[freakmuzik]

I am planning a drive from Chennai to Trivandrum next week. I drive this route once or twice every year and do it in a single day. This time around, I have a couple of friends along so I was thinking I could take it slow and split the travel to two days with a beautiful halt somewhere along the way.

Any suggestions? I was thinking of Tenkasi but that itself is 10 hours from Chennai. The whole idea was to travel 7-8 hours on Day 1, relax somewhere that's surrounded by nature, maybe wake up to sunrise, enjoy the morning hours and then finish the rest of the journey.

Thanks in advance

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by freakmuzik

I am planning a drive from Chennai to Trivandrum next week. I have a couple of friends along so I was thinking I could take it slow and split the travel to two days with a beautiful halt somewhere along the way.

You could think of driving through ECR the entire way till Kanyakumari and head to Trivandrum. Halt at Rameswaram and make a 6 am trip to Arichalmunai.

Another option is to explore a stay at KMTR. Here it will be a straightforward drive till Nanguneri.

[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by freakmuzik

I am planning a drive from Chennai to Trivandrum next week. I drive this route once or twice every year and do it in a single day. This time around, I have a couple of friends along so I was thinking I could take it slow and split the travel to two days with a beautiful halt somewhere along the way.

Thanks in advance

Can suggest couple of slightly off beat destinations which is not a big detour from your route. Though there is not much to do in either of places but could be a good unwind for you during the evening time especially if you travelling with friends.

The first one is Athoor near Sembatti. You have the likes of Cardamom House or Double dutch resort to stay https://maps.app.goo.gl/vTndesumwEYwzFVz6 These places overlook the Aathoor Kamarajar Dam.

The second one is Sirumalai which is about 30 kms from Dindigul. There are a few stay options available here though I don't know anything personally. Sirumalai is about 1500 mts in altitude so you will get to enjoy lovely weather too.

Roughly both these places will be about 7 to 8 hours from Chennai depending on your driving style.

[mah45]

Originally Posted by freakmuzik

I am planning a drive from Chennai to Trivandrum next week. I drive this route once or twice every year and do it in a single day. This time around, I have a couple of friends along so I was thinking I could take it slow and split the travel to two days with a beautiful halt somewhere along the way.

Any suggestions? I was thinking of Tenkasi but that itself is 10 hours from Chennai. The whole idea was to travel 7-8 hours on Day 1, relax somewhere that's surrounded by nature, maybe wake up to sunrise, enjoy the morning hours and then finish the rest of the journey.

Thanks in advance

One other option could be to halt at Madurai
Visit the famous temples in the evening and try out some local food
Madurai to Tvm via Tirunelveli route is also a breeze

[freakmuzik]

Originally Posted by narayans80

You could think of driving through ECR the entire way till Kanyakumari and head to Trivandrum. Halt at Rameswaram and make a 6 am trip to Arichalmunai.

Another option is to explore a stay at KMTR. Here it will be a straightforward drive till Nanguneri.

Originally Posted by pypkmsrikanth

The first one is Athoor near Sembatti. You have the likes of Cardamom House or Double dutch resort to stay https://maps.app.goo.gl/vTndesumwEYwzFVz6 These places overlook the Aathoor Kamarajar Dam.

The second one is Sirumalai which is about 30 kms from Dindigul. There are a few stay options available here though I don't know anything personally. Sirumalai is about 1500 mts in altitude so you will get to enjoy lovely weather too.

Originally Posted by mah45

One other option could be to halt at Madurai
Visit the famous temples in the evening and try out some local food
Madurai to Tvm via Tirunelveli route is also a breeze

Thank you for such beautiful suggestions! For this time, @pypkmsrikanth's option is what worked for us. We halted at Double Dutch Resort near Aathoor and woah, it was such a beautiful experience. Two of us started from Chennai at 7:15 AM and as expected, found a lot of traffic till Maduravoyal toll and then some more till Kattankulathur. It was smooth hence. Stopped for breakfast at Shree Balajee Bhavan. Food was good but I generally would suggest the Manoj Bhavan chains. Then, did a fuel stop and later picked my other two friends from Shree Sangeethas @ Trichy, had a relaxed Lunch there and left around 2:30 PM and reached Double Dutch via the Dindugal at around 4:30 - 4:45. Last few kilometers of the road were a bit broken but thanks to the views, peacocks and goats and buffalloes, we anyways wanted to crawl.

Double Dutch costed 6.5k for four of us for one night plus another 1k for Dinner + Tea & Coffee. The hosts were nice and they also have 3 beautiful dogs in-house who take care of you like they've known you since birth.

For people who are interested, our first option was a Mango House Farmstay very much on the Highway near Madurai which looked amazing on AirBnb but they could only accommodate 3 adults in comfort at max. But, I think, we got an even better option for our mood in this trip!

Previously, I've also visited KMDR (Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve) and loved the experience though the stay we got as a large group wasn't great. The reason we didn't go with it was the longer 1st day travel.

I looked forward to pen down this travel and halt in slightly more detail where I'll share some photos too. Thank you so much once again for all the valuable suggestions.