[sada]

Help required to plan a 3-day trip (16-18th Nov) to Sringeri and Horanadu - planning to start from Bangalore by 6-6:30 am on the 16th with wife and 6-year-old daughter in an Alto. Suggestion on the best route (shortest and good road condition) would be of great help. Also, which place should we be visiting first so that we don't add up unnecessary additional kilometers? Sringeri or Horanadu? The route to be taken between these places? Any other nearby places that we can visit while staying in these places?

Regards,
Sada

[NPV]

Originally Posted by sada

Help required to plan a 3-day trip (16-18th Nov) to Sringeri and Horanadu...

Where are you planning to stay ? I think Tirthahalli is a good option - you can try Kolavara Heritage or Bannaki homestay.

You can do Bangalore-Tumkur-Arsikere-Shimoga-Tirthahalli
OR
Bangalore-Chitradurga-Channagiri-Holehonnur-Shimoga-Tirthahalli

Try to leave by 5am, will be better.

For Sringeri - you can do Tirthahalli-Koppa-Sringeri and get back to Tirthahalli for the overnight stay.

After visiting the Sringeri temple, you can visit Kigga temple, Sirimane falls and then take the Sringeri-Agumbe road, turn off at Hosa Gaddhe village to catch sunset at Kundadri Hill and head back to Tirthahalli. Avoid Sunset point at Agumbe, crowded, too many hawkers and finding parking is difficult.

Visit Horanadu on the way back to Bangalore.
Tirthahalli-Kalasa-visit Kalaseshwara temple-visit Annapoorneshwari Temple at Horanadu. Return to Bangalore via Hassan.

One evening/morning, from Tirthahalli, you can also visit Kuppali (Kuvempu's home/museum) and Sibbalagudde by the Tunga backwaters.

An earlier post with the routes I took - here

[ampere]

Originally Posted by sada

Help required to plan a 3-day trip (16-18th Nov) to Sringeri and Horanadu - planning to start from Bangalore by 6-6:30 am on the 16th with wife and 6-year-old daughter in an Alto.

Originally Posted by NPV

Where are you planning to stay ? I think Tirthahalli is a good option - you can try Kolavara Heritage or Bannaki homestay.

If its only about visiting the temples, then Thirthahalli does not make sense. Drive down to Kalasa/Horandau on day one stay and there for the night. You can visit the temples the same day or early next morning day two and head to Sringeri. Stay in Sringeri on Day 2. Have a darshan on day 2 evening and if you want even, early morning day 3. Then drive back home.

Bangalore-Hassan-Belur-Mudigere-Kottigehara-Kalasa/Horanadu
Horanadu-Magundi (can bypass Kalasa) - Balehonnur - Jayapura- Sringeri
Sringeri - Jayapura - Balehonnur - Aldur - Chikkamagulur - Belur - Hassan - BLR

[prashkul]

Hi all,

I'm planning to do a pilgrimage to the following temples. Please advise best routes, optimum itinerary (least duration), stay & food options.

Listing the places in no particular order, just that Bangalore is the starting and end point.

Bangalore, Sringeri, Horanadu, Kollur, Kumbhasi/Anegudde, Kateel, Udupi.

TIA!

[roamingrao]

On a roundtrip to Sringeri and Thirthahalli ( from Bengaluru ) last weekend, we decided to skip the Aldur route and drove Bengaluru - Hassan - Belur - Kottigehara - Magundi - Balehonnur - Sringeri - Thirthahalli - Shimoga - Arsikere - Channarayapatna - Bengaluru. 10 kms more than Aldur route.

Bengaluru to Kottigehara : good

There is no respite from bad roads on the Kottigehara - Magundi stretch too. A stretch of 17 kms from Balur ( turnoff towards Kelagur estate / Kalasa ) to Magundi is very rough and slow. After a break in Belur at 7.30am, we were in Sringeri at 11am.

Sringeri - Hosagadde - Thirthahalli : very good

Thirthahalli - Shimoga - Arsikere - Channarayapatna - Bengaluru : a 6 hour excellent drive.

[gearedup]

Hi, Am planning to travel Bengaluru-Chikmagalur-Sringeri-Udupi shortly.
Seek guidance if my Zen without power steering would be able to handle the ghat section in Chikmagalur-Balehonnur-Sringeri-Agumbe-Udupi route.

I have never driven in this route but during my trips I remember the cab or bus driver needing to constantly engage on the steering and change gears at the same time.

(I have fairly new Bridgestones and do not feel the need for PS in Bengaluru, but my worry is that the above route could be a different cup of tea)

[Maverick79]

Folks,
I am planning for a trip to Sringeri from Bangalore with 7 people (including 4 senior citizens and on 1.5 year old).
Planning to drive a Zoom Car Scorpio.

Please update with the latest road conditions and route options.

Planning to start around 2:00 pm on a Friday(2nd Oct) and reach there by 8:00 pm
Is that possible in this 300 Kms stretch?

Thanks in advance.


Regards,
Maverick79

[cool_dube]

Anyone done this stretch recently? How are the road conditions b/w Chikkamagaluru and Sringeri via Aldur - Balehonnur - Jayapura?

[jasonbourne]

First of all thanks a lot for all the contributors for making such an informative thread on this route. Going through this thread was really helpful to decide on the routes.

