[mobike008]

Being a cold weather lover, each year in December I usually plan a trip to North. But, having done north consecutively for last 4 years decided a short vacation down south this time.

We plan to head to Coorg as we have never been there and just because we are nearby want to do Ooty as well apart from spending a day in Mysore.

So the entire trip looks something like this :-

Hyderabad-Bangalore-Mysore-Coorg-Ooty-Bangalore-Hyderabad

Tentative dates finalized between Dec 17-Dec 25th with below itenary:-

Dec 17 : Spend the night in Mysore
Dec 18: Coorg
Dec 19 : Coorg
Dec 20: Coorg
Dec 21: Coorg-Ooty
Dec 22 : Ooty
Dec 23 : Ooty
Dec 24 : Bangalore
Dec 25: Hyderabad

Have driven Hyderabad-Bangalore which is a breeze and can be covered in 6 hours. Would need inputs from beyond that point.

1. Route info from Bangalore-Mysore and also how to bypass Bangalore to
get on Mysore highway.

2. Tentative driving time from outskirts of Bangalore to Mysore

3. Mysore to Madikeri Info and road conditions

4. Madikeri to Ooty Route Info and road conditions

5. Does it make sense to go to Coorg first and then Ooty or should it be
vice-versa?

6. Never went to Ooty nor coorg by road. Though have been to ooty a
couple times in past but, never to Coorg. Any pointers on road
conditions, tips, tricks and advice would be welcome

7. Any suggestions on any other nearby places to check-out would also
be welcome

Cheers
Mobike008

[prabingade]

See the below thread on how to bypass Bangalore. I had taken the bypass route around 2 months back and strongly suggest taking it.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...est-route.html

[vu2pmc]

hi,

Mysore to ootty is about 125 kms via gundlupet, thoppekkad, masinagudi, kalhatti ghats and the roads are good and scenic. You could cover the distance in about 3 hours. However I would suggest do the bandipur mudumalai stretch slowly looking out for some wild life. it is worth strolling down that bit. You can consider visiting the fernhill palace in ootty for a coffee, and even doddapettai. A drive from ootty to kottagiri to coonnor and calling on the hillgrove railway station may be considered if you have any fancy in steam locomotives. Please be advised that the station and the steam locomotive is now a UNESCO heritage site.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Hyderabad-Bangalore-Mysore-Coorg-Ooty-Bangalore-Hyderabad

Tentative dates finalized between Dec 17-Dec 25th with below itenary:-

Dec 17 : Spend the night in Mysore
Dec 18: Coorg
Dec 19 : Coorg
Dec 20: Coorg
Dec 21: Coorg-Ooty
Dec 22 : Ooty
Dec 23 : Ooty
Dec 24 : Bangalore
Dec 25: Hyderabad

1. Route info from Bangalore-Mysore and also how to bypass Bangalore to
get on Mysore highway.

2. Tentative driving time from outskirts of Bangalore to Mysore

3. Mysore to Madikeri Info and road conditions

4. Madikeri to Ooty Route Info and road conditions

5. Does it make sense to go to Coorg first and then Ooty or should it be
vice-versa?

6. Never went to Ooty nor coorg by road. Though have been to ooty a
couple times in past but, never to Coorg. Any pointers on road
conditions, tips, tricks and advice would be welcome

7. Any suggestions on any other nearby places to check-out would also
be welcome

Looks like its going to be a coldd December for you.

Hyd-Bangalore is your standard route.

From Devanahalli on NH7,take a right towards Dodballapur(arrows are marked as Dobbespet.Doddaballapur comes before Dobbespet.From Dodballapur,take the road to Nelamangala.At Nelamangala take a left and you are now on NH4 towards Bangalore.Be careful to read the signs and take the NICE road exit towards Mysore.The NICE road would drop you off at Kengeri.Again on NICE road,be sure to look for the Mysore exit,else you would do just keep going on till Hosur!

Kengeri-Mysore is a 4 laned highway.Traffic would be high and dense,but its fun driving.The highway is one long and big foodcourt,with upteen options to eat.Mcdonalds,kamats,KFC,you name it and they have it there.From Devanahalli to Kengeri should take you around 2 hours and from Kengeri to Mysore should take you another 2-2.5hours.My reccomendation to stop would be at Kadambam restaurant onto your left.

If you leave Bangalore by 4am,you would be at Devanahalli by 10am.Kengeri by 12pm.Mysore by 2-3pm.

