[Night_Hawk]

Originally Posted by manjubp

Simply avoid. Not safe stretch and road is not that great between v.kote to krishnagiri. The mentioned route can't match the comfort and safety of divided 4 lanes.

I have done this route last year. The stretch between V.Kota and Krishnagiri does have some really tight S-curves and definitely cannot match the comfort of NH7.

If one is driving by night this route is not recommended

[robimahanta]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

This is the toll amount that I payed during my last trip(6 months back), Bangalore - Nagercoil. I think some toll has been increased now.

NICE Road 30 (From Bannerghatta Road)
Attibele 25
Krishnagiri 50
Thopur 79
Omalur 63
Rasampalayam 35
Velanchettiyur 66
Kodai Road 45
Eturvatm 40
Spudhur 40
Nangneri 65


It would be better to take a break at Bangalore (OR) at Salem which is around 750 Kms.

Breaking the journey at Salem would be your best bet. The maximum you can stretch is up to maybe Madurai.
The last stretch from Nagercoil to Trivandrum is a real pain and you dont want to do it at the fag end of such a long drive.
Like Ranjit said there's GRT as well as Park Plaza right on the highway near Salem.
Even cheaper options are there just a few mins from the highway.
If you need any help near Salem, I can PM you my number.

Just revised some of the toll rates by Arun. Not sure about the rest as I have not done Salem-Trivandrum very recently.

If you do halt in BLR, start your journey by 0600am latest and if you are reasonably fast driver you can reach Salem by 0830am. I travel BLR-Salem almost thrice a month and believe me this is the best time of the day to drive out of BLR

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

Like Ranjit said there's GRT as well as Park Plaza right on the highway near Salem.

Park Plaza is in soft opening mode and is currently priced at 3K+taxes for DBL.Same as GRT.Quite steep IMO.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by rknair

I was also not very keen on that stretch. It was more an afterthought when I heard about construction between Hosur & Krishnagiri. I will stick to the NH7, if we go ahead with this plan.

Go with what Ranjit says. Just to add, if you start from HYD by 5AM, you should be in BLR outskirts by about 11-12AM.
Add another 2 hours to cross BLR and then till Salem it should be another 2 hours easily.

That translates to being in Salem by about 4-5 PM. Dindigul is another 2 hours. So do give a thought it you want to push it to Dindigul.
GRT/Chenneys at Salem are very close to GQ.

[gajadonga]

I travel to Sabarimalai every year from Hyderabad for the last 15yrs from Hyderabad.
I usually take the Coimbatore route and used to take 16hrs to Coimbatore and from there
about 8-9hrs to Sabarimalai.
Last visit in october I took the Salem-Dindigul route as the four lane was complete
From Hyderabad it took 12hrs to Dindugul this was a single stop at Hosur for 40mins and
biobreaks, was done with my son who was at the wheels for sometime.
You might take about 6-7hrs from Dindugul-Trivandrum.
It may be possible Hyderabad-Trivandrum in a day provided there are two drivers.
Average crossing time for Banglore through Budigere-Whitefield-Sarjapur is 1.30-2 hrs
depending on the traffic conditions between White field and Gunjur

[arun_josie]

I drove to Nagercoil yesterday and here is the latest toll charges from Bangalore to Nagercoil/Trivandrum. Now this is more than the Bangalore-Hyderabad stretch.

The last 20 Kms towards Nagercoil is in a very bad state. Couldn't go more than 30-40Kmph.

[rknair]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

I drove to Nagercoil yesterday

How much time did it take for you? Any suggestions for pitstops..

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by rknair

How much time did it take for you? Any suggestions for pitstops..

We took around 12 hours(this includes 3Hrs:15Mins break - 5 breaks). We have a 2month old Son and hence the breaks where longer. During my previous trips it normally took 8:30-9hrs with one or two breaks. Also, crossing Salem during peaks hours will take more time.

