[Fordmanchau]

Originally Posted by vina

By the way, I'm planning to do Hyderbad-Mysore on one of the weekends by car. I know all about Bangalore-Mysore but have no idea about Hyderabad-Bangalore (at the moment I usually fly, earlier I used to go by train). Can you shed some light on that one?

Vina for all details on Hyderabad to Bangalore refer to this thread.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...onditions.html

[envyravi]

Thanks all of you for your valuable information. After considering all the inputs I have tentatively decided on

Day 1- Hyd to Mysore
Day 2- Proceed to Coonoor/Ooty
Day 3 - at Coonoor/Ooty
Day 4- Try to return to Hyderabad before 10 pm or halt at Mysore again and return to Hyderabad on Day 5.

At Mysore do I have time to see Mysore Palace and other nearby places? If I halt at Mysore on day 4, is it possible to visit Halibid, Belur and Shravanabelagola and return Hyderabad before 10 pm on Day 5?

As you can see, time is the constraint and I have only 5 days for the entire trip.

[vina]

Originally Posted by envyravi

Thanks all of you for your valuable information. After considering all the inputs I have tentatively decided on

Day 1- Hyd to Mysore
Day 2- Proceed to Coonoor/Ooty
Day 3 - at Coonoor/Ooty
Day 4- Try to return to Hyderabad before 10 pm or halt at Mysore again and return to Hyderabad on Day 5.

At Mysore do I have time to see Mysore Palace and other nearby places? If I halt at Mysore on day 4, is it possible to visit Halibid, Belur and Shravanabelagola and return Hyderabad before 10 pm on Day 5?

As you can see, time is the constraint and I have only 5 days for the entire trip.

Mysore palace closes at 6, reach there before 4pm if you want to see it (can be done if you start after breakfast from coonoor/ooty). Other places can be seen (Chamundi hills and temple, KRS dam and Vrindavan garden, and bird sanctuary).

You may want to come all the way to Bangalore towards day 4 evening (late night) and stay the night there near Hebbal - that will save you several hours for next day, and you will be practically traffic proof.

[ampere]

What if instead of starting at 4:30/5AM from Hyd, you were to start at 3AM?
You should then be in at BLR by 9-10AM and should be in Ooty easily without any break and driving at leisurely pace (yes drive hours will be more).

Since you only have 5 days, better to spend time at Ooty/Connor than at transit.

[Fordmanchau]

^^I would concur with Ampere here,you have less time on hand.Start early by 3-3:30a.m and you will be in Bangalore by max 11a.m,then mysore by 3:30p.m and ooty by approximately 6:30-7p.m. I hope you are not the only driver,because you will be dead tired if you are the only one and if this will be your first such a long distance drive in a day.
Your itinerary can be like this;
Day 1 : Hyderabad to ooty
Day 2/3: ooty and coonor
Day 4 : early morning departure to mysore. Sightseeing at mysore and halt.
Day 5 : early morning departure from mysore to Hyderabad.
You can easily reach Hyderabad by 5 in the evening.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by envyravi

Thanks all of you for your valuable information. After considering all the inputs I have tentatively decided on

Day 1- Hyd to Mysore
Day 2- Proceed to Coonoor/Ooty
Day 3 - at Coonoor/Ooty
Day 4- Try to return to Hyderabad before 10 pm or halt at Mysore again and return to Hyderabad on Day 5.

At Mysore do I have time to see Mysore Palace and other nearby places? If I halt at Mysore on day 4, is it possible to visit Halibid, Belur and Shravanabelagola and return Hyderabad before 10 pm on Day 5?

As you can see, time is the constraint and I have only 5 days for the entire trip.

You could do it differently:Start from Hyd on Day 0 in the afternoon and reach Bangalore by evening/night around 7-8pm(which means you would have to leave HYD by 1-2pm).Stay the night in Blore and leave for Ooty next day early morning.If you were to leave Bangalore by 5-6am,you would be able to reach Ooty by 11-12pm ontime for your hotel check in and also no waste of any days and you still have all your 5 days at your disposal.

