[VindyWheels]

Hi, we are going to Manipal tomorrow morning. Which is better route, Madikkeri one or the Agumbe one?

Originally Posted by fast_elegance

Did Bangalore - Mangalore through Mysore - Madikeri - Sampaje today. Started at 7 in the morning and reached Mangalore at 3 PM with a 30 min stop at Kamat Upachar for breakfast before Mandya.

The roads are excellent throughout. There is just one <100 mtr section after Sampaje that is yet to be tarred. Work is in its final stages. Traffic was sparse. One needs to be careful in the ghat section as vehicles are generally at higher speeds due to the smooth surface.

Will be returning via same route on Monday.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Hi, we are going to Manipal tomorrow morning. Which is better route, Madikkeri one or the Agumbe one?

If its Manipal, take Agumbe. If Mangalore, I would suggest Madikeri.

[VindyWheels]

Hi, which is the breakfast joint at Arsikere? Does it have good restrooms aswell? Any option at Channarayapattana?

Originally Posted by hsprabhu

Just did Bangalore - Udupi and back. Started from Bangalore on Saturday at 5:30am. I did CR Patna-Arsikere-Shimoga-Agumbe-Udupi. Reached Manipal by sharp 1pm. Breakfast at Arsikere.
Dinner at Rajasthani mess in Arsikere. This is near the railway station. Amazing place. Highly recommended. Open all days for all meals.

Thank you Ampere,

We will be returning from Maravanthe. Google map shows a route through Sringeri, Chikmagalur and Belur. If this route is reasonably good we can visit Sringeri and Belur aswell. Would you suggest this?

Originally Posted by ampere

If its Manipal, take Agumbe. If Mangalore, I would suggest Madikeri.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Hi, which is the breakfast joint at Arsikere? Does it have good restrooms aswell? Any option at Channarayapattana?

Beyond Arsikere there is a Coffee Day. In Arsikere good hotel yes, but not sure if they have good toilets.

We will be returning from Maravanthe. Google map shows a route through Sringeri, Chikmagalur and Belur. If this route is reasonably good we can visit Sringeri and Belur aswell. Would you suggest this?

The route good. But is very twisty. Its quite fatigue inducing though.

[VindyWheels]

One more option from Marvanthe is Marvanthe, Siddapura, Hulikal, Thirthahalli, and then balance of Samurai's route. Seems to be the shortest, any inputs on this one?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

One more option from Marvanthe is Marvanthe, Siddapura, Hulikal, Thirthahalli, and then balance of Samurai's route. Seems to be the shortest, any inputs on this one?

In that case you can either do:

- Marvanthe-Hemmadi-Vandse-Ampar (Or) Marvanthe-Kundapur--Ampar
- And then:
- Ampar-Someshwar-Agumbe-Thirthahalli-Mandagadde-Bhadravathi Or
- Ampar-Hulikal-Nagar-Hosanagara-Ripponpete-Ayannur-Shimoga-Bhadravathi
- And there on to Bangalore.

[lohithrao]

I would choose via Agumbe, Mangalore to Kundapura you will have loads of traffic, this depends on what time you get on this stretch. also since the 4lane work is not complete i find this stretch bit tricky...however you can use this route on your return...

[VindyWheels]

Hi,

We did the Nelamangala - Kunigal - Chennarayapattana - Ariskere - Thirthahalli - Agumbe route to Manipal yesterday. The drive was peaceful and smooth. Started at 6:00am from HSR Layout and reached by 3:00pm with around an hour's break.

Had breakfast at Surabhi veg at 8:00am, the place is good. Went inside Chennarayapattana town by mistake. The 5 km stretch, Muntinakoppa road, before Thirthahalli was quite narrow, but beautiful. I would have missed the turn into that section if it was not for google navigation.

Thanks to Ampere for timely guidance.

Cheers

Vindy

[ampere]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Had breakfast at Surabhi veg at 8:00am, the place is good.

Which hotel is this? Is it on the 4-lane?

Went inside Chennarayapattana town by mistake.

The bypass is not a 4-lane. Is that what pushed you into the town?

The 5 km stretch, Muntinakoppa road, before Thirthahalli was quite narrow, but beautiful. I would have missed the turn into that section if it was not for google navigation.

Yes that is tricky. You need navigation. In fact, a navigation, where you know and expect where the turn-off is, when approaching. Also at Umblibail there is another chance of losing way. As Samurai found it, the SH65 turns at this point. If you dont spot it, you can also end-up taking the road to Shimoga! The town which you wanted to avoid in the first place. Another detour point between Umblibail and Bhadravathi bypass is where you can head to Lakkavalli (The JLR Rivetern Location). You can directly hit Tarikere by this road. However, this approach does not help much as you dont gain any distance. Also these roads are narrow. Its better to be on SH65 all the way till the Bhadravathi NH206 bypass.

[Samurai]

To avoid Shimoga and save 10kms, these are Nav points one has to take, and not miss. See in full size.

Point A: Very easy to miss while driving from Thirthahalli. It is roughly 27kms from Thirthahalli busstand, look for a right turn.
Point B: Easy to miss while driving down from bhadravathi.
Point C: Easy to miss while driving from Thirthahalli. Sign boards are barely visible.
Point D: While driving from Thirthahalli, tempts you to turn right. Don't.
Point E: Easy to miss while coming to Bangalore side.
Point F: The Bhadravathi bypass, easy to spot.

[speedmiester]

I am planning to drive to Dharmasthala and Kukke Subramanya over this weekend.

I will start from Mysore, any pointers on which route to take?

1. Through Charmadi Ghats
2. Through Madikeri, Sullia and then to Dharmastala

I do not mind taking a longer route but I hate traffic, so which of these are better in terms of traffic density, road conditions in general?

Thanks in advance.

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

I am planning to drive to Dharmasthala and Kukke Subramanya over this weekend.

I will start from Mysore, any pointers on which route to take?

1. Through Charmadi Ghats
2. Through Madikeri, Sullia and then to Dharmastala

I do not mind taking a longer route but I hate traffic, so which of these are better in terms of traffic density, road conditions in general?

Thanks in advance.

IMO, via Madikeri-Sullia would be the ideal option and would be traffic free compared to Charmadi. Except for a couple of kms after Sampaje the roads are in excellent condition for a relaxed drive. Happy journey:-)

[NPV]

Originally Posted by fusionbang

IMO, via Madikeri-Sullia would be the ideal option and would be traffic free compared to Charmadi. Except for a couple of kms after Sampaje the roads are in excellent condition for a relaxed drive. Happy journey:-)

There was some widening/bridge work in the ghats. Is that completed too ?

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by NPV

There was some widening/bridge work in the ghats. Is that completed too ?

There was a new bridge constructed and it was almost done only with the tarring of either ends remaining when I had been there 3 weeks ago. By now it should have been completed.

Also between Madikeri and Sampaje, there were couple of places where landslide had taken away half of the road, and now it has been filled and made motorable. At one place they are yet to tar the road.

[dkamath]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

I am planning to drive to Dharmasthala and Kukke Subramanya over this weekend.

I will start from Mysore, any pointers on which route to take?

1. Through Charmadi Ghats
2. Through Madikeri, Sullia and then to Dharmastala

Option 2 is best, since there's a road (junction where you got to take a right turn) leading to Subramanya, between Puttur and Mani. You will not need to take a roundabout to get to Dharmasthala. In fact, there are 2 such junctions, if i remember correctly, to travel to Subramanya from this stretch.