[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by ramanan.skr

Planning for a visit to Pondy next week. Please suggest a nice place to stay(both for my car and ourselves) in the range of 2K to 4K.

One of my friend stayed in RKN beach resort two weeks back and he was happy with his stay here. It costs around 4K per night.

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by ramanan.skr

Planning for a visit to Pondy next week. Please suggest a nice place to stay(both for my car and ourselves) in the range of 2K to 4K.

I had stayed at Ginger last year. Good experience. Some 3.2k with proper parking.

[sunsbhp]

I drove to Pondi yesterday, and after reading recent comments about Krishnagiri-Chengam-Thiruvannamalai route, we took the old route Krishnagiri-Vellore-Arani-Ginjee-Thindivanam. From Whitefield, Hosur-Krishnagiri-Vellore is a breeze with 6-lane all thru. From Vellore till Arani is good road but narrow single lane road, mostly thin traffic. But the Arani town is a bottleneck, and then until Ginjee is very good road, though two-lane, its pretty wide and newly laid (as good as any HW) with hardly any traffic, so you can maintain the speed of typical 4 lane HW. Passing Ginjee and Thindivanap towns thru thick traffic, the last stretch of NH32 is also good. We took 6hrs 10mins with a 40mins break from home till resort (Windflower).

From Vellore, there's also another route via Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Thindivanam, but not sure how of better this is.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by sunsbhp

From Vellore, there's also another route via Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Thindivanam, but not sure how of better this is.

The Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Tindivanam route has been the preferred one for the last few years, though slightly longer, it has more 4 laned roads upto Arcot and beyond that also roads are good and all towns have bypasses.

In the last couple of months, there have been reports that the old Tiruvannamalai-Chengam route has been resurfaced and good now, but seems like like sections have already taken a beating in recent rains.

[rajivtelang]

I am planning to start for Pondi on 18th October morning. What will be the best time for it? Is it OK to start at around 6-6.30AM or is it too late? Due to my young daughter it might become tough to start earlier and still remember the horrifying traffic near Bommanahalli Toll and Krishnagiri Toll last year. But of course that was the beginning day of a long weekend then. I am assuming 18th is not such a day (just assuming here ).

[binand]

Originally Posted by rajivtelang

the horrifying traffic near Bommanahalli Toll and Krishnagiri Toll last year. But of course that was the beginning day of a long weekend then. I am assuming 18th is not such a day (just assuming here ).

This coming Friday is Vijayadashami. 18th is probably going to be such a day. :-)

[NPV]

Originally Posted by rajivtelang

I am planning to start for Pondi on 18th October morning. What will be the best time for it? Is it OK to start at around 6-6.30AM or is it too late?

Friday Oct 19 is a holiday for most establishments and 18th could very well be an additional day that people traveling would take off from work, so be prepared for heavy traffic. I'd suggest you start by 5am so that you can reach Vaniyambadi (Sai Sangeet is a nice place to break) around 7am or so (~150Km).

[chakri400]

Originally Posted by NPV

The Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Tindivanam route has been the preferred one for the last few years, though slightly longer, it has more 4 laned roads upto Arcot and beyond that also roads are good and all towns have bypasses.

In the last couple of months, there have been reports that the old Tiruvannamalai-Chengam route has been resurfaced and good now, but seems like like sections have already taken a beating in recent rains.

I travelled from BLR - PY - BLR from Oct 15-17. I took the Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Tindivanam route on the way up, thanks to the posts here. On the way back, I had to go to thiruvannamalai so took the shorter route. There are quite a few ditches on the road, fortunately I was driving a crysta. My hatchbacks would have had a tough time.

On 17th, it was raining heavily, we encountered a lot of Traffic getting into Bangalore. 2 hrs of bumper to bumper traffic to get to my house in HSR.

[chakri400]

Originally Posted by ramanan.skr

Planning for a visit to Pondy next week. Please suggest a nice place to stay(both for my car and ourselves) in the range of 2K to 4K.

My stay was at ocean spray. 4/5 is my rating.
Facilities: a big, really big swimming pool and a children pool, a big fish pond, every room has an open air jacuzzi, some of the villas have private swim pools. Many ducks, goats, rabbits and a huge lawn with activities like zorb ball, ATV ride, archery, paintball, air rifle etc
Service: staff was courteous, responsive. Jacuzzi was not working well, they fixed it in quick time. Room was good, well maintained, functional AC, mini fridge. A microwave was missing.
Food: in room orders were really tasty but food is expensive. Breakfast buffet was just about average.
Parking: plenty of parking available

[raptor3624]

Just finished mt small trip to Pondicherry from Bangalore. Took different routes to and fro.
Bangalore to Pondicherry: Took the Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Tindivanam-Pondy route. Left Bangalore South at 4:45 AM
Note: Aftter Hosur, Have to take a left before Krishnagiri(Sarvana Bhavan) to go to Arcot i.e. we have tp take the Chennai highway route. I went straight and overshot it by 15 Kms. Was given wrong instructions by one local also. Had to take Uturn and get back. You have to take by passes across Cheyyar and Arcot. State highway is mostly good through Cheyyas by pass, Vandavasi and Tindivanam. You then hit the 6 lane highway outside Pondicherry.


