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-   -   The art of travelling between Bangalore - Mangalore/Udupi (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/91125-art-travelling-between-bangalore-mangalore-udupi-431.html)

Came back from my week long trip spanning Bangalore - Dharmasthala - Subramanya - Udupi - Bhadravathi - Bangalore

Here are some key points from the 1250+ km round trip. The roads that I took were largely very good unless mentioned otherwise.

# Service @ A2B udayapura
We made good progress to reach A2B @ 9:10 AM after starting from Bangalore at around 7:00 AM. They took a full 1 hour to serve a "not so elaborate" breakfast! [a plate of Idli, a masala dosa, a plain dosa and cup of coffee!]. The food was good, but the service was not!. People sitting all around me were having the same crib. Not visiting them again, until I hear about better service. Left a feedback to the Manager that they should learn a thing or two from Swathi Delicacy's staff.


#Road from Dharmasthala to Subramanya
Based on Achyu's input, I was to take the Nelyadi-Gundya-Subramanya route. However, I ran into some local jeep operators in Dharmasthala and they assured me that the shorter inchalpady route has been improved for the good. Just the first 2-3 km from Nelyadi is a narrow single lane road, but it is a beautiful two lane road from then on. Really enjoyed this stretch. Nothing like what I had experienced in Dec-2014.

#Subramanya to Udupi
Although, I could have chosen to go via Mangalore, I took the Belthangady-Karkala-Udupi route. The road was scenic and the surface was good too, but driving on this highly twisty road got a little tiring after 2-2.5 hours of journey. May be I was tired and didn't enjoy it as much.

@Parag, I didn't take the Karkala-Nittie-Padubidri route, as google maps indicated the ETA of this route as 20 mins slower. :Frustrati. Perhaps that would have saved the day. Anyway.. this was a bad choice from me.

#Udupi to Bhadravathi
Was an uneventful 4 hour drive from door to door via Agumbe, Shimoga.

#Bhadravathi to Bangalore via CR Patna
Again, nice ride back with a brief stop over @ Swathi Delicacy for some snacks. The road between Arsikere-CR Patna has started to deteriorate at places. I am not sure, if this stretch will hold up till next year. Keeping fingers crossed!

This route is good if you are heading to Udupi proper. But if it is Manipal for destination, Karkala-Hiriadaka road makes more sense.

The suggestion was never for Manipal in this case. It was more because of the beautiful road itself which is one of the best 2 lane roads made in Karnataka. I had suggested Achyu

Else by default, Manipal means you head via Karkala as it comes before you read Udupi/NH17. Same was suggested to Achyu and he enjoyed this without a hassle as it hardly adds to the overall timings. Plus you get to drive on the empty Karkala - Padubidre stretch devoid of traffic.

All the more reason why I wanted to mention that point. Since Udupi/Manipal are spoken in the same breadth many may choose one of the routes, assuming both will lead to either of the towns. Hence wanted to clarify that point.

A friend who visited Dharmasthala and Kukke in the last 4-5 days said there was hardly any rain in those places and roads are as good as ever, this is reassuring :)

Guys

Sorry if this is a repeat request. Missed so many pages on this thread. Me, my wife and my pet dog are driving down to Turtle bay resort (near Kundapura) from Bangalore during christmas long weekend.

Obviously we need to go via Udupi. Me being native of Mangalore always took Charmadi ghat route in the past and joined BC road to enter Mangalore. This time around i want to bypass Mangalore since will be heading straight to Kundapura. Following are my queries:

1. Does Charmadi Ghat route still hold good if i have to go via Udupi bypassing Mangalore?
2. If yes, for 1. above which is the route as diversion i need to take to get directly to Udupi side once i cross belthangady?
3. How will be the road conditions?

Many thanks in advance.

Well, you may not really have a choice but Charmadi in December and here's why:
Source

Now, to answer your question on how is Charmadi holding up -

I drove a month back and the roads remain good throughout except the 11 Hair Pin curves where the surface is rough. Apart from this, complete roads are good all through the ghats.

The most straightforward will be Charmadi - Ujire - Belthangady - Guruvayanakere - Naravi (or Venoor Mudibidre) - Karkala - Udupi (Via Hiriyadka).

However, Karkala - Nitte - Belman - Padubidre - Udupi also is a sugested option mainly because this will bypass Karkala completely from the outskirts and you get to drive on the super excellent Karkala - Padubidre stretch which is a fast and wide section. It might add a few extra kms but I would still find this worth against passing Karkala town.

You can refer to my trip report via Charmadi in this post.

- None of the above. If you want to head to Kundapur, take Agumbe or Hulikal.
- Option 1: Bangalore-CR Patna-Arsikere-Thirthahalli-Agumbe-Someshwar-Ampar-Kundapur
- Option 2: Bangalore-CR Patna-Arsikere-Shimoga-Ayannur-Ripponpete-Hosanagar-Nagar-Hulikal-Ampar-Kundapur

Option 1 is very good pretty much all the way. Option 2 not sure about the conditions at Hulikal between Nagar to Ampar. But other wise brilliant.

I saw that point. He also makes a request that he wants to head straight to Kundapur. If thats the case as we understand, Udupi need not be touched.
@Lazybrain, please note the above aspect.

Amp, My answer was mainly for Udupi and not Kundapur as the question was ""Where to deviate after Belthangady for Udupi".

I am aware that there are many Northbound routes to bypass Charmadi/Shiradi altogether if the ultimate destination is Kundapur or ahead.

And Lazybrain says he needs to go via Udupi for some reason that I am not aware.

@Parag and @ampere i was not aware that you can even bypass udupi to reach Kundapur.

@ampere - I remember many years back Agumbe route being very narrow to drive and also very curvy. Will i have any difficulty maneuvering my safari storme if i take option 1 above?

Today, I would say, Agumbe is a very good option even for Udupi! When Shiradi was closed, Agumbe was very heavily used by many to travel to Udupi.

For your requirements, I would say, take the Agumbe option. Its actually in very decent condition.

Why isn't anybody suggesting the below route
BLR-Hassan-Belur-Chikmagalur-Aldur-Jayapura-Sringeri-Agumbe-Someshwara-Kundapura-Marvanthe

If destination is Kundapura, This is possibly the shortest route of all the above mentioned.
As per the latest update the road till Sringeri is in fantastic condition

Sometime back the best stretch used to be Hassan - Belur, off late and recently this route is worsening by each passing day, new road humps added & road is deteriorating quite fast

Last weekend I have travelled in Option1. Its in good shape throughout. It takes 9 hours from door to door with 2 hours stop. Going to Maravanthe, I would even suggest skip Kundapur and reach to Maravanthe directly via Halady ~ Vandse ~Hemmadi route and avoid NH66 mess between Kundapura & Maravanthe!

Good option for sure.

Agreed. But I would still go with Arsikere. Only reason being that option is less fatigue inducing. Thanks to narrow roads and lots of twisties beyond Chikkamagulur (esp Aldur-Balehonnur-Sringeri-Agumbe section). As against, the road till Agumbe via Thirthahalli is quite wide much easier to drive. (Again thats my opinion).


+1. I saw Kundapur and hence forgot about Marvathe part. Yes Vandse/Hemmadi does make sense.

Planning a round trip to Chikmagalur from Manipal, with family, in our new Aspire (petrol). How is the Charmadi route? Both parents have back problems so would prefer a comfortable route and with at least 2 toilet breaks.