[razeetg]

I'd go for #2 any day. The Trissur -> Kochi is a toll road, but worth it. A good stretch of 4 lane road. I believe #1 has a lot of traffic on most days and might be significantly slower because its narrower. Not sure of the road quality in that section.

Originally Posted by PearlJam

Hi, I am planning to drive from Bangalore to Kochi, with a halt at Nilambur for a few days. From Nilambur, there are 2 routes (almost same distance):

1. Nilambur-Perinthalmanna-Pattambi-Guruvayoor-Kodungalloor-Kochi
2. Nilambur-Perinthalmanna-Pattambi-Thrissur-Aluva-Kochi

Any idea which route is better as on today? Thanks!

[MSAneesh]

Have done Bangalore - Aluva(Kochi) last week. Route taken: Hosur-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Salem-Bhavani-Avinashi-Mangalam-Palladam-Pollachi-Govindapuram(border)-Vadakkenchery-Mannuthy-Chalakkudy-Angamali-Aluva

Route update:
Started around 5:30, hence there was a fair amount of traffic at Salem Ringroad. Would have been better if taken the Omalur-Konganapuram-Vaikundam detour.

Once you enter the state highways after Avinashi, road markings are not good enough. My Nokia maps navigation kept me on track for most part, but made me go through the busy Pollachi town and that too through some single lane market road Was fortunate not to get stuck. Right after pollachi town, there is a railway bridge/underpass construction gong on, so no road for 300 meters. I could have planned the Pollachi section better.

Roads are otherwise good. As usual, once you cross over to Kerala at Govindapuram, the road is pretty narrow till you rejoin NH47 at Vadakkenchery.

Here is a slightly better route - incorporating my learnings
https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/12...d2d8ac!1m0!3e0

[NPV]

Originally Posted by MSAneesh

Once you enter the state highways after Avinashi, road markings are not good enough. My Nokia maps navigation kept me on track for most part, but made me go through the busy Pollachi town and that too through some single lane market road Was fortunate not to get stuck. Right after pollachi town, there is a railway bridge/underpass construction gong on, so no road for 300 meters. I could have planned the Pollachi section better.

Roads are otherwise good. As usual, once you cross over to Kerala at Govindapuram, the road is pretty narrow till you rejoin NH47 at Vadakkenchery.

Once you get onto the Mangalam Road from Avinashi bypass, it is one straight road all the way to Palladam where you reach a 4 road signal. Go straight here and about 2Km later road curves to right towards Pollachi (left goes to Udumalaipet).
At Pollachi, if you go straight it goes through narrow market stretch and reaches a T junction where you turn right and leads up to bus stand junction. From here you turn left towards Palakkad.
Instead of above route via the market, etc - at Pollachi there is a wide road to the right, it is partly concreted. Turn right here and it takes you to the bus stand junction and you just have to head straight towards Palakkad via Govindapuram. This is much better than going via the market.

[Jeep]

Did the route recently.

Thoppur-Bhavani-Avinashi route is not that great. Try to avoid it. The only solace is that you can avoid a couple of tolls, where some time and money is saved. Not worth it at all though.

Also, Coimbatore-Palakkad and Palakkad-Wadakkencherry are in bad shape. I took this route since I had to visit someone at Palakkad. Pollachi-Wadakkencherry is a better option.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by Jeep

Did the route recently.

Thoppur-Bhavani-Avinashi route is not that great. Try to avoid it. The only solace is that you can avoid a couple of tolls, where some time and money is saved. Not worth it at all though.

Also, Coimbatore-Palakkad and Palakkad-Wadakkencherry are in bad shape. I took this route since I had to visit someone at Palakkad. Pollachi-Wadakkencherry is a better option.

Are you talking about Thoppur-Mettur-Bhavani Route??. By going on this route one can avoid tolls at Omalur and Sankagiri. How is the road condition though??

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Are you talking about Thoppur-Mettur-Bhavani Route??. By going on this route one can avoid tolls at Omalur and Sankagiri. How is the road condition though??

I took the Bhavani - Mettur - Mecheri -Pennagaram- Palacode - Rayakottah- Hosur route on Jan 4th. Please find the update here.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post3616352

Road conditions are OK. Did not encounter any deep potholes any where.

