[lifeinpune]

Drove from E-City to Pondicherry yesterday. Started at 8 AM and reached at 2:30 PM with a 1 hour+ break.

As usual Hosur diversion was bumper to bumper. Took 15 minutes to cross. Same for the first flyover construction diversion after that. The subsequent ones were OK. The rumble strips are slighly better than what they were earlier. But smaller cars will still need to slow down. We stopped at Krishna Inn as well as A2B but it was too crowded. Then tried Sai Ananda Bhavan on the service road about 50-100m after taking the exit for Chennai. They only had Dosa. But the food and service both were really good.

The Krishnagiri-Tindivanam route road is in good condition. There are 3 new tolls 60/55/60! The total toll for the entire trip distance of 305KM came to 355!

[revvytorques]

Drove from Whitefield/East Bangalore to Pondicherry

Onward Journey -
Hoskote-Chittoor-Ranipet-Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Tindivanam-Pondicherry

Drive Time - 7 hr 7 minutes

Road Quality - Good till Chittoor. Encountered town traffic near Ranipet/VIT, bad patches from Arcot to Tindivanam as four-laning in progress. However Arcot to Tindivanam stretch has sparse traffic except when you enter towns.

Pitstops -

• IOCL Swagat COCO before Kolar (4XMG+C4 Bellur, Karnataka), XP95 available
• Amirtha Restaurant (W8X9+H9 Ranipet, Tamil Nadu), nice Tamil style meals

Return Journey - Pondicherry-Tindivanam-Gingee-Thiruvannamalai-Krishnagiri-Attibele-Sarjapura-Whitefield

Drive Time - 6 hr 14 mins

Road Quality - Good turf throughout, NH77/179B is quite busy. Bypasses all towns like Gingee, Thiruvannamalai. It's a long 2 lane undivided toll road from Tindivanam to Krishnagiri.

Pitstops -

• Aishwarya Bhavan (6MR6+2W Tindivanam, Tamil Nadu), excellent Tamil style tiffins, service a bit slow & unorganized
• IOCL on NH77 (7WF6+87 Eraiyur, Tamil Nadu), XP95 available

My recommendation is to go via Pondicherry-Tindivanam-Gingee-Thiruvannamalai-Krishnagiri-Attibele-Sarjapura-Whitefield even if you stay in East Bangalore as the Arcot-Tindivanam stretch is undergoing widening.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by revvytorques

Road Quality - Good till Chittoor. Encountered town traffic near Ranipet/VIT, bad patches from Arcot to Tindivanam as four-laning in progress. However Arcot to Tindivanam stretch has sparse traffic except when you enter towns.

This is news! So the whole of Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Tindivanam is being 4-laned?

[indecisivebuyer]

First of all - thank you to the amazing team-bhp community for all that you do. Usually before any road trip, apart from packing I browser through route suggestions on team bhp which are worth their weight in gold!

Went to Pondy from Bangalore after about 5 years. Usually we take the Blr > Hosur > Krishnagiri > Ambur > Arcot > Cheyyar > Vandavasi > Tindivanam > Pondy route. Though it was longer, it avoided the Tiruvannamalai route which used to be bad.

Used to be! Not anymore.

Thanks to this forum, I tried out the route now and its first class.

Blr > Hosur > Krishnagiri > Tiruvannamalai > Tindivanam > Pondy.

318kms - took 6.5 hours (including a 1 hour stop for breakfast at Krishnagiri)

Left Bangalore at 7AM - near Hosur had some slow moving traffic due to the flyover construction - lost about 15mins - then stopped at Murugan Iddly Shop for breakfast but was super crowded with long wait times due to the long weekend I guess, so ditched it and continued to Krishnagiri and had breakfast at a hotel near the left we take for Chennai.
Proceeded towards Tiruvannamalai > Tindivanam. Peaceful drive. Great roads. There is no median, so you need to be a bit careful. The road has a pretty generous shoulder on most the stretches so bikers tend to use them - so it feels really wide and you dont have to be hyper alert all the time.


On some of the stretches that have winding roads they have put up these plastic waist height pillars which help ensure we dont stray onto the other side. I thought this was a practical and cost effective idea.

Total toll from Krishnagiri was around 180 rupees on this route.

Between Tiruvannamalai and Gingee an accident had occurred just 4-5mins before, young boy lost his life. His body was in the middle of the road. That was a sad thing to see.

Took the same route on the way back as well.

Thanks again team bhp for this route recommendation.

[bijoos123]

I too drove from Bangalore to Pondicherry and back during the last weekend, sticking to the Hosur > Krishnagiri > Tiruvannamalai > Tindivanam route. The roads are good, but the time taken will actually depend on the time of travel. Friday evening drive from Bangalore to Pondy took 6.25 hours, while Sunday morning drive back took just 5 hours (time excluding breaks). Overall driving was still a breeze, in comparison to the horrifying drive that i had many years ago on the Krishnagiri - Tindivanam stretch.

