[SureshS]

Thanks Ravi. Appreciate your feedback.

Looks like it is very similar to what it was a year back. Yup. The road from Hassan to Belur is indeed a dream one.

S.Suresh

[lohithrao]

To all who want to drive back on sunday my suggestion is to live early, during Diwali i had a tough time as i left Mlore late and saw huge traffic pile up all through out....

[SureshS]

Hi,

I went on a trip to Hornadu-Sringeri-Udupi-Murudeshwar etc. Here is a report on the road conditions

1. B'lore-Nelamangala-Hassan : Construction on the Nelamangala road. So expect traffic to be slow. From Nelamangala to Hassan, some parts are being converted to 4 lane. So shoulders are dug up. Road surface is fine. You will probably be forced to drive slower than usual here.

2. Inside Hassan: A couple of kilometers before you reach the Belur turning. Pathetic. In some places there is no road at all !! Wonder how they could let a main road lie like this

3. Hassan to Belur - Excellent as usual

4. Belur to Mudigere to Kottigehara - Good road

5. Kottigehara to Kalasa - Horanadu - Good roads. The shorter route from Kottigehara to Kalasa is to take a sharp left U turn after 6 kms from Kottigehara. The tea shop person at Kottigehara told me that the road was not good in that route. So I went straight ahead to Magundi and took a left turn there. This road was good

6. Kalasa to Sringeri - Via Kudremukh Road is very good till we reach the S K Border T junction. As you prepare to take right, the road turns horrible and continues being horrible for 20Kms or more. It is a shame to call this stretch a National Highway. In many places, inspite of careful driving, the car took a few knocks. (That too an Innova !!) Lorry fellows drive like crazy here and in some places you cannot know how deep is the pothole. It may be better to reach Sringeri via Balehonnur rather that through this route. Last year this route was fine but now it is pathetic.

7. Karkala-Udupi-Kundapur : Nice roads here. NH17 is good.

8. Kundapur-Kollur-Murudeshwar : Good roads. NH17 stretch here is good as well.

9. Kundapur - Agumbe - Koppa : The road on the Agumbe ghat was OK when we started climbing but after sometime it was horrible. The left side when you are climbing is in much better shape than the other side. So if you are coming down this ghat watch out for potholes. Again a mystery as to why they haven't repaired the road on such a steep ghat

10. Koppa to Tarikere: Some stretches not so great. Especially when you turn right towards Tarikere on the Koppa - Bhadravathi road.

11. Tarikere to Bangalore : A couple of kilometers after we joined the highway towards Tarikere were not so great but the road after that was superb. (Heard the road between Tirthahalli and Shimoga is not all that good)

One observation: Karnataka Tourism has a done a good job wrt the signage. Clear directions to Kalasa from Belur. Similarly lot of boards at various places directing you to your destination.

S.Suresh

[crossroads]

I am planning to undertake a trip to the pilgrimage centers in Karnataka like Udupi, Sringeri, Dharmastala, Kollur & Subramanhya from Chennai during the pongal holidays (Jan 14, 15, 16, 17). If needed I can also extend the leave for 2 more days.

I have been to Bangalore and Mysore, the rest of Karnataka is completely new to me. I will be traveling with my wife, 2 kids ( one is 3 years old and the other is 7 months old) and my parents. I am planning to drive my I20. I searched the forums and it has confused me a lot since there seems to be lots of options available to cover the above places and traveling between Bangalore & Mangalore itself is an art.

I need your expert advice to plan this trip. I will be starting from Chennai to Bangalore on the 14th and then start from Bangalore on 15th. I have lots of doubts from here on

1) Which temple should I visit first? Should I go to Sringeri first and come back via Dharmastala or should I visit Dharmastala first and then sringeri last?
2) How about the accommodation facilities in these centers? Should I have my base in Mangalore instead where decent hotels would be available?
3) Can I also try to include Marudeshwar and Gokarana in this list? My son loves the beaches and he might enjoy it.
4) Will this whole trip be tiring to the kids? Should I break this into two separate trips?
5) Should I carry anything specific like blankets, woolen wear etc?
6) I bought the I20 last month. It's less than a month old. Would there be any problem if I take a long trip in a new car?

Please advice.

