[rs49]

My husband and I are planning a road trip in late November in our new i20. We would like to go from Hyderabad to Karwar, taking in Hampi on the way. From there we want to drive down the coast to Mangalore. Our final destination is Wellington; so we are hoping to do Belur/Halebid on the way as also Bandipur National Park.

Since we are a retired couple in our sixties, time is not a constraint and we do not want to do long and strenuous drives. We are planning to be away for a fortnight from home.

I would be grateful for any suggestions/advice re routing, road conditions, stay etc.

Thanks.

Rekha

[ampere]

First of all: How I envy you when you say, time is not a constraint! (But I know you have earned it!)

1. Hitting Hubli from HYD would definitely painful as road conditions are not all that great. But many have done this and you should have no issues.

EDIT: HYD-Hampi Road condition thread link: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...bad-hampi.html


2. You can stay in Hospet and take a day/two at Hampi.
Hotel Malligi is the place. Link : Malligi Hotel in Hospet - Luxurious Star Hotel near Hampi, Karnataka

3. Hospet-Karwar : Hospet-Hubli-Yellapur-Ankoal-bypass Karwar (~300 Km)
Place to stay: No second thoughts Devabagh (JLR)

4. Karwar to Mangalore is the standard NH17

5. Mangalore - Wellington (I assume you are talkling about the defence base in Ooty).

a. Either you come via Hassan/Mysore
b. Drive down via Calicut/Waynad.

I would prefer second. That way you can drive to take a break at Waynad, enjoy the place and proceed to Ooty.
(Mysore anyway you will do on return)

6. Ooty-HYD (Need I say anything? Its standard)
a. Enjoy Bandipur/Mysore and return via Bangalore
b. Hotels in Mysore : Plenty depending on budget.

[ExtremeTorque]

Originally Posted by rs49

time is not a constraint

Originally Posted by ampere

First of all: How I envy you when you say, time is not a constraint! (But I know you have earned it!)

1. Hitting Hubli from HYD would definitely painful as road conditions are not all that great. But many have done this and you should have no issues.

EDIT: HYD-Hampi Road condition thread link: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...bad-hampi.html

with ampere about time is not a constraint, but it sounds really good. Have a good time Rekha.
Here is my Travelogue (Hyd-Jog-Agumbe-Hampi-Hyd) which you might want to give a quick glance LINK
Here is the query i posted, just like the one you posted here LINK
To summarize, Hyd to Hubli is a breeze except for a few patches before Raichur and later before Hospet.

[ampere]

The other point I forgot. You also said you wanted to visit Belur/Halebid.

In that case on the way back from Mysore you can drive to Chikmagulur stay there and also visit Belur/Halebid.

Or you can stay in Hassan and visit Belur Haleibid and Shravanabelegola also.

One the route back, I would prefer you come back to Bangalore and go to HYD, Thats the best roads you can get. If its OK to drive then:

Hassan-Tiptur-Tumkur-Korategere-Hindupur-Penukonda (on NH7) and continue to HYD.


OR:

From Mangalore dirve to Hassan via Shiradi enjoy Belur/Halebid/SVB. Goto Msyore/Bandipur/Wellington and then come back via the same route and proceed to HYD via Bangalore.

[rs49]

What a wonderful group of people you all are! Such prompt and detailed replies - I thank you. I shall take your advice as well as read up on the links.

Perhaps we can do Belur-Halebid from Hassan on our way to Wellington.

Re distances: except for the first leg up to Hospet, the others appear to be fairly short. So we should not have any problem with the driving. Unfortunately, I do not share the driving with my husband - I am the navigator and all the planning is left to me! Fair division of labour!

Thanks.

Rekha

[ExtremeTorque]

Originally Posted by rs49

Re distances: except for the first leg up to Hospet

Yes, the Hyd-Hospet stretch is a long one but 95% of the road was in good condition (KA State highways are as good or better than some NH's in other states). I suggest you take ample of breaks, with Mehbubnagar and Raichur being good choices for food breaks.

Have a safe journey!

[MX6]

Is there any specific reason to drive NH17 from Karwar to Mangalore?
If Hospet/ belur/ halebidu is on your radar, you can drive to hospet, take NH63 to Yellapura - branch off there and proceed to jog falls to sagara to CKM. Then belur - halebid - mysore - Nanjangud - ooty.
If you want to go to a beach, then it's a different matter.
I'm saying this because - Ankola to murdeshwar roads are bad now. Bhatkal is as usual in tatters. Traffic is pathetic from Kundapur to Mangalore with roads breaking up post Mulki. Hope they improve by november (but the bhatkal area will be the same for ages).

