[ajayclicks]

Originally Posted by iamnarayang

Why should there be any problem with KA registered vehicle in Karnataka? I don't think there will be any problem, if you take your vehicle to even Tamil Nadu now, as the Kaveri problem has taken a backseat, for now.

Was not sure about local taxi mafia etc. that might discourage any private car

[NPV]

Originally Posted by ajayclicks

Was not sure about local taxi mafia etc. that might discourage any private car

Other than the Ladakh Taxi associations that were acting like mafia against self-driven rental cars, I haven't heard of anything like that elsewhere, especially with private cars

[iamnarayang]

Originally Posted by ajayclicks

Was not sure about local taxi mafia etc. that might discourage any private car

Oh. Ok. I have traveled to Madikere earlier, in my car and have visited the places you have mentioned. I had absolutely no problem from the local taxi mafia.

[Santoshbhat]

Just back from a trip to Madikeri. Took the Chanrayapatna route both ways with a small change.

Onward : Chanrayapatna- Arkalgud - Shanivarsanthe - Somwarpet - Madikeri
Return : Madikeri - Kushalnagar - Arkalgud - Chanrayapatna

Taking the Shanivarsanthe route was not really intentional. I was following google maps and chatting with the co passengers and did not notice. Don't know why google took us by that route. Though this route is longer and slower I thoroughly enjoyed the drive. This route has lot of curves and climbs and descents. Roads surface is generally good but narrow and the greenery /scenery also makes it a lovely drive esp for those who love to drive. Traffic is very very sparse, so even though the roads are narrow and winding, you won't be worrying about overtaking others as there are hardly other vehicles on the road!

[unbeknown_guy]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Just back from a trip to Madikeri. Took the Chanrayapatna route both ways with a small change.

Onward : Chanrayapatna- Arkalgud - Shanivarsanthe - Somwarpet - Madikeri
Return : Madikeri - Kushalnagar - Arkalgud - Chanrayapatna

Back from Madekeri last weekend. Took the above route (same was suggested by Google Map). Onward drive was amazing. I loved driving on the twists and turns from Somwarpet-Madikeri while my wife loved the scenic beauty As Santoshbhat mentioned, traffic was pretty sparse on this route so you'll enjoy the drive.

We started from Bangalore (Whitefield) on Saturday morning at 06:45 am and reached Madikeri (we anchored ourselves at CopperHill Villa homestay)at 1:00 pm.

On my return journey, route from Kushalnagar-Arkalgud was quite narrow however, I'd rarely see a vehicle! The drive was nice and easy. Left Madikeri at 11:30 am and reached home at 8:30 pm (we stopped at Abbey falls for an hour - which, by the way, can be avoided since there's nothing much to do). Being Monday evening, traffic was at its peak as soon as we entered Bangalore.

Overall it was a peaceful and relaxing drive and avoiding Srirangapatna-Mandya-Ramanagara route, which I took a couple of years back when I went with my biker gang to Coorg, certainly saved me the frustration of driving in heavy traffic and easily shaved a couple of hours from the return journey.

[dextor]

For travelling to Coorg on a weekday will Mysore route be better? Or should I try Chanrayapatna route. Can someone describe Chanrayapatna route in more detail like till where it is good & where narrow/bad. Restaurants on this route etc.

[Throtttle]

Originally Posted by dextor

For travelling to Coorg on a weekday will Mysore route be better? Or should I try Chanrayapatna route. Can someone describe Chanrayapatna route in more detail like till where it is good & where narrow/bad. Restaurants on this route etc.

On return, if you are travelling on Mysore road between 5pm to 9pm on a sunday, it is in general advised to avoid Mysore Road, and Chanrayapatna is one option, which is all good roads throughout, very stress-free & joyful countryside drive really. It takes less than 2 hours to crossover from Hunsur to Chanrayapatna.

However, Chanrayapatna route is significantly longer in Kms and bit longer in terms of time. And on a weekday, Mysore road could be a better option.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by dextor

For travelling to Coorg on a weekday will Mysore route be better?

Coorg is a district, so where exactly are you headed ?
If you're heading to Madikeri on a weekday, Mysore road route should be fine. Turn right at the Mysore ring road junction (Columbia Asia hospital on right) and head towards Hunsur. You could stop at Kalyani hotel for breakfast which is on this road.
Alternatively, if you stop for breakfast somewhere before srirangapatna (Mysore road has too many options), then you can turn off at Srirangapatna towards Elivala and reach Hunsur road directly, last I heard this road is good.

[Su-47]

Just back from a trip to Coorg, and here are my impressions :

Onward route: Bangalore - Srirangapatnam- Hunsur - Kushalnagar - resort near kedakal : Good roads, some patchwork at places, but nothing horrendous. Even the KRS road connecting Srirangapatnam to Hunsur seems to have been recently resurfaced.

Return: Kedakal- Kushalnagar-Hebbaale-Konanur-Arakalgud-Holenarsipur-CR patna-BLR : Up until CR patna, the number of villages and speedbreakers is far higher than on the Hunsur road option. The road from Konanur to Arakalgud is pretty narrow. You need to be careful when crossing a bike and when two cars need to cross, one has to get two wheels off the road. No problems with the surface quality though, as the road seemed pretty recently done.

