[Lightening-Fast]

Originally Posted by DragonHawk

I am working out on my vacation plan to travel to Sonda on 25th December and travel down to Puttur next day. Though I have gone to Sonda many times in bus but this is the first time I will be travelling in my car. Normal route taken by bus is via shimoga and siddapur. However Google says to take NH4 till Banakapur and take route via Hangal.
I will be travelling with my wife and planning to leave by 5. Since next day I have to cover many places, I would like to cover Yana first then travel to Sonda.

Experienced folks please suggest me on
* Which route do you suggest.
* Any decent breakfast joint available in both the stretch.
* Any speed limit or areas where possible interceptors are in place.
* Since I have to reach Sonda Vadiraja Mutt by evening 5, do you think I can cover Sahasralinga.

I am not sure if the route via Hangal is good. I have visited Sonda/Sirsi 2 times in last 6 months and know for sure that the route via Shimoga - Sagar - Siddapur is just fine. You could also visit Jog on the way though there wouldnt be much water. There is a Kamat at Sira, if you plan to go via Chitradurga or if you could delay your breakfast, you could drive all the way till Shimoga. You shouldnt have any interceptors during the time of your travel. On my way back, i saw people were being stopped at the entrance of Shimoga for speeding. So keep that in your mind if you plan to return via the same route. Sonda Vadiraja Mutt by 5 is fine. But fitting Yana and Sahasarlinga on the same day might be too much. You could probably keep these for day 2

[DragonHawk]

Originally Posted by Lightening-Fast

There is a Kamat at Sira, if you plan to go via Chitradurga or if you could delay your breakfast, you could drive all the way till Shimoga. You shouldnt have any interceptors during the time of your travel. On my way back, i saw people were being stopped at the entrance of Shimoga for speeding. So keep that in your mind if you plan to return via the same route. Sonda Vadiraja Mutt by 5 is fine. But fitting Yana and Sahasarlinga on the same day might be too much. You could probably keep these for day 2

Thanks Lightening-Fast for your advice!

I will stick to Chitradurga-Shimoga-Sirsi route. I will be visiting Sahasralinga first day and will be canceling Yana trip as my wife is reluctant to trek for 3Kms

[gp_prakash]

Just completed a Bangalore-Sirsi-Sonda-Banavasi-Jog-Shimoga-Honnali-Bangalore trip. For Bangalore-Sirsi with all the negative feedback on Haveri-Sirsi stretch decided to use the option of Harihar-Haunsabhavi-Tilvalli-Makarvalli-Sirsi. Roads are in good condition but you need to watch out for speed bumps and reduced speeds in quite a few villages on this stretch.
The left turn one needs to make is after Harihar just before toll booths before Ranibennur. This road join SH-57 to continue onwards as SH-76.

In the whole trip, the one stretch with really bad/non existent roads was between Banavasi and Siddapura for 12kms. Other than that it was good to decent roads throughout.

[drhoneycake]

Hi guys,

Planning to visit my hometown near Sirsi on the 29th of this month. Just for a change googled the route and google shows me to drive all the way upto Bankapur and take a left to proceed towards Hangal and then Sirsi.

Just want to know the latest road conditions b/w:-
Bankapur-Hangal
Hangal-Sirsi

[Santoshbhat]

I had to travel to Sirsi yesterday. Haveri to Hanagal is in tatters as road work is in progress. The last time I travelled by this road, it took me nearly an hour to cover this 28 km stretch.