On your return,start from Ooty(assuming you are not staying in Mysore,I wouldnt reccomend Mysore at this point of time as it is going to be terribly hot and coming from Ooty,the heat would hit you all the more)around 11 after breakfast and you would be in Bangalore around 4-5pm.Stay the night in Bangalore(plenty of places to stay depending on your budget) and leave for Hyd next day morning,You would be easily able to maintain speeds of 120kph steady with no rash driving and the entire drive shouldnt take you more than 7hours.Happy driving!

[ampere]

Good point on day 0.
Ranjit does Hyd-Blr as we do a local city drive. He is the expert.

Not sure about Day 5 though Ranjit. He may want to make it to Hyd on Day 5 as he may have to attend office the next day.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by envyravi

At Mysore do I have time to see Mysore Palace and other nearby places? If I halt at Mysore on day 4, is it possible to visit Halibid, Belur and Shravanabelagola and return Hyderabad before 10 pm on Day 5?

As you can see, time is the constraint and I have only 5 days for the entire trip.

Not possible unless you drive non stop. If you have to visit Shravanabelagola, Belur and Halebid, you may have spend a night in Hassan instead of Mysore as Belur is approx 150 kms from Mysore. You may also have to extend your holiday for 1 more day.

You can leave Ooty early, reach Mysore by 11, visit the palace and leave Mysore by 1-2pm to Shravanabelagola. You can reach Shravanabelagola in 2 hours. From there finish the Gomateshwara visit and reach Hassan by 8-9 and stay for the night

The route is Mysore-Srirangapatna-Pandavapura-K R Pet-Kikkeri-Shravanabelagola. Road condition is good till Kikkeri. After that it is a narrow road. I have no idea of the conditions though. Else you can continue from Kikkeri to Channarayapatna and from there to Shravanabelagola. This has decent roads but approx 15 kms more.

From Shravanabelagola, the route is Shravanabelagola-Channarayapatna-Hassan-Belur-Halebid. It will be difficult to each Hyderabad in the same day, given that you will not be driving on the NH7

[envyravi]

Hello,

Finally did the HYd OOty trip. I thank all for the valuable suggestions.

Day 1(3.6.2011)-Started early at 3.45 am, reached ooty around 6.30 pm. I took the Devanahalli-Doddaballapur-Nelamangala-NH4-NICE Road-Mysore-Masingudi_ooty route. Total 882 Kms

On return, took the Gudalur route, night halted at Mysore (6.6.2011) and returned HYD on 7.6.2011 @ 9.30 Pm. While returning could not locate the entry to NICE road, hence travelled through Bangalore. Total Kms 878.
The roads were good through out except for few kms of rough patches and pot holes on Doddaballapur and Nelamangala and narrow and crowded road from Mysore to Nanjangudu.

[ampere]

Great to hear that. Increasingly looks like SH74 (Doddaballpur-Nelamangala) is a good by-pass option. But the road seems to be rough. But if it still saves an hour or two, its still worth it. Only point to note is that, once on the elevated toll road from Nelamangala towards Bangalore, one should be careful to spot the NICE road exit. It very easily gets missed.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by ampere

Great to hear that. Increasingly looks like SH74 (Doddaballpur-Nelamangala) is a good by-pass option. But the road seems to be rough. But if it still saves an hour or two, its still worth it. Only point to note is that, once on the elevated toll road from Nelamangala towards Bangalore, one should be careful to spot the NICE road exit. It very easily gets missed.

How may exits on either direction are there in this elevated toll road? Are they marked properly?

Nelamangala-Doddaballpur is a good option indeed. I remember driving from Doddaballpur to Chikballapur directly through the base of Nandi Hills and the road used to good with lot of vine-yards and locals selling baskets of grapes all along the route. Since I see people diverting from Doddaballpur to Devanahalli in the recent times, guess this road has become a forgotten stretch for all. Anyone tried this route recently?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

How may exits on either direction are there in this elevated toll road? Are they marked properly?

