Bangalore to Alleppey - Best Route and places

[Driver_Bee]

Hello All,
Can anyone you suggest best route from Bangalore to Allepey? I'm planning to drive myself.

Please advice places i could cover on our 4 day trip..

Thnx in advance.

[hvkumar]

NH7 till Salem and NH47 from there all the way to Alleppy. Roads are awful between Coimbatore and Ernakulam - hope that they patch it up by the time you leave. You can turn off NH7 at Toppur (before salem) and take a shorter route via Mettur to Bhavani on NH47 - please search this forum, there are lots of discussions on this shorter route.

Assuming you have a total of 4 days, 2 of which will go in driving, there is not much of scope to go beyond Alleppy, Kumarakom and Ernakulam/Cochin. Apart from the backwaters, you can also visit the Mararikulam Beach near Alleppy. Lots of temples in this area case you are a pilgrim.

Allow for one full day to drive from Bangalore to Alleppy, assuming that the roads beyond Coimbatore are a little better.

[abhilash_iv]

To avoid the Coimbatore -Ankamaly stretch which is in very bad shape, how about taking the Bangalore - Mysore - Thamarassery - Kozhikode - Kuttipuram - Ponnani - Kodungalloor - Ernakulam - Alleppey route? I am not much aware of the distance, but the stretch in Kerala Kozhikode - Kodungalloor - Ernakulam (NH 17) is in better shape.

[csentil]

Nope Bangalore to Salem is a bad choice. Bangalore->Krishnagiri is great, GQ.

Krishnagiri->Dharmapuri is bad after the rains. Decent stretches with some of the most horrible potholes and rim breakers that you can find. Added to it crazy private buses.

Dharmapuri->Salem: the first 40 kms is a nightmare. If the earlier stretch was bad.. this is like 4 times that. I just did this entire stretch on Sunday, twice. Unless you are extremely careful you will end up having a puncture or breaking your rim. Never ever overtake as you can get into the potholes on the other side of the road !!!!

You can miss half the fun by taking Thoppur->Mecheri->Mettur->Ammapet->Andiyur->Ammapet->Sathy->Coimbatore.

Best bet is to take Bangalore->Mysore Bypass->Nanjangud->Chamrajnagar->Thimbum->Sathymangalam->Coimbatore. Road is much more empty, scenic ride, a little bad near Chamrajnagar, a ghat section from thimbum to Sathy.

[Driver_Bee]

Thnx Kumar, Abhilash and Sentil..
now i have a week do decide the road.. I shall take all ur inputs while planning. thnx :-)

[Dhanasekaran]

I recently did the stretch from Bangalore to Mettupalayam.
Blr-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Toppur-Mecheri-Mettur-Ammapettai-Atthani-Gobi-Sathyamangalam

Route is fantastic. Single road and very less vehicle movements throughout the day.

Stretch between Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Toppur is the worst with pot holes. A dayriving is recommended. Please avoid night driving between this worst stretch.

Have a nice trip. Do let us know your feedback after your trip.

[Driver_Bee]

Thanks Dhanasekaran... I'll update once i'm back.

[iridium]

Don't ever drive along the Kerala coast (from Alleppey to Calicut to Bangalore).

There are houses right along the highway and lot of traffic. Very difficult to overtake since the roads are curvy in lots of places too.

You keep wondering when the houses disappear and when you are going to hit the highway. That never happens.

From Calicut, its better. However heard that the ghat section is in bad shape (on the way to Waynad).

Last year, we drove from Kanyakumar - Kovalam - Alleppey - Calicut - BLR.

Hence its better to go come via TamilNadu to BLR.

Regards
Ravi.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by iridium

Don't ever drive along the Kerala coast (from Alleppey to Calicut to Bangalore).

There are houses right along the highway and lot of traffic. Very difficult to overtake since the roads are curvy in lots of places too.

You keep wondering when the houses disappear and when you are going to hit the highway. That never happens.

