[bong_voyager]

Originally Posted by s4ch

Ideally looking for something like a JW Marriott level but I know that may not be possible in these areas, so something as close as possible.

There is a fairfield at belgaum right next to the highway, which is a decent option.

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by s4ch

The best 2 I could find were in Hubli, the Fortune Hotel near Hubli Airport (ITC), and the Naveen Lakeside Palace.

Naveen Lakeside Palace is a decent hotel, pretty clean, good food and the most important thing-good parking space.
The last 4/5 star types hotel you would find would be Fairfield by Marriot-Belgavi.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by s4ch

Also, does anyone know how the roads are from Hubli to Coorg? Google Maps gives 3 recommendations:

1. Take a right at Davangere and follow the road to Kadur>Hassan>Madikere.
2. Take a right at Chitradurga and follow the road to Hosadurga>Hassan>Madikere
3. Go all the way to Tumkur and take the Kunigal>Channarayapattanna>Madikere route (which I guess is the normal route from Bangalore?)

Ease of driving means driving all the way till Tumkur or Dabaspete and hitting onto the Bangalore-Hassan highway:

Tumkur - Khyatasandra - Tumkur Ring Road Kunigal - Hassan
Tumkur - Dabaspete - Shivagange - Gudemaranahalli - Hassan

This will be a longer distance by at least 120 Km so personally I would not consider worth it considering that the shorter route options are also in good condition. The only negatives being quite a few towns to pass end to end and single carriageway roads.

Even with this, my preference would be that you stick to this:

Drive all the way on the Pune-Bangalore highway till Davanagere and then do Channagiri Birur Kadur Banavara Halebidu Hagare Hassan Bypass Arkalgud Ramnathapura Kushalnagara Madikeri.

Towns to cross in above route:
Channagiri, Birur, Kadur & Javagal. Halebidu will take less than 2 minutes to cross towards Hagare. Since you will approach Hassan via Hagare, you will directly hit Hassan at Thanneruhalla and drive till Santhepete Circle and turn right (towards Arkalgudu). This will be way faster than approaching Hassan from Halebidu from Salagame side where you will have to spend quite some time bypassing the city even through the ring road.

• Route conditions from Davanagere towards Kadur via Channagiri remain good. I am also suggesting you reach Halebidu via Javagal because you will remain connected to 2 major NHs where road conditions are good.
  
• Halebidu to Hassan via Hagare is also good right now.
  
• Hassan - Arkalgud all the way to destination is good but due to rains certain sections may have gotten rough but that is how they are

If you do not want any of these and still want good 4 lane roads, as mentioned earlier, drive all the way till Tumkur or Dabaspete and connect to Hassan highway either at Kunigal or Gudemaranahalli. In terms of additional time, this route will easily add an easy 90-100 minutes to overall timings.

Secondly, from Hassan your route will again be the same as mentioned above.

[SSridhar]

I am driving to Pune from Chennai on 21st. Am I correct in assuming that there is no need for RT-PCR negative certificate entering Maharashtra from Karnataka and it is only needed for traveling in the other direction? Kindly confirm.

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by SSridhar

I am driving to Pune from Chennai on 21st. Am I correct in assuming that there is no need for RT-PCR negative certificate entering Maharashtra from Karnataka and it is only needed for traveling in the other direction? Kindly confirm.

That is correct. There is no need for an RT-PCR test result while entering MH from KA. I just travelled last week.

[SSridhar]

Thank you pjbiju. Do you or anyone else have an update on the requirement for RT-PCR test being done away with for those entering KA from MH? There was a post here a few days back on such a proposal.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by SSridhar

Thank you pjbiju. Do you or anyone else have an update on the requirement for RT-PCR test being done away with for those entering KA from MH? There was a post here a few days back on such a proposal.

It is status quo. Even yesterday's circular doesn't mention relaxing of these checks nor there is any coverage around this in the media too. It means the checks continue

[narayans80]

Brand new Reliance pump on the new 6-lane Chitradurga bypass. Its about 2 km before it meets the main highway. Unfortunately no GMap location, there are enough signages to guide you though.

One nasty surprise is how bad the sections after Jas toll. The 20 km stretch beyond Jas on both sides are quite bad. One has to slow to 60-70 to minimise the pain. There are some odd potholes enroute Chitradurga, but these are avoidable. Surprisingly Kyatasandra-Nelamangala is holding up much better in comparison.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by narayans80

One nasty surprise is how bad the sections after Jas toll. The 20 km stretch beyond Jas on both sides are quite bad. One has to slow to 60-70 to minimise the pain. There are some odd potholes enroute Chitradurga, but these are avoidable. Surprisingly Kyatasandra-Nelamangala is holding up much better in comparison.

I too realised this when I drove to Goa. While uneven and bumpy sections was common for this section till the 6 lane started after Tumkur bypass ended, these potholes are really bad.

