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-   -   Bangalore - Shravanabelagola - Halebidu - Belur : Route Queries (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/87710-bangalore-shravanabelagola-halebidu-belur-route-queries-8.html)

I had already mentioned not to take the regular Belur-Halebidu Road as it continues to remain bad due to expansion work since almost 3+ years now.

You meant another 16 kms from Halebidu and not Belur I am sure.

Lovely pictures there. I was almost driving to Belur last Saturday after Mysore but had to drop the idea as we had started for Mysore only around noon. Else we may have easily met either at Belur or during the return leg. I will drive to Belur this weekend now :).

That is sad and more sad is the fact that Parking charges still exists at Halebidu and was abolished in Belur more than 4 years back.

Traveled to Belur and Halebidu last Tuesday. Took Bangalore -> Hassan -> Hagare -> Halebidu -> Hagare -> Belur route. Absolutely no issues with the road conditions. Simply awesome. Took a break at Swathi delicacy as recommended by most here. Good food and super clean rest rooms.

Thanks for all the pointers folks. It really helped.

Did Bangalore - Belur - Halibedu - Bangalore route today.

This route can be done in a single day with very sane driving. Started at 6:30 from Bangalore and reached Swathi delicacy at 9. To their credit - they have kept one traffic warden when you take U turn towards Belur.

Excellent roads till Belur with a nice 2 lane road. For around 5 kms this road is one lane. Saw overall 3 accidents on this road. It's easy to get carried away and drive at insane speeds. Saw one Innova lying passenger side ways on Divider. Another Alto had hit something at very high speed and front was completely gone.

I took road from Bangalore to Halibedu which is under construction. Apart from 2-3 kms of very rough patches, this road has been nicely done and is recommended.

I drove with sane speed (80-90) range which I would recommend to everyone. Saw couple of kwid's, wagon-r's just plying past 100.

Corolla returned amazing mileage and I was able to do to-and -from (approx 500) without refill.

We did a BLR-Shravana belagola-Hassan-Shettihalli-Belur-Halebid-BLR trip this weekend.Stayed in Hassan overnight.The drive was super smooth and thoroughly enjoyed the trip.
However, the way locals are fleecing the travelers leaves a bad taste. No where there is boards displaying charges. The shoe keeper is charging 4 rs per pair of footwear, which is fine. However, the receipt they are providing is indicates the issuer, Government of India:uncontrol. Clearly shows this is nexus of locals the local panchayat being the patrons.

For parking at Halebidu they gave me a rs. 50 slip, the car will be parked in the road side. The receipt is from local panchayat. I told them even in Bangalore the parking charges are not this steep, that too parking in the roadside. Told them we cannot pay rs. 50.

By then he summoned few other locals and they insisted it is the norm, better pay and leave. We insisted, we will not pay rs.50 Then they flashed another parking ticket which indicates 30 rs. It was clear they are trying to make some quick bucks. I asked them why two type of fees, 50 rs allows entry to all temples, 30rs is just for parking. Later confirmed with the staff inside the site there are no entry charges expect for rs. 5 for entry into the museum. The parking ticket is not valid there.

I told them we are not going pay walked towards the entry gate, the group followed me till the gate.

Was expecting at lest a punctured Tyre at return, thank god nothing happened.

Its not the matter of 50 rs, but the way it is collected. Niether the archaeology department or the government. Easy money for some locals.

Its high time fees collection is streamlined at Halebidu, with the charges displayed by the concerned authorities.

I am planning a drive from Hyderabad next week to Sravanabelgola, Belur and Halebeedu. I will be driving alone.
I am planning to leave Hyderabad around 6:30AM so as to be able to go around Bengaluru before dark and stay at western outskirts of Bengaluru or if still an hour left before dark, I will go upto Sravanabelgola.

Day1: Hyderabad to Bengaluru-west or Srvanabelgola
Day2: Bengaluru-west/Srvanabelgola - Belur - Halebeedu - Bengaluru-west/Srvanabelgola
Day3 : Bengaluru-west/Srvanabelgola - Hyderabad.

