[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

As somebody suggested, you can consider taking this risk - especially considering your sister's feedback. If you start early morning (4-5ish), you ought to be able to cover Kasargod - Mangalore by afternoon (off peak time) and at least Kundapura by early evening. That ought to be the worst stretch.

Also, there is no first hand information right now here about what lies between Kundapura and Bhatkal (North of Kollur) - that is / was the worst stretch, when I had done a research. At any rate, it would not be worser than KL roads.

I drove Ottapalam Mumbai last month,left Perinthalmana at 5am and was able to reach Mangalore only by 130pm and Kundapura by 5pm.From Kundapur all the way till Karwar is excellent and minimal traffic.No problems with this stretch.The problem stretch is between mangalore and kundapur due to the 4 laning of this stretch of nh17 and the maniac express buses that ply between kollur and mangalore.

Originally Posted by Sandy28

Like you suggested, I thought of turning on to NH63 from Hubli and going to Ankola and thereon move to Kerala on NH 17 and for the return journey take the bglore-hubli-pune route. But then after my talk with Ramky and going through the words of caution from fellow TBHPians, I am planning to stick to the pune-hubil-bglore-pallakad route. Especially considering the monsoon, I dont want to be in for a shock with wife and 2-yr old with me.

The only thing that nags me is that I will be taking the same route both ways. If only there was a solution to this!!!

How is NH4 in general? I know it is no compare to the konkan route, but will I still get some ghat sections to drive through and enjoy beautiful landscapes or is it a flat plain stretch of road?

No ghat stretches on NH4,except for the Khambatki & a small section at Thoppur on NH7.

If you do want a different route,you could do Pattambi-Perinthalmana-Nilambur-Gudalur-Gundulpet-Nanjagud-Mysore-Kengeri-NICE Road-Tumkur-NH4-Pune-Mumbai.You would get your heart's fill of ghat roads on the Vazhikadavu-Nilambur-Nadugani-Gudalur-Gundulpet section and pass through bandipur sections as well.

[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

I drove Ottapalam Mumbai last month,left Perinthalmana at 5am and was able to reach Mangalore only by 130pm and Kundapura by 5pm.From Kundapur all the way till Karwar is excellent and minimal traffic.No problems with this stretch.The problem stretch is between mangalore and kundapur due to the 4 laning of this stretch of nh17 and the maniac express buses that ply between kollur and mangalore.

how was the road after karwar till mumbai thru the goa and konkan sections? I am told that roads in maharashtra n goa are fine. the problem starts after crossing karwar (when going towards kerala). ur take on this?

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

how was the road after karwar till mumbai thru the goa and konkan sections? I am told that roads in maharashtra n goa are fine. the problem starts after crossing karwar (when going towards kerala). ur take on this?

I did not drive via konkan,instead I took nh63 via hubli-belgaum-pune to mumbai,so I wouldnt be able to comment on road conditions there.

Karwar to kundapur no problems.

Kundapur to all the way till kerala border is bad and again kerala roads are patched up at many places and very dense traffic.

If you are ready for a long drive then take the nh17,if it is a fast drive go via nh4-nh7 combo.

[Minardi]

Sandy, I urge you to take the Pune-Belgaum-Dharwad-Ankola-Kundapur-M'lore route.

NH17 from Panvel to Karwar should be seriously avoided when it is a part of a longer route. Too much of ghat section (not good for a 2-year old) and too stressful and accident prone. If you are the adventurous type try this route only when you go to Goa. In fact many people from Mumbai going to Goa now prefer the NH4 to NH17. Less than a month back I drove from Udupi to Kolhapur and back. The roads are excellent. The only problem area is the 95 km stretch between Kundapur and Mangalore. For this don't sacrifice the Kollur trip. Try and cover this stretch during daytime, and specially in the morning when you are fresh. Kalamboli-Belgaum is 5.5 hrs driving time, and Belgaum-Kundapur is also same. Stoppage time extra. I don't know anything about the Gujarat and Kerala roads

[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by Minardi

Sandy, I urge you to take the Pune-Belgaum-Dharwad-Ankola-Kundapur-M'lore route.

