[explorer09]

Originally Posted by SharathScorp

Hi - Travelling to Kundapura from Bangalore via Belur. Taking Charmadi ghat since we wanted to enjoy the scenic views. After Guruvayanakere, can anyone suggest which would be the easier / comfortable to drive route among these three below?

1. Bajagoli - Karkala - Brahmavara - Kundapura
2. Bajagoli - Karkala - Nitte - Belman - Padubidre - Udupi - Kunadapura
3. Venur - Mudabidre - Hejamadi - Padubidre - Udupi - Kundapura

Preference would be not so winding route, broader and comfortable to drive without bad patches, even though if it takes a bit more time to reach and longer in distance. Thanks!

I would modify Option 2 - Belman to Katpadi instead of hitting Padubidri ( saves 15 kms approx ). Belman-Katpadi road is good.

[gadadhar]

Took the Vistadome train option on last Thursday to travel from Yeswanthpur to Mangalore. It was an amazing experience to travel through the ghats in train that offers unrestricted view all around, the comfort of reclining seats that can be turned 180 deg adds to the experience.

It starts at 7 am and reaches Mangalore around 4.30 pm

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by explorer09

I would modify Option 2 - Belman to Katpadi instead of hitting Padubidri ( saves 15 kms approx ). Belman-Katpadi road is good.

This has been one of those topics we keep discussing here. Although the route via Padubidri is longer (by less than 9km) over Katpadi route, it takes only around 3-5 minutes more compared to the former route.

If one is headed towards Malpe/Kundapura (and not Udupi) from Bangalore side and wants to take a break, passing Padubidri is ideal due to options to stop by soon after you hit the coastal highway.

Padubidri Belman is also a wider corridor, albeit regular rumblers that many will find it easier to drive and overtake.

If I my destination is Udupi or Manipal, I will instead pick the Moodubelle option to reach as I don't need to enter the city from the other side. However, I am headed to Malpe/Kapu or even Kundapura, I will prefer Padubidre. Timing wise, whether Katpadi or Padubidri hardly are any different.

[SharathScorp]

If i have to compare these 2 below routes in terms of the intensity of windings and road quality which one would rank the best:
1. Bajagoly - Ujire
2. Bantwal - Ujire

[mazda4life]

Originally Posted by gadadhar

It starts at 7 am and reaches Mangalore around 4.30 pm

Thanks for sharing info on this option. Can you please answer some queries
1. Is there a pantry car for food/snacks
2. Can you share some pics ( if possible)
3. Was the coach full ( approx. occupancy)
Want to try this option with the kids.

[airbus]

We have returned to Bengaluru from Udupi today. We took Udupi - Katpadi - Belman - Nitte - Bajagoly - Guruvayankere - Ujire - Charmadi Ghat - Mudigere - Belur - Hassan - Bengaluru. This was much better driving experience in comparison to our onward journey via Shirady ghat. Here are few grabs from my dashcam of beautiful Charmadi ghat

[gadadhar]

Originally Posted by mazda4life

Thanks for sharing info on this option. Can you please answer some queries
1. Is there a pantry car for food/snacks
2. Can you share some pics ( if possible)
3. Was the coach full ( approx. occupancy)
Want to try this option with the kids.

1. There is a small snack shop linked to Vistadome coach, they serve snacks like biscuits, chips, cup noodles, madhur vada etc with tea and soft drinks. There were chicken biriyani and veg pulav for lunch, but taste wasn't great. I would suggest to carry lunch and some snacks.

3. Yes, it was full, but it doesn't feel crowded since the number of seats are less and there is huge space between seats to enable rotation.

Kids will love it for sure, here are some snaps

[chethan.ram]

Wow! The train looks awesome. It should be added to my bucket list. Must have been an awesome experience. Thanks for sharing the images.

[paragsachania]

Route Update:

Kundapura - Udupi - Padubidri - Belman - Nitte - Karkala - Naravi - Guruvayanakere - Belthangady - Ujire - Charmadi - Mudigere - Belur - Hassan - Kunigal - Bangalore

We drove on this route when we took a longish detour when driving back from Goa last week and took about 13.5 hours to cover Colva to Bangalore via combination of Coastal route till Udupi and then Charmadi and Hassan highway!

Here's how my timeline looked like for that day which also shows the breaks taken! The route update report was only a part of this entire journey on that day.

Timestamps:

• Padubidri Turn Off - 04:43 PM
• Karkala Bypass - 05:12 PM
• Guruvayanakere - 06:04 PM
• Charmadi Checkpost - 07:10 PM
• Kottigehara Checkpost - 07:56 PM
• Belur - 08:53 PM
• Hassan - 09:35 PM
• Yeshwantpur - 12:29 AM

Breaks Taken:

• Belthangady - 10 mins, shopping at a nursery
• Shri Durga Grand, Belthangady - 20 mins, Tea and Bio Break
• Hotel Raama, Hassan - 30 mins, Dinner Break
• HPCL Station, next to Empire, Kunigal - 5 mins, refueling

Route Conditions:

Padubidri to Karkala: 28Km, 30 mins

• Overall conditions of this stretch remains excellent
• Roads are well marked and wide with multiple long and safe stretches to overtake
• Regular placement of rumble strips at multiple locations to keep your speeds in check