[kadri007]

Originally Posted by crossroads

I am planning to undertake a trip to the pilgrimage centers in Karnataka like Udupi, Sringeri, Dharmastala, Kollur & Subramanhya from Chennai during the pongal holidays (Jan 14, 15, 16, 17).

1) Which temple should I visit first? Should I go to Sringeri first and come back via Dharmastala or should I visit Dharmastala first and then sringeri last?
2) How about the accommodation facilities in these centers? Should I have my base in Mangalore instead where decent hotels would be available?
3) Can I also try to include Marudeshwar and Gokarana in this list? My son loves the beaches and he might enjoy it.
5) Should I carry anything specific like blankets, woolen wear etc?
Please advice.

Here are few options:

Day 1:
Blore - Tumkur - Arsikere- Kadur- Bhadravathi- Shimoga - Sagara- Jog Falls (Tourist Place- Highest water falls)- Honnavara- Kumta - Gokarna (Beach &Temple) - Kumta - Honnavara - Murdeshwar (Halt)

You have good hotels in Murdeshwar to stay.

Day 2:
Murdeshwara(Temple, Beach)- Bhatkal - Byndoor - Kollur(Temple) - Hattiangadi(Temple) - Kundapura - Kumbashi (Temple) - Udupi(Temple) - Malpe(Beach) - Udupi(Halt)


Day 3:
Udupi- Manipal - Agumbe(Hill top) - Sringeri(Temple)- Balehonorru- Kalasa- Horanadu(Temple) - Kudremukha (Hill, National park) - Karkala (Gometeshwara) - Mudabidri (Halt)

Day 4:
Mudabidri(1000 Pillar Jain Temple) - Kodyadka(Temple) - Mudabidri - Kateel(Temple) - Mangalore( Has almost everthing for tourist) - Mangalore (Halt)

Day 5: Mangalore - BC Road- Uppinangadi - Subramanya(Temple) - Uppinangadi- Belthangady- Ujire - Dharmastala(Temple) - Ujire - Charmadi - Kottighera - Hassan - Blore.

Warm clothes are required since its winter time.

Also refer the below threads for distances and road conditions.


http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/22805-bangalore-chickmagalur-sringeri-agumbe-route-explained-4.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...udupi-104.html

[sushrutha]

Kadri, I would slightly modify your plan.


Day 1:
Blore - Tumkur - Arsikere- Kadur- Bhadravathi- Shimoga - Sagara- Jog Falls (Tourist Place- Highest water falls)- Honnavara- Kumta - Gokarna (Beach &Temple) - (Halt) almost 500kms from BLR.
Start early from Bangalore


Day 2:
Gokarna -Murdeshwara(Temple, Beach)- Byndoor - Kollur(Temple) - Kundapura - Aanegudda(Temple) - Malpe(Beach) - Udupi(Halt)-Almost 200kms


Day 3:
Udupi- Manipal - Karkala (Gometeshwara) -Kudremukha (Hill, National park) - Horanadu(Temple) -Balehonnur -Jayapura - Sringeri (Halt)- Almost 150kms
If you have time you can visit Agumbe, and return to Sringeri after the sunset.
Agumbe - Sringeri distance is 30kms

Day 4:
Sringeri - Balehonnur-Magundi-Kottigehara-Charmadi - Ujire- Dharmasthala - Kukke Subramanya(halt). approx 180kms

Day 5:
Start to BLR.
Either Via Shiradi - Road literally gone for a toss Route - Subramanya - Sakleshpur-Hassan-BLR
Or
Via Madikeri - Route - Subramanya - sulya-sampaje-Madikeri-mysore-BLR

Approx distance 300kms.

@crossroads some points to be noted
1. As you have small kids, and they might get tired of travelling so except for first day distance, rest all days distance is max of 200kms/day.
2. Jan 14 is Makara Sankranthi, it's gonna be damn rush in most of the temples in south karnataka. So be prepared to stand in queue.(remember most people visiting Shabarimala temple will visit all these temples)
3. Carry sweaters+blanket as it's cold in most of the places.
There wouldn't be any problem to your I20 car.
Rough pathces in these routes are
Between Jogfalls - Honnavar.
Between byndoor - Kollur
In Shiradi ghats, Sampaje ghats.

[crossroads]

Thanks Kadri & Sushrutha,

Your inputs are very helpful. Looks like its a 2000 KM round trip from Chennai if I want to cover all the places. Looks like covering all these places in a single trip would be tiring when traveling with the kids. I will discuss your inputs with my wife and parents.

