[abirnale]

Originally Posted by airbus

Is it advisable to avoid Mysore road on this Saturday morning considering that it is a long weekend? We will be driving to Kannur, so if we need to avoid Mysore road, I need to plan for an alternate route. Please suggest.

I am heading to Kannur this Saturday. Being long holiday weekend, there will be traffic for sure. But I am hoping Friday to be more crowded than Saturday. And Similarly Sunday evening should not be usual crowd as Monday is holiday too. But you never know!

Regardless, I am planning to start by 5.30-5.45am from BG Road and hoping to reach Kannur for lunch. I was thinking between regular Irritty route against Sulthan Battery but not sure which one will be appropriate considering my travel time and need to reach Kannur by 2pm max.

This is a last minute trip being planned. None of the beach resorts are available which means there is going to be sizeable crowd! My plan is to be at Kannur on Saturday, spend time at drive-in beach, may be nearby fort. On Sunday morning I will head towards Kasargod, visit Bekal Fort and back homeward. Planning to take Hassan Route but depends on the time at hand and weather permitting that night drives.

Any specific route suggestions and cautions to be exercised for this trip?

[binand]

Originally Posted by abirnale

I was thinking between regular Irritty route against Sulthan Battery but not sure which one will be appropriate considering my travel time and need to reach Kannur by 2pm max.

Which is this Sulthan Bathery route to Kannur? Or did you mean Mananthavady route (which is also fairly circuitous)?

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by binand

Which is this Sulthan Bathery route to Kannur? Or did you mean Mananthavady route (which is also fairly circuitous)?

Yes, thats the one. I m told its picturesque at this time of the year. Google maps link here - https://goo.gl/maps/7ro5rViPvJM2

[binand]

Originally Posted by abirnale

Yes, thats the one. I m told its picturesque at this time of the year. Google maps link here - https://goo.gl/maps/7ro5rViPvJM2

This is probably a 10 hour route. I don't think you'll reach by 2 PM if you start at 5:30 AM.

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by abirnale

Yes, thats the one. I m told its picturesque at this time of the year. Google maps link here - https://goo.gl/maps/7ro5rViPvJM2

Bathery route would be a long detour. The Virajpet route is equally picturesque.

Even on saturday, I advice you to start before 5AM. Expect a LOT of traffic going out of Bangalore saturday morning.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by binand

This is probably a 10 hour route. I don't think you'll reach by 2 PM if you start at 5:30 AM.

Originally Posted by sandsun7

Bathery route would be a long detour. The Virajpet route is equally picturesque.

Thank you @binand and @sandsun7. I will stick to Virajpet route. As such as possible early departure is on my mind but with kids and family, I will embrace the change if at all.

By the way, any news or issues I should be worried about on account of rains/ beach closures? Especially the Muzhappilangad drive-in beach would be open for fun or blocked for vehicles? What happens every year when there is too much crowd or rains? Do they close it for any reason? Has it been open for last two weeks?

Thanks in advance for information if any on this front.

[airbus]

We took the following route today morning:

Bangalore - Srirangapatna - Srirangapatna Bypass - Hunsur - Gonikoppal - Virajpet - Iritty - Kannur.

We started at 5.15 am from Old Airport Road and reached Kannur at 12.45 pm, which includes half an hour break for breakfast.

For our return on Monday I might take the following route considering expected congestion on the Mysore Road. Ongoing metro construction will make things bad for people retuning from long weekend holiday:

Kannur - Virajpet - Hunsur - KR Nagar - Holenarsipura - CR Patna - NH48 - Bangalore.

[RajatDesai]

Hi folks, I will be travelling to Kannur from Bangalore tomorrow (14th Aug 2016) with my parents. Kindly suggest the route based on latest condition. Alternate roads would be really helpful as well.

[airbus]

Originally Posted by RajatDesai

Hi folks, I will be travelling to Kannur from Bangalore tomorrow (14th Aug 2016) with my parents. Kindly suggest the route based on latest condition. Alternate roads would be really helpful as well.