From mysore,depending on where you are staying,ask for the Hunsur road.Mysore to Madikeri would take you around 3 hours.Bear in mind,the whole of Coorg is one expensive place to stay in and professionally run hotels are non-existent.Most of them are home stays and coffee estate stays.The best there is Mahindra & Orange County.

Madikeri to Ooty is another 4-5hour drive.I would suggest that you retrace your path to Mysore and then get onto the Ooty road simply for better road conditions.

Enroute,you could stop at CCD Gundulpet,nice place to stop just before you enter the Bandipur WLS.

At Bandipur,if you are interested they have a couple of elephant safaris happening.

Continue on the road towards Ooty till you reach Thepekkadu.At Theppekadu you have either the option of taking the shorter route to Ooty via Masinagudi.The only flip side to this is that you would have to drive the steep 36 hair pins,its a real test.Else from Thepekadu,you go straight towards Gudalur and from thereon to Ooty.This is the longer route.

At Ooty,dont forget to head out to Coonoor,take the toy train trip to Coonoor.Coonoor is much more peaceful and less commercialised as opposed to Ooty.

My reccomendation for stay at Ooty would no doubt be at Sherlock.Easily one of the best places to stay,the location would blow your mind away!

From Ooty,same way back to Bangalore.7-8 hour drive to Bangalore.The other way to do it would be to stay in Mysore while coming back.Go around Mysore,palace,Brindavan gardens etc.Leave Ooty in the morning to reach Mysore for an early lunch.Reason for this suggestion is because you would hardly have any time to go around Mysore while going towards coorg(fatigue and tiredness after a long drive).

Mysore-Hyderabad easily done in 12-13 hours.

PS:if you want pictures of Sherlock,take a look at this TL http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...-tn-ka-ap.html

Devanahalli-Nelamangala-Kengeri(bypass directions)

http://maps.google.co.in/maps?saddr=...m&z=11&vpsrc=6

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Looks like its going to be a coldd December for you.

Hyd-Bangalore is your standard route.

From Devanahalli on NH7,take a right towards Dodballapur(arrows are marked as Dobbespet.Doddaballapur comes before Dobbespet.From Dodballapur,take the road to Nelamangala.At Nelamangala take a left and you are now on NH4 towards Bangalore.Be careful to read the signs and take the NICE road exit towards Mysore.The NICE road would drop you off at Kengeri.Again on NICE road,be sure to look for the Mysore exit,else you would do just keep going on till Hosur!

That's what I call a feedback. Covering every inch of the way

Excellent details and your suggestion makes absolute sense. Based on which I have revised the plan like this :-

Dec 17 : Coorg (Hyderabad-Madikeri)
Dec 18: Coorg
Dec 19 : Coorg
Dec 20: Ooty (Coorg-Ooty Drive)
Dec 21: Ooty
Dec 22 : Ooty
Dec 23 : Ooty
Dec 24 : Mysore ( Ooty-Mysore)
Dec 25: Mysore-Hyderabad

So basically, its 3 Nights Coorg, 4 Nights Ooty, 1 Night Mysore.

Will hone on to the driving route once the actual plan is confirmed. Now my query? Compared between Coorg and Ooty which place deserves 4 nights?

Thanks again !!!

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by mobike008

That's what I call a feedback. Covering every inch of the way

Excellent details and your suggestion makes absolute sense. Based on which I have revised the plan like this :-

Dec 17 : Coorg (Hyderabad-Madikeri)
Dec 18: Coorg
Dec 19 : Coorg
Dec 20: Ooty (Coorg-Ooty Drive)
Dec 21: Ooty
Dec 22 : Ooty
Dec 23 : Ooty
Dec 24 : Mysore ( Ooty-Mysore)
Dec 25: Mysore-Hyderabad

So basically, its 3 Nights Coorg, 4 Nights Ooty, 1 Night Mysore.

Will hone on to the driving route once the actual plan is confirmed. Now my query? Compared between Coorg and Ooty which place deserves 4 nights?

Thanks again !!!

For me its Ooty,any day.The place,the weather and the people mesmerize me.Sherlock adds to the attraction.No offence meant to all the Coorgis and Coorg fans

[ampere]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Compared between Coorg and Ooty which place deserves 4 nights?

