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-   -   Bangalore - Pondicherry : Route Queries (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/19838-bangalore-pondicherry-route-queries-133.html)

Aiyo! Still that bad? Ok so, isn't their a slight detour, no matter if it adds 50-60 kms or an hour or two to the trip that I can take to experience a scenic route? Just like the OMR route in the earlier post mentioned by, @Cooltronic.

I'll be starting via Bellandur, but really don't mind adding reasonable kms.

Please do check the weather condition before you go? Lots of rain thanks to Nivar in the recent days. I guess you would have already done your home work, but sill reminding the obvious.

Visited Pondy a few weeks ago before the whole Nivar cyclone hit the town. Stuck to the Krishnagiri -> Arcot -> Tindivanam route while going towards Pondy and during return I took the OMR via Chittoor bypass -> Kolar. A new toll booth is being constructed near the Tirupati-Chittoor town bypass at Varigapalli but NHAI has already started collecting tolls from the makeshift booth. Roads are smooth and hassle free. It was raining during both times so took around 7-7.5 hours on the onward and around 8 hours on the return journey.

Used the Murugan Idli before Krishnagiri toll for breakfast on the way and a newly opened coffee shop at Pallikonda for coffee stops on the onward journey while the return journey stops were the Arcot A2B and a Kamat just after Mulbagal.

We are planning to visit Puducherry after a couple of weeks. Has the TVM route improved at all over the years?

I drove from bangalore to pondicherry on saturday. Started at 5 AM and Took NICE road from Mysore road and joined hosur road. traffic was very sparse till krishnagiri. At krishnagiri continued towards vellore instead of taking right at Bargur as per gmaps suggestion.

After BF break at Sai Sangeet and encountering some heavy fog for few KMs, Took the right towards Arani. This is the road which i haven't tried before and wasn't sure of the road quality.

But this road turned out to a pleasant surprise! till arani, there was slight traffic and road surface was decent enough to drive around 80kmph. Have to go through arani as there is no bypass. After chetpet the road is super smooth and hardly any traffic. once i join the thindivanam road at Gingee the road was a bit patchy for few KMs but nothing horrible. I was able to maintain good speed. I reached pondicherry by 10.20 AM!

I am traveling back to bangalore tomorrow and will be taking the same route and hope to spend less time on the road

I would recommend this road to anyone traveling between Bangalore and Pondicherry

Got back to bangalore from Pondicherry today. Started at 4:40AM and was in Bangalore at 9:40AM

took Thindivanam, Chetpet, Aarni, Pallikonda, Kirshnagiri, Hosur route

As we started early morning hardly any traffic and was able to maintain good speeds. Didn't stop on the way hence were able to reach faster

There is a lot of up to the minute information on this thread, so thanks to all contributors for that. I will just ask about what is unique about my travel.

Directions - Starting point, Hennur Road, North Bangalore @ 630am. Destination, Club Mahindra, which is actually right next to Cuddalore. Would this indicate that I should prefer one route over the other given the destination is not actually Pondicherry.

Epass - would an epass be required transitting through TN? And if we take the Chittor route, is any documentation required for AP?Google is not clear on this and I could not find any government site for out station travellers. Will the answer be different for a car with MH registration?

Sorry if this seems like a very simple set of questions with obvious answers. Travelling “En famille” it’s better to be sure than sorry.

Thank you

I guess you will still have to cross pondicherry city to reach the resort. Have been there couple of times and had been through the city. So the route from Bangalore will depend on your comfort. You could stick to the chittor route which will take you via Arcot, Cheyyar and Vandavasi. This is a good route and driving should be a breeze!

Not aware of an ePass requirement nor came cross anything as such during my travel to pondicherry.

Staying in Whitefield, had been researching this thread for an understanding of the various options possible. Special thanks to @Cooltronics & @adi_gt for sharing experiences on Chittoor road.clap:

Now, having made a trip this week to-fro Pondicherry myself, I can share my experience.

