[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by Niel@Figo

Option 1 : Yeswantput - Neelamangala - Kunigal - Channarayapatna - Holenarsipura - Arkalgud - Kushalnagar - Madikeri

Any specific reason for going to Kushalnagar? The best route from Arakalgud to Madikeri is through Shanivarasante - Somawarapet.

Originally Posted by Niel@Figo

1. I m travelling with family including a year old kid, so might need some stops in between. Hope both the options of highways have enough eateries/restaurants?? Mysore route may have more options in this

If you choose the first route i.e, through Arakalgud, there is no decent hotel once you deviate from NH-48 at Channarayapatna. I suggest you to have food before deviating from NH-48. If you want to stock up something like bread or bakery items for the route, there is a very good Iyengar's bakery (Krishna Bakery) as soon as you take a left from NH-48 at Channarayapatna towards Holenarasipura.

[ampere]

+1 to guyfrmblr. Take you break before Channarayapatna. You have a CCD at Neligere, right after the Belur Cross toll. Around Kunigal you have Swathi Delicay.

Nothing to say about Mysore road. On the Hunsur road:
- Cafe Coorg on Hunsur bypass
- CCD @ Periyapatna.

[Niel@Figo]

No specific reason to go to Kushalnagar, just followed G-map proposal which shows this route via kushalnagar.

Anyways, amazing infor shared by both of you. Thanks a ton! I am inclined towards NH48 as of now!

Awaiting for the trip to begin!

[rjalihal]

Bangalore to Coorg route update (not sure if it was posted before). The Hunsur bypass road that most take after Srirangapatna is closed after the KRS junction. So DO NOT take the Hunsur bypass road to Coorg. We had to backtrack to Mysore & take the ring road to Hunsur. Traffic was heavy since it was a long weekend. Road from Madikeri to Mangalore (near Madyanad) has 2 unmarked speed breakers after a blind corner (approx 6 kms from madikeri town). Keep your speed under control. Siddapur Road is full of pot holes. Better to avoid as the recent rains have caused several trees to be uprooted. On the way back, watch out for a diversion at Periyapetna. The road has a jagged edge and my Honda City bottomed out there with a loud thud. Better stick to your extreme left lane and bank it.
Weather is just right. Gets pretty hot during the day but rains by 4-6 pm and keeps your evenings cool. Perfect weather to enjoy a barbeque with a few beers by a camp fire.

Cheers!
Rohan

[arjithin]

Today drove to Murnad in the morning and came back in the afternoon.

Onward journey: Bglr -Mysore ORR - Hunsur -Periyapatna -Kushalnagar- madikeri- Murnad. Roads are good throughout. Mysore ORR has some rough sections. Periyapatna townlimits has got some patchy sections. Covered this distance in 4.45 hr (driving time) with a 6:30 AM start

Return journey

Murnad - Ammathi - Sidhapura - Periyapatna - Mysore ORR - BGLR

Murnad - Ammathi was a teaser of Sidhapura - Periyapatna !!! At any cost avoid this route and drive via the Kushalnagar. Not worth it.
Covered the return journey in 6 hrs (driving time)

Stopped for breakfast/snacks @ RightO foodcourt and happy with the service - Good food and options, very clean rest rooms, not very expensive. Its between Mandya and Mysore (11 km from Mandya and 25 km from Columbia Asia signal)

Originally Posted by ampere

- If you take the Mysore ORR please be careful. At one point the road just ends into a dead end you need to take a diversion
- If you don't slow down early, it can be quite nasty.
- Also quite a place for getting rear-ended as well.

thanks for this suggestion. I was on lookout for this. Its right after the Infosys/L&T turn (when going towards Hunsur)

[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by rjalihal

Bangalore to Coorg route update (not sure if it was posted before). The Hunsur bypass road that most take after Srirangapatna is closed after the KRS junction. So DO NOT take the Hunsur bypass road to Coorg. We had to backtrack to Mysore & take the ring road to Hunsur.
Rohan

Hi

Am driving down to Coorg tomorrow for a day and planned to stop by at KRS dam for some photos, so is it not possible to go to KRS currently?

