[2L8uLoose]

Hey guys,
I'm going to be driving down from Poona to Chikmagalur next week for the rally

Now I have the maps and the directions and all the other stuff, but what I wanted to know is that does anyone know the condition's of the roads?

I have heard there are quite a few diversion's on the Highway due to roadwork going on.

The route I am taking is as follows:-

ROUTE 1
Pune>Satara>Kolhapur>Belgaum>Dharwad>Hubli>Haveri> Ranibennur>
Dangere>Honali>Shimoga>Bhadravati>Rarikere>Birur>K adur>Chikmagalur.
OR
ROUTE 2
Mumbai>Ratnagiri>Kudal>Panaji>Karwar>Ankola>Honava r>Talguppa>Shimoga>
Tarikere>Lingadhalli>Chikmagalur

Now, I have been given these routes and I would like to make this trip in one day .

If anyone has a better/shorter/more scenic route that I could take please would you let me know.
Thanks

[abhijitaparadh]

ROUTE 2
Mumbai>Ratnagiri>Kudal>Panaji>Karwar>Ankola>Honava r>Talguppa>Shimoga>Tarikere>Lingadhalli>Chikmagalu r

This route is most definitely the most scenic of the two. NH17 is in beautiful condition. Although its not 4 lane yet, still you can maintain avg speeds of about 70-75 kph quite easily.

Mumbai> Ratnagiri > Panaji can be dispatched in about 9 hrs or so if you leave Mumbai early morning at about 4am.

Panaji>Karwar> Honavar should be about 3 to 4 hrs. Roads are beautiful again and travel all along the coast. This travel time largely depends on the amount of traffic you face in state of goa. As roads in goa-madgaon region are a bit narrow.

Honavar > Shimoga > Chikamangalur : I am not sure this is the shortest route to reach chikamangalur. AFAIK, you can travel south along NH17 and then take a diverison which will go straight to Chikamangalur. You dont need to go to Shimoga.

[2L8uLoose]

Abhijitaparadh,Sushrutha thank you both for your inputs.
I'll keep this in mind when I'm on my way.
Cheers.

[bruce]

Originally Posted by 2L8uLoose

ROUTE 2
Honavar>Talguppa>
Thanks

Route 2 - Route between, Honnavar - Sagar - Shimoga is one of the most scenic I feel, it's got some best Ghat sections which I have driven.... you can stop by Jog Falls!!.

Another route that's good is also the Karwar Hubli route... that's one of Vajpayee intitative roads, even thats good...But after Hubli u got to take the NH4 till Harihara and take a diversion to Shimoga... this road may be bad.

The strip between Bhadravathi & Tarikere is ok... Tarikere to Lingadalli to Chikkamagalur is ok, if you take this route you can go to Kemmanagundi!! it's a nice hill station....
Nevertheless all Malnad area is scenic, enjoy!!!

So take the Adventurous NH17 route!!

[RoaringEngine]

Yep, No doubt its the Route No 2. It rocks, its actually feast to your eyes.
I love that route. I would love to travel in that route any time of the year.
but the road from Honnavar to shimoga is kinda narrow so, watch out for those big vehicles plying in that route.

[2L8uLoose]

Thanks guys... and yea I know about the narrow road from honnavar to shimoga being narrow.. one saving grace is that I have the Scorpio, so its not exactly a David V/s Goliath situation!
Plan on taking some pix on the way and will post em when I get back around the 2nd or so.
Cheers

[saildrive]

Digging the old thread again...

Planning to drive from Mumbai to Chikamanglur and intend taking the ROUTE 2 as indicated above.

Unfortunately I have been told that there is a suspension issue with the Honda CITY ZX, which could take some time and costs are steep too. I was told about 20k plus. Since I have to reach by Saturday 6th May, I am planning to skip the suspension issue.

Question is - Should I drive through forgetting about the suspension since it will take a while on the above route? Or should I fix the suspension ? Or should I take an alternate route and not speed over 70-80 kms / hour.

I know it sounds a bit weird / ridiculous question, but any update from the experts on an urgent basis would be really helpful.

Regards
Saildrive

[@Chaand]

Originally Posted by bruce

But after Hubli u got to take the NH4 till Harihara and take a diversion to Shimoga... this road may be bad.

