[s4ch]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Slightly longer but you can consider Periyaptana - Hunsur - KR Nagar - Honelarasipura - CR Patna. Adds around 10-12 km more but roads remain good and you will also be on the major road connecting Hassan Mysore when you hit KR Nagar.

Thank you. So just to confirm:

Piriyapatna to Hunsur via NH275
Hunsur to Krisnarajanagara via Gavadagere or go past Hunsur and get onto NH373 to Krisnarajanagara?
Krisnarajanagara to Honelarasipura via NH373

Then the same route back as I took coming here?

Also how is the Piriyapatna to Hassan highway now?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by s4ch

Piriyapatna to Hunsur via NH275
Hunsur to Krisnarajanagara via Gavadagere or go past Hunsur and get onto NH373 to Krisnarajanagara?
Krisnarajanagara to Honelarasipura via NH373

Here's the route from Periyapattana town till you hit NH75 after Channarayapatna towards Bangalore.

Periyapttana to Channarayapatna

Also how is the Piriyapatna to Hassan highway now?

Nothing that you need to worry about. Even on this road you are going to average the same. However, with the KR Nagar option, Hunsur to KR Nagar is generally not crowded. Post KR Nagar to Holenarasipura road is good and traffic is less. From here anyway its the same route you took during onward towards CR Patna.

[pravarag]

Hi all, I'll be traveling from Bangalore to Coorg via Nelamangala, Channarayapattana route on 24th with family (4 adults). And further on Friday, we'll be covering Coorg to Mangalore (no specific routes yet). Wanted to know if the 1) Above Bangalore to Coorg route is okay to take, 2) Which route can I prefer from Coorg to Mangalore?

Also, with the predictions of moderate to heavy rainfall will it be safe to travel?

[DragonHawk]

Originally Posted by pravarag

Hi all, I'll be traveling from Bangalore to Coorg via Nelamangala, Channarayapattana route on 24th with family (4 adults). And further on Friday, we'll be covering Coorg to Mangalore (no specific routes yet). Wanted to know if the 1) Above Bangalore to Coorg route is okay to take, 2) Which route can I prefer from Coorg to Mangalore?

Also, with the predictions of moderate to heavy rainfall will it be safe to travel?

If you are staying in North Bangalore, then Nelamangala - CR Patna route is preferred. From CR Patna based on your place of stay, you can take either one of the below routes

1. Holenarsipura - Arakalagudu - Shanivarsante - Somwarpete - Madikeri
   Don`t have the latest update on the road condition but it was good when I did this stretch in April.
   
2. Holenarsipura - Arakalagudu - Ramanathpura- Kushalnagar- Madikeri
   Except for numerous humps, this stretch is excellent.
   

One thing common for both routes is the lack of food options. So you need to plan either by having before C R Patna or after Kushalnagar.

For Mangalore, the default and preferred route will take you via Sulya-Puttur-Mani-Mangalore which is good as well as scenic. You can expect some traffic once you connect to Bangalore-Mangalore highway at Mani.

[mazda4life]

Originally Posted by pravarag

2) Which route can I prefer from Coorg to Mangalore?

I recently took the Mysore-Hunsur-Madikeri-Sampaje-Puttur-BC Road-Mangalore and the roads between Mysore and Hunsur is not that great but post that till Mangalore is superb. Roads are narrow once you get down from Madikeri and need to be careful while overtaking. Enjoy the stunning vistas and would recommend to take Charmadi while returning back to Bangalore.

[pravarag]

Originally Posted by mazda4life

I recently took the Mysore-Hunsur-Madikeri-Sampaje-Puttur-BC Road-Mangalore and the roads between Mysore and Hunsur is not that great but post that till Mangalore is superb. Roads are narrow once you get down from Madikeri and need to be careful while overtaking. Enjoy the stunning vistas and would recommend to take Charmadi while returning back to Bangalore.

Thanks for the heads-up, but I plan to visit Hubli via Someshwar-Gokarna route post covering Mangalore. And idea on that route? I'll definitely keep Charmadai route in mind if by any chance plan changes.

[s4ch]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Slightly longer but you can consider Periyaptana - Hunsur - KR Nagar - Honelarasipura - CR Patna. Adds around 10-12 km more but roads remain good and you will also be on the major road connecting Hassan Mysore when you hit KR Nagar.

Thank you - this was a brilliant route. There are a few bad stretches in some villages between KR Nagar and Honelarasipura, but the rest was great. Reached the Hassan>Neelamangala highway in no time and was on our way.

Bonus: There is a CCD just 10 mins outside Piriyapatna when driving towards Hunsur - clean toilets.

Thanks again for the excellent recommendation - much appreciated.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by s4ch

Thank you - this was a brilliant route. There are a few bad stretches in some villages between KR Nagar and Honelarasipura, but the rest was great. Reached the Hassan>Neelamangala highway in no time and was on our way.