Could someone please advise me,
1. What is the best route to go around Bengaluru (time, traffic and road conditions as basis) from north (coming from Hyderabad) to west
2. Good places to stay either at western outskirts of Bengaluru or at Sravanabelgola.
3. Are there any decent places for lunch either at Belur or Halebeedu?
4. As per above posts by others, is it still recommended to go via Hagare between Belur and Halebeedu?

Thanks in advance

Would say take a break at Bangalore itself. This is due to the fact that the better hotels for an overnight stay for you will be located in Hassan which is on the way to Belur/Halebidu from Shravanabelagola.

If you really want to push, you can shift Shravanabelagola as the last POI from your itinerary to make it look something like this below:

Day1: Hyderabad to Hassan
Day2: Belur - Halebeedu -Srvanabelgola - Bengaluru
Day3 : Bengaluru to Hyderabad.


Also remember this sequence because you dont have to cross Shravanabelagola each time except during your visit:

Option 1:

Hyderabad - Bangalore - Nelemangala - Kunigal - CR Patna - Hassan - Hagare - Halebidu - Belur - Hagare - Hassan - CR Patna town - Shravanabelagola - Hirisave - Kunigal - Nelemangala - Bangalore - Hyderabad

Option 2:

Hyderabad - Bangalore - Nelemangala - Kunigal - Hirisave - Shravanabelagola- CR Patna Town - Hassan - Hagare - Halebidu - Belur - Hagare - Hassan - CR Patna bypass -Hirisave - Kunigal - Nelemangala - Bangalore - Hyderabad

There are multiple options. However for a first timer I will simply advise the following route to bypass:

Via Bangalore City:
Hyderabad - Devanahalli - Hebbal - Outer Ring Road - BEL Circle - Jalahalli - HMT - Platinum City/CMTRI - Goreguntepalya

Route Link : From Hyderabad Highway (Hebbal) to Tumkur Road


Bypassing Bangalore City: Will take same time and distance (difference of 5 kms) but will certainly offer consistency in terms of traffic as you don't enter Bangalore at all.

Hyderabad - Devanahalli - Doddaballapura - Nelemangala

Route Link:
Hyderabad Highway to Hassan Road bypassing Bangalore

For Bangalore,Check online around Yeshwantpur/Mathikere/New BEL Road areas. You will get plenty of options to stay. For Shravanabelagola, I have already responded that Hassan is a better choice to stay - Hotel Southern Star, Mallige Residency, Kadamba Conforts, Palguni Residency

Halebidu may not have many options except the KSTDC's own Hotel that you must avoid.

Belur will again have limited choices - South Indian Meals and if lucky (if they are serving on that day), North Indian too at the following 2 Hotels: Vishnu Regency & Sumukha Regency - Both located less than 300 meters away from the main Temple.

-Hassan - Hagare - Halebidu - Belur - Hagare - Hassan
-Hassan - Belur - Hagare - Halebidu - Hagare - Hassan

The above options were suggested as the direct road from Belur-Halebidu was in bad shape. One of the members recently drove and reported 4 of the 16 kms stretch on the direct road to be in bad shape and recommends that too.

The above 2 options make your journey longer by 10 minutes and 10 kms but offer completely clean roads ends to end.

Thanks a lot paragsachania, for a prompt, to the point and detailed response.

I will follow your recommendations. Will push on day 1 upto Hassan and stay the next evening at Bengaluru.

However, I would prefer to go around using option 2 (Hyderabad - Devanahalli - Doddaballapura - Nelemangala ) BOTH ways. I would not be entering Bengaluru city. So I would like to stay close to this route instead of Yeshwantapur. Could you recommend a location close to this route but not too far from Nelamangala where there are some hotels?

Thanks again, in advance.

Decide this only based on your progress and do not have this as target. This is because, you will need to drive at least 2 more hours after you are out of Bangalore. Crossing Bangalore, whether via city or via Doddaballapur will be 90-100 minutes affair and these 2 hours of driving to Hassan is after that.