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

For me its Ooty,any day.The place,the weather and the people mesmerize me.Sherlock adds to the attraction.No offence meant to all the Coorgis and Coorg fans

Ranjit has covered every thing to the last detail. Few more to add:

1. Devanahalli-Doddaballapur-Nelamangala is not all that great. But during daytime drive, is very good to by-pass Bangalore.
This especially very useful nowadays as the whole of NH7 from Hebbal to Bangalore Airport is dug-up for the elevated road construction.
Doddaballapur-Nelamangala SH ends right where Hassan NH (NH48) branches off from NH4.

2. The other best place at Coorg is Kadkani resort. (A 5 star property) Home
Mysore-Coorg highway has a cafe called Cafe Coorg at Hunsur (looks very much like CCD)

3. Best break-up for Ooty.
- 1 Day for Ooty-Connoor train drive and Conoor sight seeting
- 1 Day for Ooty Sight seeing
- 1 Day for Emerald/Avalanche lakes
- Last but not least 1/2 day (second half of the day when you arrive) to laze around Sherlock
- Few snaps of Sherlock which I had posted sometime back Link

4. You can book the Ooty-conoor train ticket via IRCTC. Good to book the first class tickets in advance,
On the day of the train journey, you can engage a cab. Ask him to drop at Ooty station in the morning (take the morning ride)
and wait at Conoor to pick you up. Then with that same cab go around Conoor and come back.

[vu2pmc]

4. You can book the Ooty-conoor train ticket via IRCTC. Good to book the first class tickets in advance,

May I suggest that the ootty to coonoor or coonoor to Ootty is a diesel engine. It is coonoor Mettupalayam or the reverse which is the steam loco. You can even get down to Hillgrove station ( this is after coonoor) and walk down to the highway. ( it is steel descent. Not recommended if you have kids with you) The point where come down to the road, you have a nice eco resort called Kurumba Village, where you can probably call in for a good meal.

[MCR]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Hyderabad-Bangalore-Mysore-Coorg-Ooty-Bangalore-Hyderabad

Hi mobike,
Welcome to Mysuru!

You can deviate towards Hosur near Hebbal fly-over. Later take the NICE road till Kengeri. Follow the sign boards on the roads or Map My India version 6.0 Maps!

The road from Bangalore to Mysore is a four lane state highway. Watch out for humps and two wheelers though.

The road from Mysore to Coorg is also in a fantastic shape. However, its four lane till Bilikere. Afterwards its a wide two lane state highway.

Coorg to ooty, you have two options, one go via Mysore again else come back till Hunsur from Coorg and deviate towards Begur, near Gundlupet.

http://maps.google.co.in/maps?saddr=...via=1&t=m&z=11

However, I am not aware of the road condition from Hunsur till Begur!

You can look at the following tousrist hotspots in Mysore and Coorg.

Mysore:
1. Mysore Palace
2. Zoo
3. KRS
4. Srirangapatna
5. Bird Sanctuary

Coorg:
1. Abbe Falls
2. Raja Seat
3. Tala cauvery
4. Kaveri Nisarga dhama.
5. Bylukuppe.

[himavanth_m]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

If you leave Bangalore by 4am,you would be at Devanahalli by 10am.Kengeri by 12pm.Mysore by 2-3pm.

Did you mean leave Hyderabad by 4 am? Bangalore Mysore should hardly take 4 hours.

Originally Posted by mobike008

Will hone on to the driving route once the actual plan is confirmed. Now my query? Compared between Coorg and Ooty which place deserves 4 nights?

Depends on your interests really. If you want to do trekking, you can stay 4 days at Coorg and trek to Thadiyandamol peak. The highest peak in Coorg district. Otherwise, 4 days at Ooty is a better choice.

Originally Posted by ampere

Mysore-Coorg highway has a cafe called Cafe Coorg at Hunsur (looks very much like CCD)

yes I have stopped here just to check out and the coffee here is not great at all (I expected the coffee to be excellent considering its proximity to Coorg). However, other food items are good, but I felt just it is a tad overpriced. If one sits outside, there are a lot of flies. But I must say, this is the best option on the way between Mysore and Madikeri

Originally Posted by MCR

The road from Bangalore to Mysore is a four lane state highway. Watch out for humps and two wheelers though.
You can look at the following tousrist hotspots in Mysore and Coorg.
Mysore:
1. Mysore Palace
2. Zoo
3. KRS
4. Srirangapatna
5. Bird Sanctuary

Coorg:
1. Abbe Falls
2. Raja Seat
3. Tala cauvery
4. Kaveri Nisarga dhama.
5. Bylukuppe.