Google maps was showing Bangalore - Bankapur - Sirsi by default, so I decided to take this route. This route adds about 25 kms to the journey. I was unable to do much research before starting and decided to follow google maps from my phone. I made a few calls to locals in Sirsi who also suggested me to come via Bankapur. From the NH you have to take a left just after Bankapur toll booth after a 'Delhi Darbar' hotel. Actually google maps suggested this route. But I missed a left before Hangal and ended up taking this route. We encountered about 5kms of bad roads overall. Passing Hanagal town also wasn't very pleasant. Otherwise the roads are excellent and you don't lose any time at all. Your passengers and your car will thank you for not subjecting them to the Hanagal - Haveri hell of a road. We reached Sirsi in about 6 1/2 hrs (starting from Sanjaynagar) with a 1 hr break for lunch. Compared to Shimoga - Sagar route this is a very stress free drive as almost 350 kms is on 4 lane NH

[drhoneycake]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

I had to travel to Sirsi yesterday. Haveri to Hanagal is in tatters as road work is in progress. The last time I travelled by this road, it took me nearly an hour to cover this 28 km stretch.

Google maps was showing Bangalore - Bankapur - Sirsi by default, so I decided to take this route. This route adds about 25 kms to the journey. I was unable to do much research before starting and decided to follow google maps from my phone. I made a few calls to locals in Sirsi who also suggested me to come via Bankapur. From the NH you have to take a left just after Bankapur toll booth after a 'Delhi Darbar' hotel. Actually google maps suggested this route. But I missed a left before Hangal and ended up taking this route. We encountered about 5kms of bad roads overall. Passing Hanagal town also wasn't very pleasant. Otherwise the roads are excellent and you don't lose any time at all. Your passengers and your car will thank you for not subjecting them to the Hanagal - Haveri hell of a road. We reached Sirsi in about 6 1/2 hrs (starting from Sanjaynagar) with a 1 hr break for lunch. Compared to Shimoga - Sagar route this is a very stress free drive as almost 350 kms is on 4 lane NH

Thank you so much for the info, driving down to native again on 20th of this month. Just a small query, did you take the route via Pala or did you go into Hangal, cause Google Maps shows via Pala.

Thanks again,

Regards,
Aniketh

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by drhoneycake

Thank you so much for the info, driving down to native again on 20th of this month. Just a small query, did you take the route via Pala or did you go into Hangal, cause Google Maps shows via Pala.

Thanks again,

Regards,
Aniketh

Hi Aniketh,

For onward journey I went through Hanagal and joined Haveri Sirsi road at Hanagal cross. From this point the road to Sirsi is very good. Google maps directed me to go right towards Pala which I did not take as it did not seem right at the time.

For return journey I came through Pala just to check out the route. This route is even better than going through Hanagal.

From NH take left after toll booth near Delhi Darbar hotel. This route bypasses Bankapur town. Follow the route till just before Hanagal. (Excellent road throughout) You will hit an under construction double road. Turn left here. From here for about a km or two the road is broken. Then you need to turn right towards Pala. Straight goes into Hanagal town. This right turn is completely unmarked and has no signages. If you have access to google maps take a right when it says so. The road upto Pala is fantastic from here. Once you hit Hubli - Sirsi Road, turn left towards Sirsi. I followed google maps on my android phone right from the NH and it is quite accurate and did not mislead at all.

[josephnishanth]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Hi Aniketh,
For onward journey I went through Hanagal and joined Haveri Sirsi road at Hanagal cross. From this point the road to Sirsi is very good. Google maps directed me to go right towards Pala which I did not take as it did not seem right at the time.

The instructions were accurate! To the T!! Thank you! Was there last weekend. Started from Bangalore in the evening and reached the above place at around mid-night. The instructions helped us a great deal in not being dependent on anyone and helped us reach Sirsi without a hitch.

[geet114]

Can anyone help me with road condition of the off the toll route from Ranibennur-Tilvali-Sirsi ??

This was the shorter route i used to take to reach Sirsi. was newly tarred and was fun to drive, plus a saving of some 150 toll bucks too.

Haven't done in this rainy season.

[geet114]

Update on the Haveri-Hangal-Sirsi Road.

Had to be in Sirsi during the independence day weekend. Checked with couple of people on the condition of road from Haveri, and all suggested against taking the Tilavalli route, as the haveri road is almost complete.

