When you already know that riding bike from Bangalore to Mysore is absolutely no issues since both are metro cities. You might ask, “then is it safe to drive from Mysore to Coorg by bike or car?”.
Going to a hill station like Coorg or Wayanad arises this common question, especially when you have to drive through the roads connecting to wildlife forests.
Lets see How is the road from Bangalore to Coorg – the facts you need to know to be safe:
From Bangalore to Mysore, you would be enjoying non stop NH 75 highways with partition in the middle for that seamless driving.
Many people like us prefer taking Kanakapura road to reach Mysore, because eventhough it is not broad roads like Mysore highways, it is peaceful road with less traffic. But there are not many pit stops like in Mysore highways.
This is the most popular route to drive from Bangalore to Coorg: Bangalore – Mysore – Hunsur – Kaushal Nagar – Madikeri
From Mysore to Madikeri, it is one straight route with undiveded roads. You will be driving in NH275 , with both State and National highways, smooth roads with wildlife crossing signs wherever necessary.
Traffic from Mysore to Hunsur and Kaushal Nagar is nothing less than traffic from Bangalore to Mysore (via Mysore Highways). So careful with the unbelievable traffic even in the early morning hours.
Traffic is less from Kaushal Nagar to Madikeri, you can absolutely enjoy the peaceful ride.
Since Nagerhole Wildlife roads would be closed (for both safari and drive-through) after 8am, it is better to reach Madikeri Via Kaushal Nagar. You need to be there at gate by 5.45 am to buy tickets for safari.
Throughout the journey you will experience seamless drive on well paved roads until Madikeri. (Even beyond till Wayanad as well).
In our bike trip journey, we did not encounter any wildlife on both ways.
Only in our car trip to Wayanad, we saw raindeers and monkeys couple of times. Anyhow, it is always safe not to stop the vehicles until you reach the destination.
Most important thing to note – If you are driving via Nagerhole National park – you are absolutely not allowed to drive too slow or stop the vehicle. You will interrogated based on your delay in the exit gate. If you have found guilty breaking the rule by the patroling guards, you would be levied heavy fine. Since we always prefer to drive through Bavali – Nagarhole national park – kabini river route (read about the routes here) for the return journey, we have seen many tourists being held at the security gate for breaking the law. So need to be extreme careful for your own safety.
In year 2020 post covid-19 lockdown we went 3 days road trip from Bangalore to Madikeri via Mysore route – which we absolutely loved it. In fact we went deep inside Madikeri, drove in the steep hill S-bends to reach Cliff resorts, where we stayed to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Since we have done it many times, It is total safe to drive from Bangalore to Coorg by bike or car.
Just two days back we returned from ‘Bangalore to Kanchipuram road trip’ by our #AllNewCreta 2020. This one day road trip from Bangalore was on 14th November 2020 for the occasion of Diwali celebrations.
We went to Kanchipuram from Bangalore, and it was a total of 570 kms drive in just One day.
We took it slow this time, we leisurely started by 7.30 am.
Distance : The Bangalore to Kanchipuram distance is 280 Kms and we had plans to reach the destination only post lunch at Vellore.
Since we had plans to eat breakfast in our all time favourite restaurant in Bangalore highways called Krishna Inn, we each had half croissants with a cup of black tea just before we started. We had packed this butter croissant and a few baked buns for the trip a day before itself from our favourite baker.
Where we ate:
So Breakfast cum pitstop at Shoolagiri – Krishna Inn, followed by Lunch pit stop at Vellore – Khanna Fiesta.
The food quality of Khanna fiesta has come down and we felt guilty about driving all the way inside the city for this food diverting from the Highways.
So while returning to Bangalore from Kanchipuram, we made a wise decision of eating on the highways, a restaurant with a good rating called Darling Namma veedu in Vellore.
(This restaurant is right across Hotel Aryaas on the highways, also you have many other restaurant choices like Vellore kitchen, Saravana bhavan atc., But all are overpriced food items but scores okay in quality, thankfully).
We never ate anything in Kanchipuram because we don’t like to eat or stay here in the over hyped commercial town.
Post lunch in Vellore, after a leisure drive to Kanchipuram, headed straight to Varadaraja Perumal temple for darshan (Must see golden and silver lizard).
Route Map – Why We Loved this Chennai Highways
Here is the route map for both 2 ways journey for Bangalore to Kanchipuram road trip.
Bangalore to Kanchipuram Road trip route map
For the onward journey, we had seamless driving experience in NH 48 Chennai Highways, the only best road that beats all the other highways from Bangalore.
Though Tirupati and Hyderabad highways are also best, we personally like Chennai highways because of the tight barricade on both the sides blocking the localities criss crossing on highways.
If you are a regular rider / road tripper, you would know how important this barricade is for better driving experience. Since these days its most common sight in the highways to see the vehicles come in one way (facing you) giving you a heart attack. As if people criss crossing on the highways are not enough.
From where we stay in Bangalore, google maps automatically highlighted the Vellore route on the Chennai Highways. It also happens to be the best route to reach Kanchipuram by Car.
Click the above link to know about our train trip experience and to know famous temples in Kanchipuram.
Route map – Return Journey
We were profoundly delayed by choosing auto suggestions from google maps.
It is not necessarily to choose the auto-suggestion (highlighted route) in google maps. You should analyse and choose the best route for your choice.
Sometimes google suggests bad roads since it’s the fastest and most people use it.
So, it is wise to choose better roads (yellow roads with NH mark) rather than just any roads (white roads) google suggests.
Again when you are suggested 2 yellow roads, choose the NH with better numbers (NH 77 are country side narrow roads – So its a NO- NO).
Even Though we knew these safety rules all along being regular road trippers, we were careless this time. Because of that, we were delayed by 45 mins before we diverted us back to Vellore highways from a small route google maps auto-suggested.
So for the return journey, choose the same onward route map. But gotta be careful to notice that the route takes you via Kanchipuram bus stand.
Road trip Destination
Why did we choose Kanchipuram for one day road trip from bangalore?. Why go all the way to Kanchipuram instead of stopping at Vellore?.
I for one strongly believe that there has to be a purpose in going on any road trip. That’s called a road trip theme or a goal. You choose your destination based on that theme.
For example, if your theme is ‘leisure’ you would choose places like Coorg or Wayanad or Goa.
This time, in our Bangalore to Kanchipuram road trip, we covered a total of 570 kms in a day.
Speaking of which, this is not the first time we have touched 500 kms mark in one day. We rode 570 kms in day – 1 of our Tirunelveli for a 5 days trip. And 405 kms in day -1 by bike trip to Kumbakonam in the year 2017.
Successful Road trip to Kanchipuram
So, this time, we were successful in stretching our boundaries in our new car – Creta 2020. We will continue to do the same until we become comfortable doing great numbers in one day.
