[speedmiester]

Drove to Mangalore and back on Saturday night. Took the Madikeri and Sampaje route. Roads are excellent throughout. Left Bangalore at 10:30PM and reached Mangalore at 6AM.
Reflectors on the roads make life easier for driving at night through this route.

Watch out for dense fog post Madikeri for around 10-15Kms.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Post Sakaleshpur, the roads are good with a few patches of rough tarmac. .... Ghats are holding up well and no issues till Gundya cross at least.

Originally Posted by speedmiester

Drove to Mangalore and back on Saturday night. Took the Madikeri and Sampaje route. Roads are excellent throughout.

So you guys covered Shiradi and Sampaje ghats on Saturday.

Well, I covered the Agumbe ghat and Chikmaglur ghat on the same day. Road quality was superb all the way. Only the Aldur-CKM stretch was bit rough.

I decided to turn towards Agumbe at the very last second at Hiriyadka, because I didn't want to see the fallen trees on Sakleshpur stretch. I figured I might at least lose 30 minutes thanks to the longer, slower and twistier route.

The Agumbe ghat now has brand new tar all the way, no more concrete road. I sensed that many hair-pin curves have become more steeper. The Balehonnur-Aldur stretch is in fantastic shape, never seen it being that good. But this route is very very twisty, not meant for passengers who can't handle curves. Most people I know take the Charmadi to CKM, in order to avoid this route.

I left Manipal at 1:58pm, and reached Bangalore home at 9:23pm. Total duration of breaks might be around 35 minutes. So my drive time was only about 6h50m, which is probably one of the quickest trips for me. This is despite taking the longer, slower and twistier route. The road quality more than made up for it.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by Samurai

But this route very very twisty, not meant for passengers who can't handle curves. Most people I know take the Charmadi to CKM, in order to avoid this route...

Would love to try this route but only when I am alone!! As you have mentioned, with wife and a 5 year old boy, it is best avoided. Next time I have to do Bangalore - Udupi and I am alone, I will certainly do this route! Thanks for the update.

[speedmiester]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Well, I covered the Agumbe ghat and Chikmaglur ghat on the same day. Road quality was superb all the way. Only the Aldur-CKM stretch was bit rough.

I took the Agumbe Ghat as well on return, the road is newly laid and it is a pleasure to drive on the twisting road. It had been a decade since I last drove there.
Drove through Udupi, Agumbe, Sringeri, Balehonnur, Aldur, Belur, Hassan and Bangalore.
Google maps led me on a route to Belur after Aldur with bad roads with deep potholes for around 5Kms, post that it was good roads from Belur to Hassan and back to Bangalore. Witnessed a lot of dangerous and over speeding drivers between Hassan and Bangalore.

It's becoming a pain to drive on Sunday post 3PM on any road leading to Bangalore.

Would love to try this route but only when I am alone!! As you have mentioned, with wife and a 5 year old boy, it is best avoided. Next time I have to do Bangalore - Udupi and I am alone, I will certainly do this route! Thanks for the update.

Yes, this route is better avoided with family. Can make people car sick on the winding roads.

[KiloAlpha]

Drove to Udupi last Thursday and came back Sunday.

Onward journey was Bangalore - Hassan - Belur - Charmadi Ghats - Ujire - Belthangady - Guruvayanakere - Naravi - Bajagoli - Karkala - Nitte - Belman - Katapady - Udupi.
I started from home at 5:00am and reached Udupi at 12:30pm. Stopped in Hassan for breakfast (45 minutes), Ujire for 15 minutes (loo break) and in Karkala for another 15 minutes (long phone call). Total driving time was 6 hours 15 minutes.
Roads are good throughout. Road improvement/widening works ongoing between Bajagoli & Karkala, and Belman & Katapady have resulted in some very dusty and bumpy diversions.

Took the same route to return to Bangalore. Left Udupi after breakfast, stopped in Hassan for a late-ish lunch and regretted the rest of the journey home due to traffic . Honestly, coming in to Bangalore on a Sunday evening is a pain on any road.

[DragonHawk]

One of my friend is travelling to Kollur from Dharmasthala. I suggested to take the route via Karkala, Hebri.

I have traveled till Hebri and but I don`t know road conditions post Hebri which goes via Halady, Shankarnarayana and Vandse. So folks who had taken this route, can you please update the status.

Below is the route I asked them to take.
https://goo.gl/maps/f6MGD7JsfZ62

[slicvic]

I guess this would be a better route

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Dh...5702!3e0?hl=en

From Karkala - Padubidri - Udupi - Kundapur - Kollur

Between Karkala - Kundapur he would get a very good road with 4 lanes, and hence won't be that tiring.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by DragonHawk

One of my friend is travelling to Kollur from Dharmasthala. I suggested to take the route via Karkala, Hebri.

I have traveled till Hebri and but I don`t know road conditions post Hebri which goes via Halady, Shankarnarayana and Vandse. So folks who had taken this route, can you please update the status.