Just to add, there is Channapatna (between Mysore and Bangalore route) - toy city where you can buy good wooden toys. I loved this place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channapatna_toys

One more suggestion is on the way to madikeri (After crossing Mysore), do check out KushalNagar (Tibetan settlement). You can spend couple of hours here and then proceed towards Madikeri. KushanNagar is a must visit place.
My travelogue to this place:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...an-temple.html

Also in this travelogue, you can see a glimpse of how beautiful the road between Mysore and Madikeri is. (most of it is good)

Also if you have additional 30 minutes on the way, stop at Nisargadama (5 kms from KushalNagar).

More places like TalaCauvery, Bhagamandala etc are must visit places when you spend time at Coorg.

[NoRules]

Originally Posted by himavanth_m

One more suggestion is on the way to madikeri (After crossing Mysore), do check out KushalNagar (Tibetan settlement). You can spend couple of hours here and then proceed towards Madikeri. KushanNagar is a must visit place.
More places like TalaCauvery, Bhagamandala etc are must visit places when you spend time at Coorg.

Avi,

Spend sometime at the monastery. There is this shopping complex on the other side of the road, near parking lot. I am sure your wife will love shopping there. Nothing expensive but I remember my wife being angry with me for not giving her enough time to shop.

The dirve to Tala Cauvery is a must. Roll down your windows and take in all the scenery. And do try the Coorg Pork. It is just awesome.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by NoRules

And do try the Coorg Pork. It is just awesome.

Yes the Pandi curry is a must try thing.Also a little of trivia,people from coorg are excellent hockey players and at any given point of time the Indian team has atleast 4 to 5 players from the coorg region.Almost every estate has a team of their own.Also coorg region has a very high percentage of luxury cars thanks to the coffee estate owners.Language is a smattering of malayalam and kannada rolled into one!A coorgi wedding is quite an affair.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by NoRules

Avi,

Spend sometime at the monastery. There is this shopping complex on the other side of the road, near parking lot. I am sure your wife will love shopping there. Nothing expensive but I remember my wife being angry with me for not giving her enough time to shop.

The dirve to Tala Cauvery is a must. Roll down your windows and take in all the scenery. And do try the Coorg Pork. It is just awesome.

Thanks for the tips, will surely try all of them except that I dont eat pork,beef or any other "exotic" meat

Thanks to all of you, my route is pretty much finalized and it looks something like this :-

Leg 1

Hyderabad-Bangalore-Mysore-Madikeri ( 845kms)

Hyderabad to Bangalore : 580kms
Bangalore to Mysore : 145kms
Mysore to Madikeri : 120kms

Leg 2

Madikeri-Hunsur-Mysore-Begur-Gundulpet-Bandipur (WLS)-Masinagudi-Ooty (250kms)

Leg 3

Stop for day & night in Mysore for sightseeing on return

Ooty-Masinagudi-Bandipur (WLS)-Begur-Mysore (130kms)

Leg 4

Mysore-Bangalore-Hyderabad (725kms)

Mysore to Bangalore : 145kms
Bangalore to Hyderabad : 580kms

Does above sound reasonable? My plan was to break-up the journeys as I didnt want to drive too much continously and focus more on the actual holiday and relaxation.

Is it safe to assume that Mysore to Ooty road via. Bandipur WLS will be through some thick forest and high chances of animals spotting? Also, even though i will be crossing it during day time, hope its safe and the roads are in good condition? Can anyone throw some light on these points?

I expect the total trip to be roughly 2500kms

[NoRules]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Is it safe to assume that Mysore to Ooty road via. Bandipur WLS will be through some thick forest and high chances of animals spotting? Also, even though i will be crossing it during day time, hope its safe and the roads are in good condition? Can anyone throw some light on these points?

I expect the total trip to be roughly 2500kms

I was there 3-4 years ago and the road was pretty good. I am not sure whether you will spot any animals. We took the so called Safari @ Bandipur and all we could see were few elephants and couple of deers.

Have a safe and fun trip. BTW where are you staying @ Coorg? Home-Staying or some resort?

[vu2pmc]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Is it safe to assume that Mysore to Ooty road via. Bandipur WLS will be through some thick forest and high chances of animals spotting? Also, even though i will be crossing it during day time, hope its safe and the roads are in good condition? Can anyone throw some light on these points?

Yes, indeed you cross through some forest area and if you are lucky you will sight some wild life including elephants.

Take the left turn over an iron bridge at Thoppekkad, and drive through Masinagudi, Kalhatty hair pin bends to Ootty. Nice drive indeed.