[smukherjee]

I will be doing a trip to Ooty on 2nd October in my new I20 Petrol (should have about 500-600 kms on the Odo by then). Going to be my first long drive and ghat experience with the new car. I used to drive a diesel Vista, and am still getting used to the idiosyncrasies of this super-smooth petrol car.
Any advice on prep that needs to be done and route to be taken? Travelling with parents.
What time should I start to reach Ooty by 12? Return next day - start after lunch - will that be fine? Not really looking for sight-seeing, just a change of climate and get away from the city crowd.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by smukherjee

Any advice on prep that needs to be done and route to be taken? Travelling with parents.
What time should I start to reach Ooty by 12? Return next day - start after lunch - will that be fine? Not really looking for sight-seeing, just a change of climate and get away from the city crowd.

Route options
#1. Bangalore-Mysore-Gundlupet-Bandipur-Mudumalai (Mysore road/SH17 route for Blr-Mysore). More Food/break options on this route.
OR
#2. Bangalore-Kanakapura-Malavalli-Kollegal-Chamrajanagar-Gundlupet-Bandipur-Mudumalai. Lesser options for food/breaks. This is the NH209 route till Chamarajanagar. You can have breakfast at Chamarajanagar - Mayura Rajdhani in bus stand complex or Nijaguna Residency.

*Mudumalai is the forest section in Tamil Nadu, continuation of the Bandipur forest on the Karnataka side.

At Mudumalai, you can go straight towards Gudalur and then to Ooty. This is the NH but is broken at some places.
OR
You can turn left towards Masinagudi (place called Theppakadu) and take the 36 hair-pen bend route to Ooty. This road was in excellent condition few months ago, I don't expect it to be bad now. It's a scenic drive too, but if it's your first hill drive, maybe you can avoid it.

Start time from Bangalore - Needless to say, long weekend traffic will be heavy so try to start around 4am.
*4am start may negate the Mysore road advantage of food stop options as most open around 6:45am-7am, and traffic will be more so I would suggest Kanakapura route.

**Ooty will be crowded at this time, so no escaping crowds

[vnabhi]

@smukherjee--Please bear in mind that the 36 hairpin route from Theppakadu via Masinagudi is 40 kms shorter, but the gradient is very steep. If you don't have enough experience of driving on ghat roads, this route is best avoided.

The one via Gudalur is a more gradual gradient, though longer.

[smukherjee]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

@smukherjee--Please bear in mind that the 36 hairpin route from Theppakadu via Masinagudi is 40 kms shorter, but the gradient is very steep. If you don't have enough experience of driving on ghat roads, this route is best avoided.

The one via Gudalur is a more gradual gradient, though longer.

Thanks for the advice! I have done ghat roads before in my Vista (Munnar cpl of times and Kodai). This is the first time in the new car and it's a petrol car. I am worried about hurting the engine while it is still in its run-in period. I'm also planning to do a quick Nandi Hills trip to see how comfortable the car is on ghat roads.

The other route seems to be longer and previous posts indicate the roads are quite bad on a particular stretch - so at least while going up I was hoping to take the shorter hairpin route. In terms of time taken, how much difference would there be between the two options?

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by smukherjee

Thanks for the advice! I have done ghat roads before in my Vista (Munnar cpl of times and Kodai). This is the first time in the new car and it's a petrol car. I am worried about hurting the engine while it is still in its run-in period. I'm also planning to do a quick Nandi Hills trip to see how comfortable the car is on ghat roads.

I think the time difference would easily be 1 to 1.5 hours
The other route seems to be longer and previous posts indicate the roads are quite bad on a particular stretch - so at least while going up I was hoping to take the shorter hairpin route. In terms of time taken, how much difference would there be between the two options?

One other consideration would be the fact that that i20 petrol is known to be a little under powered specially under load. The 36 hair pin drive is very steep and will involve a fair bit of first gear usage. I think the nandi hills plan is a good one. Although that is nothing compared to the ooty ghat, it can give some idea ( especially the final couple of curves which are steep)

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by smukherjee

The other route seems to be longer and previous posts indicate the roads are quite bad on a particular stretch - so at least while going up I was hoping to take the shorter hairpin route. In terms of time taken, how much difference would there be between the two options?

It took around 25 minutes longer on the return via Gudalur. By the way, the Gudalur route is 31 kms longer, not 40.

Wish you a pleasant journey.

[jkrishnakj]

sMukherjee -
Its very much doable. I did this on my Brio last month. The roads were good. The traffic on the masinagudi section with the 36 bends is actually a bit lesser than the gudalur route. I would say go for it. You save a lot of time thru this route.

[NPV]

@smukherjee - other route options would be via Mettupalayam so you could take either:
Bangalore-Salem-Avinashi-Mettupalayam-Ooty OR
Bangalore-Kanakapura-Chamarajanagar-Dimbam ghat-Sathyamangalam-Mettupalayam-Ooty.

[sabret00the]

Just returned to Bangalore. Thanks to those who helped me plan the trip in a jiffy

While going I went via Mysore and returned via Kanakpura Road.