From Calicut, its better. However heard that the ghat section is in bad shape (on the way to Waynad).

Last year, we drove from Kanyakumar - Kovalam - Alleppey - Calicut - BLR.

Hence its better to go come via TamilNadu to BLR.

Regards
Ravi.

Ravi, most of Kerala is one big village, you are never far away from houses. But on NH17 from Kochi up north, it is a bit messy till you cross Paravur and Kodungallur after which the road opens up and despite the various small towns (Chavakad, Kunnamkulam, Edapal, Kuttipuram, etc) en route, you can make decent speeds, even in the ghat sections.

One quick update, the Calicut-Wyanad-Mysore road is in good condition and today, possibly the good road connection between Bangalore and Kerala. The NH47 between Coimbatore and Kochi via Palakkad and Trissur is in shambles, although I guess they shoudl start repairs any time now. Once repaired (and also after they repair NH7 between Toppur and Krishnagiri), I agree the NH47/NH7 combo is the best and fastest way to reach Kerala. For teh time being, take Bangalore-Mysore-Sultan's Battery-Calicut-Kunnamkulam-Kodungallur-Cochin.

[csentil]

agree with hvkumar, been on the Mysore -> Gundulpet -> Kalpetta -> vythiri route last week and except for a small stretch after Gundulpet the road is very good. Once you cross the Kerala border near Muthanga Wildlife sanctuary the road is absolutely great. You can do pretty good speeds without worry about bad roads.

Almost everyone takes this route to Kerala for now.

[sdp1975]

Reviving an old thread. What would be the best route from Blr->Aleppey now ?

Anyone done it recently ?

[hellstar]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Ravi, most of Kerala is one big village, you are never far away from houses. But on NH17 from Kochi up north, it is a bit messy till you cross Paravur and Kodungallur after which the road opens up and despite the various small towns (Chavakad, Kunnamkulam, Edapal, Kuttipuram, etc) en route, you can make decent speeds, even in the ghat sections.

+1 to that .

One quick update, the Calicut-Wyanad-Mysore road is in good condition and today, possibly the good road connection between Bangalore and Kerala. The NH47 between Coimbatore and Kochi via Palakkad and Trissur is in shambles, although I guess they shoudl start repairs any time now. Once repaired (and also after they repair NH7 between Toppur and Krishnagiri), I agree the NH47/NH7 combo is the best and fastest way to reach Kerala. For teh time being, take Bangalore-Mysore-Sultan's Battery-Calicut-Kunnamkulam-Kodungallur-Cochin.

For people trvaleling to Trivandrum i would still suggest the Tamilnadu route

blore- kgiri-salem-namakkal- dindiguil-srivilliputtur - rajapalayam - tenkasi - shencottai - kulathupuzha - anchal - ayoor - trivandrum is in good condition . I returned yesterday by this route road surface is uneven between rajapalayam and srivailliputtur but still very drivable. started from TVM at 0530 hrs and reached blore by 1530 hrs inspite of rains all through.

[elendil]

Hi,
We are planning to have a trip this weekend. Not able to decide between Goa/ Allepy. Goa we have visited many times so in favor of Allepy this time, moreover Goa routes are in bad shape.

My query is which route is the best and the road conditions to allepy this time around.
What all to do in Allepy, how safe are houseboats and how much are their charges.
We are two couples in alto.
TIA

[flycatcher]

Reviving an old thread, I have to travel from Bangalore to Ernakulam this weekend. Whats the best route as on today?

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by flycatcher

Reviving an old thread, I have to travel from Bangalore to Ernakulam this weekend. Whats the best route as on today?

Blore-Ernakulam routes are discussed in "Current road conditions to Kerala" Thread. The best route would be Blore - Coimbatore - Palghat - Thrissur - Cochin. 4 lane work is in progress in Coimbatore and you have to be cautious between Palghat - Thrissur. After Thrissur it's 4 lane all the way to Cochin. But bit of traffic after Angamaly. Where exactly in Cochin are you planning to go?