Bangalore to Coimbatore round trip - Update

[csentil]

Have seen various requests for Bangalore to Coimbatore or Coimbatore to Bangalore routes. Here's an update.

Bangalore to Coimbatore (via dharmapuri, mettur)

Route taken this time was

Bangalore->Krishnagiri->Dharmapuri->Thoppur->Mecheri->Mettur->Bhavani->Chittode->Gobichettipalayam->Nambiyur->Puliyampetti->Annur->Coimbatore

Had to do a stopover in Bhavani and hence this route. The ideal route would be ....Mettur->Ammapet->Andhiyur->Athani->Sathyamangalam->Annur->coimbatore

Bangalore to Krishnagiri - no problems except Bommanahalli junction and till Electronic city. GQ all the way.

Krishnagiri->Dharmapuri - Road has been patched/relaid in most parts. So wasn't a problem. Heavy traffic sector. Drive carefully especially at night times. Is being four laned, so expect construction activity and lack of shoulders at times.

Dharmapuri->thoppur - Road after Dharmapuri is bad. Heavy traffic, too many potholes, some of them outright dangerous. Be extremely careful during overtaking as you might hit potholes on the other side of the road. Is being 4 laned, expect construction activity and lack of shoulders. thoppur ghat section is a six/four laner.

Thoppur->Mettur - take right from the highway. Pleasant, easy driving. Can take Mettur bypass or go down the small ghat section with a view of the Stanley reservoir (is full now)

Mettur->Bhavani - good roads again. well laid out. potholes have been covered. alternatively take the right at Ammapet to go towards Sathymangalam and then on to Coimbatore.

The state roads are good throughout.

Sathymangalam to Coimbatore - is like a race circuit. Fast straight lines, treacherous curves, z bends, s bends, double s bends, you name it. Strictly two lane. Expect idiots overtaking at the curves. Be careful of how you take the curves, some of them don't have banking.

Return journey.

Coimbatore->Sathyamangalam->Thimbam->Hassanur->Chamrajnagar->Nanjangud->Mysore->Bangalore.

Thought what the heck, lets have a new experience, instead of the same old route.. so took this one all alone.

Coimbatore to Sathyamangalam - read above

Sathyamangalam to thimbam -> 15 kms of straight road through forests and then 27 hairpin bends straight up to Thimbam. The road is neat, few potholes. Keep honking. Steep climb at some of the hairpins. road is wide enough for two lorries to pass each other, thats all. You can easily overtake bigger, slower moving vehicles. Watch for the cue from the bus drivers. Nice of them. My Civic's Grade Logic worked like a charm and had good fun.[/FONT]

Thimbam to Hassanur-> Downhill. No hairpin bends... not a steep descent either. Good roads again. Thick forest. Elephants/bison/deer can be sighted. I didn't see any as it was around 2.30 in the afternoon. Excellent drive. The moment you hit Karnataka the road character changes, though it was still good

]Hassanur->Chamrajnagar - Again neat roads, except for the last 12 kms before Chamrajnagar. Lot of small potholes, cracked surface... was raining, which made it a little bit more irritating. Roads on the mountains were better than the roads on the plains !!

ChamrajNagar->Nanjangud. Good road, bad road, good road, bad road... keep alternating. Highly irritating to find unannounced rumbler strips, speed breakers before and after every village. Good that I had discs and ABS. Road in Nanjangud is being relaid. Thats like 3 kms right until the road meets the Mysore to Bandipur road.

(Actually there's a route to Bangalore from Chamrajnagar via Kollegal, but I didn't have a SUV to try it out !!)

Nanjangud to Mysore - Nice road. Heavy traffic.

Mysore to Bangalore - already much has been said about it. Speed breakers, speed traps, no shoulders for 2 wheelers. Had an excellent drive. Sad part was it took me 1 hr+ to enter Bangalore from Raja Rajeshwari nagar entrance.

[fiery enzyme]

Hey Nice report. Could you just mention the distances between the towns you have mentioned? I live in Chennai and I have never taken the Krishangiri route to Coimbatore. So it would be helpful if you could let me know the distances.

Bala

[blorebuddy]

Nice write up. Thanks for it.

I am planning to take this Sathy - CNagar - Nanjangoud- Mysore route on Dewali weekend.

Have anyone tried this route recently.

Is this Kollegal - Maddur road is real bad? Suitable only for SUVs?

[akroy]

Originally Posted by csentil

Had to do a stopover in Bhavani and hence this route. The ideal route would be ....Mettur->Ammapet->Andhiyur->Athani->Sathyamangalam->Annur->coimbatore

Excellent update csenthil..it will help a lot of guys...I did Sulur trip sometime back, only problem I faced was NH47...