And yes, we did visit the very famous Varada Raja Perumal Temple while we were there. Though we did not have plans to visit any temples initially, since the time matched and we just made it happen. After spending about an hr of blessed darshan in the temple, we returned Bangalore in the late night.
Overall happy with our One day road trip from Bangalore, covering total of 570 kms.
This is our recent road trip from Bangalore to Madikeri for our 5th wedding anniversary celebration. We went on 3 days holidays to celebrate in Madikeri and totally loved the weather and the stay. I have given here the best route to reach Madikeri, the place we stayed, and the best cafe to hangout in Madikeri.
And this was our first long road trip post covid -19 lockdown, and first long road trip by our #AllNewCreta2020.
Road Trip From Bangalore to Madikeri
Onward Journey: Road trip from Bangalore to Madikeri (Day -1)
We started from our home leisurely around 8am, on Friday 11th Sep, 2020, after having breakfast at one of our favourite restaurants nearby our home.
(For those who think 8 am is too early, usually we start our bike trips / car trips by 5am).
As Usual we have packed our lunch boxes and snacks from home. But, when we found our favourite restaurant’s branch, called Aashirvaad grand, we were happy and couldn’t resist our temptation to eat here.
Anytime you are on road trip from Bangalore to Madikeri, do look up for this restaurant near Mysore.
Our bags packed for 3 days including Work bag just incase needed
(All these 3 road trips are entirely different, we stayed in different places each time and did various activities altogether. Click on the 2 links above to know all about sightseeing in Coorg and Wayanad including wildlife safari.)
Surprisingly, thanks to Our comfortable SUV, we reached Madikeri by 2pm itself.
Checked ourselves in a room at Woodstock villas, stretched our legs and rested for some time.
By evening, we took our Creta for a ride to look around our favourite sightseeing place – Raja’s seat, where we made many memories on our last trip.
All the sightseeing places in Madikeri were closed for the pandemic. We found only a couple of shops and restaurants here and there. But we chose not to go any places for shopping.
Came back to our resort, spent some time hanging out in Big Cup Cafe nearby our resort. Sipped tea enjoying beautiful weather and freshly brewed coffee aroma which filled the entire cafe.
We had to cancel our short walk plan since it started raining heavily.
So, we had ala carte non veg food items at the resort early, and tried local cuisines before we retired for the day.
The next day, we checked out of the room and headed to another breathtaking destination.
Drive to Cliff Resorts on Day -2
On our day 2 of our road trip from bangalore to Madikeri, we drove for about 2 hrs to reach our next stay, called Cliff resorts.
What was supposed to be 1.30hrs travel via Arekadu – Siddhapura route, we took 2 hrs, since we stopped at many places to click nature’s pic. We travel to enjoy every bit of travel, right?.
Travelduo Madikeri PicsDrive towards Cliff resorts – travelduo Madikeri pics
So we took our time, clicked lots of pics, and by the time we reached Cliff resorts after driving through some scary hairpins, it was already lunch time.
We had a buffet menu (not that great food for 700 bucks per head) before we retired to the room.
After the usual routine of relaxing for some time, we booked ourselves a nature’s guide who took us for an hr walk through the Resort’s coffee estate. The 100s of acres of coffee plantation was under the property of the cliff resorts’ four brothers and they kept it open for their guests.
It was a much needed walkthrough to get some good sleep in that chill weather.
Otherwise also we had an enormous super comfortable room with a spacious balcony open to the woods.
We skipped dinner as we were feeling heavy from grand lunch and evening sandwiches and tea.
Return to Bangalore Via Bavali route
Rajesh had kept this 2nd stay as secret as he wanted to impress me with this resort’s forest view. Definitely it was an amazing view even better than Raja seat’s view in Madikeri.
Although it was an entirely different experience, for the price we paid here we could have stayed in Woodstock villas for another 2 days comfortably including food costs.
But the best part of this resort is closer to the city, that is Gonikoppala and virajpet. Needless to say I love Gonikoppal for its good restaurant and even better roads to reach Bangalore.
And we stopped at a couple other shops to fill our snacks bag for the return journey.
Just like how well we know the places in Mysore and Kumbakonam, so well we know about madikeri and Wayanad now. Especially the drive through the forest via Kutta – bavali route to reach Bangalore.
I have written all about different routes (and forest rules) to help you plan the road trip from bangalore to Madikeri, click here. Have fun.
How to go One day road trip to Tiruvannamalai from Bangalore, and which is the best route to drive? Lets see.
Total distance of total 400 Kms, Tiruvannamalai is our all time favorite destination for weekend trips, for both our bike trips and car trips.
And this was our first trip to Tiruvannamalai post Covid-19 lockdown.
(Note – The above pic was clicked at Singarapettai Lake, on the way towards Tiruvannamalai from Bangalore via Chengam route).
Our Plan to Go On One Day Road Trip to Tiruvannamalai From Bangalore
Our destination was Tiruvannamalai – Arunachaleswara temple, always same destination in our one day trip, to darshan Lord Shiva representing element Fire.
Though we are regular travellers to this temple, yet we never planned for a one day trip to Tiruvannamali from Bangalore. Because we used to go bike trip, we prefer to take rest at night before return to Bangalore. While we are there, never miss to visit Tirukoilur temples (at 35kms distance on Pondicherry route ) on the next day, yet another favorite place near Tiruvannamalai. So we never thought of going on a one day trip to Tiruvannamalai from Bangalore.
Now that we have our new Creta car (named Milo), a comfortable SUV for long road trips, we decided on a one day road trip to Tiruvannamalai.
Note that covering long distances in one day is nothing new to us.
We covered 410 kms on our first day of 11 days bike trip in the year 2017. (And a grand total of 2000 kms in 11 days by bike, yeaahhhh ).
And in the year 2019 in one of our car trips, we covered 590 kms in one day, when we went on a 5 days trip to Tirunelveli in TamilNadu.
So, we pat ourselves for being regular travelers and setting new milestones for every single trip.
But it is not the same when you plan on a long drive to one of the ancient, famous and all time crowded temples.
It requires proper planning and execution considering the temple open timings and our convenience in travel.
So here is how we planned our one day trip to Tiruvannamalai from Bangalore by car.
How to Plan for One Day trip to Tiruvannamalai From Bangalore
We are travel duos from Bangalore, so all our starting points are from Bangalore. You could use my plan as a sample if you starting point is not Bangalore.
So, here are the factors to consider when you plan on a culture trip like this.
Temple Open timings
Knowing the exact timings of the temple is important, because your start and end time your journey is weaved around this information.
Tiruvannamalai temple open timings – 5 am to 12.30 noon and 4 pm to 9.30 pm.
