[ankan.m.blr]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Easy with Kids and Family:
Karwar - Ankola - Yellapura - Kalhatgi - Hubli Bypass - Davanagere- Tumkur -Bangalore

Shorter but often lonely for an hour till you reach NH4
karwar - Ankola - Yellapura - Mungod - Bankapura - Davanagere - Tumkur- Bangalore

Due to office commitments, I have to cut short my holiday. Visiting Udupi is out of the itinerary now. The new plan is Bangalore - Gokarna (day 1) - Karwar (day2) - Bangalore.

Planning to take Bangalore - Chitradurga - Bankapura - Mungod - Yellapura - Ankola - Gokarna route for onward journey. Please advise road condition on Bankapura -Mungod - Yellapura and refreshment stops on the way.
for the return journey, I am planning to take Karwar - Yellapura - Hubbali (bypass) - Chitradurga - Tumkur - Bangalore route.

[rajshenoy]

Did a sudden trip to mangalore and shiradi stretch between gundya till start of concrete road is pretty bad for uphill climb. Bad stretch is just 10-15km or so but can test sedans with low GC

Overall still the fastest route i feel.

[raghavan]

Originally Posted by ankan.m.blr

Planning to take Bangalore - Chitradurga - Bankapura - Mungod - Yellapura - Ankola - Gokarna route for onward journey. Please advise road condition on Bankapura -Mungod - Yellapura and refreshment stops on the way.
for the return journey, I am planning to take Karwar - Yellapura - Hubbali (bypass) - Chitradurga - Tumkur - Bangalore route.

For the onward journey, you can take (Blr - C'durga - Haveri - Hangal - Sirsi - Mirjan - Gokarna)

Blr - Haveri : 360KM (Excellent NH)
Haveri - Hangal - Sirsi : 75KM (Super smooth undivided and till Hangal, the road has good shoulder - lot of speed humps (the multiple ones together near villages), but nothing to worry about)
Sirsi - Mirjan - Gokarna : 65KM (Very nice undivided road with very small amount of rough patches)

There is a ramp to exit from the NH onto Hangal road and no need to enter Haveri town.
Haveri - Gokarna : Very light on traffic and very scenic right from Hangal.
Crossing Sirsi town is no big deal and there is a by-pass as well.

Refreshment Stops :

Bangalore - Haveri : There are many on the highway
Haveri : Nisarga Garden Pure Veg - close to the exit from the NH onto Hangal road
Sirsi : May have some decent ones with clean rest rooms
Sirsi - Gokarna : You can stop for coffee / tea / snacks / tender coconut at small road side shops, but no rest rooms.

I did this route (from gokarna - blr) last before weekend and it took me 8.5 hrs with an half hour break.

Hope this helps.

[Shubbi]

When driving towards Bangalore, potholes start ~3KMs before Gundya. Earlier potholes were right after Nelyadi, which now seem to have been patched up.
Drove on this stretch in Swift last Wednesday night. The end-to-end potholed stretch took me ~25 mins with attempt made to avoid every pothole by using the road width. Of course, sparse traffic helped in this zig-zag drive.

Drove on Kundapura-Honnavara stretch after a long time. 4-lane work is going on in full steam with new bridges under construction across all the rivers, including the long Sharavati bridge @Honnavara. Almost entire stretch has diversions limiting the momentum. Once completed, driving north up the coast should be fun.

[Makin Rulesz]

Update on the Agumbe based on my travel during second week of January. Upper half which earlier had broken concrete blocks is completely relaid with fresh tarmac and drive is super smooth now. I don't think the road has been this good at least in last couple of decades.

https://youtu.be/qGGDx2OLLbQ

[niranjanrvce]

Just did a Bangalore - Uchil/Yermal (near Udupi) ride over the weekend and took the Blore-Belur-Charmadi-Belthangady-Naravi-Karkala Bypass-Padubidri route both ways. The entire route is beautifully tarred and brilliant to ride/drive on. There is some road expansion work near Naravi but shouldn't bother you due to sparse traffic. The road from Karkala Bypass to Padubidri is simply world-class. Charmadi remains one of the best biking roads in this part of the country.
Would definitely recommend this route over Shiradi if you are going north of Mangalore.

[cool_dube]

All,

Given the present road conditions in the Western Ghats, which would be the best route for a Bangalore-Kundapura drive?

Thanks in advance...

[unk9ja]

Drove to BC road for a family function on 27/1/17 and back on 28/1/17. Both were leisure drive with ample time on hands and with an aged couple to give us company.

Road conditions are as below.

From Girinagar to Nelamangala turn off: The expressway has deteriorated very much die to the sheer density of traffic it caters to. Bumpy ride all way to Nelamangala. The roads in the city are now better to drive.

Nelamangala to the 3rd toll on the Mangalore highway: Excellent roads. There are now new speed breakers at some village limits. But are clearly marked and visible from a distance

From 3rd toll to Hassan: Roads are good but the car seems to rock rhythmically on this stretch. This stretch needs attention soon.