Nelamangala-Doddaballpur is a good option indeed. I remember driving from Doddaballpur to Chikballapur directly through the base of Nandi Hills and the road used to good with lot of vine-yards and locals selling baskets of grapes all along the route. Since I see people diverting from Doddaballpur to Devanahalli in the recent times, guess this road has become a forgotten stretch for all. Anyone tried this route recently?

The issue is not the exit. People drive fast on the elevated toll road and before they know, they are under the NICE flyover. So you need to take a U and come back.

Good point on the Dodaballpur-Chikballapur stretch. I did consider posting that option, but was not sure, folks may get confused to find the way to GQ.
How easy is that access?
But yes it makes one amazing drive through the wine yards.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by ampere

The issue is not the exit. People drive fast on the elevated toll road and before they know, they are under the NICE flyover. So you need to take a U and come back.

Good point on the Dodaballpur-Chikballapur stretch. I did consider posting that option, but was not sure, folks may get confused to find the way to GQ.
How easy is that access?
But yes it makes one amazing drive through the wine yards.

I have never gone beyond Yeswantpur after the opening of elevated toll road. Planning for a couple of trips towards the end of rainy season and hence enquired about the exits in the elevated toll road. Particularly interested to know whether once on elevated road from Nelamangala side, how many exits are there, and in particular any exit to NICE and ORR since I may need to come through Bangalore University side.

Access is easy to identify. Driving from Bangalore, you cross Doddaballapur Rly Stn on the left, (then railway crossing/overbridge?) and then the KSRTC bus stand on the left (not sure if it is visible from the main road though). Then, you reach the 4-Road Cross where I believe there are many direction/distance boards to refer to. Taking LEFT here, takes you to Goravanalli/Devarayanadurga/Dabbaspet/Tumkur, going STRAIGHT takes you to GowriBidanur/Hindupur/Lepakshi/Penukonda/Anantpur (this is a good toll-free and beautiful country side road in good condition, except the last few kilometers before crossing Karnataka state border, parallel to railway line) and the RIGHT road is the one that I mentioned earlier. It crosses over the railway line, then runs through the bank of some large lakes (like Mysore-Nanjangud stretch), then reaches the base/entry of Nandi Hills. Keep going straight here and the next junction (right here takes you to Devanahalli) to reach Chickballapur.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

I have never gone beyond Yeswantpur after the opening of elevated toll road. Planning for a couple of trips towards the end of rainy season and hence enquired about the exits in the elevated toll road. Particularly interested to know whether once on elevated road from Nelamangala side, how many exits are there, and in particular any exit to NICE and ORR since I may need to come through Bangalore University side.

1. Elevated road starts after the ORR. In other words if you are coming from ORR, (BU side) you need to take left on NH4 and elevated road starts later.

2. Elevated road has exits marked for NICE road from both sides (Bangalore and Tumkur). Its just that you need to be alert as the exit is right at that point.

[adityarao]

Originally Posted by envyravi

Hello,
While returning could not locate the entry to NICE road, hence travelled through Bangalore. Total Kms 878.

I did the Mysore Rd -> NICE -> Tumkur Exit -> NH4 -> Nelamangala -> Doddaballapur -> Devanahalli -> Hyd yesterday

I assume you missed NICE in this direction and believe me, I'm not surprised as I would have done the same as you need to take a U turn (which mentions Mysore/Hosur) come towards Mysore direction and take the 2nd left which clearly mentions Tumkur (the first one is for east bound towards Bannerghatta, etc).

The entry to NICE road towards Tumkur in on the right hand side when you travel from Mysore towards Kengeri. A traffic Patrol helped me identify this. Essentially you need to get on to the elevated road you see on the top as you near the NICE road entry towards Kengeri.

Originally Posted by envyravi

The roads were good through out except for few kms of rough patches and pot holes on Doddaballapur and Nelamangala and narrow and crowded road from Mysore to Nanjangudu.

Yes, I agree that this is currently the best route to avoid the majority of Bangalore traffic - highly recommended.