[aithalsandy]

Hello people,

Shirdi ghat work is expected to start from Jan and close by March ( as per PWD minister). They had cancelled the previous tender and reissued the new. As per the article, original date to start the work was Nov 2017, got pushed to Jan 2018, now they claim it may start by 15th Jan.

[revhappy]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Then time to enjoy it again. By the way you posted your query, it was missing the main term (Agumbe) and that made me guess you perhaps were not aware of that because you mentioned just Chikmagalur.

Enjoy your drive. The Agumbe ghats are relaid and in the best of their shape as of now.

Yesterday we came to Udupi via the planned route. Hassan-Chikmagalur-Balehonnur-Jayapura-Sringeri-Agumbe-Halady-Udupi.

The route was awesome and we really enjoyed it. My Alto 800 could comfortably cruise at 120 at most stretches, before Hasan. We visited the ancient Sringeri temple and my daughter really loved watching those huge fishes in river behind the temple. We had lunch near the temple. Not so good. But okay.

The Agumbe ghat section was also a thrill to drive. We saw many varieties of monkeys on the way, which you only find in zoos.

Overall highly recommend route. Probably not the best route if you want to do 120 all throughout. But good scenic route, for leisure driving. We started from Bangalore at 7.30 Am and reached at 5 Pm

We will next go from Udupi to Bellary and then Bellary to Bangalore. Any suggestions for route to Bellary?

[procrj]

Originally Posted by revhappy

We will next go from Udupi to Bellary and then Bellary to Bangalore. Any suggestions for route to Bellary?

Tirthahalli - Bhadravati - Channagiri - Chitradurga - Challakere - Bellary I think should be a decent route. Channagiri - Chitradurga is apparently OK based on this post. Not sure about Bhadravati - Channagiri.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by revhappy

The Agumbe ghat section was also a thrill to drive.

How is the road condition on this stretch? How long did it take to travel from Sringeri to Agumbe? We are supposed to take the same route but in the reverse direction next Sunday.

[amazer2013]

Just drove this route in the last 4 days:

Onward:
Bangalore - Hassan - Chikmagalur - Aldur - Balehonnur - Jayapura - Agumbe - Udupi - Malpe

Return:
Malpe - Mangalore - Bantwala - Uppinangadi - Kadaba - Kukke - Gundya - Sakaleshpura - Hassan - Bangalore

Special mention for "Uppinangadi - Kadaba - Kukke" route - Amazingly smooth road - a pleasure to drive on.
10-15km between Gundya and the concretized part of the Shiradi ghat remains horrible. I was lucky to be driving on a weekday with not many vehicles. This allowed me to negotiate the craters better

[revhappy]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

How is the road condition on this stretch? How long did it take to travel from Sringeri to Agumbe? We are supposed to take the same route but in the reverse direction next Sunday.

The road is good, no potholes, very scenic in between a forest. I don't remember the amount of time. But i think we did avg 60-80 kmph at that stretch. The other alternative is to skip sringeri and take the road via koppa, this is the suggestion given by Google maps. We wanted to visit the Sringeri temple hence we decided that route. But I think the route from Koppa should be nice as well.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by revhappy

The other alternative is to skip sringeri and take the road via koppa, this is the suggestion given by Google maps.

That's quite a deviation from the direct route. What is the purpose of going through Koppa?

[revhappy]

Originally Posted by Samurai

That's quite a deviation from the direct route. What is the purpose of going through Koppa?

This is the default route suggested by Google. I guess it is because Google expects traffic in the Sringeri route.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by revhappy

This is the default route suggested by Google. I guess it is because Google expects traffic in the Sringeri route.

It is clear from the map that the route doesn't go all the way to Koppa. I was confused because you said to go via Koppa.

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by DragonHawk

I took Shiradi route while travelling to Puttur on 17th

Took the Shiradi Ghat today, 20km stretch before Gundya is in shambles. Though very much do-able, couldnt avoid scraping the bumper bottom a couple of times though.

Traffic density was just too much with the long weekend rush -hardly felt like a highway drive with the road choked with vehicles all going away from Bangalore and progress painfully slow.

With all the trees after Hassan chopped off in the name of road widening, it looks barren with lot of dust everywhere.

[aithalsandy]

Originally Posted by revhappy

....

We will next go from Udupi to Bellary and then Bellary to Bangalore. Any suggestions for route to Bellary?

Udupi - Agumbe - Thirthahalli - Shimoga - Chitradurga - Bellary

Agumbe to Shimoga is awesome drive, it will exceed your heightened expectations set from the onward journey , but do expect patches of road widening/upgrade. Shimoga to Chitradurga 80% good road (also under widening n upgrade). Check Bangalore-Shimoga thread for detail. Rest/hotel options are Seethanadi, Mayura at Thirthahalli, multiple at Shimoga (try Meenakshi Bhavan for old world small town charm), Mysore cafe/Laxmi Bhavan at Chitradurga.

Chitradurga to Bellary, take a call based on threads. One of the related thread is Bangalore-Hampi.

[Dushie]

Hi All,

Planning to drive down to Mangalore on Wednesday morning in my Corolla. As i am driving a sedan and feedback for Shirdi Ghat is not great.

Which is the best route to take out of the below 2 :

Bangalore - Nelamangala - Kunigal - CR Patna - Hassan - Sakaleshpura - Anemahal - Hanbal - Jannapura - Mudigere Handpost - Kottigehara - Charmadi - Ujire - Belthangady - Guruvayanakere - BC Road - Mangalore

Alternate route via Belur avoiding Sakleshpur :

Bangalore - Nelamangala - Kunigal - CR Patna - Hassan - Belur - Mudigere Handpost - Kottigehara - Charmadi - Ujire - Belthangady - Guruvayanakere - BC Road - Mangalore

It will be an early morning 4 AM start from Bangalore i am hoping to reach mangalore during lunch time around 1 PM or earlier if possible.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by Dushie

Hi All,

Planning to drive down to Mangalore on Wednesday morning in my Corolla. As i am driving a sedan and feedback for Shirdi Ghat is not great.

Which is the best route to take out of the below 2 :

Bangalore - Nelamangala - Kunigal - CR Patna - Hassan - Sakaleshpura - Anemahal - Hanbal - Jannapura - Mudigere Handpost - Kottigehara - Charmadi - Ujire - Belthangady - Guruvayanakere - BC Road - Mangalore

Alternate route via Belur avoiding Sakleshpur :

Bangalore - Nelamangala - Kunigal - CR Patna - Hassan - Belur - Mudigere Handpost - Kottigehara - Charmadi - Ujire - Belthangady - Guruvayanakere - BC Road - Mangalore

It will be an early morning 4 AM start from Bangalore i am hoping to reach mangalore during lunch time around 1 PM or earlier if possible.

I have used option 2 multiple times. You can easily reach Mangalore by lunch. I mostly start around 5 and cross Mangalore around 12 to reach udupi before 1

[Dushie]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

I have used option 2 multiple times. You can easily reach Mangalore by lunch. I mostly start around 5 and cross Mangalore around 12 to reach udupi before 1

Thanks will be going via 2nd route.

[revhappy]

Hello guys, we are travelling today from Udupi to Bellary. I am confused whether I should take the Agumbe ghat route or the Hulikal ghat route. Agumbe ghat route was awesome during onward journey. But I am a but skeptical about going upslope on those steep curves. I did Hulikal route in 2013 and the roads were very bad, but the curves manageble. Any suggestions?