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Non-hill station getaways around Bangalore

However, am a fairly new driver with no experience driving on hilly roads, sharp hairpin bends, narrow roads with cliff on one side, ghat sections etc. As confident as I can be with my skills and my car, driving there without an experienced driver alongside would be ill advised.

BHPian sen2693 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Me and my wife have decided to take a short trip in this 3 day weekend. However, am a fairly new driver with no experience driving on hilly roads, sharp hairpin bends, narrow roads with cliff on one side, ghat sections etc. As confident as I can be with my skills and my car, driving there without an experienced driver alongside would be ill advised.

Hence, am looking for suggestions around Bangalore where driving on hills would not be a requirement - which seem hard to come by if I look around in the internet. Mysore is one suggestion but it is more of a city atmosphere which I am not interested in.

One place I am considering is Sakleshpur. But from Youtube road trip videos, and all I am not able to confirm if that is a hill station or not. If it is a small climb then I think I should be fine.

Also, any opinions with regards to safety? Is it safe to travel on such roads as a couple?

I will be driving a Rapid. I was hoping a sedan would provide better driving dynamics around corners, although can't deny the low seating position disadvantage.

Suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance.

Here's what BHPian speedmiester had to say on the matter:

Sakleshpur is not a proper hill station though the weather is very pleasant out there. Roads are in good condition for most part, except for the one under construction section between Hassan and Sakleshpur. You won't find many road sections with steep climbs and drops on the sides.

Here's what BHPian Rajeevraj had to say on the matter:

Chikmagalur is an option. Although it is called out as a hill station, you don't need to climb up to it as the main town and surrounding areas are not at a significant elevation compared to Bangalore and is a fairly easy drive. Sakleshpur is similar but from memory, Chikmagalur maybe an easier drive. If you intend to go sight seeing, then of course it involves hill driving.

You can also go to the Bandipur, Mudumalai, Masinagudi, Kabini areas. Will be fairly easy drives and do not involve any hill driving.

Half of Bangalore will be headed out to these areas most weekends. So you do not need to worry about safety on the road. But do understand the covid protocols at your destination and adhere to the same.

Here's what BHPian androdev had to say on the matter:

To be honest, most holiday places off Bangalore have regular roads unless you go seeking out proper hill stations. Coorg, Bandipur, Chikmagalur, Sakleshpur etc. have pretty good highway-like roads. Even if you go deeper into ghats, you just have narrow roads that require you to be alert about oncoming traffic. The scary hairpin bends roads are relatively rare.

In a modern car like Rapid, you don't have to fear hairpin bends etc. You are not driving a Tata Sumo. As long as you don't get aggressive about overtaking, you will do just fine. Review Google maps route for hairpin bends etc. Yellow colour roads in the map are perfectly safe. White colour roads with hairpin bends can be avoided if you want to be extra cautious. Govt has done a great job of making such roads safe. They are slow and require extra caution but do not require any fancy skills. Avoid night time driving and peak holiday periods. It's the overconfidence that causes most accidents.

Or you can try going towards pondicherry, hampi, etc.

Here's what BHPian Kosfactor had to say on the matter:

Mysore is a good place to start with, its not too far and hotels are plenty with good approach roads. Mysore is a very pleasant city to visit places around it, not crowded these days, weather is good too.

You could wake up early morning from your Hotel in Mysore and go for a drive through Bandipur forest \ Nagarahole \ Gopalswamy betta etc

Its not just the hill roads that gets you, often the approach road to homestays and resorts are in very bad shape. You may reach the hill station on time, but to reach the place of stay can take an hour or two in some cases.

Start early, drive slowly and ofcourse, call places ahead to check if they are open due to weekend lockdowns in certain cities and towns bordering KL.

Here's what BHPian Dr.AD had to say on the matter:

Be very careful and cautious, but as long as you know the basics of good driving and have some driving experience, hill driving is nothing extraordinary. In fact, the best way to learn that is just by driving. I learnt my hill driving by just taking out my car on a solo drive and slowly but carefully exploring the hills and mountains. You do not have to be fast or aggressive. Just be slow and careful, take your time, and drive well.

Besides, flat four lane highways are not automatically safer for a new driver. Plenty of driving mistakes happen by new drivers (I see it all the time in my highway drives) on flat highways too and due to the fast speeds there, those mistakes can be very dangerous. Slow hilly drives are maybe safer than fast highway drives for new drivers.

Of course, this is just my point of view and you are the best judge of your driving skills. So please take the safe and right decision as per your own thoughts.

Places like Chikmagalur have only some mild hills. There are no sharp cliffs or anything like that there. They should be pretty easy and safe to drive even for new drivers.

However, if you strictly want to avoid the hills, then Hampi is one destination. It is flat and wide roads all the way from Bangalore to Hampi, with no hills whatsoever anywhere.

Again, be very careful and drive well whether you go on hills or flat roads. Roads to Hampi are flat and wide, but speeds are usually high so do not let your guard down just because it is not hills.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

 
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