Less than a month back I drove from Udupi to Kolhapur and back. The roads are excellent. The only problem area is the 95 km stretch between Kundapur and Mangalore.

I don't know anything about the Gujarat and Kerala roads

Thanks Mirnardi. I presume you would have taken NH 63 from Ankola to Hubli. How was it? I hear that this stretch can get really messy during the rains.

[Minardi]

Yes. The Ankola-Hubli road is excellent. This stretch of 133 kms i covered in 113 mins.

Another option is take a short cut that would shave 13 kms. Drive 12.5 kms after the Dharwad toll and take the Kalghatgi road (SH1). This stretch of 21.5 kms replaces 15kms on NH4 and 19.5 kms on NH63. Remember the NH4 Dharwad-Hubli bypass is a 2-lane road without a divider. SH1 is a good idea if you are bored driving on the highways and want a change

Remember both the Kalghatgi right and NH63 right turns are actually left turns looping below the NH4 to the right.

[Sandy28]

Thank you every body for all the inputs on the routes. My trip is now slowly begining to take shape. Planning to start on 17th july early morning and end the day at Satara as suggested by Ramkya. 2 things - how is the mobile connectivity on the route especially after Pune? Also pl suggest good restaurants enroute. Hygenic place and clean rest rooms is what I am looking for.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

Thank you every body for all the inputs on the routes. My trip is now slowly begining to take shape. Planning to start on 17th july early morning and end the day at Satara as suggested by Ramkya. 2 things - how is the mobile connectivity on the route especially after Pune? Also pl suggest good restaurants enroute. Hygenic place and clean rest rooms is what I am looking for.

Mobile connectivity is not a problem,the entire route is covered.

NH63 is in excellent condition at the moment,barring a few rough patches at the hubli end.

After Pune,you really wouldnt need to stop because your night stop is at Satara.I would suggest that you stop at the second food court on the expressway,it has clean washrooms and a Kailash Parbat outlet,good food and a ccd outlet as well.

After that there are plenty of eating places on the pune bypass that connects you to nh4.

After satara,you have a couple of restaurants at kolhapur(opal),then there is a MCdie at Kolhapur,then a couple of good restaurants as you begin to ascend the tavandi ghat,once you get onto nh17,there are kamats at every 60-80 kms,so no problems with eating places.There is one at Ankola,then at kumta,then at murudeshwar there is RNS,then at honnavar,then kundapur you have the turtle bay resort if you intend to splurge.

Where are you planning to stay in satara?Mahendra Executive is a good place on the NH4 itself.

Hotel Mahendra Executive, Satara, Maharashtra, Hotel in Satara, Satara Hotel, NH4, Pune- Banglore Road

Inside the town,radhika palace is also ok.Expect nothing fancy just basic.Else if you find you are getting delayed getting in and out of pune,then stay at ginger in pune which is also on the nh4(on the mumbai bypass road) or at Pride Biznotel again on the bypass road.

[Sandy28]

What should be my target to end day 2? Ankola? Kundapura? Udupi? Accordingly, pl advice suitable hotel for night halt.

[Sandy28]

Sorry, I got my distances mixed up in the previous post. Even on a conservative estimate, and providing for the bad stretch between Kundapura to Mangalore, I guess I can target to reach Managlore by evening of day 2 and take a night halt there. Then I can aim to start early on day 3 to cover north Kerala and reach Calicut by around 11 am. What say friends?

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

What should be my target to end day 2? Ankola? Kundapura? Udupi? Accordingly, pl advice suitable hotel for night halt.

If you are planning to go to Kollur,then stay at Hotel Sharon in Kundapur on the NH17 itself.The problem with going to Kollur is that there are hardly any good stay options either in Kundapur or in Kollur.

If you are not going to Kollur,then I would say you can end your day 1 at Mangalore or if you can stretch it then at bekal.Hotel Bekal International is an option.The other more expensive option is the Lalit Resort at Bekal.I would say stretch it till Bekal as the next day you can afford to start after breakfast and still reach Pattambi for a late lunch.