This timing is quite common for almost all Lord Shiva temples and this is not applicable for Lord Vishnu temples. As the rituals and procedures vary entirely for both the temples.
Now, you need to decide on the time to visit the temple. We chose morning 5 am to 12.30 noon batch timing. That means we need to arrive at the destination atleast 1 to 1.5 hrs before 12.30 noon, giving enough buffer time to park the vehicle and waiting time to darshan Lord Shiva and Parvathi.
Now, How can we reach before 11.30 am driving 200 kms from our start point?.
Travel Distance to Tiruvannamalai from Bangalore
Here is second important factor to consider for our one day road trip to Tiruvannamalai from Bangalore.
Total travel time from Bangalore to Tiruvannamalai by Car including pit stops – for 200 kms on one way. And considering the bad roads in the Krishnagiri – Chengam route, time varies based on the driver’s skills. If you are choosing an alternative route (that is Via Vellore), your travel time naturally increases for the increase in 100 kms.
Total Waiting time to Darshan Lord Shiva at Main sanctum: the time you take from entering the temple at main entrance (east gopuram) to the time you take to see Lord Shiva at the main sanctum needs to be considered.
Since we always go for paid darshan, we kept an average of 1.30 hrs for the darshan timing.
Now you know what time you need to start in the morning to darshan at the temple.
Same goes for calculating the return journey.
Yet, you cannot calculate the same hours for the return journey, it varies based on the traffic on the highways and in the city.
How Successful Was My Plan ?
All went well as per the plan. Infact, it was quite successful.
We started by 5 am with all pre packed bags with snacks and water bottles packed a night before.
We were able to drive to the destination even though we have spent more than 1 hr in our favourite fit stop on the Hosur highways. It is called Krishna Inn in Shoolagiri. It is the bikers meeting point on weekends, and I have written a great deal about their food here.
We reached the temple campus at 11am, and it took us 20 mins to find the right parking spot before we entered the temple.
We spent total of 1 hr for the entire darshan time in the temple, including the Goddess parvathi darshan.
By 12.30 noon, We were back to parking area, headed straight to our favourite resort called Sparsa resorts, one of the elite stays in Tiruvannamalai for lunch.
Lunch At Sparsa Resorts
We spent time on good lunch and stretching our legs before we started our return journey by 2.20 pm.
Success !!!.
We reached the destination as planned, had quick darshan to our surprise and relaxed in our favorite place for couple of hours before we started our return journey. Kudos.
Tiruvannamalai to Bangalore : The Return Journey
As usual, we were profoundly delayed by the evening traffic on the Bangalore – Salem highways. Since it was anticipated during our trip, we reached on scheduled time, totally tired and sleepy by the time we hit our home by 9pm.
It was a seamless peaceful journey except for the bad roads on the route we chose for this trip to Tiruvannamalai from Bangalore.
Next time we plan to take the Vellore route since we are fed up travelling on this bumpy NH77 roads forever.
Kudos to Rajesh for making things happen irrespective of how challenging our trip turns out.
Planning one day road trip from Bangalore?
Here are some interesting destinations from Our travel History –
We have been to Madurai a couple of times, and each time we had new activities planned to roam Madurai. One time we roamed all popular Hindu temples by Bike (rented) in our train trip to Madurai from Bangalore. The other time we went by Car to Madurai during our 5 days road trip to Tirunellveli and Papanasam, when we did nothing but shopping there. Of course, we did darshan the great Meenakshi temple.
Madurai From Bangalore – How We traveled
Since the year 2017, we were popular among friends for non-stop bike travel from Bangalore on almost all weekends.
But as ardent travellers, we didn’t restrict ourselves to just one mode of travel.
We got inspired from our 3 days trip to Kumbakonam by train in the same year, where we rented a bike to roam the temple for 3 full days.
For three continuous days, that is 21st, 22nd, 23rd of July 2017, we roamed all the ancient temples in Madurai.
All the 3 days, we did not have any issues roaming the city by bike as an outsider. We had a good choice of restaurants all over the city and enjoyed all vegetarian south indian meals in our entire trip.
Road trip to Madurai
On our recent 5 days road trip to Tirunelveli and Papanasam, we stayed in Madurai for just a day, and did not visit any temples except the great Meenakshi temple. But roamed around the city by car, hung out around big temple lake, enjoyed Madurai’s famous Jigarthanda, and had awesome non vegetarian meals in Kari kanji restaurant. It is a must try restaurant for all kinds of non-vegetarian dishes. Click on the name to get the google map link.
Well, there aren’t many places to see in Madurai if you are not a temple architecture lover. So you can couple your trip plan with other famous places like Tirunelveli and Papanasam, or even kanyakumari.
Restaurant suggestion in Highways
Be it bike trip or road trip, the best Veg restaurant in Bangalore – Salem highways is Shri Krishna Inn. Its our all time favorite and this is where you could see hundreds of bikers hangout in the weekends. For more restaurant suggestions – you can find here.
Copy My Plan to Madurai
Of all the trips we went to Madurai from bangalore, not even once did we have issues on travel or stay or food.
The best place to spend your vacation, but only if you could couple it with other places. Because, many tourists including foreigners visit this majestic Madurai city for just one main reason – to darshan Madurai Meenakshi temple.
And, you could easily cover this place in just one day, including Thirumalai Nayak Mahal – another must see place in Madurai.
So what could you do to spice up your travel?
Go One Day Trip to Kodaikanal Hills:
Madurai and Kodaikanal are two like twins – inseparable in any trip plan. People who plan to go to Kodaikanal always make plans to visit Meenakshi temple and vice versa.
You could stay in Madurai and make a one day trip to Kodaikanal or just choose to stay in Kodaikanal for an extended period of your vacation. Kodaikanal is the best romantic place to visit near Madurai and makes it a place for best family vacation too. There are many options for kids to enjoy like cycling and boating – a complete package for family.
Madurai to Kodaikanal Distance – 116 kms
Go Long Drive From Madurai to Kanyakumari:
If you have been to Kodaikanal already, you could plan a long road trip to Kanyakumari. You could plan a direct trip from Bangalore to Kanyakumari, making Madurai as one of the pit stops. Or plan a drive from Madurai city.
Madurai to Kanyakumari distance – 245 kms
Bangalore to Kanyakumari distance – 665 kms
Woah, guess it is a practical idea to plan a long drive from Madurai instead of Bangalore.
Things to do In Kanyakumari – Kanyakumari beach, Tiruvalluvar statue, Visit Bhagavathy and Suchindram temple.
