[puntra800]

I drove down to Dharmasthala, Sowthadaka and Kukke over the weekend. Road conditions are similar to what Sunil has mentioned in the previous post. Only change I did was taking the Bisle ghat road while returning from Kukke, the road is in good condition barring a few places where there are potholes, the drive was excellent even though the average speed drops and distance increases. Visited Manjarabad fort on the way and road conditions are decent from Bisile till Sakleshpur.

Only thing in Bisile ghat was I felt like I was the only one on the road until Bisile view point where I saw 2 more cars which gave me confidence the road was open. There was hardly any traffic until I reached Manjarabad fort.

[ramki067]

Hi BHPians,
I would be travelling to the below religious places in this October. Total 2 adults and 2 Kids(8year and 2year). Could you please help on good budget staying options in halt places?
Day 1: Bangalore to Udupi (halt here for night),
Day 2: Kollur, Kamashile, Sringeri(halt here for night),
Day 3: Proceed to Dharmasthala after lunch at Sringeri, Kukke Subramanya(halt here for night)
Day 4: After pooja, head back to Bangalore.

Thanks in advance.

Ramki.

[Mystic]

Originally Posted by ramki067

Hi BHPians,
I would be travelling to the below religious places in this October. Total 2 adults and 2 Kids(8year and 2year). Could you please help on good budget staying options in halt places?
Day 1: Bangalore to Udupi (halt here for night),
Day 2: Kollur, Kamashile, Sringeri(halt here for night),
Day 3: Proceed to Dharmasthala after lunch at Sringeri, Kukke Subramanya(halt here for night)
Day 4: After pooja, head back to Bangalore.

Thanks in advance.

Ramki.

I stayed in Sringeri and Dharmasthala at the official rooms provided by the Devasthanam. They are safe and clean. In Dharmasthala, only AC rooms were available as all other type of rooms are not vacant and booked in advance. Check for the Devasthanam booking and if not available, you can look for private hotels which are plenty in these places.

[puntra800]

Originally Posted by ramki067

Hi BHPians,
I would be travelling to the below religious places in this October. Total 2 adults and 2 Kids(8year and 2year). Could you please help on good budget staying options in halt places?
Day 1: Bangalore to Udupi (halt here for night),
Day 2: Kollur, Kamashile, Sringeri(halt here for night),
Day 3: Proceed to Dharmasthala after lunch at Sringeri, Kukke Subramanya(halt here for night)
Day 4: After pooja, head back to Bangalore.

Thanks in advance.

Ramki.

Kukke also has a lot of budget options available but be wary of people who approach you asking "Room Beka", these guys usually try to convince you to stay in some not so well maintained places.

Akshayadhara and SLR residency are places I stayed and was decent do check them out, there was something new next to it not able to recall the name.

[Rakeshmbalaji]

Hello friends,

I am planning to do Dharmasthala - Sringeri-Horanadu- Kukke circuit this weekend, with 2 young kids aged 5&2. Please suggest the best route and 2 night stay options at Dharmasthala or Sringeri. Thank you for suggestions.

[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by Rakeshmbalaji

Hello friends,

I am planning to do Dharmasthala - Sringeri-Horanadu- Kukke circuit this weekend, with 2 young kids aged 5&2. Please suggest the best route and 2 night stay options at Dharmasthala or Sringeri. Thank you for suggestions.

Did Kukke and Dharmasthala this week. Took the default Nelamangala-Kunigal-Hassan-Gundya-Kukke route. Roads are good till Hassan. Post that there are quite a few diversions. After Sakleshpur, be wary of the slow moving trucks. From Gundya till Kukke it is a beautiful 16 kms drive.

I stayed in Kukke - RNSOne hotel. Though the rooms are good, strangely they do not even provide tea/coffee/milk sachets. When asked they told only AC rooms get the sachets - as if non AC guests do not like to have tea. . Even breakfast in the attached restaurant is very costly.

There is a new hotel just a kilometer away - Bhramari Nest. We had the breakfast next day there which was good and reasonably priced. They also seem to have complimentary breakfast for the guests. Check it out if you are staying in Kukke.

I drove to Dharmasthala previous night (yes a bit risky with dark roads all the 58 kms) and returned at 11 pm.

I am not aware of stays in Horanadu and Sringeri.

[Rakeshmbalaji]

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

Did Kukke and Dharmasthala this week. Took the default Nelamangala-Kunigal-Hassan-Gundya-Kukke route. Roads are good till Hassan. Post that there are quite a few diversions. After Sakleshpur, be wary of the slow moving trucks. From Gundya till Kukke it is a beautiful 16 kms drive..