Here are some good options that we have. If you are going to join Attibele after bypassing bangalore then please reduce 30Kms from the below mentioned distances(approx).

1) Krishna Inn, McD and Coffee Day in the same HP petrol bunk - around 55 Kms from Bangalore, comes on the left side

2) A2B - around 62Kms from Bangalore, comes on the left side along with a BP

3) A2B - around 152Kms from Bangalore(Just before Thoppur Toll), comes on the right side along with BP

4) GRT, Salem - around 198 Kms from Bangalore - Just before Salem Bypass, comes on the left side. This is a costly option. Lunch buffet is 550. You can also opt for a la carte.

There is one Selvi Mess(Known for NV) near the exit of Salem Bypass(towards Madurai). You can check with the locals there for exact location.

5) Hotel Arunachala, Karur - around 290-300Kms from Bangalore. You can refer the below link.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2685880

Map:
http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Ba...ra=ls&t=m&z=15

6) Hotel Fantasy - This comes after Kodai Road and well before Madurai Bypass, again on the left side.

7) Capsi Restaurant - around 5mins drive after Salaipudhur Toll(around 554 Kms from Bangalore), comes on the left side
For pics, you can refer to NPVs thread.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post2630005

There is a new hotel(I think it is Uma Shanker) very next to the Salaipudhur toll as well, but we didn't try this.

[rknair]

With all your blessings, completed the onward leg of the trip. Started at 4:35 AM from Hyderabad, reached Dindigul at around 7:45 PM. Stuck in traffic at Hosur for an hour. It was raining heavily from Namakkal to Dindigul. Next day morning started at 8:00 AM after breakfast, got off from the N-S corridor at Kavalkinaru at 11:15 AM. reached Parassala at 1:00 PM. I have taken detailed logs, will post the details after reaching back.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by rknair

With all your blessings, completed the onward leg of the trip. Started at 4:35 AM from Hyderabad, reached Dindigul at around 7:45 PM.

Looks like HYD-TVM is very much possible in a day I guess if you didn't have rain or the jams to add to your early morning start, you could've easily shot to TVM in a day. NH7 south of Dindigul is a breeze and Kavalkinaru onwards it would've been relatively free past 11 than it would've when you crossed in the day. If you do a similar early morning start, you might sneak out to Kavalkinaru before traffic starts building.

[rknair]

Successfully completed this journey and here I am with the details. I think there is no point rambling on the route and road quality; this route is way too familiar for the members of this forum. Instead, let me share the detailed plan I used so that it will motivate others to take up this route.

Trip summary:
Total Distance: 3316.4 km (~1300 km either way + remaining within Kerala including a trip to Harippad)
Drivers: 2. My wife & me.
Ride: Mahindra Xylo E6.

Onward Journey:
Day 1: Home at Hyderabad to Dindigul. Start at 4:45 AM, reached by 7:55 PM - 947km - 15:10 hours. Top speed 140 km/hr.
Day 2: Dindigul to my in-laws place near Amaravila. Start at 8:00 AM, reached by 3:00 PM. 341 km - 7 hrs. Top speed 136 km/hr.

Return Journey:
Day 1: In-laws home to Bangalore. Start at 5:35 AM, reached Attibele by 3:46 PM - 707km - 10:11 hours. Top speed 146 km/hr.
Day 2: Cousin's house in Bangalore to Hyderabad. Start at 6:35 AM reached ORR Gachibowli by 2:00 PM. 573 km - 7:25 hrs. Top speed 141 km.

Highlights:

Scariest moment: Between Salem and Bangalore on our return journey, an old man (~70) was idly crossing the road, I was at around 120 - 130 km/hr and had spotted him from a distance. It was a 6 lane road and we were at the right most lane and a red i20 was behind us on the same lane. The old man was on the beginning of left lane and almost stopped on the road. So I was sure that he had seen me and would allow me to pass. But suddenly he gave a mad sprint to cross the road and was right on my path. By God's grace, there was a gap on the median for the right turn at that point, I switched to the that lane and completely stopped the car. If I had stopped it on the same lane, then the i20 would have surely hit us, so I still shudder on what would have happened if I had tried anything else. Even the i20 passengers were so shocked, that they stopped to see if we were fine.