Places to Visit between Madurai and Kanyakumari
Tirunelvelli– Yet another popular city known for two things: Nellaiyappar temple (Lord Shiva temple) and for Wheat halwa (iruttu kadai halwa). Distance from Madurai to Tirunelveli – 163 kms
Papanasam – A very famous tourist spot in Tirunelveli district, popular for waterfalls (agasthiyar falls), and nearby manimuthar dam. We personally loved this place for never ending greenery and mountain view drive. (Read – Places to Visit in Papanasam in One day with distances)
Courtallam – Not any intro is required for this place. Popular among tourists for its Courtallam falls and lord shiva temple at the foot hills.
Visit to Madurai is incomplete without visiting these 3 popular places.
If you like to visit temples enroute madurai to Kodaikanal, you could then go to Thenkasi for a majestic Lord Shiva temple, situated 5.5. Kms from Courtallam. And you could also go to yet another historically important 3 temples called ‘Srivilliputhur andal temple’, ‘Sankaran kovil’ and ‘Tiruchendur’.
First two temples are close by, whereas Tiruchendur Lord Subramanya temple is situated at entirely different route.
I mean it is not practically possible to cover all the above places in just one day. That’s why we went on a 5 days road trip to Tirunelveli, and took time leisurely to see all the above mentioned places.
On the way back to Bangalore from Tirunelveli, we stayed at Madurai for a day and roamed the city.
If you are planning to Visit Kanyakumari from Madurai, you could go straight to the destination. Or if you prefer, stay in Tirunelveli for a day or two, to explore all the above mentioned places. It is definitely worth your time, especially Papanasam.
Go Long Drive From Madurai to Rameswaram:
Another best option to add tourist places to your trip to Madurai from Bangalore, you could go Rameshwaram.
In jan 2017, we went to Rameshwaram for 3 days by bus and we coupled the trip with Tirunelveli. We stayed in Rameswaram mainly to visit Ramanathaswamy temple to pay respect to my father on ‘mahalaya amavasya day’. We didn’t go to any other places in Rameshwaram. And we cherish the time we travelled on the pamban bridge – one of a kind experience.
Madurai to Rameswaram distance – 173 kms
Tirunelveli to Rameswaram distance – 226 kms
This is how we plan our travel – compare the distances from different places to the end destination, then decide which plan is best.
It is as simple as that.
Sum – Up
So, practically we know clearly about all the tourist places in and around Madurai.
Well, if none of the above places interests you, and if you are looking for particularly temple trips in Madurai, then copy my Madurai temples list.
There is no need to book any tour packages, because you know you will not be given any special access to darshan.
You could just follow the google maps, plan to visit temples between 6 am to 11.30 am and between 5pm to 8.30 pm. You could rest in the afternoon or find a nice restaurant to chill the day.
We are bikers, duo travelers to destinations in SouthIndia mostly bike trip from Bangalore. What started as a casual outing for coffee in Kanakapura road and Mysore road has soon become a planned bike trip to similar places.
And what started as fun riding bikes to nearby places has soon become a passionate bike ride to the far destinations.
To the readers wondering why we always go to places with temples, here is the reason behind it.
Bike Trip From Bangalore: How it Started After Our Marriage
Our very first official bike trip was from Bangalore to Srirangapatna and its nearby places on 26th August 2016.
Then after a couple of train trips toHampi and Belur, soon we realised that we don’t like any modes of travel except by road. Soon, we started going many one day trips by bike, challenged ourselves to go beyond the borders. One such trip was to Lepakshi from Bangalore (Andhra Pradesh) via Nandi Hills (Karnataka).
But what gave us recognition as bike riders among friends (majorly in social media since we started posting pics and total Kms we rode), was a night bike trip to Hassan. That was an unplanned trip to Hassan and we rode 500kms back to back in less than 40 hrs, day and night.
That was a greatest milestone achievement in the year 2016.
In the following year 2017, after numerous 1 day and 2 day trips, we had set another milestone of 11 days continuous bike trip within SouthIndia.
We broke the 2017 record in the following year by going 12 days long bike trip within SouthIndia.
Well, if you see, either 1 day or 2 days or 11 long days, we always visit a famous temple in that particular place. Sometimes our trip plan will be weaved around a particular famous temple in that destination.
Why temples? Why not just go to a exotic destination, chill out and come back?
The Reason Behind Visiting Temples – On All Our Bike trip From Bangalore
The only connection I remember having with temples are those in my childhood. I remember my mother dragging me and my sibling to an ancient Lord Shiva temple in the town I grew, barely giving us time to change from school uniform to civil clothes.
Many years after, I remember accompanying my roommate from Bangalore to Tirupati Balaji temple. That was a memory I still cherish.
And many years later, soon after our marriage, we went to temples with family as it was customary to darshan several temples.
But here we are, riding to all the famous places, visiting the famous/ ancient temples, taking pics, and taking great effort sorting them in all possible harddisks.
Well, to begin with, I suggested going to Srirangapatna Ranganathar temple, as a meaningful destination for our first bike trip from Bangalore.
We liked the idea of keeping a meaningful destination instead of just hanging out in any restaurant and coming back.
Unintentionally we went on a couple of temple trips in the following months.
Later we came to know, both our families liked (assumed?) that we both went on a spiritual trip, spending our weekends in a meaningful way.
Only we both knew it was not just visiting temples, it was about meaningful destinations in our bike trips.
Also we had some meaningful conversations while we were there in the temples – about the architecture and about us.
Sometimes our conversations gets more interesting, we used to compare with the previous temples we have visited, engage in that topic even after we return to our hotel rooms.
Soon, by law of nature, we were naturally attracted to similar destinations, and many good things happened since then.
The Best thing Happened from Visiting Temples in Bike Trips
The constant planning and organizing the trips became my main hobby after marriage.
We were always on the wheels, sometimes going to the same destinations again and again because we did not have any plans laid for that particular weekend. Or simply because of silly reasons like how we liked to have black coffee in Tiruvannamalai (200 kms bike trip from bangalore) and going to nearby Tirukoilur riding among sunflower fields.
Sometimes we go out shopping, but change our mind soon after we exit our apartment building, ride to the far destination for cuppa coffee and come back home only late in the night.
We soon became best friends riding together, talking about the past and the future.
In the past 5 yrs of married life (as of Sep 2020), we grew together as a strong couple and the complete credit goes to all the numerous travels we went (including the ones by train, by air and car).
Note to readers
Click on the category in this website – Road trips from Bangalore to read about all the interesting places we went by bike and car.
Had we not started visiting temples in our short bike trips from Bangalore, we would not have planned our 11 days long bike trip in the year 2017 and 12 days trips in the year 2018. Because it is difficult to just kill time without any purpose.
Wow, what a journey we had. Looking back, it was like magic, but we did it. Riding under sun and moon, storm and rain, we rode bike continuously for those many long days.
