[rajeev k]

I did Kochi Kollur a year back. Roads upto mangalore was in shape that time. Beyond Mangalore widening and overbridge works were on.

Best route is NH17, via Ponnani from Chavakkad.

For making darshan anytime is OK. The system at the temple is to do the Pooja through Pujaris who would assist for a dakshina. But would be very helpful. I got to know one through a friend and was very helpful. If need his contact number PM me.

You can also visit Kudajadri a two hour jeep drive plus trek.

Veteran of many road trips Mr HV Kumar's advice is much valuable.

As the monsoon this time was heavy expect roads to be bad.

Coming from Trivandrum, via Edappally Paravoor Kodungalloor is better than Goshree, Vypeen, Cherai. The Edappally Paravoor strerch is a good aone except for a few kilimeters from Edappally.

[swathyd]

Never travel through NH 17 after kannur . Just tried to do a kollur trip and dropped that idea after seeing the terrible road conditions from kannur onwards . And about some statements like ' 12 hours to kollur etc are really misleading . I did a trip on september 2008 . Roads in kerala apart from kasargod was ok then .

But it took us 8.5 hours to reach kollur from manglore . I felt as if we are traveling through hell and nothing less . While returning from kollur we took vandse , karkala , mudabidri , kaikamba route to reach manglore .

This time I was planning to do that route , but by this time even kerala road conditions deteriorated .

And even after going though this statement , if you are determined then there is a solution . Bypass kannur and kasargod after leaving calicut . Go through iritty , virajpet , sullya , puttur , vittal , moodabidri , karkala , vandse and kollur . This route is longer when compared to nh17 but better . One thing to take note is that I havent travelled though iritty or sullya . In mudabidri session you will be able enjoy a lot as it is quite scenic .

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

swathyd, that is a good suggestion, but I am not sure that roads after Iritty, esp. via Virajpet are exactly good. Driveable, may be, but definitely not "excellent" or "good".

[MX6]

If you are not much bothered about scenic stuff on the way, I'd suggest you to hit NH7 from Nagercoil all the way to Karur. Then take this route from Karur
Karur - Erode - Sathy - Dimbam - Chamrajnagar - Mysore - Hassan - Chikkamagalur - Jayapura - Koppa - Thirthahalli - Kollur.

This would add 200 odd kms to the direct NH17 route. But then you are looking at amazing roads of NH7 till Karur. Amazing roads from Karur to Dhimbam - Amazing roads from Nanjangud till Thirthahalli.

What say HVK?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by MX6

If you are not much bothered about scenic stuff on the way, I'd suggest you to hit NH7 from Nagercoil all the way to Karur. Then take this route from Karur
Karur - Erode - Sathy - Dimbam - Chamrajnagar - Mysore - Hassan - Chikkamagalur - Jayapura - Koppa - Thirthahalli - Kollur.

This would add 200 odd kms to the direct NH17 route. But then you are looking at amazing roads of NH7 till Karur. Amazing roads from Karur to Dhimbam - Amazing roads from Nanjangud till Thirthahalli.

What say HVK?

That is a much better option. Peace of mind, and ample breaking options.

[swathyd]

That is a good suggestion but it will take 19 hours (avg of 53kms/hr)as per google maps, whereas the kerala-karnataka straight route takes only 13 hours(avg of 62kms/hr) an irony indeed . There must be a good hotel to stay in between . Preferably a hotel in karnataka .

[vb-saan]

For me, the total travel duration from Thrissur to Kollur was 16 hours 30 mins, with a total stoppage time of 3 hours 30 mins. The return leg was 3 hours longer, but more breaks in between, and tried visiting Bakel fort (which was closed at sharp 5:30pm, and hence couldn't go inside). But the good thing was we took the Bakel - Kanjangad road and hence managed to avoid the bad patch from Neeleswaram to Kanjangad bypass.
But, any day a proper SUV is recommended for this trip - A true off-roading test indeed!

[RajeshK]

Originally Posted by swathyd

Never travel through NH 17 after kannur . Just tried to do a kollur trip and dropped that idea after seeing the terrible road conditions from kannur onwards . And about some statements like ' 12 hours to kollur etc are really misleading . I did a trip on september 2008 . Roads in kerala apart from kasargod was ok then .

But it took us 8.5 hours to reach kollur from manglore . I felt as if we are traveling through hell and nothing less . While returning from kollur we took vandse , karkala , mudabidri , kaikamba route to reach manglore.

Swathy, are you sure its 8.5hrs is the driving hours...? The regular route is Kollur - Kundapura - Uduppi - Mangalore, and I was able to cover this distance in just 2hrs 20minutes during Dec'09 in my Santro. This is driving time including the heavy traffic jam neat to Mangalore Port (Panambur).

Also, please remember that, the NH in Kerala and costal KA used to get damaged due to the heavy rains every year. If you want to drive down via NH 17, then do it only after month of Jan. Till then best opetion is via train upto Byndur and then bus to Kollur. TVC - LTT Netravati Express has stop at Byndur.

Originally Posted by swathyd

This time I was planning to do that route , but by this time even kerala road conditions deteriorated .

And even after going though this statement , if you are determined then there is a solution . Bypass kannur and kasargod after leaving calicut . Go through iritty , virajpet , sullya , puttur , vittal , moodabidri , karkala , vandse and kollur . This route is longer when compared to nh17 but better . One thing to take note is that I havent travelled though iritty or sullya . In mudabidri session you will be able enjoy a lot as it is quite scenic .

