Hi,

I am planning to drive down from Mumbai to coorg in Feb End.
i have come accross 2 routes

1. Mumbai -> Kolhapur->Bankapur thru NH4 then to Hangal -> Shimoga -> Tarikere-> chikmagalur -> Belur -> Arehalli -> Kodipet-> Madikeri

2. Mumbai -> Kohlapur -> harihar -> Malebennur -> Honnali -> Savalanga -> Shimoga -> Tarikere-> chikmagalur -> Belur -> Arehalli -> Kodipet-> Madikeri.

Which one should be Faster and Better?
On Saturday I will be leaving after Office and planning to Stop at Kolhapur or Belgaum and then next day to Coorg.

[hvkumar]

The ideal route from Bombay to Madikeri is Route 2.
Take NH4 till Harihar.
After the bypass begins, watch out for the road to teh right leading to Shimoga via Honnali.
From Shimoga, after going to Tarikere, you have 2 choices - in my view, going via Mysore would be a better choice even though it may be longer. Which means via Tarikere, Arsikere (not touching Chickmagalur), Channarayapatna, K R Pet, Srirangapatna, Mysore (bypass), Hunsur.
Belgaum is a 7-8 hour drive from Bombay (depending on where you leave from in Bombay), because of the evening traffic. Watch out for traffic jams in Pune bypass. Traffic congestion between Pune and Satara. Ideal night halt, assuming a 2-3 pm start, would be Satara or Karad.

H V Kumar - Driving Log Books - KUMAR'S DRIVING LOG BOOKS Kerala, Feb 2002
You can browse the above link for the route to Mysore via Shimoga and Channarayapatna.

H V Kumar - Driving Log Books - KUMAR'S DRIVING LOG BOOKS Bombay to Bangalore, Coorg, Goa, Jul 1999
...and the above link for the Mysore-Madikeri route.

[arindamray]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

The ideal route from Bombay to Madikeri is Route 2.
Take NH4 till Harihar.
After the bypass begins, watch out for the road to teh right leading to Shimoga via Honnali.
From Shimoga, after going to Tarikere, you have 2 choices - in my view, going via Mysore would be a better choice even though it may be longer. Which means via Tarikere, Arsikere (not touching Chickmagalur), Channarayapatna, K R Pet, Srirangapatna, Mysore (bypass), Hunsur.
Belgaum is a 7-8 hour drive from Bombay (depending on where you leave from in Bombay), because of the evening traffic. Watch out for traffic jams in Pune bypass. Traffic congestion between Pune and Satara. Ideal night halt, assuming a 2-3 pm start, would be Satara or Karad.

Kumar Sir, from Srirangpatnam one can take right turn towards Krishnarajasagar, and that road goes straight to meet Hunsur Road in Ilwal.

I am also seing another route thorugh Hassan, Arkalgud, Somwarpet.

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by drustogi

Hi,

I am planning to drive down from Mumbai to coorg in Feb End.
i have come accross 2 routes

1. Mumbai -> Kolhapur->Bankapur thru NH4 then to Hangal -> Shimoga -> Tarikere-> chikmagalur -> Belur -> Arehalli -> Kodipet-> Madikeri

2. Mumbai -> Kohlapur -> harihar -> Malebennur -> Honnali -> Savalanga -> Shimoga -> Tarikere-> chikmagalur -> Belur -> Arehalli -> Kodipet-> Madikeri.

Which one should be Faster and Better?

It's not Kodipet, It's KODLIPET. From shimoga to all the way till ( SHMG- TRKR- CKM - BELUR- AREHLY-Sakleshpur is nice road

Originally Posted by hvkumar

The ideal route from Bombay to Madikeri is Route 2.
From Shimoga, after going to Tarikere, you have 2 choices - in my view, going via Mysore would be a better choice even though it may be longer. .

Yep this route will be a quite longer.
But I would suggest you to avoid going via Mysore. Else take this route IFF you wanna visit Mysore

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by arindamray

Kumar Sir, from Srirangpatnam one can take right turn towards Krishnarajasagar, and that road goes straight to meet Hunsur Road in Ilwal.

I am also seing another route thorugh Hassan, Arkalgud, Somwarpet.

Once you hit Bangalore-Mysore highway near Srirangapatna, go towards Mysore till you see the Mysore bypass, where you take a right turn (also the turn for KRSagar) and take the Hunsur road off the bypass.

Yes, you can also go via Hassan. For that, you have 2 choices - go from Traikere via Ariskere to Hassan, or go from Tarikere via Chickmagalur and Belur to Hassan. From Arkalgud, you can also go to Periyapatna and join the main Mysore-Madikeri road.

Since you may not be conversant with either the local roads or the local language, I suggest you stick to the main roads and not go on smaller roads, since you are on a long journey and cannot afford to experiment or get lost.

[arindamray]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Once you hit Bangalore-Mysore highway near Srirangapatna, go towards Mysore till you see the Mysore bypass, where you take a right turn (also the turn for KRSagar) and take the Hunsur road off the bypass.