Before you think of me as crazy visiting only the temples on our vacation – know this. I am not a spiritual nor a devoted traveler to temples. It’s just the curiosity to know the significant importance of many temples from one another. Also, I am totally in love with the ancient architecture and the lost temples. So you cannot find me visiting any modern age temples, or any non-historic temples for that matter.
Like this train trip to Belur in Karnataka, where we explored 2 less popular Hoysala architectures, the two very beautiful temples in Karnataka.
And once we have been to 24 temples in 3 days in Kumbakonam, the only place where temples are more than tea shops in TamilNadu. So could not get enough from those 3 days, we planned 11 days long motorbike trip to explore the Kumbakonam temple city.
Did we ever go on an exotic trips?.
Many actually.
We did go exotic places like when we stayed in Aveda Resort in Kumarakom, The continental Inn for a week stay in Mumbai, The Grand Mercure in Mysore, Riva Resort in Goa to name a few.
Yesterday, we went on a long drive from Bangalore to Mysore in our #AllNewCreta, in our new Car bought in June 2020.
Long Drive From Bangalore to Mysore
We wanted to take our new Creta on a long drive since 2 months.
Since its a new car and that too an SUV, we were more than cautious all these days. All we did was to take our ‘Milo’ – that is the name our car :), on a very short one day road trips in highways. Not more than 80 kms in one day trip.
We did go once in Hassan road, and couple of times in Mysore road and several times to Kanakapura road to our regular cafe coffee day.
Well, its time we took the beast for a long drive from Bangalore to Mysore.
Why We Chose Mysore for Our First Long Drive
The main reason being, we are very much familiar with just 2 roads / highways starting from Bangalore.
One is Hosur road, leading to Chennai and Salem, where we have been on multiple bike trips and road trips to Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, Kanchipuram, Yercaud, Kumbakonam, Trichy, Tirunelveli, Madurai, etc.,
And Second, Mysore highways, leading to Mysore, further to places like Coorg, Wayanad, Bandhipur, Ooty, Chikmagalur, Mangalore etc.,
Due to pandemic – interstate highways lock-down, we were left with just one familiar road, that is Mysore highways.
Very soon we will be exploring many other roads such as Kunigal Highways and Hyderabad highways. We have covered Nandhi hills and Lepakshi in one day bike trip in Hyderabad highways, yet to explore further once this pandemic is over.
Our recent Hassan road trip in our #AllNewCreta
Many Other Good Reasons for Choosing Mysore Highways:
Well Paved Roads – A very popular highways (NH 275), now under construction for 6 ways road is a treat for anyone looking for long drive from Bangalore to Mysore, or Coorg or Wayanad.
Numerous Restaurant Choices – Throughout the highways, you have numerous choices of restaurants and coffee shops. Our new favorite is Drive thru McDonalds in Channapatna, where you get hot meals at all times. And the best part? It is a drive through. No time waste in dine – in.
Toll Fare of Just 65/- rupees – We all need a weekend getaway that doesn’t burn our pockets, isn’t it?. Trust me, Mysore highways doesn’t cost you much like Salem and Kunigal highways where you would be easily spending minimum of 250 rupees for a one way drive. Whereas, here, for a long drive from Bangalore to Mysore, you would be spending just 65 rupees. And if you choose Kanakapura road (NH 948) for the return journey, you would be spending only half of that money. Very gooood.
Best Drive in Restaurant in Kunigal highways
From our recent short raod trip from Bangalore, the best drive -in restaurant in Kunkgal Highways is Swathi Delicacy. Here is google map link – https://goo.gl/maps/TLXDeUxjxEFF3M678.
Taste their coffee alteast, its the best :).
Travel Time from Bangalore to Mysore by Road
Bangalore to Mysore distance is 150 kms from each other. The travel time from Bangalore to Mysore by road, was just 3 hrs. Fair good time with just pit stop of 10 mins (that too at McD’s drive thru) in a moderate traffic.
Ideally it would take about 4 hrs of drive for a skillful driver in an ususal weekend traffic. Whereas, it would take just 3 hrs of drive for a skillful driver in a weekday traffic. The toughest one is from Nice road until Ramanagara, after that it is usually a smooth drive.
We started by 8 am on a Sunday morning, after having a cup of black coffee at home.
(This is how to make best coffee at home, my all time favorite drink).
McDonald’s Drive thru, Channapatna, Long drive from Bangalore
By the time we reached “the frosting” cafe, it was 11am. Strectched legs, quenched thirst, ate pizza, clicked pics and chilled out for some time. After all the chillax, roamed the city until 2.30pm.
Entrance view at the frosting cafe, Mysore
Meantime had coffee at Ashirvaad grand pure veg situated across Grand Mercure hotel.
If you are wondering, we came to know this restaurant when we stayed in ‘Grand Mercure‘, just a week before outburst of Covid-19. While we stayed there, we came to this veg restaurant for the evening meal. We liked this veg restaurant in Mysore since then. And their best mysuru coffee too.
Instead of “frosting cafe”, last time we went to “The Old House” cafe. Love both their ambiance and food.
In fact we wanted to go to our all time favorite Green hotel with Malgudi cafe. It is one of the best cafe in Mysore. Unfortunately it was temporarily closed for the pandemic. Otherwise we would never miss their coffee and dessert for anything in the world.
The green hotel, Malgudi cafe in Mysuru
Around 2.30, we had lunch at yet another famous restaurant in Mysore for Biryani, called Hanumanthu Mess. It is rated one of the best non veg restaurant in Mysuru. And it is true. A small mess serving delicious non veg biryani could be your favorite too.
We then leisurely started our Milo, to return back to Bangalore.
Returning Back – Long Drive Via Malavalli / Kanakapura Road
It is our thing, we always choose Malavalli – Kanakapura road (NH 948) for the return journey.
Ideally it is a parallel highways to Mysore highways, with less fancy road and far less traffic.
Not only that, we love that road for the greenery and agri land.
With our favorite music playing at the back, the return journey took us 4 hrs of time. Because, we stopped at many places to click pics, the most notable one was the thriving Kaveri river after monsoon (top most pic in this story).
We never had any interest to go sightseeing in Mysore. If you are travelling with kids, and planning to go sightseeing Mysore palace, zoo and botanical garden – then you need to be arriving Mysore at 10am. So that you would have sufficient time to look around places in Mysore in one day.
But, we always love to hangout in cafe’s instead of sightseeing in Mysore.
This time too, in our long drive from Bangalore to Mysore in our #AllNewCreta, we did nothing but chill out in cafes.
We are frequent travelers from Bangalore to Kanchipuram since 2017.
And we have experience of travelling by both car and train to this Famous Temple city in Tamil Nadu,
I am sharing our travel story here and giving you the best route with distances for you to choose.
Also suggestions on places to see in and around Kanchipuram.