Frustrating Moment: On our onward journey, we were covering very well as per our plan, but were stuck completely for an hour in Hosur due to traffic jam. It was bumper to bumper traffic and the vehicles were not even moving. It was lunch time and we were all hungry and that added to our frustration. This plus lot of traffic and rains from Hosur to Dindigul, we were in two minds whether to stop for the night at Salem or continue to Dindigul.

Vehicle Irritants: On our onward journey while we were near Thoppur toll gate, noticed that A/C cooling has stopped suddenly. Had to undertake the rest of the journey with windows half open. Showed it to the TVS Motors in Thiruvananthapuram, the mechanic detected that it is a problem of electrical connection inside the A/C compressor unit and it had to be replaced, so he said it will take about 2 weeks for the part to arrive from Mahindra. I had to drive back in the same condition. Return journey was hell since both days were pretty hot. Other than that, there were pronounced creaking sounds in the suspension, this was more noticable in Thiruvananthapuram, now I am not hearing them. The Power windows in the front passenger side was operating very slowly, once the power windows of the driver side also stopped working completely. Any way the vehicle is due for 40,000 km service and I plan to fix all these problems along with this.

Accommodation: Hotel Rockfort Palace, Dindigul. It was very affordable A/c rooms at Rs. 900/- per night. It was very close to the NH-7 and rooms were quite clean with good bathrooms and fittings. But the rooms were small, our bed cover had a small tear. No restaurant but they provide room service otherwise plenty of restaurants nearby. Overall feedback: Ok for a night's stay if you are fine with no frills acco. Try Parson's Court if you need more luxury..

I usually prepare a very detailed route plan with possible speeds and timings for each stretch and track the journey against the plan to see how I am faring. You can see that my plan was fairly accurate.






Total Toll: Rs. 2208/- Details with Date and Time are below.


Bottom line: Is Hyderabad-Thiruvananthapuram possible in a day? Yes. We were very confident to do that especially on our return journey, but we decided against it since we had few relatives to meet in Bangalore. But there are lot of factors which could upset that plan. So attempt it at your own risk, with a backup plan.

[jagadeesh.b]

Hi All

i am looking at driving down from Hyderabad to Trivandrum, Kerala this month and was wondering which route to take and has the best roads.

Option 1 - Hyderabad to bangalore to coimbatore on day 1 and day 2 coimbatore to kayankulam

Option 2- Hyderabad to madurai on day 1 and day 2 from madurai to kayankulam

Please advise

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by jagadeesh.b

Hi All

i am looking at driving down from Hyderabad to Trivandrum, Kerala this month and was wondering which route to take and has the best roads.

Option 1 - Hyderabad to bangalore to coimbatore on day 1 and day 2 coimbatore to kayankulam

Option 2- Hyderabad to madurai on day 1 and day 2 from madurai to kayankulam

Please advise

For Hyderabad - Trivandrum, the best route is via Bangalore, Salem, Madurai, Nagercoil. Nagercoil - Trivandrum is a traffic heavy stretch and currently roads are not in a great condition.

If the destination is Kayamkulam which is near Alappuzha, then the route via Coimbatore makes more sense.

[chipsnchops]

Did anyone travel from Hyderabad to Trivandrum in recent times? Planning to take the trip. The latest post here is from 2019. Any update would be really helpful

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by chipsnchops

Did anyone travel from Hyderabad to Trivandrum in recent times? Planning to take the trip. The latest post here is from 2019. Any update would be really helpful

For latest update you can refer to Hyderabad- Bangalore and Bangalore-Trivandrum thread.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...e-queries.html (Hyderabad to Bangalore : Route Queries)

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...e-queries.html (Trivandrum to Bangalore : Route Queries)