[procrj]

Originally Posted by catchmeifuwant;4031049
[B

b) Suggestion for itinerary[/b]

You can use this to plan your time and ensure that you dont miss out. Do check my thread for more details.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...en-empire.html

[vsathyap]

Thank you all for your valuable inputs - Just back from my trip to Hampi and it was a fantastic drive.

Took the route given here: https://goo.gl/maps/CPL96QQnMYt. To sum it up, Road conditions are given below:

BLR->Hiriyur: Excellent NH4 - nothing to complain about!
Hiriyur->Challakere: Very good roads - nothing to complain about!
Challakere->Hanagal->Rampura: Good roads continue - amazing scenery!
Rampura->Ubbala Gundi ->Toranagallu (via JSW factory): Jaw droppingly beautiful scenery. Average roads with plenty of unmarked road humps at village limits. ZERO traffic - bliss to drive, specially during the monsoons! Scenery just after Ubbala Gundi is breathtaking!
Toranagallu->Hampi: Good roads, heavy truck traffic till we turn in towards Hampi/Kamalapura.

Overall time taken: 8 hours - door to door (we had a toddler and required long food and loo breaks + horrible traffic on Kanakpura Rd due to Metro Work, wasted 1h here)

[NPV]

Originally Posted by vsathyap

Thank you all for your valuable inputs - Just back from my trip to Hampi and it was a fantastic drive.

Thanks for the update
Did you visit the Narihalla River/Dam view point ? :
Hope you have some amazing pictures to share and a travelogue to go with it

[SwatiS]

Along with Hampi, what are the nearby places to visit?

[NPV]

Originally Posted by SwatiS

Along with Hampi, what are the nearby places to visit?

Depends on how many days you have for the trip.
Hampi itself needs 2 (cramped, hectic or see just few places) to 3 days (more comfortable, see most places).
If you have more time you can visit (distance increases as you go down the list):
-Daroji bear sanctuary
-Anjanadri Hill at Anegundi and many other temples around the place too
-Pattadakal & Aihole - historical/heritage places
-Badami - historical/heritage places

[SwatiS]

Originally Posted by NPV

Depends on how many days you have for the trip.
Hampi itself needs 2 (cramped, hectic or see just few places) to 3 days (more comfortable, see most places).
If you have more time you can visit (distance increases as you go down the list):
-Daroji bear sanctuary
-Anjanadri Hill at Anegundi and many other temples around the place too
-Pattadakal & Aihole - historical/heritage places
-Badami - historical/heritage places

Thank NPV.

Planning to reach Hampi by Saturday noon. Spend rest of saturday and sunday in Hampi. Leave back on Monday morning.
Don't want to visit Badami. Any other places?

I heard the bear sanctuary is not good. Any idea of the recent updates?

I feel if I visit Aihole and Pattadkal also in same trip, it will all start looking the same after a while

I have made a booking for saturday stay. Any suggestions for a place to stay nearby for Sunday other than Hampi?

[NPV]

Originally Posted by SwatiS

Planning to reach Hampi by Saturday noon. Spend rest of saturday and sunday in Hampi. Leave back on Monday morning.
Don't want to visit Badami. Any other places?

You can start early from Bangalore, visit Chitradurga fort, have breakfast at Lakshmi Tiffin Rooms in Chitradurga and reach Hospet around lunch time.

After 3pm, visit the places around Hampi - maybe visit the places around main Hampi village via Kamlapur all the way to the Virupaksha temple. Visit most of the places on this route. Remaining can be covered on Day 2 followed by Vittala temple, stone chariot etc that are further away from Kamlapur.

If you can complete all this by noon on Day 2, take the boat/ferry from nearby Vittala temple to go to Anegundi side across the Tunga river and visit Anjanadri hill (climb is 500+ steps so be prepared for that).

Where are you planning to stay on Day 1 ?
Hospet is a good place to stay when visiting places in Hampi. Royal Orchid, Malligi, Shanbhag are some hotels I know. Hotel Swathi also seemed decent, they have a good restaurant called Swathi Delicacy in the same building (parking may be limited though).

[SwatiS]

Originally Posted by NPV

You can start early from Bangalore, visit Chitradurga fort, have breakfast at Lakshmi Tiffin Rooms in Chitradurga and reach Hospet around lunch time.

After 3pm, visit the places around Hampi - maybe visit the places around main Hampi village via Kamlapur all the way to the Virupaksha temple. Visit most of the places on this route. Remaining can be covered on Day 2 followed by Vittala temple, stone chariot etc that are further away from Kamlapur.

If you can complete all this by noon on Day 2, take the boat/ferry from nearby Vittala temple to go to Anegundi side across the Tunga river and visit Anjanadri hill (climb is 500+ steps so be prepared for that).

Where are you planning to stay on Day 1 ?
Hospet is a good place to stay when visiting places in Hampi. Royal Orchid, Malligi, Shanbhag are some hotels I know. Hotel Swathi also seemed decent, they have a good restaurant called Swathi Delicacy in the same building (parking may be limited though).