Just bear in mind that crossing Bangalore even with the city route is not going to be a major pain at all. You will hardly witness major snarls in the route that I have given as you will reach a point called Hebbal which becomes the first major traffic block that which you will clear in 10 minutes during the noon anyway. That is the reason why I advised you to take the city option as a first timer.

Here are the detailed directions for you to get onto Tumkur Road from Hyderabad road/Airport Road side:

No good options at all. Your best bet is either Hassan or Yeshwantpur area only. There are typical lodges but then the fact that Bangalore from here is hardly 30-45 minutes means they are not going to be any good when people won't mind pushing to Bangalore for an overnight stay.

My advise is to stay in the suburbs of Yeshwantpur.

Did the Bangalore-belur-halebid-shravanbelagola circuit last weekend. Nothing to add to the NH 48 experience except that in certain stretches the asphalt or the stones that have been used is such that it imparts a slight pinkish hue to the tarmac. Not sure what causes it , however, the as surface remains flawless.

We had decided to confirm lodgings first and chose Malligi in Hassan town. Neat and contemporary with attentive staff with an attached alley serving as the car park. Breakfast is complimentary with a variety of choices. While many do this circuit as a day trip, we decided to take things easy and hence the overnight stay.

Having read this thread bare, we had expected to drive to halebid first, via hagare , we were directed otherwise however and ended up taking a direct route to halebid from Hassan on what seemed to be a state highway with excellent tarmac with shoulders being widened. Since I didn't use GPS on this stretch, am afraid all I can tell you is that it was about a 25 km stretch and our worries of having stumbled onto the belur halebid stretch was unfounded; it was a scenic and comfortable drive all the way to halebid.

Our serendipity did not end there, we were not accosted and asked to pay up for parking at halebid, which is how it should be anyway given that you park by the roadside. I was so unprepared for this stroke of good fortune that I ended up forking out RS 50 anyway, to buy a thin history pamphlet on the temples of the region. I didn't really need to buy a copy as I had my brother- a history buff with me. But better than paying parking extortionists any day, if you ask me!

We decided to proceed to belur directly from halebid, and I decided to inject an element of thrill by off roading on the dreaded halebid belur road. To be honest, there are a few bad patches but none of it is axle breaking stuff. We came back to Hassan via the regular hagare route.

The rosary church at shettihalli and shravanbelagola was on the menu the next day. The abandoned church by the river is a must visit and consider yourself in luck if there are no other tourists around in this desolate place. I wondered how it would as appear on a moonlit night. Shravanbelagola can be visited on the way back towards Bangalore. Ensure you have enough fluids before the arduous 500 odd step climb all the way up to the Mahavira statue.

A really nice road trip!

This has to be none other than Hassan-Saligrama-Halebidu. 30 Kms stretch passing KMF Diary circle at Hassan and then taking the Hassan Ring Road to hit Saligrama road and you for sure would have passed the INSAT Master control Facility on your left after Hassan Town.

Good news indeed if this is the road that's repaired now. Timing wise via Hagare or Saligrama is same and distance too.

We did a small historical tour of Belur, Halebeedu and Belavadi this past Sunday. We went against the initial plan to start early from Bangalore. Left our HSR home at 9:45AM, picked up my cousin at Marathahalli, took Hebbal-BEL Circle route and finally entered NH75 at around 11:15AM.

The drive and the road: Until Channarayapatna it was a delight. Who would pass off the opportunity to have a go on those perfect roads with light traffic and scenic surroundings. As I pressed the pedal, the Mrs. was searching for the perfect meal. My first and only suggestion, yes you're right - Swathi Delicacy - was shooed away in favour of an untried restaurant. Soon she zeroed on Anagha Grand. We decided to halt there (more on it later).

The only gripe is the small 2-line undivided stretch after CR Patna. I remember being puzzled the first time I was on this highway as to why this tiny portion was left untouched when the roads connecting it were 4 liners. As we were approaching Hassan, Google showed a small deviation that cut through Sakleshpur bound railway track. This 1KM shortcut that merges with Belur road via. Hagare was terrible.