[pradeepkm]

Hi,
Planning a trip in my car to Horanadu,Sringeri,Kollur,Dharmastala,Kukke.
Starting point Bangalore and ending at Mysore.
I am totally confused now about which route I should take.

Google Map says

Bangalore -Hassan-Belur-Mudigere Road (SH 58)- Join SH 64- Turn Right in SH 64 to H 66 to Kalasa main road - to Horanadu temple.

From horanadu temple - come to Kalasa main road - and reach NH13 - to sringeri.

Can some body shed some light on this ?

I have 4 days for the same, starting Saturday and returning to Bangalore by Wednesday evening.

Please help me planning this trip.

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by pradeepkm

Hi,
Planning a trip in my car to Horanadu,Sringeri,Kollur,Dharmastala,Kukke.
Starting point Bangalore and ending at Mysore.
I am totally confused now about which route I should take.

Google Map says

Bangalore -Hassan-Belur-Mudigere Road (SH 58)- Join SH 64- Turn Right in SH 64 to H 66 to Kalasa main road - to Horanadu temple.

From horanadu temple - come to Kalasa main road - and reach NH13 - to sringeri.

Can some body shed some light on this ?

I have 4 days for the same, starting Saturday and returning to Bangalore by Wednesday evening.

Please help me planning this trip.

The route to follow is as mentioned below
BLR-HASSAN-BELUR-MUDIGERE- KOTTIGEHARA-KALASA-HORNADU-SRINGERI
SRINGERI-AGUMBE -HALADI-KOLLUR
KOLLUR-KUNDAPURA-UDUPI- KARKALA-GURUVAYANKERE- UJIRE-DHARMASTHALA-KUKKE
KUKKE-PUTTUR-SAMPAJE-MADIKERI-HUNSUR-MYSORE
As per the latet update, Smapaje ghats is in bad condition.
Along with Belur-Mudigere stretch.

[prajwalkashyap]

I am planning on a road trip this coming weekend to Dharmasthala and Subramanya from BLR. Planning to leave on Sat morning and be back to BLR by Sun evening. I want to stay overnight at Dharmasthala and then go to Subramanya the next day after the darshan is over.

How is the Charmadi Ghats stretch now? I remember during my bike trip to MLR in Jan '10, the Mudigere-Belur road were terrible, so I ended up travelling on the country roads via Makonahalli (near abouts Sushrutha's place). And before that, I had come via Karkala/Kudremukh to avoid the Charmadi and Shiradi Ghats.

I will be driving in an old M800 and I am keen to know the smoothest route to drive on. What are the options that I have?

Any good places to stay in Dharmasthala as well?

Prajwal

[whitesquall]

Originally Posted by prajwalkashyap

How is the Charmadi Ghats stretch now?

I will be driving in an old M800 and I am keen to know the smoothest route to drive on. What are the options that I have?

Any good places to stay in Dharmasthala as well?

Prajwal

Don't even think about Shiradi Ghat stretch !! Charmadi Ghat stretch is generally good. Try n see if you can get accommodation in 'Netravati', it's run by SDM trust and it is clean and neat. Weekends usually will have more visitors and hence getting a good accommodation is tough.

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by prajwalkashyap

How is the Charmadi Ghats stretch now?

See the below thread.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...-charmadi.html

[kadri007]

Shiradi No way especially in cars. I traveled on Friday to Mangalore and Sunday back to Bangalore.

More updates on the below thread:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/15941-art-travelling-between-bangalore-mangalore-udupi-121.html

[lohithrao]

I think Shiradi is very motorable leaving last few kms, compared to last few years the entire stretch is very car friendly..

last Saturday i traveled by my bike and dint find anything challenging at all!

[prajwalkashyap]

There is a big difference travelling on the bike and in the car. I have found that it is relatively easier on the bike. I did it on the bike in Jan when the roads were supposedly "better", I saw that the cars were really struggling to go thru the potholes, but I was better off on my bike.

This time I am doing it in a car, and I would be deviating to Dharmasthala and then to Subramanya.

My current planned route is BLR/Hassan/Belur/Mudigere/ Charmadi/Ujjire/Dharmasthala/ Subramanya/Sulya/Madikeri/ Mysore/BLR

I hope the roads would go easy on my M800.

Prajwal