Thanks for the details. Much appreciated

Got only one option to stay on 13th - Gopi Guest House. Very basic amenities . Only other option available is Orange County for 56000 for 1 day

Got another guest house for 14th which suddenly had booking available today.

What other places are there nearby which are non-historic?

[catchmeifuwant]

Thanks to forum members for their suggestions ; had a wonderful drive to Hampi. Here's an update on the road as of 15th Aug 2016.

Bangalore-Hampi

Route taken : BG Road - NICE to Tumkur Road - Tumkur - Sira - Hiriyur - Chitradurga - Kudligi - Hospet
Left at : 5:30am and reached Hospet 12:30pm with a 30/40 minutes break.

> Upto Chitradurga : 4/6 lane roads in excellent condition (discounting BG road ofcourse), traffic between Nelamangala and Tumkur was an irritant - constantly wading through the truckers blocking all lanes.

> Chitradurga - Hospet : 2 lane state highway with no median. Motorable roads, but the surface has sheared off and doesn't make for a smooth drive. Watch out for occasional rumble strips (my Honda City had no troubles taking these speed breakers if you go gently over them). Heavy truck movement. 4 laning work has started.

Hampi-Bangalore

Note: The group was not happy with Chitradurga-Hospet driving experience and we decided to take the Rampura-Challakere route, even though it was longer by 25+ minutes.

Route taken : Hospet - Kamlapur - Talur - Ubbalagandi - Rampura - Challakere - Hiriyur - Sira - Tumkur - NICE road - BG Road
Left at : 10:00am and reached BG Road by 5:30pm with almost 1 hour break for lunch.

> Hospet - Kamlapur - Talur : State highway; good road condition and scenic, very less traffic.

> Talur - Ubbalagandi - Rampura : Some small village roads + state highway 131. Zero traffic and good road condition. Just watch out for occasional speed bumps near villages (I had scraped my Honda City only once in the whole stretch) and roads through villages aren't good at times (but bad roads would not be more than a few kms in the whole stretch). A pleasure to drive and very scenic.

> Rampura - Challekere - Hiriyur : Good 2 lane state highway. Be careful of some leftovers of the rumbler strips (just an irritant, as the strips have been removed by road not levelled). Also be wary of cattle and goats crossing.

> Hiriyur - Sira - Tumur - NICE - BG road : Excellent roads. Again Tumkur - Nelamangala stretch is an irritant due to truckers.

Mod Note : Please avoid typing with excessive dots.........like................this.

Thanks

[NPV]

Originally Posted by catchmeifuwant

> Chitradurga - Hospet : 2 lane state highway with no median

Thiis is a National Highway - NH 13 (old numbering) and now NH 50 with the new numbering.
Thanks for the update on the stretches around Ubbalagandi, Rampura, etc.

[KiloAlpha]

Over the Independence Day weekend, I went to Hampi. Took the Bangalore - Chitradurga - Hampi route on the way out. NH4 from Bangalore to Chitradugra and NH13 from Chitradurga to Hampi.
The stretch from Chitradurga to Hampi on NH13 is being widened to 4-lane. The condition of the road surface is not so good. While potholes are few and far between, the bigger problem is a broken/patchy top coat. That, and the sheer number of trucks that use this road, make it a royal pain in all the wrong places. I was driving this stretch of road between 10am and Noon on Friday.

On the return, I did Hospet - Toranagallu - Ubbalangadi - Rampura - Hiriyur - Bangalore.
Hospet - Toranagallu: Regular 2-lane flat road, smooth surface, not interesting in any way
Toranagallu - Ubbalangadi - Rampura: State Highway 131. This is the icing on the cake and the cherry on the icing. Smooth twisty narrow road (couple of very minor broken patches), fantastic scenery. Most of the people on this thread who have driven on this road have gone in the opposite direction, so for those who want to drive from Toranagallu to Rampura as I did, please beware of the unmarked right turn just after Ubbalangadi. Sign posts on the road indicate that SH-131 continues straight, and the right turn is marked as a Major District Road. But it is really the straight which is the district road leading into the middle of nowhere and the right turn which is SH-131. Follow Google Maps or GPS.
Rampura - Hiriyur: This is a smooth, wide, 2-lane National Highway that is *F*A*S*T*, with sweeping curves and less traffic. Part of NH-150A.
At Hiriyur, we joined the NH4 to get back to Bangalore.

[Santoshbhat]

Just returned from a trip to Hampi and would like to add my experience of driving on two different routes. My Origin was Sanjaynagar in Bangalore and destination was Orange COunty in Hampi

Onward Journey
Sanjanagar - Tumkur - Hiriyur - Rampura - Ubbalagandi - Tornagallu JSW Factory - Hampi
Started at 8:00 AM - Reached at 2:30 pm. Total distance about 350 kms. Driving time : 5 hrs 45 mins. 2 breaks totalling 45 mins.
One break at Rampura for lunch for half hour. We knew there are no eateries here so we carried our own food. We halted at Rampura Samudaya Bhavan as suggested by a few locals who saw us struggling with 2 kids on the road side. This was a nice surprise as it was totally unexpected. Second break somewhere between Ubbalagandi and Toranagallu for 15 mins to clear up puke.