Since it is a temple city, I have also given a list of famous temples in Kanchipuram to visit.
ImageCredit – Indianrailinfo
Distance From Bangalore To Kanchipuram
Distance from Bangalore to Kanchipuram via Vellore is 280 kms (which is the only best route by car).
We traveled regularly to this famous temple city Kanchipuram (also called Kancheepuram). Just how we well know Tiruvannamalai and Kumbakonam, same way we know Kanchipuram city in and out.
The name “Kanchipuram silk sarees”, for the silk sarees weaved in this temple city made it popular worldwide.
Many people travel exclusively for Temple trip and many for just shopping silk sarees in Kanchipuram.
Whichever are the reasons you are planning a trip to Kanchipuram, I have a best route for you.
And travel guide for both car and train.
Best Route – From Bangalore to Kanchipuram By Car
In July 2019, we went on a road trip from Bangalore to Kanchipuram, via Vellore.
Trust me if we had known this route earlier, we would have saved lots of pain going by train.
Bangalore to Chennai Highways is the route we took to reach our destination.
And this is the fastest route to reach your destination by road. Also it has many advantages, here is the list.
Advantages of Taking Chennai Highways
From our recent road trip from Bangalore to Kanchipuram, here are the major advantages of taking the Chennai highways.
Fastest and Best Roads – From Bangalore to Kanchipuram NH 48
Well paved route and seamless National Highways (Chennai / Mumbai Highway) connecting non stop from Bangalore to Kanchipuram with 280Kms.
If you compare the other alternate routes’ distance from Bangalore to Kanchipuram via Kolar and Chittoor, this route is the longest. Yet the fastest route with well planned bridges, tunnels and fastest toll booths with Fast tag facilities.
Best Restaurants Choices
Many good restaurants with toilet facilities just like in Bangalore – Salem Highways.
You could reach your destination in 6hrs driving non – stop from Bangalore, provided you have started early to avoid the traffic.
But if you ask me, you could stop at these following places for refreshment.
Here is the list of best restaurant from Bangalore to Kanchiputam
Hotel Krishna Inn – Shoolagiri (Before Krishnagiri)
For the best South Indian breakfast. I have talked more about this place. This place is famous for awesome food and a pit stop for hundreds of bike riders. You could see hundreds of them at the same time between 6.30 am to 9 am.
We never miss stopping here for breakfast at Krishna and coffee from nearby CCD or McD.
Here I am sharing some of our favourite south Indian dishes we try regularly here.
SaiSangeeth restaurant in Bangalore to Chennai Highways
Many good choices to Stay in Vellore
From our couple of trips to Kanchipuram by train and car, I suggest staying in Vellore for 2 main reasons – Food and Accomodation. In Kanchipuram, We had stayed once in GRT hotels and once in Pine tree hotels, those two were the only good choices in this crowded temple city. And for food, there were only Shree Saravana Bhavan hotels with a couple of branches in the city, a monopoly player with a very poor ambiance and service. Therefore we didn’t prefer that restaurant.
So, stay in Vellore where you will be spoilt for choices for boarding and lodging. And couples of famous sightseeing places that makes your stay even more memorable. Next best place would be Chennai, if you are en-route Chennai.
Distance from Bangalore to Kanchipuram by train is the same as road trip distance. Certainly there are no direct interstate trains to Kanchipuram Railway Junction.
You need to get off at Arakkonam Junction, which is the nearest Kanchipuram Railway station. Furthermore, you need to take a local train or bus to Kanchipuram town.
Though you have plenty of choices for local trains and local buses, all are unnaturally crowded at those early hours.
If you are planning to travel by train, I suggest travelling by A/c compartment. Otherwise, the whole journey will be an upsetting experience. This is why.
When we went to Kanchipuram from Bangalore by train, we had the worst experience of life.
In the General Sleeper we have booked, the entire compartment was outnumbered by the illegal passengers.
It was a total nightmare dealing with illegal passengers throughout the journey. Not a teeny tiny guilt of disturbing the sleeping passengers with their loud voice. Adding more spice, they occupy the little space left at the end of the berths giving no room for passengers to stretch their legs.
Above all, some using their small babies as a innocent image to pick pockets from the sleeping passengers.
Also, the big goons of locals adamantly blocking the way to the toilets and exit doors etc.,
Hence, We stayed alert every single minute safeguarding wallets and baggage. And ended grumpy whole next day.
The train reached Arakkonam station around 5am, we exited with a pounding headache and sleepy eyes.
We then hired a local auto to the nearest bus station. From there we took the local town bus to Kanchipuram.
Otherwise one could take local metro train from Arakkonam to reach Kanchipuram.
We traveled for about 1.15 hrs by bus to finally reach our Hotel room.
That was the very last trip from Bangalore to Kanchipuram by Train.
List of Must See Kanchipuram Temples
These are the list of must see temples in Kanchipuram.
Kanchi Kamakshi Temple: The temple dedicated to Goddess Parvathi, one of the Sakthi Peedam temples in Tamil Nadu. It is important to first darshan Kamakshi Amman before any other temples in this holy city. Google map link – https://goo.gl/maps/vEr2RKARgG9Zj7C3A
Ekambareswarar Temple: Lord Shiva is said to have manifested himself in the form of Prithvi Lingam. This lingam represents one of the five elements “earth”. Since mother Kamakshi is the common Ambica for all the temples in Kanchipuram, hence Shiva temples in Kanchipuram does not have any goddess shrine. I mean most of the temples in and around Kanchipuram. Google map link – https://goo.gl/maps/Am3yv7WPpvPsmr9u8 .
Varadharaja Perumal Temple: The temple along with Ekambareswarar Temple and Kamakshi Amman Temple in Kanchipuram is popularly known as Mumurtivasam (Credit – Wikipedia). Being one of the 108 Divya Desams, a most popular temples for vaishnavites. This “Vishnu Kanchi” is a must visit in kanchipuram temples.
Kanchipuram city is one of the best weekend getaways from Bangalore for temple visit or silk saree shopping.
Yet you cannot spend more than 2 days as Kanchipuram visiting places are limited.
If you have more time in your Bangalore to Kanchipuram road trip, you could rather go nearby places. The nearest, famous tourist places like Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram.
Or you could plan a round trip to Chennai. You could start from Bangalore to Kanchipuram, then Chennai before returning back home.
Likewise, you could also make a round trip to vellore, stay in Vellore to look around the places.
This is guide for people looking to travel from Bangalore to Wayanad by road and guide on how to reach Thirunelli temple.
On September 14th 2019, We went on 3 days road trip from Bangalore to Wayanad to celebrate our 4th Wedding Anniversary. During our stay in Wayanad, We visited Thirunelli Mahavishnu temple on the hills, about 10 mins drive from our resort. Early morning pooja performed at 5.30 in this temple is said to be very special. Though we couldn’t make it so early, we went around 10am and absolutely loved it.
