[krishnakumar]

Slightly different from the route asked on this thread. I'm planning to travel from Bangalore to Trivandrum this Saturday and the usual route I take is via TN (NH44 route; Hosur - Krishnagiri - Salem - Madurai - Tirunelveli - Nagercoil).

Now with red alerts issued in Krishnagiri, Salem areas, I'm concerned whether this would affect the trip.

Can someone share if these areas are affected by rainfall? A moderate-heavy rainfall isn't a big concern for me since I grew up driving in Kerala rains, however, don't want to be in a flooded situation.

[PGNarain]

So, we traveled from Tirupati - Kanchipuram - Vandavasi - Tindivanam - Pondicherry on the 11th of November.

Due to the rain / flood alerts, we skipped our plan for ECR and Mahabalipuram.

Tirupati to Kanchipuram was a 50%-50% mix of good and bad roads, with most of the bad roads on the exit of Tirupati and on entry and exit to Kanchipuram being in a bad condition! In between, roads were congested / bad surface and had traffic when we passed through villages, especially Arakkonam!! Road got increasingly better as we approached Pondicherry and traffic too eased up significantly!

Weather, ironically worked in our favor. We were in Kanchipuram on 11th, which had a red alert and due to which holiday had been declared so most shops and establishments were closed and which meant that roads were largely empty! Temple visits too revealed almost empty temples... near deserted. The actual weather itself was not a problem, we had rain in Kanchipuram but hardly anything severe and only minor waterlogged in few parts (we are from Mumbai ). After we crossed Kanchipuram, rain slowly abated to almost a drizzle, and by the time we reached Pondicherry, there was no rain at all. During transit, the rainy weather made for a beautiful drive, temperature was a low 17-20 degrees, an overcast sky, clouds rolling in the Ghats, and everything had a fresh green washed look!

Today the sun was out in full glory!

Simply amazing....

[MCR]

I have planned a trip to Puducherry after Christmas and have booked a Homestay through Airbnb. What would be the best route from Bangalore considering the roads are not really good on the Tiruvannamalai highway?

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by MCR

What would be the best route from Bangalore considering the roads are not really good on the Tiruvannamalai highway?

The Attibele-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Cheyyar-Wandiwash route would be better.

[ant_vas]

Originally Posted by MCR

I have planned a trip to Puducherry after Christmas and have booked a Homestay through Airbnb. What would be the best route from Bangalore considering the roads are not really good on the Tiruvannamalai highway?

I prefer to take the Bangalore-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Ambur-Penukonda-Arani-Thindivanam-Pondicherry route over the Cheyyar-Vandavasi route.

You will have to cross Arani citi and might add some 15- 20 mins, but rest of the roads post that are in great shape and traffic is sparse. plus this route hardly has speed humps which are a lot on the cheyyar-vandavasi route.

The route from Gingee-Thindivanam was broken the last time i traveled in November beginning, but nothing like the stretch between krishnagiri-thindivanam

[akkudreamz]

Thank you all for your suggestions and help.
I am travelling from Bengaluru to Puducherry tomorrow. Will share updates if any.

[TSEA]

I just did Bangalore to Auroville and then back. Took the below route

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/bang...3!2d11.9415915

The route essentially goes through the below cities:

Bangalore-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Ambur-Penukonda-Arani-Thindivanam-Pondicherry

The roads are mostly good throughout. It's better to plan your food pit stop while you are on Bangalore Chennai highway. Murugan Idly is good place for breakfast, however you might have to wait to be seated.

[cryptarchy]

Planning to go next week, will be starting from east bangalore.

1. Which route would you suggest depending on current road conditions and starting point.
2. Is there a requirement of covid testing or e-pass?
3. Which beach side upscale resorts/hotels would you suggest?

[akkudreamz]

Originally Posted by cryptarchy

Planning to go next week, will be starting from east bangalore.