While in NH-17, you don't have any easy option of bypassing Kannur and Kasargod. At least this time, the roads till Kannur District end is fine, but in Kasaragod dist. condition is very bad. At this time, you can almost forget about Iritty - Virajpet - Sullya routes.

Originally Posted by vb-san

But the good thing was we took the Bakel - Kanjangad road and hence managed to avoid the bad patch from Neeleswaram to Kanjangad bypass.

Via Bekal doesnot bypass Nileswaram. You don't need to enter NH-17 after Kasargod till Kanhangad and you can avoid the too many loops in Chattanchal.


Thanks
Rajesh

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by RajeshK

Via Bekal doesnot bypass Nileswaram. You don't need to enter NH-17 after Kasargod till Kanhangad and you can avoid the too many loops in Chattanchal.

Thanks
Rajesh

Hi, it does not bypass Neeleswaram, but we joined back on the NH a few kms before Gokulam Nalanda Resort in Neeleswaram. The only problem was a railway cross in between, which took 15 mins to clear.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

I am planning a Goa trip in 2nd week of January, and will visit Kollur on way back.

Ttaking the Vasco - M'lore passenger, leaving around 2 in the afternoon and reaching Kundapura by 6.30 PM or so.

Given the road conditions, and there will be 6 persons (me, wife, my parents, and 2 kids, 4 and 2 years), decided that the WagonR and our driving skills are inadequate, and hence, the journey will be by train, full "backseat" style. ;-D

The question - should we get off at (a) Bhatkal (b) Byndoor aka "Mookambika Road" railway station, or (c) Kundapura? Remember that we are coming from Goa - not South / m'lore.

Kundapura stn is 5/ 6 KM from the NH. Bhatkal station seems to be very close to the town and NH too. Very scanty info is available on Byndoor.

The question is not just about distance from rly stn to Kollur. It is also about conveniences at the respective stations - will be get a taxi to Kollur, a rick to the town or at least, a bus to Kollur? The consensus is to take a bus, if everybody is in a good mood. Else, we will take a taxi right from the station.

If we decide to take a taxi, the road conditions too would be important. What would be the taxi rates per KM?

[darklord]

BSD, my info is a couple of years old. Though I am sure not much would have changed since then, do not take my reply as a definitive one.

I would suggest the Byndoor station, though I have never got down in that station. Why?

Bhatkal station: About 50 km to Kollur. Recently read in some travelogues about horrible roads in that area. About 1-1/2 km to the NH and about 3-4 km to the town. No bus service from the station. Only autorickshaws. Come to think about it, I don't remember seeing any taxis in that station on a permanent basis. Now, take the rickshaw to the NH (bus stop) or town (bus station); you really have a slim chance of getting a direct bus to Kollur. Most probably, you will have to take a bus to Byndoor (19 km, pretty frequent); and then change the bus and get one to Kollur. Taxis are available in plenty in Bhatkal town.

Byndoor station: Byndoor is a smaller town than Bhatkal. But on looking in google maps, it seems to be about the same distance from station to town as Bhatkal (1-4 km). Now, Byndoor (from town) has direct buses to Kollur. I remember seeing taxis parked by the roadside also (town). Byndoor-Kollur is about 30 km.

Kundapura: Biggest town amongst the three. I think railway station is about 8 km from town. You can easily get kollur bus or taxis from the town. But, Kollur is 35-40 km from Kundapura town; add to it the distance and time from Byndoor to Kollur, you will be wasting a lot of time. Since you are travelling with family, try and get to Kollur as early as possible; before night.

If you are taking the passenger train and it reaches Byndoor before nightfall, I would recommend Byndoor station. Remember, Byndoor is the least important amongst the stations you listed, and AFAIK, most express trains don't stop there.

Again, read the "old info" disclaimer .

Original text:

Kollur is 35-40 km from Kundapura town; add to it the distance and time from Byndoor to Kollur, you will be wasting a lot of time.

Correction: Kollur is 35-40 km from Kundapura town; add to it the distance and time from Byndoor to Kundapura by train, you will be wasting a lot of time.

Original text:

BSD, my info is a couple of years old.

Correction: BSD, my info is four years old.

Edit time limit up.

[vb-saan]

I will suggest Kundapura station, as it is a more prominent town, and access to kollur will be easier from there (in comparison with byndoor which looked like a small town). Bhatkal is least recommended as the roads are in extreme bad shape.

[hallik9]

PLease dont get down at Bhatkal.The roads are virtually non existent from in and around Bhatkal.Even the famed volvo buses have a torrid time negotiating this stretch.The best idea is to get down at Kundapur.The bus frequency from Kundapur to Kollur is amazing.
Take a taxi or rickshaw from the Kundapur station and ask them to drop you at Shastri park(Name of the bus stand)
Buses to Kollur stop here and you will get one in no time.

[RajeshK]

Originally Posted by darklord

I would suggest the Byndoor station, though I have never got down in that station. Why?

Byndoor station: Byndoor is a smaller town than Bhatkal. But on looking in google maps, it seems to be about the same distance from station to town as Bhatkal (1-4 km). Now, Byndoor (from town) has direct buses to Kollur. I remember seeing taxis parked by the roadside also (town). Byndoor-Kollur is about 30 km.

Byndoor would be the best. The station also known as 'Mookambika Road'.
At kundapura, the bustand and Rly stn are little far off.

Thanks
Rajesh

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Thanks gusys, the trip is in 2nd week of Jan.

RIght now, down with acute conjunctivitis. --(