[SILVERWOOD]

Originally Posted by rs49

My husband and I are planning a road trip in late November in our new i20. We would like to go from Hyderabad to Karwar, taking in Hampi on the way. From there we want to drive down the coast to Mangalore. Our final destination is Wellington; so we are hoping to do Belur/Halebid on the way as also Bandipur National Park.


Rekha

I, suggest that you start early morning and stop at Raichur for B'fast and then proceed for Hampi via Gangavathi. Stay at KSTDC @ Hampi.

2, Start from Hospet and proceed to Karwar Via Hubli and halt at Karwar ( i would prefer to stay at Gokarna)

3, Start from Karwar and proceed to Mangalore Via Goa and halt at Mangalore

4, Start from Mangalore,reach Waynad and halt.

5, Start from Waynad,reach wellington and halt

6, Start from wellington, reach hassan and halt.( finish Belur/Halebid)

7, Proceed for Bangalore and then back to Hyderabad.

I hope this helps

[ranjitp1]

Just to add to all the above points,theres a new place to stay in Hampi,a place run by the Royal Orchid people and its called Royal Orchid Kireeti Royal Orchid Central Kireeti, Hospet | New Hotels in Karnataka | Luxury Business Hotel Karnataka

[rs49]

Hello, everyone. We have finally made our plan for the road trip after much studying of maps etc. But I still have some questions.

Our route is Hyd - Hospet ( 2 nights) - Karwar ( 1 night) - Mangalore (2 nights) - Hassan ( 2 nights) - Bandipur ( 1 night) - Wellington (3 nights) - Ooty ( 4 nights) - Bangalore ( 2 nights) - Hyderabad.

We have been given horryfying tales of bad roads by the hotel people at Hospet, Karwar and Mangalore. I am beginning to doubt whether we can cover the distance as planned.

If someone could post the latest road conditions for our entire trip, I shall be very grateful. Also, the distances - I have seen a startling variation when I look up distances on various websites.

I am somehow beginning to get a bit jittery about our ambitious plan!

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks.

[ampere]

If you dont mind splurging:

- Now there is a Royal Orchid in Hospet (On the Railway Station Road)
- Taj Gateway in Mangalore.
- There is a Jungle Lodges property (Devbagh).

[rs49]

I have the hotels all taken care of. It's the road conditions and distances that are beginning to worry me.

HELP!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by rs49

I have the hotels all taken care of. It's the road conditions and distances that are beginning to worry me.

HELP!

- Hard time passing through Bhatkal (NH17)
- Shiradi on the Mangalore-Hassan road (NH48)
- Regions around Hospet are also rough.

I think rest is fine.

[MX6]

Instead of Karwar, take a diversion from Yellapura and go to Jog falls and stay there.
Then drive from Jog to Sagara - Thirthahalli - CKM - Hassan.
Count out Karwar to Mangalore stretch.
If you still want to go to Karwar, go ahead. NH63 is in great condition.
But the road from Honnavara to Mangalore is a pain.

Remember, it's not just Bhatkal. It's 90 kms of that stretch that is terrible. Also not sure about the commencement of land acquisition between Udupi and Kundapura for 4 laning. Anyway Kundapura to Udupi was a pain to traverse with bumper to bumper traffic crawling at 25 kph.
Sullya route is closed for repairs. You will hav to take Mangalore - Ujire - Charmadi - CKM - Hassan if you want to do the mangalore to hassan stretch.

What exactly do you want to do between Karwar and Mangalore?

[rs49]

Originally Posted by MX6

Instead of Karwar, take a diversion from Yellapura and go to Jog falls and stay there.
Then drive from Jog to Sagara - Thirthahalli - CKM - Hassan.
Count out Karwar to Mangalore stretch.
If you still want to go to Karwar, go ahead. NH63 is in great condition.
But the road from Honnavara to Mangalore is a pain.

Remember, it's not just Bhatkal. It's 90 kms of that stretch that is terrible. Also not sure about the commencement of land acquisition between Udupi and Kundapura for 4 laning. Anyway Kundapura to Udupi was a pain to traverse with bumper to bumper traffic crawling at 25 kph.
Sullya route is closed for repairs. You will hav to take Mangalore - Ujire - Charmadi - CKM - Hassan if you want to do the mangalore to hassan stretch.

What exactly do you want to do between Karwar and Mangalore?

We've done the coast north into Goa and south of Mangalore into Kerala upto the Cape. We just wanted to do this stretch to see the beaches of which we have read much.

How long do you think the drive from Karwar to Mangalore will take us? Also from Mangalore to Hassan? We have a new i20 but my husband is a safe and steady driver.