[nadigar]

Zeroed in on these options:
1.Dharmastala - Mangalore - Udupi : 125km
2.Dharmastala - Belthangady -Venur-Karkala-Manipal-Udupi: 110 km

Any other options? What about road conditions? I feel (1) should be good as most of it is via NH.

[Samurai]

Take the second route. It is very deserted, very scenic, roads are in very good shape. I did that stretch just 10 days back.

[spadival]

You can also try the road from Guruyankere to Karkala via Naravi / Hosmar.

[hvkumar]

To give you a little more info, route info is as follows:
Dharmastala-Ujire 10 kms-Belthangady 5-Bajagole 39-Karkala 15-Manipal 31-Udupi 5, totalling 105 kms

At Ujire, turn left to Mangalore road
At Beltangady turn right into Karkala Road
At Bajagole, join the Kudremukh-Karkala-Managlore road
You can bypass Karkala town, look for the right to Udupi, the other road goes to Mangalore.
Just before Manipal, join the Agumbe-Udupi road

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

At Beltangady turn right into Karkala Road

Slight correction.
After belthangady, at guruvayankere take right turn. Just after 2 -3 kms from here you can take either left or right road, Both the road will lead to Karkala.
If you take left, then it's Via Venur- moodabidre- karkala -udupi
If you take right, it's via Naravi- bajagoli-Karkala-udupi.

[Samurai]

Kumar, there are some discrepancies in your route, for example there is no Agumbe-Udupi road to join at Manipal or a turn at Beltangady.

The best route is as follows, the venur route takes through Moodubidri which is un-necessary and very twisty.

Dharmasthala-Ujire
At Ujire turn left towards Beltangady
Cross Beltangady, keep going towards Guruwayankere
After crossing Guruwayankere, you will see a fork.
Left goes to Moodubidri and right goes to Karkala, take right.
The Kudremukh mountain range is seen to your right all the way.
Eventually through Naravi and Bajagoli you will reach Karkala.
At Karkala there is a major circle, turn right towards Udupi. (there are direction signs, if in doubt)
Soon you will see a fork, stay to left to avoid Karkala town.
You will see one more circle, ignore and continue straight. (there are direction signs, if in doubt)
After couple of KMs, you will see Karkala-Udupi highway, turn left towards Udupi.
A Km later, you will see a fork, left goes to Hebri/Agumbe, right goes to Udupi.
After this there are no turns, just stick to the main road all the way through Byloor, Hiriyadka, Manipal and finally Udupi.

[spadival]

Yahoo Maps has the route details quite accurate, though the road positions (GPS) may not match the ones on the ground !! - > Yahoo! India Maps

Originally Posted by hvkumar

To give you a little more info, route info is as follows:
Dharmastala-Ujire 10 kms-Belthangady 5-Bajagole 39-Karkala 15-Manipal 31-Udupi 5, totalling 105 kms

Is there any road left in India that you have not traveled on !!

[akroy]

Check my travelogue of Saligrama, in my return I did the same route: Udupi - Manipal - Karkala - Dharmashtala and then onto NH48 as mentioned by Samurai.

Abhi

[nadigar]

Thanks! I don't think I need to carry my IMS map book now, a printout of this page is more than enough ;-)