Pondicherry to Bangalore: Took the shorter route. Tindivanam-Gingee-Krishnagiri. Older posts here refer Gingee-Arani-Vellore and then Krishnagiri. But when checked in Gmaps , it seemed like a longer route. So I followed Google maps to take me through a shorter route to Krishnagiri(took me next to gingee fort and different towns). Road was fine except last 30 kms befre Krishnagiri.
And google maps weirdly kept saying that it was National Highway 77, but NH are not simply double laned But this route was definitely shorter than the Cheyyas-Vandavasi route that I took to reach Pondicherry

[binand]

Originally Posted by raptor3624

And google maps weirdly kept saying that it was National Highway 77, but NH are not simply double laned

It is indeed National Highway 77 (Tindivanam-Tiruvannamalai-Krishnagiri).

[rajivtelang]

I ended up going to Pondi via Mahabalipuram on 18th. I took the route Krishnagiri-Vellor-Sriperumbudur-Vandalur-Kelabakkam-Kovalam-Mahabalipuram-Pondi. Wanted to visit the Crocodile park for my daughter.

I made a stay at Mahabalipuram. Return was on 20th. I took the same route back. Thanks to fellow BHPians for all recommendations.

The route is very nice, it does become a little crowded in towns, but being 4 laned all the ways, it was a breeze to cruise.

[Archie81]

We did the Bangalore -> Mahabs -> Pondy stretch during the long weekend. Here's the route update:

On the way up from Bangalore we hit Mahabs directly, since we had a one night stay at Ideal Beach Resort close to Mahabalipuram. The route we took was the longer one, but a more relaxing drive: Bangalore -> Sriperumbudur -> Kelambakkam -> Mahabalipuram. Mostly wide 4 lanes with a few narrow patches after Sriperumbudur, but nothing that would bother you much. This is the route I would suggest if you are heading this way. This is more relaxing and easy on you even if it takes some extra time compared to the Kanchipuram route.

We started from Mahabs to Pondy the next day via the (supposedly) scenic ECR. This is not a bad stretch as everybody knows and was a relaxing drive. We stayed at Ocean Spray resort which is a little before Pondy.

On the way back we started from Pondy towards Bangalore and the road choice we made was a disaster. Since we had already tried the Arcot -> Vellore route (and we didn't really like it by the way), we decided to take the direct route to Krishnagiri (NH77) via Tindivanam. Pondy -> Tindivanam is a good 4 lane toll road. Its only after this that the problem starts. The moment you hit Tindivanam, you end up in a market road which takes you almost to the exit of the town. Very narrow and pretty crowded, this stretch can give you a high BP. Once you exit this patch the road splits - straight takea you to Arcot, left takes you to Krishnagiri via NH77. We took the left and the road was drive-able atleast till Thiruvannamalai. They've done some patch work at many points so the roads are wider in open areas and narrows down when going thru villages. Still it is scenic and OK to drive at moderate speeds. After Thiruvannamalai is when all hell breaks loose. The patch work done on this stretch is laughable. Plenty of potholes to navigate thru and the stretch is much narrower than the stretch before Thiruvannamalai. This is the condition all the way to Krishnagiri. Very difficult to drive. We were in an SUV and yet I felt it difficult.

The entire stretch is in such a sorry state that it makes you wonder why the NHAI and govt have completely ignored this NH even though it is heavily used. The galli road to my house is much wider and smoother than this supposed NH. The road connects major towns (Krishnagiri, Thiruvannamalai, Gingee) and is the shortest and most efficient route to directly reach Pondy from Bangalore and yet no one seems to care to improve the condition. It has been in this sorry state for decades now. Atleast build a toll road for god's sake, people will be happy to pay and use. Really very sad to see the sorry state. Never driving this way again.

Anyways, if you decide to goto Pondy, I would suggest taking the longer route with maybe a halt at Mahabs for a while or atleast take the Mahabs -> Kelambakkam -> Sriperumbudur stretch on the way back. This route may be longer, but is more relaxing and less tiring for you and your vehicle.

By the way, the Vandavasi -> Arcot -> Vellore route is no better. The roads are not as smooth as you would like. It is more or less a village road all the way till Arcot with many narrow patches and you end up spending more time navigating thru (invisible) speed breakers and a lot of curvy road on this stretch. Not good if you have folks travelling with you who have travel sickness.

Hope this helps.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by Archie81

On the way back we started from Pondy towards Bangalore and the road choice we made was a disaster.

Is the stretch from Gingee to Singarapettai via Tiruvannamalai that bad with potholes. What you could have done is taken the Singarapettai-Tirupattur-Bargur-Krishnagiri route to touch the Bangalore highway. This stretch has very good 2 lane roads.

[Archie81]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Is the stretch from Gingee to Singarapettai via Tiruvannamalai that bad with potholes. What you could have done is taken the Singarapettai-Tirupattur-Bargur-Krishnagiri route to touch the Bangalore highway. This stretch has very good 2 lane roads.

Yes, well almost. I didn't find the Gingee to Tiruvannamalai route bad. Its the Tiruvannamalai - Chengam - Singarapettai - Mathur - Krishnagiri stretch that's painful.

I don't know if I'll have the nerve to try this stretch again. But if I ever do this one again, I will try the Tirupattur-Bargur route to Krishnagiri as you suggested. But frankly speaking, by the time you hit Singarapettai, you're almost 3/4 of the journey done and already too exhausted to take another detour at this point thru a longer route, isn't it? I might give it a try on the way up from Bangalore towards Pondy, if I do next time. That sounds like a better plan, no? Thanks!