Bangalore to Mysore stretch is 4 lane with dividers but there are lots of speedbreakers. Also it has a lot of towns and the entire stretch is filled with traffic more or less. From Mysore to Ooty road is two lane with no dividers. Road condition is not so good.

The Kanakpura Road stretch via Chamrajanagar is two lane with no dividers but the road condition is comparatively better. You will not find much traffic in-between and I could maintain higher speed on this stretch. Especially that I had to reach HSR BDA KIA Bus Stop within 2PM.

Will post more details in a separate thread soon

[mohan41]

Originally Posted by sabret00the

Just returned to Bangalore. Thanks to those who helped me plan the trip in a jiffy

While going I went via Mysore and returned via Kanakpura Road.

Bangalore to Mysore stretch is 4 lane with dividers but there are lots of speedbreakers. Also it has a lot of towns and the entire stretch is filled with traffic more or less. From Mysore to Ooty road is two lane with no dividers. Road condition is not so good.

The Kanakpura Road stretch via Chamrajanagar is two lane with no dividers but the road condition is comparatively better. You will not find much traffic in-between and I could maintain higher speed on this stretch. Especially that I had to reach HSR BDA KIA Bus Stop within 2PM.

Will post more details in a separate thread soon

Hi @sabret00the, how was the road between Chamrajanagar and Gundlupet? One of the earlier posts in this thread mentioned it had some bad stretches, though that was in July.

Another question to anyone who did this route recently: Have any decent food options come up recently on this route (via kanakapura-malavalli-chamrajanagar)

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by mohan41

Hi @sabret00the, how was the road between Chamrajanagar and Gundlupet? One of the earlier posts in this thread mentioned it had some bad stretches, though that was in July.

Another question to anyone who did this route recently: Have any decent food options come up recently on this route (via kanakapura-malavalli-chamrajanagar)

Taking the liberty of answering. Chamrajnagar-Gundlepet is average when compared to the Kanakpura-Kollegala-Chamrajnagar stretch. But considering it by itself, it is pretty decent. It is a mix of fairly good stretches inter-spread with patchy ones. But no really bad stretches or pot hole filled stretches. This update is as of September first week.

No new food options that have come up on this route. Nijaguna is still the only family friendly place on the stretch.

[mohan41]

Thanks Rajeev.

I am wondering how this route will be : Ramanagara-Maddur-Malavalli-Kollegal-Chamrajnagar-Gundlupet. With this we get some good morning breakfast options till Maddur hopefully with decent toilet facilities. Post Maddur this route will avoid the heavy traffic of Mysore route. The only unknown is Maddur-Malavalli. Overall distance via this route vs others (via Kanakapura or via Mysore) looks almost same on the map.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by mohan41

Thanks Rajeev.

I am wondering how this route will be : Ramanagara-Maddur-Malavalli-Kollegal-Chamrajnagar-Gundlupet. With this we get some good morning breakfast options till Maddur hopefully with decent toilet facilities. Post Maddur this route will avoid the heavy traffic of Mysore route. The only unknown is Maddur-Malavalli. Overall distance via this route vs others (via Kanakapura or via Mysore) looks almost same on the map.

Don't think this is a good choice. Typically the reason to use the Kanakpura-Kollegal route is to avoid the traffic and choke-points on Mysore road. With the above option (assuming you are heading out on a long weekend), you will still need to negotiate the heavy traffic til Maddur which will include Kengeri, Bidadi, Ramanagara and Channapatna. If you are taking this route then may as well go via Mysore-Nanjangud itself. You can always by-pass Mysore using the Ring Road.

[onkar1710]

Originally Posted by mohan41

Thanks Rajeev.

I am wondering how this route will be : Ramanagara-Maddur-Malavalli-Kollegal-Chamrajnagar-Gundlupet. With this we get some good morning breakfast options till Maddur hopefully with decent toilet facilities. Post Maddur this route will avoid the heavy traffic of Mysore route. The only unknown is Maddur-Malavalli. Overall distance via this route vs others (via Kanakapura or via Mysore) looks almost same on the map.

Greetings of the day!

+1 to what Rajeevraj says! The NH 209 (Kanakapura road) route shall be more scenic and with lesser traffic enabling you to maintain higher speeds almost throughout.There is also an option of exploring offbeat destinations like Talakadu, Kollegal, Belakavadi and the like, directly through this route and/or slight diversions.

Regards!

[NPV]

Originally Posted by mohan41

Post Maddur this route will avoid the heavy traffic of Mysore route. The only unknown is Maddur-Malavalli. Overall distance via this route vs others (via Kanakapura or via Mysore) looks almost same on the map.

While the strategy is good considering you get lots of options for breaks/food between Bangalore-Maddur on the Mysore Road, the Maddur-Malavalli stretch will make you feel sorry, remember reading recent posts that it's not in good condition
For food breaks, some options, 6.30am onwards mostly
-Vasu Hotel in Kanakapura town on the highway itself on left side
-Mayura Rajdhani in the Chamarajanagar bus stand campus
-Nijaguna resort in Chamarajanagar just off the highway (the road going towards Dimbam ghats at the end of the town).