Upto Hiriyur the 4 lane NH is well known to all. Hiriyur to Rampura is an excellent two lane road with nice road surface and nice bends. The rumble strips are all but worn out and one can glide over them easily. No need to slow down. But do watch out for a few unscientific unmarked breakers put up by locals at hot accident spots. After the turn off at Rampura, road conditions change drastically. Road narrows down and passes through plenty of villages. Some monster speed breakers have to be crossed where many sedans will scrape. Luckily my X3 was able to cope with it easily. Some of the scenery is breathtaking. Rocky valleys and mountains are quite a sight. Traffic is very sparse and in some sections it gets very lonely. My daughter decided to puke at one such point and though the scenery, sound of silence and the wind whistle was enchanting, I was quite worried about the safety of the family at such a secluded point. If anything goes wrong at such point, it can be a bit of a bother as cellphone networks are non existent here. Till you hit Toranagallu the progess is slow. After that you join the Bellary Hospet road and its the usual mix of lorries and commerical vehicles. Road surface decent all along the way. Few broken patches here and there, but not a matter of concern.

Return leg
Hampi - Toranagallu - Bellary - Ananthpur - Sanjaynagar Bangalore
Distance : 360 kms. Left at 10:00 AM, reached home at 3:45 pm. Driving time 5 hrs 15 mins. One lunch break for half hour at Hotel SS Paradise, Ananthpur. For the return leg I chose this route because I knew between 12:00 and 1:00 pm there is no place to halt for lunch on the Rampur - Hiriyur or the Hospet - Chitradurga route. With small kids you don't have much flexibility with lunch timings. So I decided to check out the Ananthpur route on Google maps. Found that it takes about 3 hrs to hit Ananthpur. I then checked for restaurant options close to the turn off for the highway and found hotel SS Pradise with decent reviews. Google maps took us there perfectly and the place was indeed decent with a family AC section. Hampi to Bellary is OKish and to hit Anathpur road you have to drive through Bellary town which is a bit of a pain. Again Bellary to Anathpur is a very inconsistent stretch of road. Some brilliant tarmac, some patches with works going on and nothing but a rock bed and plenty of speed breakers to negotiate. Can get quite tiring. I was pushing on a bit and the lusty straight six of my X3 helped me to pick up speed quickly after every drop. Ananthpur to Bangalore was brilliant of course. Just three toll gates and no waiting time at either of them. That itself saved me some 20 minutes I guess. Since my destination was Sanjaynagar (North Bangalore) it was another incentive to take this route as I don't have to bear the slow moving traffic after Tumkur. Nelamagala and Yeshwanthpur can be quite choked on Saturday evenings.

[androdev]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Just returned from a trip to Hampi and would like to add my experience of driving on two different routes. My Origin was Sanjaynagar in Bangalore and destination was Orange COunty in Hampi

If you were to do this again, would you prefer Tumkur route or Ananthpur route? Is the hotel fully ready and live up to OC standards? They should have picked up a location on the banks of Tungabhadra river, missed opportunity! Thanks for your time.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by catchmeifuwant

Route taken : Hospet - Kamlapur - Talur - Ubbalagandi - Rampura - Challakere - Hiriyur - Sira - Tumkur - NICE road - BG Road
..

Hospet - Kamlapur - Talur : State highway; good road condition and scenic, very less traffic.

This is a good update.

Looks like Kamlapur-Talur-Ubbalagandi is a good option to bypass the mining trucks on the main NH from Hospet to Toranagallu.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by androdev

If you were to do this again, would you prefer Tumkur route or Ananthpur route? Is the hotel fully ready and live up to OC standards? They should have picked up a location on the banks of Tungabhadra river, missed opportunity! Thanks for your time.

To be honest I would pick the Tumkur route and go all the way up to Bellary ring road and then hit the Tornagallu road. The Rampur route is scenic , but it is slow and goes through small villages and some rough patches. Kids tend to get cranky in such situations. The fact that my daughter puked on this stretch doesn't bring back pleasant memories. The Bellary road is smooth and steady and though going all the way upto Bellary ring road is longer, timewise it should be the same.

The Ananthpur route is fine to too, just that there are too many speed breakers and some road work is going on. Six months down the line once the work is over this should be my preferred option. OC to Ananthpur took me 2 Hrs 45 mins for 155 kms.

Orange County Hampi is fully complete, although some landscaping and gardening work is still going on. The resort itself is quite magnificent and they've spent a lot of money on it. Its not a kid friendly resort. The have this waterway kind of theme going on with paths with no railings. Dim lighting everywhere and not much activities for kids. One thing we felt was the food quality was definitely not upto usual OC high standards. For the entire drive way they have laid stone slabs without polishing and grinding. This is a punishment for cars. Even the joints haven't been filled with any grout. Supposed to give a royal ethnic kind of look. Sharp corners and edges are a danger to tyres. This stone driveway is nearly 300 metres long .