The art of travelling between Bangalore - Mangalore/Udupi

[niranjanrvce]

Originally Posted by rohittunga

While coming back , I took another route which might help other people travelling to Udupi or thereabouts.

Udupi-Kota-Kokkarni-Mandarthi-Hebri-Agumbe-Sringeri-Aldur-Chikmagalur-Belur-Hassan-Bangalore

This stretch of roads is the only one which has survived the onslaught of Monsoons well. I could literally count the no. of pot holes and thats saying something.

I was in Udupi this weekend too and seriously considered the return route you took but was dissuaded by some locals saying Agumbe road is badly damaged.While in Udupi I had travelled to Hebri and the route till there seemed to add credence to this.
Ended up taking the Shiradi ghats again and since we were 5 people in a City, we scraped a few times no matter how slow I tried to maneuver.

[rohittunga]

Originally Posted by niranjanrvce

I was in Udupi this weekend too and seriously considered the return route you took but was dissuaded by some locals saying Agumbe road is badly damaged.While in Udupi I had travelled to Hebri and the route till there seemed to add credence to this.
Ended up taking the Shiradi ghats again and since we were 5 people in a City, we scraped a few times no matter how slow I tried to maneuver.

The Udupi-Hebri route is properly damaged. However this route that I have mentioned is much better.

I have a feeling that the Shiradi Ghats have reached a saturation point. I mean the roads just cannot get any worse than they are now.

[livyodream]

Originally Posted by RaguHolla

I think livyodream wants route guide from Bangalore to Kundapur covering these places.

I suggest you take Bangalore -> Hasan -> Sakleshpura -> Gundya -> Kukke -> Dharmastala-Ujjire-Guruvankere-Bajagole (before Karkala)-Sringeri (on NH13)-Agumbe - Someshwara -> Halady -> Basrur -> Kundapur route. Roads between Salkeshpura and Kukke are not in great shape, considering Shiradi still the widest road, you have better chance to navigate than any other route to Kukke.

Thats right, I need the route to reach sringeri from dharmasthala.
I tried to search Bajagole but not able to find.
Is this the route we are talking about ?



Where does Bajagole come in this route?
Also can this be done on a sedan/hatchback ?

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by livyodream

Thats right, I need the route to reach sringeri from dharmasthala.
I tried to search Bajagole but not able to find.
Is this the route we are talking about ?

Attachment 847126

Where does Bajagole come in this route?
Also can this be done on a sedan/hatchback ?

Yes, this is the route they are speaking about. Bajagoli is the place, where the road from karkala meets the road from belthangady. You can make it out on the map.

[prajwalkashyap]

I drove to Mangalore via Shiradi Ghats a couple of days ago and those 40 odd kms from Sakleshpur to Gundya were the worst roads I have ever driven on. I am driving back to BLR tmrw and I am in no mood to go through them again.

How are the roads through Puttur/Coorg/Kushalnagar now? Has anyone driven on them lately?

Prajwal

[nitzien123]

I took the Udupi-Hebri-Agumbe-Sringeri-Chikmagalur-(Belur rd)-Hassan-Bangalore route on Nov28 (onward was a couple of days back in the night).
As everyone knows, it was very less traffic and decent motorable roads both ways. In fact this was one drive we all truly enjoyed. Thankfully we avoided the Shiradi ghat.
Drove a 4 month old fiesta diesel - it took everything very comfortably (we were quite considerate towards our new car, didnt run it fast over potholes). Took about 8.5 hours with normal driving (~60-80kmph upto Hassan) and 120+ after that.
I would recommend this strongly till Shiradi ghat is fully restored.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by nitzien123

I took the Udupi-Hebri-Agumbe-Sringeri-Chikmagalur-(Belur rd)-Hassan-Bangalore route on Nov28 (onward was a couple of days back in the night).

You passed by my office by the way.

Originally Posted by nitzien123

As everyone knows, it was very less traffic and decent motorable roads both ways. In fact this was one drive we all truly enjoyed. Thankfully we avoided the Shiradi ghat.
Drove a 4 month old fiesta diesel - it took everything very comfortably (we were quite considerate towards our new car, didnt run it fast over potholes). Took about 8.5 hours with normal driving (~60-80kmph upto Hassan) and 120+ after that.
I would recommend this strongly till Shiradi ghat is fully restored.

Hmm, are you saying Agumbe-CKM route is fully fixed? This is good news, all the reports were very negative until last week.

[nitzien123]

Wouldn't really call it "fixed" but we didnt have to stop beside a crator (as in Shiradi ghat) and wonder how to get around it.
I saw works going on between Hiriadka-Hebri.
There are stretches you wouldn't consider to be "smooth" but they were within our tolerable limits - I have traveled on Shiradi many-a-time - so you will know what I mean
What I liked really was the we didnt really have to slow down to complete stops - had to come down to 20 at a few places and may be go at 30 and few places due to not-so-smooth roads, but largely it didnt hurt us nor the car.

[Samurai]

This week I shall drive via CKM then, been a while since I took that route. Time to taste the food at Planter's Court again.

[nitzien123]

Yeah we had our dinner there during BLR-UDP. Neat place - especially the AUdrey Hepburn area . It was my first time on that route. Enjoy the drive. What car are you driving and how many people?

[deepax]

We are planning to drive to Mangalore this Saturday, any particular route you guys would suggest? Reading the comments about Shiradi Ghat condition, we are not so confident of taking this route. My first preference is always Shiradi because of the familiarity. Will be travelling with a toddler so would be helpful if you guys suggest any other alternate route.

Thanks

[reswaran]

Originally Posted by nitzien123

Wouldn't really call it "fixed" but we didnt have to stop beside a crator (as in Shiradi ghat) and wonder how to get around it.
I saw works going on between Hiriadka-Hebri.
There are stretches you wouldn't consider to be "smooth" but they were within our tolerable limits - I have traveled on Shiradi many-a-time - so you will know what I mean
What I liked really was the we didnt really have to slow down to complete stops - had to come down to 20 at a few places and may be go at 30 and few places due to not-so-smooth roads, but largely it didnt hurt us nor the car.

The wife and I will be heading to Goa this weekend on a Classic 500. We're considering taking this route instead of the Hubli route.Any road safety concerns for a motorcycle trip along this way? We won't be doing any riding after dark..

[nitzien123]

Whoa! strict no-no for Shiradi as of now. That too with a toddler - you need uninterrupted drive. Even the Karkala route (my friend told me) was absolutely pathetic. Sorry for sounding like an eliminator but do you think going to Udupi via Chikmagalur->Srigneri and then going to Mangalore is very far? We found this route to be fine.

[nitzien123]

Bangalore to Goa - I would have thought the best route would be through Hubli. I think I read in Team-BHP forum that Udupi-Goa is bad. So unless you have a strong reason to avoid the Hubli route, I would recommend that... May be you can share why you wouldnt like to go via Hubli.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by deepax

We are planning to drive to Mangalore this Saturday, any particular route you guys would suggest? Reading the comments about Shiradi Ghat condition, we are not so confident of taking this route. My first preference is always Shiradi because of the familiarity. Will be travelling with a toddler so would be helpful if you guys suggest any other alternate route.

Thanks

I am afraid this is the better route compared to others. What are you planning to drive ?
Shiradi is still widest and fastest route to reach Mangalore.

I always get mixed feedback about shiradi. the regulars who have seen the state of the roads in 2008-2010 will surely feel its not as worse. but those who have taken this route recently or say 2005-2006 time might find it horrible.

Off topic: I drive on Bellandur-marath halli stretch of Outer ring road daily, trust me Shiradi is not worse than this stretch