Hassan to Sakleshpura: Sad sight. Although the roads are patched up, trees are being cut mercilessly on this stretch. Had to stop at a couple of places for clearing the felled trees. Soon this stretch will be no good as the Bangalore Hassan stretch. Look out for the fallen branches and stumps which project out into the road here.

Sakleshpura to End of concrete stretch: Tarred roads have a fresh coat and the concrete section itself is in good condition. Curves and turns are being treated with a fresh coat of tar with spikes protruding for grip on these places.

End of concrete stretch to Gundya: Roads have seen better days here but is manageable. You need to guide your ride carefully for the 10km stretch. It was better than what I was thinking. You may lose a max of 30 minutes if you drive very slow on this part. Do not rush into the potholes if you ind it deep. You can traverse it from the other side if there are no approaching vehicles. My Baleno sedan did not bottom out on any part of this stretch and that is how safe it is for other vehicles given the low GC of Baleno.

Gundya to BC road: Fresh tarred road where you can maintain good speeds except when behind a Gas tanker or a trailer. Post BC road again the toll road starts which is excellent till Mangalore except for 50m stretch below the railway bridge.

Conclusion is the Shirdi is still the fastest way to Mangalore.

[RaguHolla]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

All,

Given the present road conditions in the Western Ghats, which would be the best route for a Bangalore-Kundapura drive?

Thanks in advance...

You can take Nelamangala -> CR Patna Bypass -> Arsiekre -> Umblibali -> Thirthahalli -> Agumbe -> Halady -> Basrur -> Kundapur

or

Nelamangala -> CR Patna Bypass -> Hassan Bypass -> Chikmanglur -> Sringeri-> Agumbe -> Halady -> Basrur -> Kundapur

[ankan.m.blr]

Visited Bangalore - Karwar - Gokarna - Bangalore 26-Jan weekend.
Thanks to paragsachania & NPV in helping with route planning.

Original plan was to take Bangalore - Tumkur- Chitradurga - Hubli (bypass) - Yellapur - Karwar route. But we got delayed starting from home (one of those situations when a 8-m old kid is travelling alongside). There were long queues at all the tollbooths while driving out of Bangalore.
So I decided to take Bankapur - Yellapur shortcut rather than driving upto Hubli. Fortunately, I missed Bankapur exit and ended up driving till Shigaaon. Exited NH at Shiggaon, took SH-1 and then SH-6 to reach Yellapur.
It is a beautiful stretch with almost nil traffic. The road passes through a few forests interspersed with some small villages. There are little undulations here and there but nothing to worry about. The forests are of deciduous nature, the varied colors of nature during this season amazed me. The route is lonely but so scenic that I reduced my speed to enjoy the nature outside. Returned via the same route and planning to drive there again soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN0dp9yKHBE

[Thilak29]

Update :

The work between Hassan and Maranahalli (48 km at a cost of Rs 573 crore) has been given to Isolux Corsan, while the work between Addahole and BC Road (65 km at a cost of Rs 822 crore) would be taken up by L&T.

In the first phase, 13 km-stretch of concrete road has been constructed on the Shiradi Ghat stretch. The second phase was entrusted to GVR Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, Chennai. But, as the company failed to begin work even after 13 months of taking up the work, the contract was terminated. The company has moved the high court questioning the government’s decision.

Source : http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...start-may.html

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

Update :
The work between Hassan and Maranahalli (48 km at a cost of Rs 573 crore) has been given to Isolux Corsan, while the work between Addahole and BC Road (65 km at a cost of Rs 822 crore) would be taken up by L&T.

The comforting factor, is the critical stretch of shiradi work could be done by L&T. Hope they start the work in time and finish it in time. Also, they keep the alternatives to shiradi in top shape, during this work.

[shatananda.k]

Completed a Udupi trip this week.
Road condition after the ghats on the way to Mangalore is in bad state. I hope this will be fixed soon. For remaining sections, the road condition is really good.

I had a query. Not sure if this has been answered already. I started at around 4:30 AM from Udupi for the return journey. There are limited breakfast options till Sakleshpur. Can anyone suggest options before Sakleshpur/ghats ?

[_chikku]

Originally Posted by shatananda.k

Completed a Udupi trip this week.
Road condition after the ghats on the way to Mangalore is in bad state. I hope this will be fixed soon. For remaining sections, the road condition is really good.

I had a query. Not sure if this has been answered already. I started at around 4:30 AM from Udupi for the return journey. There are limited breakfast options till Sakleshpur. Can anyone suggest options before Sakleshpur/ghats ?

Hotel Aditya at the end of Uppinangady town is the only better option..

[shatananda.k]

Originally Posted by _chikku

Hotel Aditya at the end of Uppinangady town is the only better option..

Unfortunately, Hotel Aditya was closed when I crossed Uppinangady. So I ended up having brunch in Surabhi (Sakleshpur)