[rjalihal]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

Hi

Am driving down to Coorg tomorrow for a day and planned to stop by at KRS dam for some photos, so is it not possible to go to KRS currently?

Yes you can go to KRS. However, the bypass road to Coorg is closed. You will need to find an alternate route from KRS to Coorg. The locals will help you with directions there.

Cheers!
Rohan

[Niel@Figo]

Have been trying to post a short travelogue of the tour to Coorg but not getting enough time. So, a quick feedback on the routes we took to and fro Coorg.

Took Yeswantpur - Mangalore highway - Channarayapatna - Arkalgud - Somwarpet - Coorg while going. Mangalore highway was very good, no traffic and smooth roads but 4 toll booths in this stretch.
Further, into the SH roads are good but for the few kms near Arkalgud where suddenly roads are replaced by bumpy gravel road and then roads suddenly reappear out of nowhere. Road via Somwarpet was nice scenic but this route as bit longer.

We took 6 hrs drive at leisurely speed to reach coorg, odometer read 294 km after reaching Coorg.

Had nice stay at Rustica cottage of Victoria Verandaz Homestay, near Madikeri.

While returning on sunday morning, we took the route via Kushalnagar-Hunsur-Mysore-Nice Road-Yeswantpur. This journey was shorter but you travel via many towns so speed is restricted. Took the Mysore bypass while returning comfortably, so I am guess that the above discussions about Mysore bypass closed is for the onward jounrey towards Coorg.

We had to reach Yeswantpur station by 2.30-3pm, so took the Nice road to bypass Bangalore traffic. Although this road was free from traffic, the road was not so smooth, still this saved us from the traffic and we reached just in time to return the Zoom car and catch the train back to Hyderbad.

Return jounrey was 266 km, completed in almost 6 hours.

[hothatchaway]

The mysore bypass to Coorg via the KRS route is open now, a small stretch under repair albeit one has to tackle but thats manageable, this bypass via KRS is a little patchy but scenic

[racer_ash]

Originally Posted by Niel@Figo

Have been trying to post a short travelogue of the tour to Coorg but not getting enough time. So, a quick feedback on the routes we took to and fro Coorg.

Victoria Verandaz Homestay, near Madikeri.

Zoom car and catch the train back to Hyderbad.

Hi. I am planning a coorg trip in the first weekend of June. I had initially thought of driving all the way to Coorg. But since mine is a petrol car, the economics were bad and I have finally decided to travel by train to Bangalore and then hire a Zoom car. I too have talked to VV for reservations. So you can say that my plan mirrors yours as of now.

Some quick questions though.

1) How is the overall route from Yeswantpur to Coorg. Whcih route would you prefer most. Your onward route or the return? Many BHPians advised that unless there is pressing work at Mysore, it is best to take the Mangalore highway.
2) I want to know about the eating options too since I am travelling with my infant daughter.
3) How far is the Zoom pick up point from Yeswantpur station? Any specifc landmark?
4) Which car did you rent? And how good was it. I am leaning towards Vento. Any idea if they have Petrol or Diesel version.
5) How is the stay at VV? Am planning to book the room with the Kitchen but may need dinner for one night. How flexible are the hosts.

Thanks in advance

[Niel@Figo]

Originally Posted by racer_ash

1) How is the overall route from Yeswantpur to Coorg. Whcih route would you prefer most. Your onward route or the return? Many BHPians advised that unless there is pressing work at Mysore, it is best to take the Mangalore highway.
Thanks in advance

Overall route is good and you will enjoy the drive. Mangalore highway is free of traffic and great to drive. Only issue is the route is little lengthy after the highway and there is a bad patch of few kms near Arkalgud. There are also quite a few toll booths and I paid total of about Rs. 200 on toll from Yeswantpur to Channarayapatna.

On the other hand, Mysore route is more crowded and you need to wade through some towns in between. There were some concerns on the bypass where construction is going on but I didn't face that while returning.