[Jeep]

Yes, that route is to be avoided. You can do 60 kmph but not any faster

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Are you talking about Thoppur-Mettur-Bhavani Route??. By going on this route one can avoid tolls at Omalur and Sankagiri. How is the road condition though??

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Jeep

Also, Coimbatore-Palakkad and Palakkad-Wadakkencherry are in bad shape. I took this route since I had to visit someone at Palakkad. Pollachi-Wadakkencherry is a better option.

Yes, I heard this from couple of friends so I avoided it when going to Palakkad.
I took NH47 upto Avinashi bypass, then the turn off towards Mangalam, then Palladam-Pollachi-Palakkad (merge onto NH 47 near Chandranagar). This route is good all the way.
Next day I traveled to Kavasseri near Alathur and took NH 47 - it was mixed bag with lot of work in progress and one 3-4 Km stretch where 4 laning is complete, overall need to be cautious and slow. Night driving on this stretch can be dangerous.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by Jeep

The only solace is that you can avoid a couple of tolls, where some time and money is saved. Not worth it at all though.
.

One can avoid these two tolls by taking Omallur- Sankari road.

[Ashokkp]

Mod Note: Post moved to an existing thread. Please SEARCH the forum before starting new threads on topics already extensively discussed.

Hello Friends

I am planning to drive down to Palakkad with my family(kid & wife) in the first week of May-2015.

Tentative plans as below:

First day- Mumbai to Belgaum- Hoping to reach in 7-8 hours of driving, night stay in Belgaum.

Second day- Belgaum to Banglore- Night stay in Banglore

Final leg- Banglore to Palakkad

Now, please recommend an overnight stay option in Belgaum or nearby areas. I am on a budget and do not wish to spend more than 1.5k on transit. Family friendly accommodation with safe car parking mandatory.

IF there are better route/stop options, please suggest.

Thank you
Ashok

[noopster]

Originally Posted by Ashokkp

Tentative plans as below:

First day- Mumbai to Belgaum- Hoping to reach in 7-8 hours of driving, night stay in Belgaum.

Second day- Belgaum to Banglore- Night stay in Banglore

2 whole days to cover Bombay-Bangalore sounds a little excessive- people have covered it in a single stint! Stay over in Hubli if you can and save a couple of hours the next day- you can probably stretch to a destination further South of Bangalore that way.
Start early from Mumbai so that you escape the madness of Pune and Kolhapur in peak hour.

Final leg- Banglore to Palakkad

Will leave this to the experts on this thread.

Now, please recommend an overnight stay option in Belgaum or nearby areas. I am on a budget and do not wish to spend more than 1.5k on transit. Family friendly accommodation with safe car parking mandatory.

Sankam International on the highway is probably the best hotel in Belgaum that you can book. Mod Vid6639 swears by it and on his advice I spent a nice night's stay there on a recent roadtrip to Goa where we started late on a Friday.
If you stretch to Hubli, Denisson's is a nice option, albeit pricey. Do check out.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Ashokkp

IF there are better route/stop options, please suggest.

Almost all your questions will be answered here:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...-kochi-11.html

Bbhavan can answer all your questions as he is a regular on that circuit.

[Ashokkp]

Hello Noopster

Mumbai to Banglore is 980kms. This distance cannot be covered by me in a stretch as I do not plan to drive during the night. Hubli is 580kms.

Regards

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by Ashokkp

Hello Noopster

Mumbai to Banglore is 980kms. This distance cannot be covered by me in a stretch as I do not plan to drive during the night. Hubli is 580kms.

Regards

People do Mumbai-Bangalore in 12-14 hours and Bangalore - Palakkad is just 5 hours. So, plan for one stop instead of two.

[binand]

Originally Posted by Ashokkp

Mumbai to Banglore is 980kms. This distance cannot be covered by me in a stretch as I do not plan to drive during the night. Hubli is 580kms.

Obviously please drive in a way you are comfortable. If you are willing to start early (ie, not after 5AM from Mumbai) you can be clear of Pune before morning rush hour builds up. Though then you will hit Bangalore in its full evening rush hour glory. So if you were to break for the night say around Tumkur, do the same thing again next morning (clear Bangalore and Hosur before morning rush hour builds up) and you could theoretically be in Palakkad for a late lunch on the second day.