So, this how to reach Thirunelli temple, a famous Maha Vishnu temple on the hills of Wayanad.
How to Reach Thirunelli Temple Wayanad
Thirunelli Vishnu temple in Wayanad, Kerala is situated 32 kms from Mananthavady. The Temple is situated in a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains and trees with good parking facilities.
Thirunelli temple lies in the valley of Bhramagiri Hills, the name is connected to Lord Brahma and the ancient history of this temple.
We traveled from Bangalore to Wayanad in mid of September by car to celebrate our 4th Wedding Anniversary. Thirunelly was our stay destination in Wayanad, we checked in at Jungle Retreat on our first day, and Visited Thirunelli Vishnu temple on the next day morning.
There are 3 routes if you are travelling from Bangalore to Wayanad with almost same distances.
Since there are 4 routes from Bangalore to Wayanad, If you want to know the best route on how to reach Thirunelli temple from Bangalore, read here.
Of all the routes, If you are planning to take Nagarhole reserve forest route, call up their office to confirm the entry for visitors to save any unplanned deviation.
There are hardly few shops selling refreshments, pooja items and some ayurvedic products.
Driving your own vehicle – Once you reach the temple, park your vehicle from the ample parking area, walk about 200 meters to reach the temple. There is no vehicle parking fee, nor any shoes counter fee.
Taking Bus or Auto or Taxi– You could take it from Kutta, the nearest public transport with bus and taxi facilities connecting Wayanad, including services to Nagarhole National park.
Ambalam View, Thirunelli temple Wayanad, Kerala
How We Planned Our Wayanad Road trip
During our 3 stays in Tirunelly Kerala, we came to know that the restaurant choices are very limited. We found a good restaurant in Kutta while we were on the way to Nagarhole Jungle safari, called Safari Inn , an accommodation serving with veg and non – veg food choices. Both Food and price were satisfactory.
This was our travel itinerary –
Day 1 – Travel from Bangalore to Wayanad
Day 2 – Tirunelli Vishnu Temple and Nagarhole jungle safari
Day 3 – Travel From Wayanad to Bangalore
Another suggestion I have for restaurant while you are travelling via Gonikoppal, is Spice Rack Restaurant, click here for the location and review.
Wayanad to Bangalore distance is 250 to 300 kms depends on the location you start.
Definitely you would need 2 days for up and down travel to Tirunelly, visit temple, do jungle safari and return back to your home. You could plan one day trip if you are travelling from Coorg or Mysore or any other nearby places in Kerala district.
We skipped Thirunelli wildlife sanctuary since we had plan to go Nagarhole wildlife jungle safari.
Our Experience in the Famous Maha Vishnu Temple Wayanad
This was our very first trip to Wayanad and to the ancient MahaVishnu temple, unlike our frequent visits to Thirukovilur Vishnu Temple (TamilNadu near Tiruvannamalai).
First thing you notice here is the calm and serene location of the temple located in a valley surrounded by trees and mountains.
Second, despite all the crowd, you could only hear the noise of the surrounding nature, definitely a rare sight in a very famous temple I say. That’s how we listened to the Papanasini river nearby, otherwise we had no clue of its popularity and historic significance, since we didn’t do much research about this temple beforehand.
When it is normal in pilgrimage places to get surrounded by the aggressive beggars before you even set foot inside the temple, worst even when you are pulled between the street vendors, this temple was offering a tranquil experience.
Third, People were offering prayers in silence, moving in disciplined pace inside the temple maintaining silence. Some were praying by lighting up the temple’s embossed brass lamp of different sizes kept exclusively for the purpose. Hundreds of the lamps are kept for devotees as personal belongings are not allowed inside except for the pooja items.
Fourth, since it was maintained by a private trust, there was no unholy behavior of priests and administration are witnessed. Temple surroundings are including the parking area are beautifully maintained, even the stairs and the path leading to the holy river are maintained well.
Fifth, Small Sivalingas about 10 to 15 cms are found in the couple of places inside the temple, around the main sanctum which I believe is connected to the temple history.
Panchatheertham with Sivalinga (almost invisible) and Lord Vishnu Foot carved on Rock stone.
Thirunelli Temple – How to Pray, Dress Code and Temple Timing
Before you know how to reach Thirunelli temple, I think it is essential to plan the trip according to the Thirunelli temple open timing and the temple procedures.
Before Entering Tirunelly Vishnu temple – Know this: After parking the vehicle, we went straight to the temple to pray. But, ideally you will be carrying a change clothes after taking a dip in the nearby holy River called “Papanasini”. Then pray to the Sacred pond called Panchatheertham, a rock carved with miniature sivalinga with footprint of Lord Vishnu. There is a change room near this pond, but not sure of the tidiness. There are no restrictions if you want to enter the temple wearing wet clothes straight from the river.
Thirunelli Vishnu temple is open from 5.30 am to 12.30 and 5.30 to 8.00 pm. Early morning pooja is very special here, and many devotees visit this temple to perform respect to their forefathers.
If you are planning to attend the early morning pooja, it is better to book the Thirunelli agraharam resort at the foot of this temple stairs.
Thirunelly Vishnu Temple dress code for ladies is to wear decent attire of sarees or salwars, and for gents, only dhoti is allowed with no shirt.
To know about the ancient history, check this website.
The holy river called “Papanasini” where poojas performed for forefathers
The name “Papanasini”, a holy river name of this Thirunelli temple reminded us of the similar experience we had in our recent trip to Papanasam, another famous tourist location near Kerala border. Even there is similarity in the name you see. And it was also a beautiful temple location amidst hills, with Thamirabarani river and Agasthiyar Waterfalls to crown the place.
Here in Thirunelli temple, we did not visit the Lord Shiva temple / cave near to the Vishnu temple due to lack of time. We left temple as soon as clicking pics in river and panchatheertham.
Then after chilling out for some time in Kutta, had lunch and went for jungle safari by 3pm.
Places to Visit Thirunelli Wayanad
Returing To Bangalore From Wayanad – Via Kabini River
Next day, we checked out of the resort and returned back to Bangalore.
We took the following route to return back to Bangalore.
This route is one of the best scenic route suited for a peaceful drive.
You could use the same route to reach Thirunelly Vishnu temple, that is Bangalore – Mysuru – Bavali wildlife road – Tholpatty road. Somewhere in the tholpatty road it is approx. 13 kms journey to the temple. Less traffic and no bumpy roads to reach the destination.
On the way back, we stopped in Mysore for a long break. We had lunch in one of the non veg restaurants called Nandhini. Then had evening coffee at Malgudi cafe house situated inside the green hotel.