SH57 is an excellent albeit slightly narrow road. We faced some of the most dangerous and inconsiderate folk who were hellbent on overtaking from the wrong side. No amount of honking/flashing made some of these dimwits to abort their maneuvers. Couple of times we had to slow down and hug the shoulder because of them. These incidents played in our minds during the rest of our journey.

Belur-Halebeedu road seems to have been relaid recently. It is wider than SH57 and also had very less traffic. It passes through beautiful corn plantations. We even brought home a few corn stalks on the way. This short 15 minute ride was superb.

Belavadi is a further 10km from Halebeedu. The towering Chikmangaluru hills in the background made for a wonderful sight. The road condition once again was spotless. The refreshing breeze hitting us was re-energising. We were the last visitors to the temple and the only ones there. We made the temple exclusive to ourselves till the fall of dusk.

The return route was once again via. Halebeedu on SH21. The surface is fine till Hassan outskirts where it is severely damaged due to rains probably. It remains so till the bypass road through Dairy Circle.

Temples: Belur and Halebeedu saw extended weekend crowd. It became a little hard for the staff to manage this crowd. Especially to stop them touching the inscriptions. We hired guides to understand the origin and background of the sculptures and their makers. Some of the works in all three temples we visited are exquisite and very intricate. Done by the finest artists this world has seen or will see. To preserve these artifacts is a huge task that the Archeological Society of India has on their hands.

Eateries: Anagha Grand is located on Bangalore-Hassan direction. As we stopped for lunch, we ordered Deluxe South Indian meals. It was a grand meal with variety of curries and dal starting with a soup and rounding it off with ice cream. The meal was wholesome and sumptuous. We promised to be back later.

And we did for dinner. This time we had akki roti, ragi roti, garlic fried rice and finished with filter coffees. All items were excellent. Have to specially mention their filter coffee. One of the best around. DO NOT miss it.

I am planning a 3 days trip from Hyderabad to Belur, Halebeedu, shravanbelegola and other nearby places of interest. The plan is:
Day 1 Travel from Hyderabad to a place closest to Belur etc, night halt in a good hotel
Day 2 Visit above places
Day 3 Return to Hyderabad

I request my fellow bhpians to suggest
1. Route
2. Place and hotel for the night halts
3. Any other places I can visit during this short period.

I will be travelling with my wife.
Thanks in advance

Planning to do a 1-day trip. Something like leave Bengaluru at around 5AM and be back by around 6-7PM, while covering Halebidu and Belur. Is this doable ? We'd be starting/returning to HSR Layout. What might be a good itinerary, and what might be decent pit-stops for breakfast, lunch, evening snacks and clean restrooms ?

That would be Hassan

Hyd-Devanahalli-Neelamangala-Hassan

There are good hotels in Hassan. About other places, there are some. Depends on how long you plan to stay in Hassan.

The return by 6-7pm part is a bit doubtful depending on the day of week/holiday. Plus this would mean a hectic and tiring trip.

If you do start out by 5am, you can stop for breakfast at Swathi Delicacy near Yediyur/Koppa by 6:30am. If you start out after breakfast around 7, you can reach Halebidu by 9:30am. Then drive from Halebid to Belur. You'd probably be spending time at Halebid and Belur till 1:30pm (in the morning/noon heat).
Having lunch at Belur is an option and then start out by 2pm in which case you should be able to return around 6-7pm (at least reach around Peenya/NICE Road) but you can see how hectic it becomes.

Alternatively, plan to stay back at Hassan and then you can make a better plan.
Day 1 - Bangalore-Shravanabelagola-Hassan (by lunch time).

Day 1 evening - Hassan-Halebid-Belur-Hassan (stay overnight).

Day 2 - Hassan-Bangalore (by lunch time).

If you have another day at your disposal, you can make it even more leisurely/less tiring.

*The Mangalore/Hassan highway has more options now for pit stops. Some are Swathi Delicacy, Mayura at Bellur Cross, Shree Rathnam, A2B, Kamat, Anagha Grand, etc on the way. Hassan town has lots of options but needs a detour inside (if you're not planning to stay overnight there).