This update about the Mettur - Sathy - Annur route will help immensely and it will save atleast an hour i suppose looking at the state of NH47 there...Infact this can be another good route to Ooty bypassing Coimbatore (those who take the coimbatore route to ooty)...

I know Annur - Mettupalayam is also a good stretch...

Abhi

[Jaggu]

guys its november, loads have changed on the road condition front

[csentil]

Yup, the road between Krishnagiri->Dharmapuri has become bad once again, especially between Kaveripatnam->Karimangalam bypass.

Dharmapuri ->Thoppur ghat section is horrible to say the least. Some of them should be renamed into fender benders or rim breakers.. not potholes....

Thoppur->Mechari->Mettur has also started deteriorating but still driveable compared to the other roads.

Not sure about the Chamrajnagar route as of now. Next week will have an update on that as well.

[im_srini]

Hi guys, had to drive down to Coimbatore (from Chennai) this week for Diwali. The route I took was Chennai, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem, Erode, & Coimbatore.

Krishnagiri to Dharmapuri was the worst stretch, the stretch was severely pot-holed. Primarily 2 lanes, & constant traffic in both directions makes this stretch tedious. Around Kaveripattinam, the broken tarmac has been filled up badly, so if you have stiffened your suspension, or running low-profile tires, significant speed reduction is your only salvation.

Beyond Salem, a short stretch has been 4-laned. Very good stretch, but too much foot traffic across the lanes. The worst was when jay walkers intentionally slowed down while you're approaching them at 150 Kmph - gave a few of them the fright of their lives

The Salem, Erode, Coimbatore stretch is being 4-laned in a hurry, but it's in bits in pieces ! Short stretches of glorious 4-lane tarmac, often for a couple of kilometers, intersperse with the original 2-lane highway. But the points where the 2 & 4 lanes come together are too abrupt, not to mention severely pot-holed. Plus, the "diversion" warning boards aren't prominent enough & you'll often find yourself braking heavily to get on, or off, the 4-laned stretches.

Give it a year, & these roads should be great ! But until then, it's best to slow down a tad after Krishnagiri.

[blorebuddy]

Originally Posted by csentil

Not sure about the Chamrajnagar route as of now. Next week will have an update on that as well.

Sentil, do you have an update on this road?

[hvkumar]

Chamarajnagar-Dimbam-Sathy-Coimbatore road is in good condition.

[blorebuddy]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Chamarajnagar-Dimbam-Sathy-Coimbatore road is in good condition.

How about Chamrajnagar-Nanjangode- Mysore or Chamrajnagar - Kollegal-Maddur - If you have travelled recently

I am planning to take this route for my Bangalore to CBE trip.

[akroy]

Originally Posted by blorebuddy

How about Chamrajnagar-Nanjangode- Mysore or Chamrajnagar - Kollegal-Maddur - If you have travelled recently

I am planning to take this route for my Bangalore to CBE trip.

Chamrajanagar - Nanjangud section is discussed in first message of this thread. Take that route if you want

Regarding Kollegal route, I would not advice you to take that as it is not the best of condition in KA side specially from Shivasamudram - Malavalli - Maddur

Abhi

[SureshS]

Hi,

I am planning to go from Mudumalai to Chennai during the Christmas holidays. Would you suggest that I go via Tamil Nadu? (Will that be via Coimbatore?) Or is it better to get back to Bangalore and go to Chennai?

[csentil]

From Mudumalai you would need to go to Kotagiri - Mettupalayam - Annur - Puliampatti - Nambiyur - Gobi - Chittode - (join the Coimbatore - Salem road here) - Salem - Ulundurpet - Villupuram - chengalpet - Chennai.

I'm bypassing the bad Ooty - Conoor - Mettupalayam Road; also missing the Avinashi sector

4 laning is happening all along Coimbatore - Salem and the Villupuram sector.

Better alternative is to go via Mettupalayam - Sathy - Athani - Andiyur - Ammapettai - Mettur - Mechari - Thoppur - Dharmapuri - Krishnagiri (join the GQ and head towards Chennai).

This would be ideal as you miss Bangalore traffic and you also join the GQ and avoid the heavier Salem sector. Extra distance to be covered here.

You would have to go uphill & downhill to go via TN which would take up time. However you miss hitting Mysore - Bangalore traffic, Electronic City - Hosur traffic also.

[Jay]

Originally Posted by blorebuddy

How about Chamrajnagar-Nanjangode- Mysore or Chamrajnagar - Kollegal-Maddur - If you have travelled recently

Take the Chamrajnagar-Nanjangud- Mysore route, Avoid Kollegal route, Very badly Damaged.

[SureshS]

Thanks Csentil. I too would like to miss the Bangalore traffic whenever possible