Did Mumbai Chikkamagaluru Mumbai a couple of weeks back. The Ranebennur to Honnali stretch is bad. Wouldnt advise that to anyone. Take the Harihar Honnali route. Smooth tarmac.

Originally Posted by saildrive

Question is - Should I drive through forgetting about the suspension since it will take a while on the above route? Or should I fix the suspension ? Or should I take an alternate route and not speed over 70-80 kms / hour.

Alternate route should be fine. Don't take the car to both the peaks though. Roads are really bad for the last 8 km or so.

[saildrive]

Originally Posted by @Chaand

Did Mumbai Chikkamagaluru Mumbai a couple of weeks back. The Ranebennur to Honnali stretch is bad. Wouldnt advise that to anyone. Take the Harihar Honnali route. Smooth tarmac.



Alternate route should be fine. Don't take the car to both the peaks though. Roads are really bad for the last 8 km or so.

Thanks @ Chand

I didnt understand "Don't take the car to both the peaks though"

I will start tomorrow morning and plan to not rush things...will drive easy hoping that I dont have any major issues.

Guess you were referring to this route (State Highway # 25) taking a right turn to the Shimoga - Hariher - Hospet Road:
Pune>Satara>Kolhapur>Belgaum>Dharwad>Hubli>Haveri> Deveragudda>Hariher>Honali>Shimoga>Bhadravati>Rari kere>Birur>Kadur>Chikmagalur.

Do correct me if I am wrong - just want to make sure that I dont get it wrong, since its a long drive with only me driving with 2 kids and wife.

[@Chaand]

Originally Posted by saildrive

I didnt understand "Don't take the car to both the peaks though"

There are two mountain peaks near Chikkamagaluru.
1. Mullayangiri
2. Baba Budangiri.

The approach to both is good for most of the part barring the last few kilometres. Considering you have a weak suspension avoid the whole hog trips on both these peaks.

Originally Posted by saildrive

Guess you were referring to this route (State Highway # 25) taking a right turn to the Shimoga - Hariher - Hospet Road:
Pune>Satara>Kolhapur>Belgaum>Dharwad>Hubli>Haveri> Deveragudda>Hariher>Honali>Shimoga>Bhadravati>Rari kere>Birur>Kadur>Chikmagalur.

Yes.

Drive safe and Godspeed!

[Lij]

Planning to do Mumbai-Chikmagalur-Goa-Konkan-Mumbai route in the 4th week of May.

Questions -
1. Google maps shows the below route for Mumbai-Chikmagalur.

Mumbai - Kolhapur - Hubballi - Harihar - Shimoga - Tarikere - Chikmagalur

Can this be completed in one day? I had driven Mumbai-Bangalore in 17 hours last May. How is the route from Harihar to Chikmagalur, like road quality, 2-lane or 4-lane, traffic conditions etc.

If not my option would be to break the journey at Davangere and continue next morning which would of course mean returning back till Harihar around 13 kms, so round trip of 26 km. Is there any good accommodation post Harihar en-route Shimoga?


2. For Chikmagalur-Goa (Panjim) stretch there are 2 routes

a. Chikmagalur - Shimoga - Sirsi - Ankola - Karwar - Panjim
b. Chikmagalur - Shimoga - Harihar - Dharwad - Anmod - Panjim

I prefer route a, but route b is slightly faster. Would like to know the road conditions and facilities available on the first route like petrol pumps, restaurants, toilets etc.

Thank you!

[meetbadri]

Originally Posted by Lij

Planning to do Mumbai-Chikmagalur-Goa-Konkan-Mumbai route in the 4th week of May.

Questions -
1. Google maps shows the below route for Mumbai-Chikmagalur.

Mumbai - Kolhapur - Hubballi - Harihar - Shimoga - Tarikere - Chikmagalur

Can this be completed in one day? I had driven Mumbai-Bangalore in 17 hours last May. How is the route from Harihar to Chikmagalur, like road quality, 2-lane or 4-lane, traffic conditions etc.

If not my option would be to break the journey at Davangere and continue next morning which would of course mean returning back till Harihar around 13 kms, so round trip of 26 km. Is there any good accommodation post Harihar en-route Shimoga?


