Bangalore to Mangalore or Udupi road condition, Best route

One of the most frequent travelled road connecting 2 cities is actually slowed down by Sakleshpur ghats. Its tiring for new driver and road condition in some spots is always a problem. I recently travelled in April 2011 and I must say that there was some resurfacing done on the roads so condition was good, however the traffic and ghats are the two main reasons for slow down of speed.

I took NH48 throughout and managed in 7 hours, with last 3 hours in night driving.
 
Bangalore to Hassan roads are charm but watch out for some bad bumps on the road and vehicles travelling in opposite direction. Also there is an unfinished portion for which you have to take a slight detour. After Hassan the next 80 -100 km you can expect slow speed due to ghats and it will ease of once you are closing Mangalore.
 
Dont try to overtake in Ghats when there is a blind spot, many accidents happen because of that. Along the way there are some streams and one or 2 small falls which can you enjoy if you have time.
 
Alternate routes - Check google maps for details
  1. Going to Udupi and with pilgrimage in mind Bangalore -> Nelamangala -> Kunigal -> Hassan -> Shiradi Ghat -> Dharmasthala -> Karkala -> Manipal -> Udupi.  Karkala-Manipal stretch,  bad at some places
  2. You can take NH48- Dharmasthala -Guruvayankere route too it has good roads. In case you want to spend time in Dharmasthala.
  3. To enjoy beauty of ghats and if you enjoy driving on hairpin bends you can take the Charmadi route
  4. If you are going to Dharmasthala - better route is to take NH48 via Shiradi Ghats, route is wide, recently resurfaced , check this route in google map

 

Latest road condition - Refer to this thread