This is guide for someone on how to reach Thirunelly Vishnu temple from Bangalore by road via Mysuru and Nagarhole. Hope it helps to plan your journey.
When you are planning on a Bangalore to Wayanad trip plan, you will be presented with 4 different routes. Which one is the best route from Bangalore to Wayanad?.
We went on a 3 days Bangalore to WayanadRoad trip, and stayed 2 nights in Jungle Retreat resorts on Thirunelli road.
When we started our onward trip, our journey didn’t go as planned. We had to pivot from the plan to reach Wayanad. And we had to take entirely different route for the return journey.
So, I now know how to reach Wayanad from Bangalore.
Bangalore To Wayanad Trip Plan By Car
Whenever we plan a trip, it is always my responsibility for the itinerary and the baggage packing.
It is in my best interest to look for a best route with more good choices for pit stops.
So I take at-least a week’s time to analyse the routes, gather info from the forums, etc., Finally it wouldn’t take much time to plan the travel including pit stops and list out the travel essentials.
After the trip plan is designed, I would then discuss with hubby to take his opinion. Sometimes he agrees with the plan, sometimes he suggests alternative. At times he would add any additional sightseeing places along the way.
Now, all my research has gone for a toss as we faced an unexpected roadblock, and had to take an entirely new route to reach Wayanad.
So, from our experience I am suggesting the best route from Bangalore to Wayanad by road.
Even Though we stayed in Thirunelli, for the ease of reading I have mentioned the end destination as “Wayanad”. Since your destination could be anywhere in Wayanad so feel free to change it accordingly in google map.
Best Route from Bangalore to Wayanad: 4 Routes with Same Distances
When you are presented with 4 different routes with same distances: then which is the best route from Bangalore to Wayanad. I have given both pros and cons for the most frequented route by travelers, to make an informed decision.
Route 1:
Bangalore to Wayanad via shravanabelagola – Srirangapatna – Bandhipur Tiger Reserve(320 km)
This route looks best for the people travelling from Peenya, Yeshwanthpur, Malleshwaram and other nearby places. And I suggest taking the Nice ring road (toll road) and connecting to the Mysore highways.
Restaurant choices – Plenty of Veg and Non veg Choices on the NH until Karnataka Border.
Route 2:
Bangalore to Wayanad via Srirangapatna – Hunsur – Nagarhole national park – Kutta (253 km)
This route looks best for the people starting from Bangalore South zone, this was the route we took to reach Wayanad on our onward journey.
The drive was smooth in NH, except we were diverted from Nagarhole National Park because of heavy rains.
Nagarhole National park route was closed for both – travelers and the safari tourists.
So we had to take the Gonikoppal route to reach Wayanad (route 3).
Note: To avoid any time delay like how we faced at that time, you could call Nagerhole National park office to check for the entry and timings if any.
Note on Nagarhole Wildlife Safari
Although Nagarhole to Kutta route was closed for wildlife safari, Safari from Kutta to Naharhole was operative. And we were able to book tickets to safari from the resort we stayed at, and it was a seamless process instead of booking directly. If you are not booking through the resort / hotel you are staying, you need to be there 45 mins before safari time to stand in a queue for booking.
Restaurant choices – Limited after you cross Hunsur, and very limited going forward. We found a small restaurant called Safari Inn lodge in Kutta during our wildlife safari, otherwise we had no choice but to eat in our resort.
Route 3:
Bangalore to Wayanad via Srirangapatna – Hunsur – Gonikoppal -Tholpetty – Tirunelli – Kattikulam (303 kms)
This is the next best route from Bangalore to Wayanad, with good restaurant choices and good roadways connecting the destination. We had a good time travelling via Gonikoppal, we absolutely loved driving through woods and hair pin bends.
We reached only around 8pm to the Jungle Retreat Resort in the Thirunelli road.
View from our resort in wayanad
One of the main attractions in the Thirunelly is the Vishnu Temple on the hills and we were just 6kms ride away from the temple.
Next day morning we went to this temple on the account of celebrating our Wedding anniversary.
Restaurant Choices – After Hunsur, Gonikoppal is the best place with good restaurant choices. Otherwise it’s difficult to find any except for small tea shops.
Route 4:
Bangalore to Wayanad via Kanakapura – Malavalli – Somanathapura – Kabini -Bavali – Kattikulam (290 kms)
We discovered this route on our way back from Wayanad to Bangalore. Since route 2 doesn’t always work, this is the best route from Bangalore to Wayanad I can strongly suggest.
This is also the only best route to reach Kabini river from Bangalore.
Which is The ONE Best Route to Reach Wayanad from Bangalore?
From the list of 4 routes mentioned, I found Route 4 is the best route for Bangalore to Wayanad trip plan with so many advantages –
1. Good roadways all the way connecting Wayanad
2. No restriction for drive through Nagarhole National park entrance
3. Enjoy Wildlife enroute
4. Awesome view of the Kabini river as far as your eyes could see (some resorts here with Kabini River view are pretty expensive).
Don’t Break Forest Law – Otherwise Pay 500 rupees Penalty
Note that when you drive through Nagarhole national park, you have but 1hr to cross the exit gate.
If you delay more than 1 hr to reach the exit gate, that means you have stopped your vehicle in the middle of forest, which is against the forest law.
And you will be levied Rs. 500 fine for breaking the law.
Also if any forest rangers found you wandering outside the vehicle anywhere in the forest route, you will be levied heavy penalties, just a heads up guys :).
No one would warn you about this at the entry gate. You can inquire about this time restriction at the entry gate when you purchase an entry ticket (Ticket with a time stamp, with fare 100 rupees for a car).
Things to Note Before Plan Your Bangalore Wayanad Road Trip
Don’t bother to take route 1 and route 2, directly go for route 4. It is the best route from Bangalore to Wayanad I could suggest.
Mandatorily pack some food and snacks, or you could buy some when you are in Mysore. It helps when you are left with no good restaurants of your choice. This tip is actually helpful for travelling to any place you see.
Carry a water kettle to make instant noodles, instant soup and instant coffee when you think your resort is charging you way too much for simple snacks and beverages. This is the best water kettle I have been using for ages and it works best for all kinds of travels.
Thanks to our car we were able to charge our phones, otherwise it would have been so difficult in those 3 days. Also it doesn’t hurt to carry 3 or 4 different network sim cards, from our experience “Jio” saved us more than “Airtel”. On the safer side it is better to share the resort’s contact details to your family members for emergencies.
While you are in Tirunelly / Wayanad, you could take your kids to Tholpetty park as well apart from Nagarhole National Park safari ride. And Visit Thirunelli Vishnu Temple for spiritual experience.
Are you a regular road tripper?. Here are some interesting articles for you to explore from my Website. Feel free to explore more of our bike trip experiences
