road at night.

An exception would be to take this road past 10PM when everyone has slept off. But if youre travelling before 10PM I'd advise you to avoid it.

Here are some "gems" I took out from my dashcam on my last night drive on this road. Dodging monster potholes, idiotic KSRTC buses, clueless villages et all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2Pxps_KwI4

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by SunnyBoi

Here are some "gems" I took out from my dashcam on my last night drive on this road

If that 2 wheeler rider who did a doughnut without his headlights and tail, takes your advice on turning on his headlight and getting that darn tail lamp fixed, it would be a gem of an advice that he would have ever taken all his life .

And that laugh for the obvious stunt was the highlight!!!

On a serious note, this road during evenings is indeed risky for all sorts of traffic - and pedestrians too, returning from farms and wine shops (now banned). Post 8 you will have to bear the high beam monsters who would pounce on you.

Nevertheless, I feel this stress is at times better than spending hours crossing Mandya and other towns?

[SunnyBoi]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Nevertheless, I feel this stress is at times better than spending hours crossing Mandya and other towns?

Did you mean driving in the night? I'll still stick to NH275. Recently all my day drives are on 209 and night drives on 275. I make sure I start around 8.30 or 9PM. By the time I reach Ramnagara, all the signals would be off and very little traffic. Mandya will be a proper ghost town at 11.

Last week, I started at 8.30 from home but entered NICE road link road only at 9.45. Still I was home in Mysore at 11.45 despite a 10 minute stop to check out an accident that happened on the way. 90 out of 120 minutes of highway driving was in heavy rain. I just can't imagine myself driving on NH209 in rain.

[PAS]

Originally Posted by SunnyBoi

...
Here are some "gems" I took out from my dashcam on my last night drive on this road. Dodging monster potholes, idiotic KSRTC buses, clueless villages et all.

I guess, I wont be travelling on that road again, at least unless really necessary.

Wow that road seems so smooth now. I had been on that road two years back and it was one hell of a drive. Had started around 9:30 in morning from EC and just after crossing few villages realized that road was full of drunk morons on TVS XL's. Add to it the sheer number of fresh accidents sighted on that particular day. My Sister, BIL, Wife everyone were absolutely stressed till we reached Mysore.

Why i chose that route, i don't know . I guess the whole trip was goofed up, on return we were supposed to pick Shivmogga road from Pandavpura however ended up on driving several KM's on SH150A which secluded but horrible shape.

[SunnyBoi]

It seems NH209 between Bangalore and Kanakpura got badly flooded with 4-5 feet of water on the highway. The road has been closed for now. Saw the news and images on local Kannada news channels.

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by SunnyBoi

It seems NH209 between Bangalore and Kanakpura got badly flooded with 4-5 feet of water on the highway. The road has been closed for now. Saw the news and images on local Kannada news channels.

My ex colleague passed this spot at 8 AM. There was 3 feet water then and only buses were being allowed across. The exact location is between the BWSSB station and the tank bund after Harohalli.

[balenoed_]

Are there any good restaurants on Kanakapura road?

[PAS]

couple of years back, I do remember passing by quite a few restaurants including CCD and MTR, however they were very close towards nice road exit/entry. For sure, nothing after around 30/40 kms once you enter the SH from NICE Road.