No need to go till Mysore bypass, there is a right turn from Srirangapatnam itself, going to Ranganthittu, KRSagar, that road leads to Ilwal on Hunsur Road.
While going to Coorg from Bangalore, I went through Mysore bypass but my friend's hired vehicle took this route and saved half an hour time. On the way back I also drove the same way.

[sgadiyar]

I drove to Madikere (Coorg) in July08 from Vashi and back in my Innova.
It was a meticulously planned journey and hence, everything went well, according to the plan
To Madikeri. from Vashi, I took the Vashi-Pune-Belgaum-Harihar-Honalli-Shimoga-Hassan-Sakleshwar-Somvarpet route with a night break at Hubli. The drive until Hubli was a breeze (7 hrs.30min with a short break at Karad for refuelling & refreshments). Following day, we undertook our journey to Madikere. The Hubli-Harihar stretch is not as pleasant as there were major diversions (the road runs thro Ranibennur town). The ordeal (highly stressful) starts after Harihar until Madikere (about 410kms) and it took us over 11 hrs to reach Madikere. The roads were not so bad but because of the topographies and internal traffic on the several towns on this route, the average driving speed was not more than 45kms/hr. One has to be on an extremely cautious mode at all times on this stretch. Avoid driving after darkness.
For the return journey, I took the Madikere-Mangalore (140kms)-NH17-Ankola (225kms)-NH63-Hubli (130km)-NH4-Belgaum-Pune-Vashi (565kms). This was relatively a better route except the Madikere-Puttur-Mangalore road which took us almost 3 hrs to cover 140 kms because of the terrain and lesser road width.
I also had advantage of a personal navigation device which performed reasonably well.
In case you need any further info, I shall be pleased to forward you the same.

[aashishtrivedi]

Hi...my wife and me are planning a road trip to Coorg in last week of December from Mumbai. Was wondering if I could speak to one of you'll to get exact and correct directions...we were thinking of a night halt at Harihar....
Aashish Trivedi
9820804322

[hvkumar]

Better to stop in Shimoga than Harihar, has better facilities (Hotel Jewel Rock). On Day 1, you can even do better and reach Chickmagalur if you are fast, great place to stay for the night.

[aashishtrivedi]

Can Bombay - Shimoga be covered in one day of travelling? Plan to leave Bombay at 5.30 am.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by aashishtrivedi

Can Bombay - Shimoga be covered in one day of travelling? Plan to leave Bombay at 5.30 am.

Easily, in 12 + hours.

[aashishtrivedi]

And Shimoga Coorg can be covered in how many hours?
I dont intend to drive over 100 kms per hour...

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by aashishtrivedi

And Shimoga Coorg can be covered in how many hours?
I dont intend to drive over 100 kms per hour...

Another 8-10 hours from Shimoga to Madikeri

Hi,

I have done Mumbai Coorg Route Last year.
While Going I went thru NH4 till harihar then Shimoga, Chikmangalore then Madekiri.
While comming back I came thru Mysore route till abt 70 KM close to Bangalore then turned into statehighway to tumkur and then NH4 till Mumbai.

I found return route was much better and faster.
Mysore Bangalore Road is too good. I used it abt a month ago which going to Kodai, Munnar and ooty trip.. It is in very good condition and very fast.

Shimoga, chikmangalore road is state highway and very tiring and takes long time.

[pallis]

Hi,
I am planning my first long drive with the family (incl. two daughters aged 9 & 5) from Mumbai to Chikmagalur and Coorg this May. From the above posts and other threads on the topic, I have gathered the following:

Mumbai to Bhadra:
via Kolhapur, Belgaum, Hubli, Shimoga, Tarikere, Lakkavalli
(Planning to stay at the River Tern Lodge near Bhadra Reservoir for two nights)

Q: Where should I break my journey? I plan to leave on a Saturday morning from Mumbai (unlikely to be too early, with the kids, say 9am) and wish to reach the lodge by lunch time on Sunday. Is that feasible?

Bhadra to Madikeri:
via Tarikere, Chikmagalur, Belur, Arehalli, Kodlipet
(Planning to stay at Rainforest Retreat for three nights)

Google Maps tells me it is about 4.5 hours. Is that accurate? I plan to leave at 10am and reach the retreat post-lunch.

Madikeri to Mumbai:
I wanted to drive via Goa on the return (spend a day or two at a beach resort - not decided yet). The Coorg - Goa thread suggests a drive via Mandya, Tumkur, Hubli and Ankola to Panaji. Is it possible to do this in a day (10-12 hrs)? Or would we need another night break somewhere else?

Goa to Mumbai: Most threads seem to suggest via Kolhapur & Pune. Will probably stick to that option.

This is my first post on Team-BHP and also my first major drive (beyond weekend outings) in my 1-yr old Outlander. Your suggestions will help me plan and execute this first (of hopefully many) trip; thanks in advance.