[NPV]

Originally Posted by sumeshmani

I am going to Coonoor this Friday. So I need help with choosing a route.

Rule out #1, too circuitous and Gudalur section is bad, plus why traverse through Ooty when destination is Coonor ?

Take #2 or #3, maybe one for onward and one for return.
#2 will take you via Dimbham ghats and is scenic too especially the Chamarajanagar-Hasanur-Dimbham-Bannari section is very nice with tall trees and greenery. If you take this route, you can start early from Bangalore say by 5:30am and stop at Nijaguna, Chamarajanagar for breakfast.
#3 will give 4 laned roads for Bangalore-Avinashi so in my opinion a good one for the return journey.

[laluks]

Why not
1. Bangalore Bandipur Masinagudi Ootyfor onwards
2. Ooty Mettuppalayam Dimbam Gemalam Kollegal Kanakapura Bangalore for return

[sumeshmani]

Originally Posted by NPV

#2 will take you via Dimbham ghats and is scenic too especially the Chamarajanagar-Hasanur-Dimbham-Bannari section is very nice with tall trees and greenery. If you take this route, you can start early from Bangalore say by 5:30am and stop at Nijaguna, Chamarajanagar for breakfast.

Originally Posted by laluks

Why not
1. Bangalore Bandipur Masinagudi Ootyfor onwards
2. Ooty Mettuppalayam Dimbam Gemalam Kollegal Kanakapura Bangalore for return

couple of queries:
1. Is (Dimbam - Kollegal) better or is (Kollegal - Chamarajanagar - Dimbham) in terms of road condition?
2. Will i need to get into Satyamangalam? or will I be able to by-pass it?

[laluks]

Originally Posted by sumeshmani

couple of queries:
1. Is (Dimbam - Kollegal) better or is (Kollegal - Chamarajanagar - Dimbham) in terms of road condition?
2. Will i need to get into Satyamangalam? or will I be able to by-pass it?

Dimbam to kollegal via Germalam sees less traffic and fun roads
From mettupalayalam you can reach dimbam via bhavani sagar dam byepassing sathyamangalam

[NPV]

Originally Posted by sumeshmani

couple of queries:
1. Is (Dimbam - Kollegal) better or is (Kollegal - Chamarajanagar - Dimbham) in terms of road condition?
2. Will i need to get into Satyamangalam? or will I be able to by-pass it?

Kollegal-Dimbam via Germalam is reserved forest territory, narrow road and no facilities with hardly any traffic, avoid late evening drives on this route.

Regular route via Chamarajanagar is fine and better if going with family. You can stop at Nijaguna for a break and then head towards Dimbam.

At Sathyamangalam town, you will reach a junction with a petrol bunk at 4 road junction and a curvy beside the petrol bunk - this is the road towards Mettupalayam. If in doubt ask someone when you reach Sathyamangalam.

[kala]

Originally Posted by sumeshmani

couple of queries:
1. Is (Dimbam - Kollegal) better or is (Kollegal - Chamarajanagar - Dimbham) in terms of road condition?
2. Will i need to get into Satyamangalam? or will I be able to by-pass it?

Originally Posted by laluks

Dimbam to kollegal via Germalam sees less traffic and fun roads
From mettupalayalam you can reach dimbam via bhavani sagar dam byepassing sathyamangalam

As others pointed out, the route bypassing Chamarajnagar (via Germalam) has far less traffic, but roads may not be as smooth as the one on the NH route (Kollegal-CRNagar-Dimbhum) and certainly narrower. So don't expect to save too much of time taking the Germalam route, though the drive likely to be more adventurous albeit a bit lonely.

Going through Satyamangalam doesn't make too much of sense if one is going to Mettupalayam. Take a right turn at Bannari (just after the checkpost, before the Bannari temple) towards Bhavanisagar and this road will eventually connect to the Satyamangalam-Mettupalayam road saving at least 15-20 kms in distance and save you the the town traffic in Sathy. Road conditions should be good (I travelled quite some time ago, and it was in pretty good shape - unlikely to have become too bad since this road has very little traffic). I guess this is the byepass that Lalu mentioned above.

[viper_711]

Request for road condition update between Mysore - Gundlupet if anyone has recently used it? Is the widening work over and if not how bad is it?

[subirdas]

On the first/second week of November planning to drive down to Mysore/Ooty.