It hurts even more when you have started very early, everyone sleeping peacefully in the car and you go over them or even switch lanes to escape them or brake!

Tumkur bypass was never a smooth affair even when it kept getting resurfaced.

[mayukh42]

Originally Posted by narayans80

One nasty surprise is how bad the sections after Jas toll

On the northern side of Chokkenahalli JAS toll, i.e. Tumkur Bypass, the leftmost lane (and only that lane) has good enough surface for cruising, except the occasional bikes and autos for which one might need to come briefly to the middle lane.

If one sticks to this leftmost lane and does not go above 70-80, then 10 mins at most and a little patience test later, one will enter the Tumkur-Chitradurga Tollway, which is about 10 kms from Chokkenahalli.

[SSridhar]

Can anybody give links for applying for ePass to KA & MH? Thanks.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by SSridhar

Can anybody give links for applying for ePass to KA & MH? Thanks.

There is no ePass for entering MH. For entering KA, as far as I know, you only need to produce a proof of RTPCR -ve report at the border entry near Kagal checkpost when driving from MH.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by SSridhar

Can anybody give links for applying for ePass to KA & MH? Thanks.

There is no ePass for KA from TN. If your destination is Pune from Madras, then you also have a choice of taking Ongole-Hyderabad route.

Originally Posted by mayukh42

If one sticks to this leftmost lane and does not go above 70-80, then 10 mins at most and a little patience test later, one will enter the Tumkur-Chitradurga Tollway, which is about 10 kms from Chokkenahalli.

This might be on the northbound direction. On the southbound direction there is literally no escape, all 3 lanes are bumpy. The bad sections am talking about are 6-laned. So its very much the Tumkur-Durga tollway that's taken a hit in the monsoons.

[s4ch]

Originally Posted by bong_voyager

There is a fairfield at belgaum right next to the highway, which is a decent option.

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

The last 4/5 star types hotel you would find would be Fairfield by Marriot-Belgavi.

Thanks, had no idea there was a Fairfield in Belgaum. Have booked a stay for both our onward and return journey. Decent prices and looks like a good hotel.

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

On the route, I think option 2/3 makes sense and the roads are good in both options, I do feel that option 2 may be faster than 3

Enjoy the drive, enjoy Coorg.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Ease of driving means driving all the way till Tumkur or Dabaspete and hitting onto the Bangalore-Hassan highway:

This will be a longer distance by at least 120 Km so personally I would not consider worth it considering that the shorter route options are also in good condition. The only negatives being quite a few towns to pass end to end and single carriageway roads.

Even with this, my preference would be that you stick to this:

Drive all the way on the Pune-Bangalore highway till Davanagere and then do Channagiri Birur Kadur Banavara Halebidu Hagare Hassan Bypass Arkalgud Ramnathapura Kushalnagara Madikeri.

...

If you do not want any of these and still want good 4 lane roads, as mentioned earlier, drive all the way till Tumkur or Dabaspete and connect to Hassan highway either at Kunigal or Gudemaranahalli. In terms of additional time, this route will easily add an easy 90-100 minutes to overall timings.

Secondly, from Hassan your route will again be the same as mentioned above.

Thanks for the amazing detail for the routes! Will have a good look through to see what is best.

If I were to go via Tumkur, what are the reasonable drive times I can expect for Belgaum>Tumkur and Tumkur>Coorg? Feeling this might be best even with the extra km's and time, as I will most likely be doing all the driving so prefer easy going 2/3 laned highways with minimal people and traffic.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by s4ch

If I were to go via Tumkur, what are the reasonable drive times I can expect for Belgaum>Tumkur and Tumkur>Coorg? Feeling this might be best even with the extra km's and time, as I will most likely be doing all the driving so prefer easy going 2/3 laned highways with minimal people and traffic.

• Belgaum to Dharwad Bypass : 45 Min
• Dharwad Bypass to Hubli : 30 Min
• Hubli to Tumkur: 4 Hours

With a break of 30-45 minutes, you are looking at around 5.5 to 6 hours till Tumkur. These timings can still be bettered but what is posted is realistic.

• Tumkur to Nelamangala: 30 Mins
• Nelamangala to Channarayapatna: 2 Hours
• Channarayapatna to Madikeri: 2.5 Hours

With a break of 30-45 minutes, Tumkur to Madikeri via Hassan highway will take you 5.5/6 hours.

In summary, you should be budgeting anywhere from 11.5/13 hours for Belgaum to Madikeri via : Dharwad - Hubli - Haveri - Chitradurga - Tumkur - Nelamangala - Kunigal - Hassan - Holenarasipura - Arkalgud - Kushalnagar - Madikeri.

The above route is all dual carriageway except after Channarayapatna all the way till Madikeri.