Chennai - Thanjavur - Team-BHP

neoranjit · 12th June 2008, 00:06

Any idea on how good the roads are from Chennai to tanjore ? I know the road is good until Tindivanam and not after that. I was thinking of going in the other route ie.. pondy - cuddalore - mayiladthurai - tanjore.

Anyone knows how good / bad this road is ?

Blue Thunder · 12th June 2008, 09:58

Tindivanam-Neyveli was bad (not just potholes, but huge craters) during Dec 2007 : but when I went in Apr 2008, the patch-work had been done. Which means we need not crawl along to tackle the craters, but can continue at slightly higher speeds. But of course the roads are not smooth, the ride will be a bit rough. Certain stretches are good in the Panruti-Neyveli stretch : good straight roads with wide spaces on the side and cashew plantations on both sides.I havent done beyond Neyveli on this road, but the Neyveli-Sethiathope stretch is also not that good. I think the Pondy-Chidambaram-Mayiladuthurai route may be better : you may be driving through towns/villages and the roads will be curving all the time, but the roads themselves may be smooth.

csentil · 17th June 2008, 20:35

Just made this long trip into TN and back.

I definitely think the route that you are looking at is good. Chennai - Pondicherry via ECR. The road conditions are still excellent, but beware of the bends.

Pondicherry - Cuddalore - Chidambaram is in very good condition. You can then do Sirkazhi - Mayiladuthurai (Mayavaram) - Kumbakonam. I think the road sort of narrows down after Sirkazhi. There were no unmarked speed humps till Chidambaram. This was as of 15th June !!

tifosikrishna · 17th June 2008, 20:49

ranjit,

route 1:

chennai -tindivanam-panruti-sethiathope-kumbakonam-tanjore

road is good upto tindivanam, kumbakonam-tanjore is also good, and in between tindivanam and kumbakonam, roads are ok, some stretches are bad.

route 2:
chennai-tindivanam-pondi- "chi" "dam" "bram" - mayiladuthurai-kumbaks-tanjore

as blue thunder said, between chidambram to tanjore - you have to pass through a number of villages, high traffic and curvy and narrow road. but road quality will be better.

i would choose option 1.

pypkmsrikanth · 18th June 2008, 10:40

Dunno if this late for you, anyways my update : I did this stretch about a month back. As everyone said the road upto Tindivanam is very good. Work happening between Tindivanam & Vikravandi. Quite a few stretches have been opened with the new road so its not as bad as it used to be (this is a 10 day old update as I went Villupuram last weekend). Post Vikravandi the stretch is slightly rough because of pot holes being covered. I covered Villupuram to Kumbakonam in about 3 hours and 15 minutes for 120 kms keeping a sedate speed of 60 kmph. The stretches after Anaikattu have been done up quite well so you have long straight stretches with good roads. After Kumbakonam the road is decent upto Thanjavur. On any day I would suggest you to take the regular route to go to Thanjavur. Please note I had a Wagon R at my disposal, depending on your car you would have a decent to comfortable ride.

Cheers

Srikanth

12th June 2008, 00:06	#1 (permalink)
neoranjit BHPian Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Chennai Posts: 213 View My Garage	Chennai - Thanjavur Any idea on how good the roads are from Chennai to tanjore ? I know the road is good until Tindivanam and not after that. I was thinking of going in the other route ie.. pondy - cuddalore - mayiladthurai - tanjore. Anyone knows how good / bad this road is ?

12th June 2008, 09:58	#2 (permalink)
Blue Thunder BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Chennai (formerly Madras, even more formerly Chenna Patnam) Posts: 450 View My Garage	Update on Tindivanam-Neyveli stretch as of April 2008 Tindivanam-Neyveli was bad (not just potholes, but huge craters) during Dec 2007 : but when I went in Apr 2008, the patch-work had been done. Which means we need not crawl along to tackle the craters, but can continue at slightly higher speeds. But of course the roads are not smooth, the ride will be a bit rough. Certain stretches are good in the Panruti-Neyveli stretch : good straight roads with wide spaces on the side and cashew plantations on both sides.I havent done beyond Neyveli on this road, but the Neyveli-Sethiathope stretch is also not that good. I think the Pondy-Chidambaram-Mayiladuthurai route may be better : you may be driving through towns/villages and the roads will be curving all the time, but the roads themselves may be smooth. Last edited by Blue Thunder : 12th June 2008 at 10:02. Reason: Addition of content

17th June 2008, 20:35	#3 (permalink)
csentil BHPian Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 845 View My Garage	Just made this long trip into TN and back. I definitely think the route that you are looking at is good. Chennai - Pondicherry via ECR. The road conditions are still excellent, but beware of the bends. Pondicherry - Cuddalore - Chidambaram is in very good condition. You can then do Sirkazhi - Mayiladuthurai (Mayavaram) - Kumbakonam. I think the road sort of narrows down after Sirkazhi. There were no unmarked speed humps till Chidambaram. This was as of 15th June !! __________________ Everyone is born right-handed, only the gifted overcome it. This is my car and I have my wife's permission to say so.

17th June 2008, 20:49	#4 (permalink)
tifosikrishna BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: chennai Posts: 528 View My Garage	ranjit, route 1: chennai -tindivanam-panruti-sethiathope-kumbakonam-tanjore road is good upto tindivanam, kumbakonam-tanjore is also good, and in between tindivanam and kumbakonam, roads are ok, some stretches are bad. route 2: chennai-tindivanam-pondi- "chi" "dam" "bram" - mayiladuthurai-kumbaks-tanjore as blue thunder said, between chidambram to tanjore - you have to pass through a number of villages, high traffic and curvy and narrow road. but road quality will be better. i would choose option 1. __________________ Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.

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18th June 2008, 10:40	#5 (permalink)
pypkmsrikanth BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 125	Dunno if this late for you, anyways my update : I did this stretch about a month back. As everyone said the road upto Tindivanam is very good. Work happening between Tindivanam & Vikravandi. Quite a few stretches have been opened with the new road so its not as bad as it used to be (this is a 10 day old update as I went Villupuram last weekend). Post Vikravandi the stretch is slightly rough because of pot holes being covered. I covered Villupuram to Kumbakonam in about 3 hours and 15 minutes for 120 kms keeping a sedate speed of 60 kmph. The stretches after Anaikattu have been done up quite well so you have long straight stretches with good roads. After Kumbakonam the road is decent upto Thanjavur. On any day I would suggest you to take the regular route to go to Thanjavur. Please note I had a Wagon R at my disposal, depending on your car you would have a decent to comfortable ride. Cheers Srikanth