Thank you brother, forgot to mention I drive a low clearance sedan with full load, hopefully the route is forgiving enough.

Will update post our trip.

[shashank.nk]

I'm planning to do a Dharmasthala and kukke trip tomorrow or day after. Is it possible to do it in a day without stay? The plan is to start by around 5am in the morning and return by around 11pm after covering both temples.

Please also suggest the route to take depending on which temple to visit first.

[prasanna_indaje]

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

I'm planning to do a Dharmasthala and kukke trip tomorrow or day after. Is it possible to do it in a day without stay? The plan is to start by around 5am in the morning and return by around 11pm after covering both temples.

Please also suggest the route to take depending on which temple to visit first.

Travel time would be anywhere between 5 (from Nelamangala) to 7 (depending on where you live in Bangalore) hours one way. Roads are decent too (with some bad patches between Sakleshpura and Gundya.

However, time spent in the queue and seve(s) you might want to offer will decide if same day return is possible or not.

Tip : Early mornings (read around 6.30 - 7 AM) will have lesser rush for Darshana at Kukke Subrahmanya.

[shashank.nk]

Originally Posted by prasanna_indaje

Travel time would be anywhere between 5 (from Nelamangala) to 7 (depending on where you live in Bangalore) hours one way. Roads are decent too (with some bad patches between Sakleshpura and Gundya.

However, time spent in the queue and seve(s) you might want to offer will decide if same day return is possible or not.

Tip : Early mornings (read around 6.30 - 7 AM) will have lesser rush for Darshana at Kukke Subrahmanya.

I stay not too far away from Nelamangala (Vijayanagar) so I guess 6 hours should be enough in the morning?

Will be driving a low-slung sedan with 4 adults and the last time via bisle ghat was quite a drive with narrow roads and oncoming traffic.

I'll be visiting Dharmasthala first, so should I take the Bengaluru-Hassan-Sakleshpura-Shiradi-Dharmasthala route?

[prasanna_indaje]

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

I stay not too far away from Nelamangala (Vijayanagar) so I guess 6 hours should be enough in the morning?

Will be driving a low-slung sedan with 4 adults and the last time via bisle ghat was quite a drive with narrow roads and oncoming traffic.

I'll be visiting Dharmasthala first, so should I take the Bengaluru-Hassan-Sakleshpura-Shiradi-Dharmasthala route?

6 hours are good.
If you are visiting DharmasthaLa first, there are two options :
1. Bangalore - Hassan - Sakleshpura - Periyashanti - DharmasthaLa.
2. Bangalore - Hassan - Kottigehara - Charmadi - DharmasthaLa

Both are doable on a sedan with some care !

[shashi792]

I would suggest you travel such that you reach Dharmastala around 3/4 PM.

You can rest for somtime and visit the temple during evening. Dharmastala is usually crowded during this season and standing in line during evening is much better than in hot afternoons especially if you have kids.

I have done both routes. Charmadi ghat is doable with sedans.

[shashank.nk]

Thanks for the inputs! We finally decided against doing a day trip and took 2 days to cover the temples peacefully.

I took the Bangalore-Hassan-Sakleshpura-Gundya-Dharmasthala route in a low GC sedan (Jetta DSG). We were 4 adults with light luggage and the vehicle didn't scrape anywhere in the famed Shiradi ghat!

Just take it easy in the Sakleshpura-Gundya stretch and you'll be just fine. I happily made way for all buses and higher GC vehicles so I could avoid those sedan destroying potholes especially on curves and on bridges.

The overall driving time was about 5-5.5 hrs from my home to Dharmasthala and from Kukke to my home after accounting for all the traffic within city. A lot of widening and bypass work was going one so once the roads are fully done and in better shape it should be easier for faster too perhaps.

[rvd8732]

Could some one please advise if this route is good?

Onward: Bengaluru > Hassan > Belur > Mudigere > Horanadu > Dharmasthala
Return: Kukke > Bisle > Bengaluru

I will be travelling with parents in Ritz.

[rvd8732]

Update: I took the below mentioned route and it was a blissful drive from Bengaluru to Hornadu except for few patches which has pot holes and you must know already Bisle to Bengaluru road condition.

Onward: Bengaluru > Hassan > Belur > Mudigere > Horanadu > Dharmasthala
Return: Kukke > Bisle > Bengaluru