One reason to take this route was to avoid sunday afternoon traffic on mysore-Bangalore road, but that is compensated by going through the sunday bazaar of numerous towns that this route passes through. So, you get different scenery, and interesting experience - at some places the houses are so close, it feels as if you are driving through some people's living room :-). Given that this route is longer, tolled, and makes you pay more for the atrociously priced NICE road, I wouldn't be using it on my next trip back from Coorg.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by Su-47

The road from Konanur to Arakalgud is pretty narrow. You need to be careful when crossing a bike and when two cars need to cross, one has to get two wheels off the road.

Looks like google put one over you. You must have taken the road highlighted in blue, which looks pretty narrow where as the standard route is Konanur - Ramanathapura - Arkalgud, where the roads are pretty wide and you wont be inadvertently peeping into someone's living room

Given that this route is longer, tolled, and makes you pay more for the atrociously priced NICE road, I wouldn't be using it on my next trip back from Coorg.

If your destination is EC or East Bangalore then this detour might not make sense. You might be better off getting onto kanakpura road to avoid Mysore road rash on Sundays. If you are headed towards South or North bangalore, then it makes sense to take this route from Coorg to Bangalore and you can avoid tolls as well if you take Hunsur - Srirangapatna - Nagamangala - Huliyurdurga - Magadi - NICE road.

[Su-47]

Originally Posted by procrj

Looks like google put one over you. You must have taken the road highlighted in blue, which looks pretty narrow where as the standard route is Konanur - Ramanathapura - Arkalgud, where the roads are pretty wide and you wont be inadvertently peeping into someone's living room

You are absolutely right, thats the route google made me take. Interestingly, I overtook a couple of cars before Konanur and was wondering how am i seeing exactly the same set after Arakalgud. Looks like they had better guidance.

[JD1]

Originally Posted by procrj

Looks like google put one over you. You must have taken the road highlighted in blue, which looks pretty narrow where as the standard route is Konanur - Ramanathapura - Arkalgud, where the roads are pretty wide and you wont be inadvertently peeping into someone's living room
Attachment 1618024

I am in Kushalnagar (Parampara resort) and Google is still suggesting the one highlighted in Blue (and not the Konanur - Ramanathapura - Arkalgud route)!
I will be heading back from Parampara on Tuesday morning around 11am so what is recommended route?
Parampara - Hebbaale - Konanur - Ramanathapura - Arkalgud - Holenarasupur - CR Patna - Neelamangala - NICE
OR
the usual Kushalnagar - Hunsur - Mysore ORR - Mysore Road?
I stay in HSR Layout. Preference would be good road condition, less truck/bus traffic, multi-lane road.

[Arjun Reddy]

Originally Posted by JD1

I am in Kushalnagar (Parampara resort) and Google is still suggesting the one highlighted in Blue (and not the Konanur - Ramanathapura - Arkalgud route)!
I will be heading back from Parampara on Tuesday morning around 11am so what is recommended route?
Parampara - Hebbaale - Konanur - Ramanathapura - Arkalgud - Holenarasupur - CR Patna - Neelamangala - NICE
OR
the usual Kushalnagar - Hunsur - Mysore ORR - Mysore Road?
I stay in HSR Layout. Preference would be good road condition, less truck/bus traffic, multi-lane road.

If it's Tuesday morning,I suggest you take the Mysore Road. The traffic will be less compared to the weekend. Take the Nice road exit and hit Electronic City - Bomanhalli- HSR. You should be able to do under 5 hrs with a breakfast and a tea stop.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by JD1

I stay in HSR Layout. Preference would be good road condition, less truck/bus traffic, multi-lane road.

I avoid Mysore road like the plague irrespective of the day of week. That is because every-time I drive on that road, invariably I see a car rear ending,side swiping or cabs cutting lanes with casual disdain.

My advice would be to take any of the below
1. Hunsur - ORR - Bannur - Malavalli - Kanakapura - NICE - HSR
2. Hebbaale - Konanur - Ramanathapura - Arkalgud - Holenarasupur - CR Patna - Neelamangala - NICE
3. Hunsur - Mysore ORR - Srirangapatna - Pandavapura - Nagamangala - Kungial - Nelamangala

If you plan to take option 3, then you could stop at thotada mane for a pit stop - https://goo.gl/maps/dekc5Q15A2E2

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by JD1

I am in Kushalnagar (Parampara resort) and Google is still suggesting the one highlighted in Blue (and not the Konanur - Ramanathapura - Arkalgud route)!
I will be heading back from Parampara on Tuesday morning around 11am so what is recommended route?
Parampara - Hebbaale - Konanur - Ramanathapura - Arkalgud - Holenarasupur - CR Patna - Neelamangala - NICE
OR
the usual Kushalnagar - Hunsur - Mysore ORR - Mysore Road?
I stay in HSR Layout. Preference would be good road condition, less truck/bus traffic, multi-lane road.

Considering your destination is HSR, I would recommend the regular Mysore Route. The Hunsur Road-KRS-Srirangapatna road is also now in very good condition, so no need to go via Mysore ORR also.

I returned from Coorg on a Monday couple of weeks back and took the above route. At the time you mentioned, traffic is going to be light on Mysore Road and I don't think it is worth taking the routes that end up coming via Neelamangala.

One suggestion is to start a little earlier-Maybe around 10, so that you are home by 4 before the Bangalore evening peak traffic kicks in. Also helps avoid the small crowds that builds up by 3pm due to the Rajarajeshwari colleges just before the NICE Road.