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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-457.html)

I took the Bekal-Somwarpet-Channarayapatna route for return and onward I'd taken Bangalore-Sakleshpur-Gundya-Subrahmanyha-Jalsoor-Bekal. Both routes were good, maybe some small patches and speed breakers around Holenarasipur/Arkalgud.

For onward journey, you have Swathi Delicacy and 10Km or so later, Mayura at Bellur Cross.
There are a few near Sakleshpur, including Athithi and Ossoor
For return, your options would be at Sakleshpur and then Mayura and Swathi but these will probably be late (depends when you start from Bekal).

There are no better food joints available all the way till Madikeri, so you need to plan your departure in such a way that you reach Hotel Mayura or Swati delicacy around 7. However if you are planning to leave between 4am-5am then I would suggest you to take Mysore-Madikeri route as you will find lot of options for food.

For your return journey, if visiting Subramanya temple is not in your list then I suggest you to take Jalsoor-Sullia-Madikeri-Somwarpete-CR Patna as this will avoid shiradi ghat.

Most places on Bangalore-Mysore road open only by 6:45am or later, otherwise you'll have to stop at CCDs/McDs.

@Pramod - You can stop at Kalyani on the Mysore Ring Road after you turn right at Columbia Asia signal. This way you'd have crossed Mysore and reach Kalyani around 6:45am or so.

Thanks for the inputs. I plan to start at 5:00 AM. Don't want to take Mysore road :)

Completed a non-stop Bangalore to Mangalore drive yesterday morning. Started at 3 AM and reached my destination by 8:30 AM. The road is quite good except for a bumpy stretch around Sakleshpur and then a pothole ridden stretch between the concrete section and gundya.

Took the Gundya - Sakleshpur - Hassan route while returning from Bekal yesterday. Gunday - Sakleshpur is broken at many places where you have to move in 2nd gear. Even the concrete section has started breaking in couple of places. Saklespur - Hassan is also patchy. Found road repair material on the sides in between Sakleshpur and Gundya. Might get patched up soon.
Avoid this route now. Traffic was light yesterday.

Snapshot from weekend Bangalore-Udupi drive -

Onwards - Bangalore [Saturday 5.15AM start from HSR layout via Majestic]-Hassan-Belur-Chikmagalur [45 mins pit stop on business]-Balehonnur-Jayapura-Koppa [another 45 mins stop for work]-Hariharapura-Begar-Agumbe-Udupi [2.45PM]
45 mins break at Swati delicacy for a yummy breakfast
Road is patchy between Belur & CKM, just after Jayapura for few KMs and top half of Agumbe ghat. Otherwise its a pleasant drive amidst lush greenery on both sides. Considering the bad state of Arasikere-Bhadravati section, I plan to rather stick to this going forward.

Return - Udupi [Monday 6PM]-Mangalore-Shiradi-Hassan-Bangalore [1.15AM] with a 45mins dinner break at Sakleshpur + couple of quick breaks.
It had been a while I took Shiradi route, but I regret the decision now :Frustrati. Lots of bad patches between Nelyadi & Sakleshpur, except for the concrete section. Almost every turn was bad, requiring to downshift to second gear. Surprisingly traffic was less all along; not what I was expecting for the end of a long weekend.

Did a quick trip on account of Ganesha Chathurthi to Udupi and back on 04/09 to 06/09.

Onward journey was a bit of sight seeing drive. Route taken was BSK 1st stage - Nelamangala - CR patna - Holenarsipura - Sri Ramdevra Katte - Mavinakere - Hassan - Belur - Mudigere - Kottigehara - Charmadi - Ujire - Belthangady - Naravi - Karkala - Bantakal - Udupi. Started at 0530 and reached at 1630

Very good roads throughout, though missed the turn in Karkala where we diverted to the Mangalore route before we hit the bantakal route. The road at the left turn was dug up and that gave away in Karkala. The roads are patchy from Belur but manageable. Charmadi has only around half a dozen places for a few yards where the roads are bad.

Return journey was through Udupi - Manipal - Karkala - Naravi - Dharmasthala - Shiradi - Sakleshpura - Hassan - Nelamangala - Bangalore.
Had to drop off a relative and hence took the Shiradi or else we had planned to return through Ampere's route. And we really regret this decision. It would have been wise to return to Ujire and take the Charmadi. Shiradi is fast going back to its heydays. Lots of first gear patches and also there are couple of spots on the concrete which can break a wheel. This is on either sides the S curve or the double hairpin bends. The concrete projects out and may damage a rim if taken at high speeds. And as usual, the traffic was at its best with honking and crazy overtakings. Started at 0630 and reached at 1530.

Folks, I heard about couple of untoward incidents of robbery on the Charmadi route. Robbers target the vehicles on empty stretches during the night. I could not authenticate the news though. I have searched almost all news articles related to charmadi but to no avail. Can anybody throw some light here.
I hope this is a rumour.

I did the charmadi route on Saturday but in the day time. I am also guessing this is a rumour. This route can get creepy at night with heavy fog and almost no traffic. If taking charmadi, advisable to do it in the day time.

There are always sporadic incidents on both Charmadi and Shiradi

Did a BLR-MLR-BLR trip last week on my new Honda Jazz. Took the Shiradi route and all I can say is that the condition of Shiradi, while not that great, is still not that bad as people have claimed in the above posts. You will need to drive slowly for about 3 to 4 km because of rough roads and potholes, but apart from that, things are very much fine. I would strongly recommend to still take the Shiradi route.

Thanks,
Vijay

Returned to Bangalore via charmadi yesterday in my BIL's new baleno. There are sporadic pot-holed sections in this route. The drive was a bliss with very minimum traffic.

Hello Folks,

Can anybody confirm if patchwork is happening to the highway around Sakleshpur? I could see a lot of material being piled up when I drove down a couple of weeks back.

Last sunday while returning to Bangalore, I couldn`t see WIP section. Patchwork has been completed till couple of kms from Manjarabad Fort Deviation.

Road condition till Dindigul is still drivable, one could easily maintain 40kms. However things are getting worse post Shiradi gate all the way till Gundya. I have been traveling on this stretch once in every two weeks and last sunday`s trip was the first time I started thinking to seriously consider the alternate route. Until or unless NHAI decides to start patch work in this section, post rainy season is over things only will get worse with big craters and road full of dust. :Frustrati