Onwards (21-Dec-2020): Stuck to via Krishnagiri>Ambur>Vellore-by-pass SH4>Arani>Tindivanam>Pondicherry, as this was something I was familiar with.

Started at 6:40 am and reached Pondicherry at 1:30pm, with a 30 min halt for breakfast. Drove mostly at 100+.

Not much of traffic in Bangalore, tolls were 5 min. Roads were good too. But on SH4, pre-Arani, the roads were narrow, with slow moving traffic sometimes in front. Post-Arani, the roads widened, and one could pick up speed. At Tindivanam, was careful to take the bypass as suggested by Google, and as also mentioned in this thread.

Return (24-Dec-2020): Travelled on SH5 via Tindivanam>Cheyyar>Ranipet, Chittor>Bangalore (Whitefield) as I wanted to avoid Silk Board mess on the evening before a long weekend/yearend.

Started at 10:30am from Pondicherry, got stuck behind a political rally on main road there. Reached Whitefield at 5:30pm, with a 30 min break.

Compared to SH4, the SH5 was wider and had less villages/trees on immediate vicinity and also less traffic. So could travel faster overall.

At Chittoor by-pass the road conditions were good but under construction with some wrong direction travel needed+dusty deviations. Also closer to Bangalore the NHAI toll near Bathrahalli was pretty jammed up, spent 15 minutes.

Another thing noted was that there lot of large food joints on Bangalore-Chittor section on OMR, but not many options beyond that section and we wanted to avoid smaller joints in Covid times. The CCD at Chittoor didnt have common coffee variants and no food, dont know if that is true for other CCDs en-route.

Bottomline: The Chittoor road is definitely a good option for those in East Bangalore, and have confidence to take it on the onward journey too the next time.

Just returned from Pondy, starting point Sarjapur road Bangalore, Route taken Sarjapur road >> Krishnagiri >> Ambur (15km before Vellore you need to take a slight deviation to right>> Arni >> Pondy
Total travel time 6hrs: start time 615am
Food break 1hr
Vehicle Tata Safari
Total Px 4Adt and 2Chd
Pitstop Shoolagiri // Lunch Pondy Rendevous
Return Lunch Star Biriyani before Ambur to the left 4pm
Hope this helps

Hi!

I am planning to go to Pondicherry soon, leaving from South Bangalore. Could someone please share a Google Maps link for the best route to take? As per the suggestions, will be avoiding Tiruvannamalai. However, not sure if I should go via the Arani - Gingee - Tindivanam route, or go via the Arcot - Cheyyar - Vandavasi - Tindivanam route. Please advise, will be traveling in day time only. Which route is easier?

Thanks!

Don't know about the Arani route, but I guess it merges with the route from tiruvannamalai towards tindivanam and I'm guessing that section is fine.

The Arcot-cheyyar-vandavasi-tindivanam route has been the standard & trusted route for almost a decade now, so you can't go wrong with that.

Sorry for the late reply, the answer is yes and no, meaning over the years it has improved in certain places for a short while only to end up deteriorating few months later so net effect for someone traveling between Krishnagiri and tiruvannamalai is bad and a painful experience because as you find a good stretch and start gaining speed, you hit a bad patch forcing you to lower your speed and take evasive action to avoid bad potholes and eroded/missing road sections :Frustrati There are some unfinished bridges as well and sometimes Google maps navigates you through off road sections, so totally avoidable route in my opinion.

Thanks a bunch! Will use this route as advised :)

Both routes are good. I took the route via penukonda, Arani, Gingee, Thindivanam to pondicherry in december and it was a superb route. Took about 5 hours with good speeds as we started early in the morning.
You can give this route a shot

What are some good places to have breakfast on the route?

No specific cuisine choice apart form that the food should be hygienic and the place has good food and clean bathrooms. Can compromise on food but clean bathrooms are a must.