Hotel Bekal International

Kerala Resort, Spa Hotel Kerala, Luxury Resorts in Kerala, Spa, Luxury Beach Resorts, Bekal, Kerala

Satara-Belgaum : 2hours
Belgaum-Hubli: 1hour
Hubli-Ankola: 2hours
Ankola-Kundapur: 3hours
Kundapur-Mangalore: 2-3hours
Mangalore-Bekal: 2hours

[Sandy28]

I was just going thru the google map to find out the route to Vavanoor from Calicut. There are 2 options. First, from Calicut I take NH 17 to Ramanatukara then turn to Angadipuram near Perintalmanna via Malapura on NH 213. Then I take the Valanchery-Nilambur Road and join NH 17 at Valanchery. Then Kuttipuram-Trikkanapuram-Kumbidi-Tirthala-Kootanad-Vavanoor. But this is a longer route and I dont know if it makes sense.

The other option is to take NH 17 upto Puthanatani and then onto Tirunavaya-Kalpakanchery road to Kuttipuram. Then go straight to Edapal and turn to Kootanad from NAduvatom. This is a very straight route.

I have no idea about the road condition, traffic condition etc on either of the routes. Which should I take to reach fastest?

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

I was just going thru the google map to find out the route to Vavanoor from Calicut. There are 2 options. First, from Calicut I take NH 17 to Ramanatukara then turn to Angadipuram near Perintalmanna via Malapura on NH 213. Then I take the Valanchery-Nilambur Road and join NH 17 at Valanchery. Then Kuttipuram-Trikkanapuram-Kumbidi-Tirthala-Kootanad-Vavanoor. But this is a longer route and I dont know if it makes sense.

The other option is to take NH 17 upto Puthanatani and then onto Tirunavaya-Kalpakanchery road to Kuttipuram. Then go straight to Edapal and turn to Kootanad from NAduvatom. This is a very straight route.

I have no idea about the road condition, traffic condition etc on either of the routes. Which should I take to reach fastest?

AFAIK, both seem to be wrong options.
Better route is to take NH-17 from Calicut upto Valanchery (means take right at Ramanattukara where incidentally NH 213 starts as the straighter road), then go straight to Koppam (NH-17 here@Valanchery takes a 90-degree right to Kuttippuram), then take right at Koppam towards Pattambi, then take Koottanad-Perumpilavu-Guruvayur road.

And for the sake of best and fastest road conditions, I suggest take Calicut-Valanchery-Kuttippuram-Perumpilavu road and then take left towards Koottanad/Pattambi at Perumpilavu. You then have to drive only about 10 kms on smaller roads. Quite possible to cover this in 2 to 2.5 hours as well.

[kala]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

I was just going thru the google map to find out the route to Vavanoor from Calicut. There are 2 options. First, from Calicut I take NH 17 to Ramanatukara then turn to Angadipuram near Perintalmanna via Malapura on NH 213. Then I take the Valanchery-Nilambur Road and join NH 17 at Valanchery. Then Kuttipuram-Trikkanapuram-Kumbidi-Tirthala-Kootanad-Vavanoor. But this is a longer route and I dont know if it makes sense.

The other option is to take NH 17 upto Puthanatani and then onto Tirunavaya-Kalpakanchery road to Kuttipuram. Then go straight to Edapal and turn to Kootanad from NAduvatom. This is a very straight route.

I have no idea about the road condition, traffic condition etc on either of the routes. Which should I take to reach fastest?

No point going via either Malappuram or Thirunavaya to get to Valanchery / Kuttippuram / Edappal from Calicut. NH-17 between Calicut and Edappal is in pretty good shape, and as far as traffic is concerned, I doubt it if any of the other routes will give you too much of advantage. So it'd probably be safest to follow NH17 throughought (Ramanattukara-Kottakkal-Valanchery-Kuttippuram-Edappal).

No idea about the best way to get to Vavanoor from Kuttippuram / Edappal as I've never travelled that route.

[ranjitp1]

Fully agree with Ajith & Kala,stick to NH17 and go via Valanchery-Kuttipuram-Perumpilavu,then onto Pattambi and onwards to vavannur.