If you start early you can still use Mysore Road. Majority of the weekend travellers have already left the city. There are metro construction work on Mysore Road and may lead to congestion if you are delayed. Alternate route is Kanakpura Road or NH48. You can check Google maps.

[abirnale]

Quick Update - I had a good trip on 13/14 August.

While going to Kannur, I took this route: Bangalore - Srirangapatna Bypass - Hunsur - Gonikoppal - Virajpet - Iritty - Kannur. The route as always is good and scenic. The Bangalore Mysore is usual thing. I had left home around 5am and was able to make it to Cafe County by 8.15am. Afterwards the drive was relaxed throughout. Enjoyed the morning mist and occasional rains, lush green views all around.

On return, I took - Kannur - Bekal - Sullia - Madikeri - Kushal Nagar - Hunsur - Srirangapatna Bypass - Bangalore. The roads from Bekal to Sullia were very scenic and good too. Nothing to complain about except few pot holes here and there. Single lane, winding roads going through villages. From Sullia to Mysore is usual Madikeri stretch. I should have avoided the Mysore road altogether for Sunday evening drive back home but since we were late and having family along with, I did not want to venture onto unknown roads first time. Else I think Hunsur - KR Nagar - Holenarasipura - CR Patana would have been nice.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by abirnale

While going to Kannur, I took this route: Bangalore - Srirangapatna Bypass - Hunsur - Gonikoppal - Virajpet - Iritty - Kannur

How is the Srirangapatna Bypass ? Hope you meant the Ilwala road connecting the circle on SH17 (Bangalore-Mysore Road) and Hunsur Road via Power Grid and also has deviations for Ranganathitu and KRS.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by NPV

How is the Srirangapatna Bypass ? Hope you meant the Ilwala road connecting the circle on SH17 (Bangalore-Mysore Road) and Hunsur Road via Power Grid and also has deviations for Ranganathitu and KRS.

Actually I took right towards Ranganathitu from Mysore road and then continued towards Hunsur via KRS road/ Power Grid. At some places the road is too good - smooth black tarmac like a dream and at some places there are large broken spots. I don't remember exactly but there are around 3-4 such spots. None lasts for more than 100mtrs. And no cause of concerns for any kind of vehicles if gone slow over those patches.

[rex_varghese]

Heard from few folks that the Hunsur - Gonikoppal - Virajpet - Iritty stretch is not safe for night driving as there were some unpleasant incidents. Anybody know the facts or how true these news are? I may have to make an evening/late evening trip over the weekend with family. So, wanted to be sure.

Regards
Rex

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by rex_varghese

Heard from few folks that the Hunsur - Gonikoppal - Virajpet - Iritty stretch is not safe for night driving as there were some unpleasant incidents. Anybody know the facts or how true these news are? I may have to make an evening/late evening trip over the weekend with family. So, wanted to be sure.

Regards
Rex

There were a few incidences of mugging on that stretch. The culprits were caught later. All those incidents happened in the wee hours of the night, after 1 PM. If you could start from Bangalore at least by 7 PM, you could perhaps pass that stretch before midnight. Alternatively, you could start from Bangalore by 3 AM or so to reach Kannur by 9-9.30.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by rex_varghese

Heard from few folks that the Hunsur - Gonikoppal - Virajpet - Iritty stretch is not safe for night driving as there were some unpleasant incidents. Anybody know the facts or how true these news are? I may have to make an evening/late evening trip over the weekend with family. So, wanted to be sure.

Regards
Rex

Yes, there were such incidents in this stretch about 6 months back and the culprits were nabbed as per the reports from the newspapers. Off late, for the past 6 months, there were not any such reports of such incidents.

However, it is better to avoid this 1 hour stretch (Hunsur to Virajpet) during 1-4 AM. So that means, avoid starting from Bangalore at about 9-11pm which will otherwise put you in that stretch during that time.

I have traveled this stretch couple of times recently at about 11:30pm, without smelling any trouble. No issues with any other part of this route at any time of the day.