[Chingtham DS]

Planning a trip to Gokarna with family (with two kids 11 yrs & 5 yrs) on 7th Oct 2021 and returning on 10th Oct 2021. Planning to start by 5am in the morning from Bangalore. I see a lot of people suggesting via Shimoga however I am comfortable with the Tumkur - Haveri - Sirsi - Kumta - Gokarna route as I've last traveled to Goa via Hubli in Jan 2020. Can anyone provide me the road conditions for the above route for a hatchback with reasonable GC. (Suzuki Swift). Thanks in advance.

[sbr1304]

Originally Posted by Chingtham DS

Planning a trip to Gokarna with family (with two kids 11 yrs & 5 yrs) on 7th Oct 2021 and returning on 10th Oct 2021. Planning to start by 5am in the morning from Bangalore. I see a lot of people suggesting via Shimoga however I am comfortable with the Tumkur - Haveri - Sirsi - Kumta - Gokarna route as I've last traveled to Goa via Hubli in Jan 2020. Can anyone provide me the road conditions for the above route for a hatchback with reasonable GC. (Suzuki Swift). Thanks in advance.

I took the route bangalore-hiriyur-hosadurga-shimoga-sagar-jogfalls-honnavar-kumta on Saturday 25th September.

Bangalore to hiriyur - Smooth

Hiriyur to shimoga- not great, patchy in between, but goes through all the town's and villages , so cant speed , you have to be cautious, and you loose a lot of time.

Shimoga to jog fall also same as above: you can take a quick look at Jog falls, although the company water wasnt full, many said they open the gates on Sundays only.

Jog falls to honnavar : winding roads, the gerosoppa ghats is pretty huge. So better to put kids to sleep, it's a bit nauseating.
The roads are a breeze and if you like the windings, you will enjoy the ride.

Honnavar to kumta : minor traffic, the toll road is in progress.

Kumta to gokarn: must be ok

Pls note in above journey you may find it really tough to find a good washroom for women and kids

We didn't stop at any restaurant also, as we packed some food from home, stopped at a nice shady spot to have it.


Planning to take the kumta-sirsi-haveri-bangalore route on return.Will update about the road conditions especially between kumta and Haveri.

If anyone knows, pls let me know

[the_joker]

Originally Posted by Chingtham DS

Planning a trip to Gokarna with family

There used to be multiple good options:

1. Bengaluru - Chitradurga - Holalkere - Channagiri - Holehonnur - Shimoga - Sagar - Honnavar - Kumta - Gokarna: This is what I recommend to most people. Decent roads throughout with at least 2 lanes throughout. You can stop at Jog falls on the way. It may take about 1 hr extra. A few more roadside attractions are Sharavathi valley viewpoint, and Shimsha hanging bridge. Will take ~15 min max, the views are good early in the morning during sunrise and sunset. Takes me about 9 hrs without breaks.
   
2. Bengaluru - Ranebennur - Halageri - Kod - Shiralkoppa - Soraba - Siddapur - Kumta - Gokarna: My favorite route currently, but roads are single lane for some distance, and kinda deserted. Road condition is also not great after Siddapur. Will take least time, but avoid if you are not comfortable with these kind of situations. It takes me about 8.5 hrs without breaks.
   
3. Bengaluru - Hubli - Yellapur - Ankola - Gokarna: I used to take this route 4 - 5 years back. It used to take me less time even though the route is ~100 km longer. Not recommended now because Yellapur - Ankola is in bad condition now. Used to take me 8.5 hrs without breaks.
   
4. Bengaluru - Haveri - Sirsi - Kumta - Gokarna: My least favorite route. But people prefer it because distance is short. Road till Sirsi is ok. Sirsi - Kumta, concretization work is going on. Avoid till it's complete. This used to take me about 9.5 hrs without breaks.
   
5. Bengaluru - Hiriyur - Hosadurga - Tarikere - Bhadravati - Shimoga: People prefer this route over the other route to Shimoga because it is shorter, I don't like it because traffic from Tarikere to Shimoga is heavy and overtaking is difficult. It takes me about 9.5 hrs without breaks.
   
6. There are other routes too like Nelamangala - Kunigal - Arsikere, and Tumkur - Tiptur - Arsikere. I think road widening work is going on in this stretch.

[sbr1304]

Originally Posted by the_joker

There used to be multiple good options:

1. Bengaluru - Haveri - Sirsi - Kumta - Gokarna: My least favorite route. But people prefer it because distance is short. Road till Sirsi is ok. Sirsi - Kumta, concretization work is going on. Avoid till it's complete. This used to take me about 9.5 hrs without breaks.
   
   

I just took this route yesterday.
Kumta to devimane ghat temple - good roads
Devimane ghat to Ragihosahalli - but average some pot holes, but manageable
After Ragihosahalli roads are good.
Just befor Sirsi about 5kms , roads are really bad as like mentioned above road widening is in progress at snail pace and with rains the roads is full of mud and slushy.
I have heard on some days it causes major traffic jams.
But for me on Wednesday morning abt about 11am there was almost zero traffic, I didn't stop at one place and the roads was okok buy drive was at about 15kmph.
From Sirsi to Haveri roads are good.
Haveri to bangalore all know, it's a breeze.

Compared to Shimoga/Jog falls, I would prefer Haveri/Sirsi anyday.

Pls note Sirsi onwards road work is unpredictable, this is condition as of September end 2021.

[kswapnilk]

Originally Posted by sbr1304

Planning to take the kumta-sirsi-haveri-bangalore route on return.Will update about the road conditions especially between kumta and Haveri.

If anyone knows, pls let me know

Did you take the kumta-sirsi-haveri-bangalore route on return? If so, could you please share the road conditions compared to onward journey route (via Shivamogga?