2. For Chikmagalur-Goa (Panjim) stretch there are 2 routes

a. Chikmagalur - Shimoga - Sirsi - Ankola - Karwar - Panjim
b. Chikmagalur - Shimoga - Harihar - Dharwad - Anmod - Panjim

I prefer route a, but route b is slightly faster. Would like to know the road conditions and facilities available on the first route like petrol pumps, restaurants, toilets etc.

Thank you!

Harihar to Shimoga is two lane road which is in drivable condition with small patches all the way and traffic will be moderate. I would suggest you have a stay at Hubli and drive to Chikkamagalur next day as it will be too tiring to drive till Chikkamagalur in a single day. If you are keen on driving till Davanagere, I would suggest you drive till Shimoga and stay there. There are multiple options available for a good stay. Post Shimoga all the way till Chikkamagalur is a very good scenic and twisty 2-way road which will be enjoyable during day times.

Coming to your second query, you can choose either of two options below
Chikkamagalur - Agumbe - Maravante - Murudeshwar - Karwar - Goa which will give you a drive through the beautiful ghat and as well as coastal belt of Karnataka.
Chikkamagalur - Shimoga - Sirsi - Ammenalli - Devimane Ghat - Katagal - Mirjan - Ankola - Karwar - Goa.

If you are opting for the second route, blindly do not follow Gmaps as it deviates towards Devanahalli after Sirsi which is in very bad condition and you won’t even get any help in case you get stuck in the jungle.

[Lij]

Completed the trip to Chikmagalur from Mumbai. Initial plan was to return through the coastal route but plans got changed and took the NH4 on the way back.

The NH4 as usual was fantastic all the way till Harihar from where we exited to the Shimoga road.
The Shimoga road is 2-lane and quite good, but there are vey bad patches for around 10 kms after Mallebennur. Honnali to Shimoga is a 2 lane road and in excellent condition.
Night halt was at Green View Clark's Inn at Shimoga. We departed Mumbai at 04:40 hrs and reached Shimoga at 20:05 hrs. This included breaks of around 3 hours which means a total drive time of 12 hrs 25 mins for 796 kms at and average speed of 63.7 km/hr.
The speeds rarely went over 110 km/hr and used the cruise control mostly on NH4.

Next day we started at 10:10 hrs from Shimoga, took the Shimoga - Tarikere - Gonakal - Chikmagalur route and reached the homestay (Shivekaa) at 13:30 hrs with a 30 minute break in between covering 119 kms. Again the roads are fantastic and you get some very good ghat roads in this section, post Tarikere traffic is also sparse. Only after the turn-off from Jakanahalli to the estate the roads deteriorate dramatically, since the Linea has a 190 mm ground clearance with stiff suspension it didn't matter, but vehicles with lesser ground clearance with soft suspensions could struggle here.


Return trip to Shimoga was done through the Kadure - Tarikere - Shimoga route which has good traffic but not much fun to drive state highway.

[abhaybakshi]

I am planning a family trip to Chikmanglur from Pune in Diwali. It will be Honda Jazz petrol with wifey and my daughter. Planning to leave Pune on Wednesday evening (after Lakshmi Poojan) and will make overnight halt at Kolhapur / Belgaum depending upon time. Will start for Chikmanglur next day early morning.

With this setup, need advice on below -

1. Should I take default route shown on google maps --> Belgaum - Harihar - Shivamoga - Bhadravati - Tarikere ?

2. How is the "latest" road condition on this route ?

3. I am a sedate driver never crossing 100kmph. If I start from Belgaum at 5 AM, can I reach Chikmangalur by 11 AM ?

4. My priority is good road (even if that means detouring a bit). Like most of the team-bhp'ians here, I don't want my car to suffer much !!

5. Any safety advice as I will be traveling with family. Also suggestions for breakfast / lunch after Harihar

Thanks !!

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by abhaybakshi

I am planning a family trip to Chikmanglur....Thanks !!

3. I am a sedate driver never crossing 100kmph. If I start from Belgaum at 5 AM, can I reach Chikmangalur by 11 PM ?

>>> I had done Chikmagalur - Pune in 16 hours in 2010, using the same route you have mentioned, but in reverse order. So, I guess you can easily cover Belgaum - Chikmagalur from 5 AM - 11 PM.

Sorry, can't help you with the other questions.

Regards,
Vikram