Looking for some assistance please on the following :

1) Recommended hotels in both Mysore and Ooty for family - apart from spacious clean rooms with nice views from the room(applicable more for Ooty only), availability of car parking in the hotel premises is a deal maker/breaker for me.
2) What are the must see places in Ooty (will be there for a couple of days) and Mysore (will stay for one day) - Brindavan Garden and Mysore Palace are currently considered.
3) Any pointers on the Mudumalai safari around timings, etc. will be of great help - may have to do this on the way back to Bangalore.

Any other information from the pundits on this circuit will be much appreciated.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by viper_711

Request for road condition update between Mysore - Gundlupet if anyone has recently used it? Is the widening work over and if not how bad is it?

From recent updates - Work is still in progress, but manageable if you're driving early morning.

Originally Posted by subirdas

1) Recommended hotels in both Mysore and Ooty for family - apart from spacious clean rooms with nice views from the room(applicable more for Ooty only), availability of car parking in the hotel premises is a deal maker/breaker for me.
2) What are the must see places in Ooty (will be there for a couple of days) and Mysore (will stay for one day) - Brindavan Garden and Mysore Palace are currently considered.
3) Any pointers on the Mudumalai safari around timings, etc. will be of great help - may have to do this on the way back to Bangalore.

1.Mysore has several hotel options in all budgets. Based on budget, consider Southern star (I guess it's part of Quality group now), Kings Kourt, Sandesh the prince, Ginger, Ramanashree (parking suspect as it's in a crowded area).
2.You can also visit Karanji Lake, Rail Museum, Art Museum (another Palace), Chamundi Hills.
3.En route to Ooty you can visit Nanjangud temple. Take the Masinagudi (36 Hair Pin bend) route for onward journey, nice and scenic. On the return, cops may not allow you to take this route downhill so you may have to take Gudalur route.
Ooty - Lake View hotel is good, lots of parking and cottages are spread out across the property, or try one of the B&B places like Cypress Woods on airbnb
Not sure if Mudumalai has safari but should be there at Bandipur - I think timings are 6am-9am and 4pm-6pm.

[subirdas]

Thanks NPV for your inputs. I'll take the 36 hair-pin route to Ooty - am looking forward to that.

One more question - do I need to book hotels in Mysore/Ooty in advance or can afford to confirm booking around noon on the day, depending on how my drive plan has fared until then. I usually take this approach, but given that this will be the Diwali week and tourist place, am not sure whether this will work here - don't want to be stranded in a new place with family after 16 or so hours of drive.

[JoseVijay]

Originally Posted by subirdas

One more question - do I need to book hotels in Mysore/Ooty in advance or can afford to confirm booking around noon on the day, depending on how my drive plan has fared until then.

It is OFF Season in Ooty right now. Rooms might be available upon arrival.

[subirdas]

Originally Posted by JoseVijay

It is OFF Season in Ooty right now. Rooms might be available upon arrival.

Thanks JoseVijay. I have been tracking the hotel tarrifs on Tripadvisior, etc for a week or so ; interestingly I see them going northward. However, am unsure whether this is a ploy of creating artificial demand.

[kala]

Originally Posted by subirdas

Thanks JoseVijay. I have been tracking the hotel tarrifs on Tripadvisior, etc for a week or so ; interestingly I see them going northward. However, am unsure whether this is a ploy of creating artificial demand.

The time around the Dusshera holidays is considered to be a "mini-season" in Ooty, so rates could be somewhat higher. I think they should start dropping after schools reopen.

[FuelInjector]

Originally Posted by subirdas

Thanks JoseVijay. I have been tracking the hotel tarrifs on Tripadvisior, etc for a week or so ; interestingly I see them going northward. However, am unsure whether this is a ploy of creating artificial demand.

in my opinion with all these e-commerce websites, hotel lodging prices are like airline prices. there is an algorithm running which bumps up the price by 1-2% everytime there is a hit for a particular date range. This being navratri, many families would be planning trips as their childrens school would also be off. hence the price rise.
on the topic of the thread - roads to Ooty are very good (while driving up from coimbatore) though it has been raining heavily last 2 days here.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by JoseVijay

It is OFF Season in Ooty right now. Rooms might be available upon arrival.

Originally Posted by subirdas

Thanks JoseVijay. I have been tracking the hotel tarrifs on Tripadvisior, etc for a week or so ; interestingly I see them going northward. However, am unsure whether this is a ploy of creating artificial demand.

No matter what, at least for destinations like Ooty it always makes sense to book and go. The tourist inrush during vacation (long/short) can be quite heavy.