Below is the route I asked them to take.
https://goo.gl/maps/f6MGD7JsfZ62

Originally Posted by slicvic

I guess this would be a better route

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Dh...5702!3e0?hl=en

From Karkala - Padubidri - Udupi - Kundapur - Kollur

Between Karkala - Kundapur he would get a very good road with 4 lanes, and hence won't be that tiring.

I would second slicvic here.

This will be fast - Both in terms of roads and driving rather than taking the one via Hebri - Shankaranarayana which is going to be considerably slower due to the nature of roads.

Despite of WIP between Udupi and Kundapur, the progress will be really hassle free.

[autorahul]

I will be travelling to Manipal/Udupi next weekend. I would be picking a friend at Bangalore airport arriving at midnight and would be driving through the night. Please suggest route which is safe to drive at night, hopefully well marked with reflectors. Both of us shall be sharing the driving duty.

I have shortlisted 2 routes based on reading here, however please suggest any other routes you may feel better. I am ready to drive a little bit extra (both time and distance) for a more comfortable ride. We need to reach by 10 in the morning which I don't think should be too difficult.

1. Bangalore-Hassan-Belur-Mudigere-Charmadi-Karkala-Manipal
2. Bangalore-Hassan-Sakleshpur-Shiradi-Mangalore-Udupi-Manipal

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by autorahul

I have shortlisted 2 routes based on reading here, however please suggest any other routes you may feel better. I am ready to drive a little bit extra (both time and distance) for a more comfortable ride. We need to reach by 10 in the morning which I don't think should be too difficult.

- Good night traffic
- Options to stop by enroute for quick grub/tea/snacks
- Wide roads in Ghat sections and less curves to tackle

Hence you need to take this route:

2. Bangalore-Hassan-Sakleshpur-Shiradi-Mangalore-Udupi-Manipal

Charmadi at night will have very less traffic, plus the ghat itself has 11 Hair Pin curves that one may not like and come back with mixed feelings.

Based on your requirement, please stick to Shiradi.

[Makin Rulesz]

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

Drove to Udupi last Thursday and came back Sunday.

Onward journey was Bangalore - Hassan - Belur - Charmadi Ghats - Ujire - Belthangady - Guruvayanakere - Naravi - Bajagoli - Karkala - Nitte - Belman - Katapady - Udupi.
I started from home at 5:00am and reached Udupi at 12:30pm. Stopped in Hassan for breakfast (45 minutes), Ujire for 15 minutes (loo break) and in Karkala for another 15 minutes (long phone call). Total driving time was 6 hours 15 minutes.

Google suggests 2 routes to reach Charmadi: One is Hassan-Belur and second via Sakleshpur. Which is better among them, since the distance and travel time predicted by google are almost same for both the routes?

Originally Posted by slicvic

I guess this would be a better route

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Dh...5702!3e0?hl=en

From Karkala - Padubidri - Udupi - Kundapur - Kollur

Between Karkala - Kundapur he would get a very good road with 4 lanes, and hence won't be that tiring.

How about the road conditions on traditional Karkala-Udupi route via Moodubelle or Hiriadka?
This weekend I am planning to drive to Kundapur and I was thinking about taking one of the above routes.

[slicvic]

Originally Posted by Makin Rulesz

How about the road conditions on traditional Karkala-Udupi route via Moodubelle or Hiriadka?
This weekend I am planning to drive to Kundapur and I was thinking about taking one of the above routes.

If you don't mind the narrower roads, where you have to get off the shoulder of the road when a bus or truck is coming from ahead then the traditional roads with blind curves are ok.

In fact i take those roads when I travel alone because they're well covered by trees and no harsh sunlight

The road surface of such roads varies in DK on a weekly basis, so won't comment on that.

[Makin Rulesz]

Originally Posted by slicvic

If you don't mind the narrower roads, where you have to get off the shoulder of the road when a bus or truck is coming from ahead then the traditional roads with blind curves are ok.

In fact i take those roads when I travel alone because they're well covered by trees and no harsh sunlight

The road surface of such roads varies in DK on a weekly basis, so won't comment on that.

I do not mind narrow and twisty roads, as long as they are in good condition. When i see the road images in google earth, this is no different than Ujire-Karkala or even Charmadi ghat itself.
The purpose of me taking Charmadi is to experience something different from my regular drives through Shiradi and Agumbe.

[slicvic]

Originally Posted by Makin Rulesz

I do not mind narrow and twisty roads, as long as they are in good condition.

In that case I guess you should take the Moodubelle route, a small stretch of 10 kms was being repaired last month when I had taken that route

[bejoy]

I am planning for a temple visit trip covering Kollur, Udupi, Dharmasthala and Kukke Subramanya. Planning for stay overs at Udupi (first day) and Kukke (second day).

Google suggests the following route
https://goo.gl/maps/B1yPMN1gXdP2
Bangalore-Tumkur-Davangere-Hosanagar-Nagara-Nittur-Kollur

Last time in 2010, I took the route Blr-Shimoga-Thirthahalli-Nagara-Kollur.

Which is the better route now?

Also, any recommendation for stay at Udupi?