So, my suggestion is if you don't care much about length of drive, go for the Mangalore highway. In case you decide to take Mysore route, take the Nice road from Yeswantpur to avoid the Bangalore city traffic.

Originally Posted by racer_ash

2) I want to know about the eating options too since I am travelling with my infant daughter.

Similarities here too , as I travelled with my infant kid.
If you take Mangalore highway, take lunch before entering SH i.e before entering Channarayapatna. We missed places in the highway and could not find anything inside the town, so had to go slightly out of Channarayapatna town towards Mangalore old highway (out of our route) to find this place - Hotel Aadya Imperio, which was quite good.

Mysore route has lot of options for food, but we didn't stop for food while returning.

Originally Posted by racer_ash

3) How far is the Zoom pick up point from Yeswantpur station? Any specifc landmark?

I picked up the car from Brigade gateway pick up point, which was about a km or so from Yeswantpur station. Landmark is the big Orion mall, visible from long distance. But the pick up point is the road behind this mall.

Originally Posted by racer_ash

4) Which car did you rent? And how good was it. I am leaning towards Vento. Any idea if they have Petrol or Diesel version.

I rented Figo and it was very good, no issues throughout and norefuelling was done throughout the 632 km. They have Diesel version and you can definitely checkout other options and let us know how r the other cars.

Originally Posted by racer_ash

5) How is the stay at VV? Am planning to book the room with the Kitchen but may need dinner for one night. How flexible are the hosts.

VV was very good, we stayed at the separate cottage Rustica inside their campus. So, cottage didn't have dinner option but kitchen was there and overall lot of space and open area. The homestay rooms are slightly uphill and the view from there was just breathtaking. Overall a good stay, so talk about your requirements and you might get a good deal.

Hope your queries were answered.

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by racer_ash

I want to know about the eating options too since I am travelling with my infant daughter.

In Mangalore highway, you can visit hotel Mayura. Its near Bellur Cross. If you are not familiar with the place, its just 2 km after the second toll booth to the left. There is also a CCD near this toll booth.

Is there anyone from Somawarapete or surrounding areas in this forum who can suggest some good hotels there? The NH-48 hotels are too early to have lunch and the Madikeri hotels are always crowded. It'll be good if there is any good hotel at Somawarapete.

[racer_ash]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

Any specific reason for going to Kushalnagar? The best route from Arakalgud to Madikeri is through Shanivarasante - Somawarapet.

How is the route to Kushalnagar from Arkalgud. I am planning to visit the monastery on my way from Bangalore to Madikere and since I want to avoid Mysore road traffic, I am planning to take the Managlore highway and deviate at channarayapatna. Is it doable?

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

The mysore bypass to Coorg via the KRS route is open now, a small stretch under repair albeit one has to tackle but thats manageable, this bypass via KRS is a little patchy but scenic

Can you pls post the google map link to this bypass please.

Thanks

[ampere]

Originally Posted by racer_ash

How is the route to Kushalnagar from Arkalgud. I am planning to visit the monastery on my way from Bangalore to Madikere and since I want to avoid Mysore road traffic, I am planning to take the Managlore highway and deviate at channarayapatna. Is it doable?

Very much doable. But I have no idea about the Arkalgud-Ramnathpura-Kushalnagar road conditions.

Can you pls post the google map link to this bypass please.

Here you go:

Route Link

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by racer_ash

How is the route to Kushalnagar from Arkalgud. I am planning to visit the monastery on my way from Bangalore to Madikere and since I want to avoid Mysore road traffic, I am planning to take the Managlore highway and deviate at channarayapatna. Is it doable?

Originally Posted by ampere

Very much doable. But I have no idea about the Arkalgud-Ramnathpura-Kushalnagar road conditions.

Arkalgud-Ramanathapura (20 kms) was quite bad as per the last update here. I heard here and elsewhere that the Ramanathapura-Kushalnagar is a newly laid road and is in very good condition.