1. Which route would you suggest depending on current road conditions and starting point.
2. Is there a requirement of covid testing or e-pass?
3. Which beach side upscale resorts/hotels would you suggest?

The route Bengaluru-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Arcot-Thindivanam-Pondicherry is the best. Did this route on 15th Dec. and it was in great condition.

DO NOT take Tiruvannamalai route even if Google Maps suggests. It is in horrible condition, and almost no decent places to stop for food/bio-break.

There was no checking/stopping whatsoever on our trip between 11-15th Dec. 2021. But will still recommend to carry vaccination certificates and e-pass.

The weather is awesome in Pondi right now, expect huge crowds due to Christmas/New Year.

[baridbej]

Originally Posted by Repsol

Just came back from Bangalore - Pondy trip, and used the route which has been suggested here by everyone. Very nice and scenic route with almost nil traffic. Though its some 50kms extra but each km of that is pure enjoyment.

Attachment 1670261

Attachment 1670262

Hi, what was the route that you took. Can you please help? I am planning a trip in 10 days from today and want to check at some suggestions. My starting destination is Thanisadra, near manyata tech park.

[ramanan.skr]

Need to travel to a temple near Vandavasi from ECR. Location of the temple - Temple

Which route is best to take?
1. ECR - Chenglepet - Melmaruvathur - Temple(heard some bridge collapse near CGL on GST. Is it worth taking?)
2. ECR - Mahab(ECR) - Melmaruvathur - Temple(Is SH from Mahab to Madurantakam good enough to take?) GMap
3. ECR - Tambaram - Sriperumbudur - Arcot - Arni - Vandavasi GMap

If you can suggest a better route, it will be very nice.

Thanks in Advance.

[searacer932]

Originally Posted by ramanan.skr

Need to travel to a temple near Vandavasi from ECR. Location of the temple - Temple

Which route is best to take?
1. ECR - Chenglepet - Melmaruvathur - Temple(heard some bridge collapse near CGL on GST. Is it worth taking?)
2. ECR - Mahab(ECR) - Melmaruvathur - Temple(Is SH from Mahab to Madurantakam good enough to take?) GMap
3. ECR - Tambaram - Sriperumbudur - Arcot - Arni - Vandavasi GMap

If you can suggest a better route, it will be very nice.

Thanks in Advance.

There is Palar bridge issue and I think the situation could be a bit bad from a traffic perspective for the next 2 months going by the reports! Please consider this in your travel plan.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...le38395807.ece

Palar bridge work ongoing near Chengalpattu, traffic to be diverted for 60 days

[ns94]

Originally Posted by ramanan.skr

Need to travel to a temple near Vandavasi from ECR. Location of the temple - Temple

Which route is best to take?
1. ECR - Chenglepet - Melmaruvathur - Temple(heard some bridge collapse near CGL on GST. Is it worth taking?)
2. ECR - Mahab(ECR) - Melmaruvathur - Temple(Is SH from Mahab to Madurantakam good enough to take?) GMap
3. ECR - Tambaram - Sriperumbudur - Arcot - Arni - Vandavasi GMap

If you can suggest a better route, it will be very nice.

Thanks in Advance.

Chengalpet - Uthiramerur - Vandavasi seems to be a good option. Other folks please correct me if there's any issue with this road.

On the Palar bridge issue, right now (9 Feb 10 AM) there doesn't seem to be any additional travel time according to Google maps

[ramanan.skr]

Originally Posted by searacer932

There is Palar bridge issue and I think the situation could be a bit bad from a traffic perspective for the next 2 months going by the reports! Please consider this in your travel plan.

Thats the reason why I asked for the alternate route(Thirukazhukundram to Madurantakam) to avoid this bridge GMap. Any idea if this road is good to drive.

[Agarwaka]

Hi, we will be driving from Bangalore (Indiranagar) to Pondicherry over this weekend. Would appreciate advice on the requirement of e-pass and how / where to apply for it. Thank you