[sbr1304]

Originally Posted by kswapnilk

Did you take the kumta-sirsi-haveri-bangalore route on return? If so, could you please share the road conditions compared to onward journey route (via Shivamogga?

Pls see post #122 for route via Shimoga, #124 for route via Sirsi/Haveri.

[Caramba]

Did Bangalore-Sirsi-Kumta-Gokarna a couple of days back.The route is fine provided you have a bit of patience.

Bangalore-Sirsi all good. Watch out for the turn off from the NH towards Sirsi neither google maps nor in car navigation could figure out the turn. As the maps went mad, followed a fortuner which seemed to know what it was doing.

After Sirsi, for about 5-6km there is no road. It was not raining so it was manageable. After that is a combination of mostly good roads with a few broken patches.

Note that if you are relying on google maps download offline maps as there is no coverage. There are some turn offs earlier before you hit NH66 that google maps might try sending you on. Do not turn anywhere just keep driving till you hit a four lane road.

[sbr1304]

Originally Posted by Caramba

Watch out for the turn off from the NH towards Sirsi neither google maps nor in car navigation could figure out the turn.

Add this into your Google maps . This is the Haveri bypass where you turn towards Sirsi.

14°46'45.5"N 75°23'26.6"E
NH 48, Karnataka 581110

https://goo.gl/maps/xsk6TNxiTzDDBEqU7

[kswapnilk]

Originally Posted by Caramba

Did Bangalore-Sirsi-Kumta-Gokarna a couple of days back.The route is fine provided you have a bit of patience.

Bangalore-Sirsi all good. Watch out for the turn off from the NH towards Sirsi neither google maps nor in car navigation could figure out the turn. As the maps went mad, followed a fortuner which seemed to know what it was doing.

After Sirsi, for about 5-6km there is no road. It was not raining so it was manageable. After that is a combination of mostly good roads with a few broken patches.

Note that if you are relying on google maps download offline maps as there is no coverage. There are some turn offs earlier before you hit NH66 that google maps might try sending you on. Do not turn anywhere just keep driving till you hit a four lane road.

I did Bangalore-Sirsi-Kumta route. As it did not rain, the 5-6 km stretch under construction was doable. This route seems fine as long as it is not raining. For me, Google maps worked just fine.

[Chingtham DS]

Sorry for the delayed post as I had been busy. I went to Gokarna from Bangalore on 14th October and came back on 17th October.
Onward journey I took Tumkur - Haveri - Sirsi - Kumta as suggested by Google. Blr till Haveri, the road was super as always. There was only 1 diversion that too the service road was very good.
Watch out carefully for the left turn at Haveri. It is very easy to miss. Suggest to go slow 1 or 2 km before. The service road entry had a big puddle with a small rock that scrapped my underbody pillar. Luckily it was a minor scratch on the metal beam under the car. It's in the middle of the road and can't be seen as you climb up and the puddle is there at your blind spot at the descending area of the road. This service road is in a very bad condition with large puddles and deep potholes. I managed with my Swift Vxi so cars with low GC, if you watch out you should be able to manage. I have seen Honda City following me on the same stretch.
Before Sirsi, the road was full of potholes and it may be about 7 to 8 kms. After Sirsi, again 7 to 8 kms, only one side as construction is happening. Post that reached Gokarna in 7 hrs driving time excluding breaks.

While coming back,started by 9am, we came back on the same route however Goole took us in a narrow village road before Sirsi. We were worried but met a local gentleman in his car. So followed him till we met the state highway and I don't know what happened, we didn't come across the road which was under construction. Reached Sirsi by bypassing the one sided road which is under construction thanks to Google.
From Gokarna to Haveri, took us almost 3 and half hrs. Then breakfast and lunch on the way which was a total of 1and half hrs as traveling with kids. Reached BLR by 7. 30pm. While coming back, the diversions from Haveri onwards, there were at least 7 to 8 of them, I don't remember exactly but the service roads were good at some places and bad on few of them. Terrible traffic from Tumkur till Cox Town in Bangalore. I guess this part has consumed more driving time then any other hahahhaa. Hope this help our fellow travelers.. Cheers..

[guruji]

Bengaluru - Ranebennur - Halageri - Kod - Shiralkoppa - Soraba - Siddapur - Kumta - Gokarna

Is this the best route as of now to Gokarna?

[MarutiGuy1977]

Could anyone kindly advise on:
1. Places to stay in Gokarna - (we are a family traveling)
2. Best route from Gokarna to Bangalore - we are planning to break the return trip in two with an overnight stay either at Shimoga or Davangere. But having a challenge in finding good accomodations at either place.

Thank you!

[ccnarayanan]

When we went to Gokarna, we did the drive without an overnight stop. It took about 10 hours including breaks. If you are looking for an overnight stop, there is a Royal Orchid in Shimoga. I have heard Apoorva Resort just before Davangere is good. Although it would be a detour, Hubli has an ITC Fortune Park as well as Naveen Lakeside (which was previously operated by Taj).

We stayed in CGH Earth / Swaswara. The place is a bit expensive but very scenic resort with natural forest inside the property and private access to the beach. We saw a few resorts on the way to this resort which you can check.

[ccnarayanan]

You could look at the route via Sirsi or Yellapur (both are about the same; I prefer the one via Yellapur since it is more scenic).

Originally Posted by guruji

Bengaluru - Ranebennur - Halageri - Kod - Shiralkoppa - Soraba - Siddapur - Kumta - Gokarna

Is this the best route as of now to Gokarna?

[mazda4life]

Originally Posted by MarutiGuy1977

Could anyone kindly advise on:
1. Places to stay in Gokarna !

You can check out Pandurang international at Kumta as your base to stay, remember staying there couple of years back and the restaurant which is attached to the hotel is good ( veg food ).