That is good to know. KR Nagar to Hassan has been a major road that connects Hassan to Mysore. This was developed as part of Bilikere - Belur project in 2002/03. The roads have remained good through all these years and also witnesses very less traffic too.

Only last year this road was undergoing expansion work between KR Nagar and Hassan but thankfully all that was done. This is one of the roads I will prefer if you don't want to continuously drive on internal roads with lot of turns and want to have one straight road.

[red.devil_19]

I came to Club Mahindra Virajpet yesterday. The route from Kushal Nagar to Virajpet via Siddapura wasn't in good condition for most parts. We chose this route as we wanted to stop by at Chiklihole.

For the return journey how would Virajpet - Gonikoppal - Hunsur be? It it safe to travel on this route during the day & are the road conditions good?

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by red.devil_19

For the return journey how would Virajpet - Gonikoppal - Hunsur be? It it safe to travel on this route during the day & are the road conditions good?

This is to be the preferred route to Virajpet. All good in this stretch. Safe too.

Originally Posted by red.devil_19

For the return journey how would Virajpet - Gonikoppal - Hunsur be? It it safe to travel on this route during the day & are the road conditions good?

Originally Posted by balenoed_

All good in this stretch. Safe too.

An update that I just got:

Roads around Thithimathi (place in between Gonikoppal - Hunsur) is in bad condition, expect big potholes. Nothing to worry as such, doable.

[red.devil_19]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

This is to be the preferred route to Virajpet. All good in this stretch. Safe too.

An update that I just got:

Roads around Thithimathi (place in between Gonikoppal - Hunsur) is in bad condition, expect big potholes. Nothing to worry as such, doable.

Thanks a ton for the inputs!

Just returned to Bangalore. Took the Virajpet - Gonikoppal - Hunsur - KR Nagar - Holenarasipur - CRPattana - Bangalore route. Happy to report that this was very good for most parts.

You were right about the bad stretches around Thithimathi. But it's just 1-2kms & hardly anything to bother about. Apart from that there are a few bad stretches before & after KRNagar, which I found no issues with in my Verna.

Took 6.5 hours drive time to cover around 335kms. Overall much better than the onward route which I took via Holenarasipur - Arakalagud - Ramanathapura - Kushal Nagar - Siddapura.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by red.devil_19

Took 6.5 hours drive time to cover around 335kms. Overall much better than the onward route which I took via Holenarasipur - Arakalagud - Ramanathapura - Kushal Nagar - Siddapura.

This is really surprising! The fact that one is still OK to drive Holenarasipur-KR Nagar-Hunsur instead of Arkalgud. Does this equation still remain the same if the destination is Madikeri? Probably not. But would be interesting to note!

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by ampere

This is really surprising! The fact that one is still OK to drive Holenarasipur-KR Nagar-Hunsur instead of Arkalgud. Does this equation still remain the same if the destination is Madikeri? Probably not. But would be interesting to note!

While the roads remained good on the usual route through Mysore earlier, whether it was Virajpet or Madikeri, one would always drive via Hunsur as the last common point before forking out for either of these 2 destinations.

Hence, even now if one is doing Virajpet via KR Nagar - Hunsur route, it also means reaching Madikeri via this route too makes sense.

However, if you are comparing Arkalgud route with KR Nagar route, the fact is that the Holenarasipura to KR Nagar road is definitely fast and takes 45 minutes or little lesser for 45 km since this is one straight road with not much traffic or twisties. So one essentially gains time here.

Then, KR Nagar to Hunsur is mere 20 km of narrow road but mostly straight, again with not much traffic and decent roads.

After Hunsur, whether it is Virajpete or Madikeri, they are the known devils anyway.

Hence, in summary, if I am taking KR Nagar - Hunsur route for Virajpete, I will also take the same route for Madikeri too.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Hence, in summary, if I am taking KR Nagar - Hunsur route for Virajpete, I will also take the same route for Madikeri too.

Would have been niceif the interior roads via Ramnathpura to Kushalnagar/Periyapatna were good. That would have been a great option. I remember these roads were not good shape. Dont know how they are today.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by ampere

Would have been nice if the interior roads via Ramnathpura to Kushalnagar/Periyapatna were good. That would have been a great option. I remember these roads were not good shape. Dont know how they are today.

I had last taken Ramnathapura to Kushalnagar during my onward and Periyapattana on my return but this was at least couple of months back in June/July. Both routes were in good condition with Periyapattana option being a rather straightforward route with not many turns and deviations all the way till Arkalgud. But recent reports refer that the roads around Ramnathapura do not remain in good shape.

With CR Patna HN Pura KR Nagar Hunsur, in its present shape, you are assured of good roads throughout.

Also, once you are at Hunsur, it makes no sense to drive to Mysore and then take the Srirangapattana route to reach Bellur cross because you will end up losing good here due to lot of uncertainties and traffic pattern though it is shorter by ~15 km when compared to KR Nagar route. With KR Nagar route what you are assured of is seamless progress all the times all the way. More than that, no need to drive on the busy Elwala Mysore ring road stretch.