[hkanitkar]

Hi guys !

Planning to do Bangalore to Coorg with a Zoomcar selfdrive rental on 12th Nov to 15th Nov., with wife and 2 year old kiddo. Is this advisable ? Or should I just book an Innova with driver ? We'll be leaving Bangalore by 10AM (Pune - Bangalore flight lands by 8.45AM)

Also, if selfdrive is fine, should I opt for an SUV ??

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by hkanitkar

Hi guys !

Planning to do Bangalore to Coorg with a Zoomcar selfdrive rental on 12th Nov to 15th Nov., with wife and 2 year old kiddo. Is this advisable ? Or should I just book an Innova with driver ? We'll be leaving Bangalore by 10AM (Pune - Bangalore flight lands by 8.45AM)

Also, if selfdrive is fine, should I opt for an SUV ??

As long as you are comfortable driving, dont see any reason for not taking the self drive. Roads are good and plenty of rest stop options. Enough info available here on the routes.

You also really don't need an SUV for Coorg. Unless u name some specific visit which you know will involve bad roads.

[hkanitkar]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

As long as you are comfortable driving, dont see any reason for not taking the self drive. Roads are good and plenty of rest stop options. Enough info available here on the routes.

You also really don't need an SUV for Coorg. Unless u name some specific visit which you know will involve bad roads.

Thanks mate !
Only planned visit we have, is to Dubare Elephant Camp.

[gypsyFreak]

Originally Posted by hkanitkar

Thanks mate !
Only planned visit we have, is to Dubare Elephant Camp.

Dubare does not need a SUV as do the other common tourist places in Coorg (Raja seat, Abbi falls, Iruppu falls).
As mentioned above, if you are planning something specific like Mandalpatti (beyond Abbi falls), you will need SUV, but you can also hire local jeeps.

[goandude]

Has anyone traveled this route to Somwarpet recently? CR Patna - Holenarasipur - Arakalagud - Shanivarasanthe - Somwarpet?
https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Va...4!2d12.5943101
How are the road conditions?
Planning a ride on my motorbike there?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by goandude

Has anyone traveled this route to Somwarpet recently? CR Patna - Holenarasipur - Arakalagud - Shanivarasanthe - Somwarpet?

It is fantastic and also is a twisty. Of late have not heard of any deteriorations of this stretch.

[shifu]

Originally Posted by hkanitkar

Thanks mate !
Only planned visit we have, is to Dubare Elephant Camp.

Hi hkanitkar,

Did you visit the Elephant camp? How was the visit? Did you stay at the Jungle Lodges resort?

I am planning for a trip in 2nd week of Jan with my 3 year old. Hence the deluge of questions . Please let me know.

[tomraven99]

Can Mandalpatti be done on a self driven 4x4? Or will the taxi union guys create problems?

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by tomraven99

Can Mandalpatti be done on a self driven 4x4?

I dont think you will face any issue. I had driven few KM's on that road last year in my 2WD XUV. Since from the reviews I was sure I would not be able to take the vehicle till the peak, I just went till the road was good and turned back. However, this is past the taxi stand and no one bothered to check anything.

You can see the road pics here : Link

[vsathyap]

I'm planning to drive to Madikeri soon and I am bored of taking the usual route through Mysore, mainly due to the BLR->MYS Stretch. Can anyone help me with the route through BLR->HASSAN Highway? Any idea on the condition of the Hassan->Gorur->Arakalgudu->Shanivarasanthe->Somwarpet->Madikeri route? I'll be travelling on my Honda city, so sedan friendly roads would be ideal.

Hassan->Madikeri as per Google maps.

Any other recommendations?

[NPV]

Originally Posted by vsathyap

I'm planning to drive to Madikeri soon and I am bored of taking the usual route through Mysore, mainly due to the BLR->MYS Stretch. Can anyone help me with the route through BLR->HASSAN Highway? Any idea on the condition of the Hassan->Gorur->Arakalgudu->Shanivarasanthe->Somwarpet->Madikeri route? I'll be travelling on my Honda city, so sedan friendly roads would be ideal.

You can try the Bangalore-Nelamangala-turn to NH48 Hassan/Mangalore highway-Kunigal-Yadiyur-Bellur Cross-Nelligere-Nagamangala-Melukote-Srirangapatna-Mysore.

From Mysore take Outer ring road near next to Columbia Asia hospital and go towards Hunsur. En route you can stop at Kalyani restaurant for breakfast.

Alternately, you can take the Kanakapura-Malavalli-Bannur-Mysore-Outer ring road route as well. Except for a small stretch near Bannur town which is being relaid, rest is good. in fact Malavalli-Bannur has a newly laid road

[RajeshK]

Originally Posted by NPV

You can try the Bangalore-Nelamangala-turn to NH48 Hassan/Mangalore highway-Kunigal-Yadiyur-Bellur Cross-Nelligere-Nagamangala-Melukote-Srirangapatna-Mysore.

I think Nagamangala - KR Nagara - Hunsur would be shorter and better...is it..?

[AveekKumar]

Hi all. Have an upcoming zoomcar trip from Bangalore airport to Coorg. Based on inputs in this forum and google maps, i am divided between the Arakalagud - Shanivarasanthe - Somwarpet - Coorg route and Arakalagud - Ramanathapura - Kudige - Kushalnagar - Coorg route. There is an approx. 30 minutes difference between the routes.
Anyone traveled to Coorg by road in the last month or so? Need suggestions on which route to take, security etc. Just 2 travelers here. No big group.

[AveekKumar]

Just completed the trip and the roads are pretty good except for a few rough patches here and there. Nothing to be worried about.

[paragsachania]

Drove to Virajpet and back over the weekend that passed & needless to say I did not take the usual Bangalore-Mysore Highway for a Friday evening start.

For the onward, we had some work at Hassan and hence drove Bangalore-Hassan - Holenarasipura - KR Nagar - Hunsur - Virajpet. While we took 3 hours to reach Hassan with a break at Kunigal, it consumed around 3.5 hours from Hassan to Virajpet driving through the night with a midnight start from Hassan.

For return we again took Virajpet - Hunsur - KR Nagar - Holenarasipura - Channarayapatna - Kunigal - Bangalore. We started from Virajpet exactly at 0715am, halted for a Breakfast break after Kunigal at 1045 and reached home at 1200 noon. That was around 4H45 Min drive with 2 breaks for Breakfast and Refueling.

Route Conditions:

• Bangalore - Channarayapatna : Brilliant as usual
• Channarayapatna - Holenarasipura: Single carriageway, clean roads including the bad patch for 2 kms while approaching Holenarasipura (its done now)
• Holenarasipura - KR Nagar: Excellent roads, regular speedbreakers, totally peaceful
• KR Nagar - Hunsur: Few sections freshly done with shoulder marking, completely good all the way
• Hunsur - Virajpet: Again, the usual good. No Qualms

Since I stay in North Bangalore, this route adds around 30-35 kms more from the usual Mysore Road (290 against 256) but a wonderful alternate till Hunsur.

Overall Impressions:

• Perfect & clean roads all the way with not even as single bad patch
• Almost traffic free from Channarayapatna all the way till Hunsur (Around 90 kms)
• Zero good facilities soon after you exit NH48 (your last bet is still Bellur Cross) till Hunsur
• Mostly straight roads till Hunsur and less curvy at least till here