I am planning to go to Sringeri tomorrow morning; starting from Bangalore at 4 AM. After going through this thread and a lot of other threads I have decided to take the following route both ways.

Bangalore - Hassan - Belur - Chikkamagulur - Aldur - Balehonnur - Jayapura - Sringeri

Can someone, who has travelled this stretch recently, tell me what is the condition of the roads and how long will it take to reach Sringeri from Bangalore?

I am also thinking about going to Horanadu if time permits through the below stretch suggested by Google maps. Is this route fine to take?

[NPV]

Originally Posted by jasonbourne

Can someone, who has travelled this stretch recently, tell me what is the condition of the roads and how long will it take to reach Sringeri from Bangalore?

I am also thinking about going to Horanadu if time permits through the below stretch suggested by Google maps. Is this route fine to take?

Where are you planning to stay ? I would say decide the route based on this as and how many days in all you have for the trip.
On an earlier trip, we stayed at Tirthahalli, so Day 1 was easy and we reached Tirthahalli by noon after visiting Gajanur Dam and Sakrebyle Elephant camp on the way.
Day 2 - day trip to Sringeri, visited Sirimane falls, then Kundadri hill and back to Tirthahalli.
Day 3 - day trip to visit Kollur Mookambika and returned to Tirthahalli.
Day 4 - returned to Bangalore from Tirthahalli, visited Horandu on the way.

Details of trip in this post - here

[jasonbourne]

It's a quick trip and We are planning to come back to Bangalore on the same day. We don't have any plans other than singeri. We are going there to receive blessings from our guru since I will be traveling abroad shortly. We will rest a little while in the accommodation provided by the Sharadha Peedam opposite to the temple and start our journey back by 4 PM.

[The Adventurer]

Does Siremani falls have any water during first week of Dec?

I was there a few months back it was was fabulous!

[NPV]

Originally Posted by jasonbourne

It's a quick trip and We are planning to come back to Bangalore on the same day. We don't have any plans other than singeri. We are going there to receive blessings from our guru since I will be traveling abroad shortly. We will rest a little while in the accommodation provided by the Sharadha Peedam opposite to the temple and start our journey back by 4 PM.

It will be very tiring to do a day trip from Bangalore and start your return by 4pm! Also, there's no way you will be able to include a visit to Horanadu with this schedule.
Your best bet is to start early from Bangalore by 4am at least. If possible on the way back, try to stay overnight at Chikmagalur/Belur or Hassan, else it will be too tiring.

Originally Posted by The Adventurer

Does Siremani falls have any water during first week of Dec?

I was there a few months back it was was fabulous!

We visited in December 2013 and it had good amount of water for kids to play around, not too much or too heavy.

[jasonbourne]

Originally Posted by NPV

It will be very tiring to do a day trip from Bangalore and start your return by 4pm! Also, there's no way you will be able to include a visit to Horanadu with this schedule.
Your best bet is to start early from Bangalore by 4am at least. If possible on the way back, try to stay overnight at Chikmagalur/Belur or Hassan, else it will be too tiring.

Yes it would be but, I am on a tight schedule. I will be taking some rest from 12PM till 4 PM before starting the return journey. Mostly I would skip Horanadu. If I do go to Horanadu, I will stay the night.

[jasonbourne]

Successfully complete the trip to Sringeri. Started from Bangalore at 4:10 AM and reached Sringeri at 10:30 AM with a 30 minute break for breakfast at Chikmagaluru in Mayura Hotel Veg Food. Food was served hot and was decent enough. People planning to have a pit stop at Chikmagaluru enroute to Sringeri can have good food at this place.

The whole route till Sringeri was really good with lots of stretches already being re-laid. Almost 99% of the roads were in very good shape. Loved the mountain stretch from Chikmagaluru till Sringeri. The curvy roads were an absolute treat to drive.

Had a very good darshan. After the darshan and Lunch, took a room at the Matam’s Accommodation complex and slept well for 2 hrs. That rest rejuvenated me a lot and we started our return journey at 4:30 PM after a cup of coffee and Hot Chilly Bhaji available at a shop in the parking lot. Surprisingly the Chilly bhaji was really good! 

On our way back we missed a turn at Aldur and immediately google re-routed us directly to Belur through a state road instead of going via Chikmagaluru. We never released that we were re-routed till 10 mins into the new route. I somehow suspected it was not the right route and enquired a local, who told me to take the NH173 to go via Chikmagaluru. Thanks a million for that guy! Our luck was so bad that; we missing our route, lights starting to fail and torrential rainfall, all three happened at the same time. Even though I was confident that I was going in the right direction the other occupants of the car had their hearts in their mouths till we reached Chikmagaluru with me driving in the rain. Finished our dinner at A2B 32 KMs after Hassan and reached home at 11:30 PM.

Highlight of the journey were the mountain roads. Simply amazing to drive in them. We had to skip Horanadu since I needed some rest to drive back.

Total Distance Travelled: 757 Kms
Mileage for the Whole trip: 17.6
Onward Journey: 4:10 AM – 10:30 AM (with 30 mins breakfast break)
Return Journey: 4:30 PM – 11:30 PM (with 40 Mins Dinner break and an additional 10 Km to find our way back)

Route taken :
Bangalore - Hassan - Belur - Chikkamagulur - Aldur - Balehonnur - Jayapura - Sringeri