Karkala Bajagoli Naravi Guruvayanakere: 45Km, 55 mins

• Karkala Bajagoli Naravi is clean and fast
• Naravi to Guruvayanakere has many bad patches
• Most bad sections are manageable for any car
• One must drive with controlled speeds to be able to slow down in time for sudden appearance of potholes

Video of bad sections between Naravi and Guruvayanakere:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDXfDcldSpw&t=70s

Guruvayanakere Ujire Charmadi Kottigehara: 48km, 2 Hours

• Typically can take 1.5 to 2 hours with break
• We stopped twice - Once to shop at a nursery and next for a tea break at Durga Grand, Belthangady
• Charmadi Ghat is redone and well marked
• Overall road conditions is absolutely fantastic
• Regular KSRTC bus traffic is allowed so plan overtakes accordingly and make way at hairpin curves
• Regular placement of speedbreakers on the entire stretch but with adequate signage and warning

Dashcam video of Charmadi Ghat till Kottigehara

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb4vRqv-BuA

Kottigehara Banakal Mudigere Belur Hassan: 85km, 1.5 Hours

• Between Kottigehara to Mudugere checkpost the sections around culverts have developed large potholes; be mindful of that
• Overall route from Kottigehara all the way to Belur is in excellent condition
• Belur to Hassan too remains good with regular placement of speedbreakers

Hassan Kunigal Nelamangala Yeshwantpur: 175km, 2 hours & 15 minutes

• We had a dinner stop at Hotel Raama, Hassan for 30 minutes
• At night, best and faster way to bypass Hassan from Belur road is through the city taking the BM Road - Mother Dairy circle and merge back at the end of Hassan bypass
• Hassan Ring road is a time saver to reach Bangalore highway when driven during peak weekends
• Work in progress for expansion of Channarayapatna bypass - Diversions in place
• Flyover work in progress at Gowdagere after Channarayapatna - Diversions in place with large speedbreakers
• Flyover work in progress at Mattanavile before Hirisave - Diversions in place with large speedbreakers
• Sections from Nelamnagala till Yeshwantpur flyover have developed bad surfaces and smaller potholes
• Barring the above, the overall road conditions remain excellent

Here are the screengrabs taken showing the timestamps of passing various locations enroute:

Padubidre turn-off from Udupi-Mangalore Highway:


Bypassing Karkala at Navodaya Circle:


Turning left for Belthangady at Guruvayanakere:


Waiting to cross the forest checkpost at Charmadi:


Crossing the Kottigehara Forest checkpost:


Entering Belur from Mudigere side:


Dinner stop at Hotel Raama, Thanneruhalla, Hassan:


Refuel stop at HPCL station next to Empire, Kunigal:


Approaching Nelamangala Junction:


Approaching Taj Vivanta Junction, Yeshwantpur:

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by gadadhar

Took the Vistadome train option on last Thursday to travel from Yeswanthpur to Mangalore. It was an amazing experience to travel through the ghats in train that offers unrestricted view all around, the comfort of reclining seats that can be turned 180 deg adds to the experience.

How did you book this? IRCTC web site doesn't give any options.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Samurai

How did you book this? IRCTC web site doesn't give any options.

I think you must select only AC Chair car or Executive Chair Car to be able to book a seat in Vistadome coach.

[naga.sid]

Hi All,

Checked with a few folks and learnt that Shiradi route is better than Charmadi as of now.

Any tips on driving from Mangalore to Kollur?

Wbr,
NS

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by naga.sid

Hi All,

Checked with a few folks and learnt that Shiradi route is better than Charmadi as of now.

Charmadi was never bad. So even in whatever state that it was, it was always better than Shiradi. Shiradi has always remained inconsistent due to road expansion work - At times the roads are patches and you have a good ride while at times they never get attention and its mayhem.

At least till last week, Shiradi was definitely not the road to head towards Mangalore, especially the Hassan - Sakleshpura stretch which was in pathetic state.

Charmadi on the other hand remains excellent. For Mangalore your only concern should be the work in progress sections from Guruvayanakere to BC Road that is getting expanded.

Any tips on driving from Mangalore to Kollur?

Mangalore Padubidre Udupi Bhramavara Kundapura Wandse Kollur. Till Kundapura its very good dual carriageway. Beyond that its the usual State highway.

If you make to make it better, you can take a longer detour till Baindoor so you do: Mangalore Padubidre Udupi Bhramavara Kundapura Maravanthe Byndoor Kollur.

[gadadhar]

Originally Posted by Samurai

How did you book this? IRCTC web site doesn't give any options.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

I think you must select only AC Chair car or Executive Chair Car to be able to book a seat in Vistadome coach.

That is correct, you should select Executive Chair Car in the Yeswanthpur Mangalore Special train, it is not a daily train and we travelled in Thursday from BLR to MLR.

[chethan.ram]

Originally Posted by naga.sid

Hi All,


Any tips on driving from Mangalore to Kollur?

Wbr,
NS

If you want to avoid Highway after Udupi, there is a much scenic route. Mangalore - Udupi - Brahmavara - Halady - Shankaranarayana - Ampar Murkai - Kollur. You can enjoy the coastal country side with this route. We used the same route for cycling last year.