Took the calculated risk, as i was going to cross this part in the night, and it paid off, But for a some 1 KM stretch near the SANGUR village, which I guess has got delayed due to some land dispute, where a elevated bridge and the road realignment needs to be completed, Road works was on during the weekend and guess it will be completed in some time with side drain ready.

Apart from that, there were couple of patches where only one lane of the road is completed with WORK in PROGRESS boards, but can be managed without much fuss, as I could cover the 70 km odd distance in 1.10 hrs.

I suggest people to take this route after the exit, which is in better shape now, again do have to mention the bad roads from Haveri town to the point of highway exit/underbridge is in very bad shape and has not being tarred and is craters galore. So one can avoid going into the Haveri town and make use of the rugged exit provided.

Overall, could reach Sirsi from Bangalore in fastest ever 5hrs 15min time.

Happy & Safe driving.

[prasad14]

Hi,

I plan to do a B'lore-Mantralaya-Sonda-B'lore. I need help with the following:

1. For the B'lore-Mantralaya sector: From Adoni should I go via Yemminganur or via Madhavaram. (its a while the B'lore-Mantralaya page has new entries).

2. What is the best route to goto Sirsi/Sonda from Mantralaya. I read a couple of threads and could not figure out whether I should take Mantralaya-Raichur-Manvi-Hubli-Yellapura-Sonda OR Mantralaya-Bellari-Hosapete-Hubli-Yellapura-Sonda. Google map shows Mantralaya-Adoni-Shiruguppa route to reach Hubli.

I'd be driving Honda City and the trip would be mid-July.

Thanks,

Prasad

[ampere]

Originally Posted by prasad14

2. What is the best route to goto Sirsi/Sonda from Mantralaya. I read a couple of threads and could not figure out whether I should take Mantralaya-Raichur-Manvi-Hubli-Yellapura-Sonda OR Mantralaya-Bellari-Hosapete-Hubli-Yellapura-Sonda. Google map shows Mantralaya-Adoni-Shiruguppa route to reach Hubli.

No idea about the road conditions. But when I look in Google, what I think: Default Google routing seems quite OK.

Mantralayam-Adoni-Siruguppa-Sindanur bypass - Gangavathi - Anegundi - Hospet bypass - Koppal - Hubli - Yellapur - Sonda

Nh63 is quite decent beyond Hospet to Hubli. But I dont know if it has deteriorated over the period. Good to check. But I expect traffic. Hospet onwards towards Bellary its quite bad. (Anyway it wont figure in this routing). Again Hubli-Yellapur section of NH63 is also quite good.

Hospet-Gangvathi-Sindanur again should be OK. Many Hyd folks take this as the default route to go to Hampi (Check for Hyd-Hampi updates). So I think we are reasonably covered on these aspects.

What I dont know anything about is Sindanur-Siruguppa-Adoni.

Adoni-Mantralayam is again standard for Bangalore-Mantralayam.

Needless to say, good to avoid evenings and dark on these sections. A GPS will be very helpful.

Hope this helps.

[chethan.ram]

Has anyone travelled from Shimoga to Sirsi in the recent past? How's the road condition? We are planning a cycling trip and one of the days could be this route.

Thanks in advance.

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by chethan.ram

Has anyone travelled from Shimoga to Sirsi in the recent past? How's the road condition? We are planning a cycling trip and one of the days could be this route.

Thanks in advance.

It is good. Via Soraba. On the way visit Gudavi Bird Sanctuary. Send me a PM and i will send the link giving all details about Sirsi. BTW, it is likely to rain heavily over the weekend.

[prak_s]

How are the road conditions from Haveri to Sirsi now? On reading this thread I get the impression that conditions were bad earlier, but are manageable now; is my understanding correct?

Driving from Bangalore, if I intend to visit Banavasi first before heading to Sirsi, which is the recommended route?

I will be starting from Bangalore around 8am. What are good options for lunch around 1pm?

Thanks.