Have to say that the traffic bollards are placed in a totally unscientific way, with no forewarning or signage. i think these do more harm than good.

[itwasntme]

Glad to know this ‘direct’ route is finally redone! Used it many years back when it was falling apart, and never did Pondy again.

Anyone been on the ECR and Mahabalipuram too? How is the route from the Pondy end?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Anyone been on the ECR and Mahabalipuram too? How is the route from the Pondy end?

I used it last year. No changes I think. But it's the ECR with lots of 2L traffic. If you are planning to head out this week, please do check on weather conditions.

There is red alerts on rains. 16-18th of October.

[whitewing]

Planning to travel to Pondy in a couple of days. Based on the experiences shared by other members, was thinking of the
Blr > Hosur > Krishnagiri > Tiruvannamalai > Tindivanam > Pondy [Est duration ~6Hrs & 320 kms]

However, Google maps indicates a flood alert near Krishnagiri. Any update on the current situation in Krishnagiri?

The alternate route suggested by google is
BLR > Hosur > Rayakottai > Karaimangalam > Thippampatti > Puliyur > Tiruvannamalai > Gingee > Pondy [Est duration ~7.5Hrs & 334 kms]

The other route suggested in this thread seem to be a bit longer is (known devil)
Hoskote-Chittoor-Ranipet-Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Tindivanam-Pondicherry [Est duration ~8Hrs & 382 kms]

Any suggestions would be helpful. Traveling with family & a dog in a Swift.

[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by whitewing

Planning to travel to Pondy in a couple of days. Based on the experiences shared by other members, was thinking of the
Blr > Hosur > Krishnagiri > Tiruvannamalai > Tindivanam > Pondy [Est duration ~6Hrs & 320 kms]

However, Google maps indicates a flood alert near Krishnagiri. Any update on the current situation in Krishnagiri?

The alternate route suggested by google is
BLR > Hosur > Rayakottai > Karaimangalam > Thippampatti > Puliyur > Tiruvannamalai > Gingee > Pondy [Est duration ~7.5Hrs & 334 kms]

The other route suggested in this thread seem to be a bit longer is (known devil)
Hoskote-Chittoor-Ranipet-Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Tindivanam-Pondicherry [Est duration ~8Hrs & 382 kms]

Any suggestions would be helpful. Traveling with family & a dog in a Swift.

The flood alert was because of last week when parts of Hosur - Krishnagiri stretch was under water and saw temporary water logging. That has been cleared immediately.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by whitewing

Blr > Hosur > Krishnagiri > Tiruvannamalai > Tindivanam > Pondy [Est duration ~6Hrs & 320 kms]

I would avoid this route for two reasons
1. flyover construction between Attible and Krishnagiri (5 of them) creates bottlenecks, which could become very irritating during long weekend traffic.
2. Since it's deepavali, would expect more traffic in towns you need to drive through on this route.

Hoskote-Chittoor-Ranipet-Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Tindivanam-Pondicherry [Est duration ~8Hrs & 382 kms]

This would be my preferred route given that it's a long weekend as most towns have a bypass. Additionally, it's easy to get out of city and get to hoskote via STRR if you are staying close to STRR.

[itwasntme]

Pertinent discussions going on here:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ml#post5864070 (On Bypassing Bangalore)

[manish84]

Planning to drive to Pondicherry from Sadashivanagar on 31 Oct morning. I have read last few pages of this thread and most members have suggested Blr > Hosur > Krishnagiri > Tiruvannamalai > Tindivanam > Pondy route.

Would this route help to avoid the congestion between Hosur and Krishnagiri toll?
Blr > Attibele > Kelamangalam > Rayakottai > Krishnagiri > Tiruvannamalai > Tindivanam > Pondy

I am traveling with an infant and would want to minimise the total time taken to reach Pondy. Planning to start at 5 am.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by manish84

Planning to drive to Pondicherry from Sadashivanagar on 31 Oct morning. I have read last few pages of this thread and most members have suggested Blr > Hosur > Krishnagiri > Tiruvannamalai > Tindivanam > Pondy route.

Would this route help to avoid the congestion between Hosur and Krishnagiri toll?
Blr > Attibele > Kelamangalam > Rayakottai > Krishnagiri > Tiruvannamalai > Tindivanam > Pondy

I am traveling with an infant and would want to minimise the total time taken to reach Pondy. Planning to start at 5 am.

If possible start at 4am and take the direct route only, traffic its not bad for a early start. Last week I started at 4am and it took only 1 hour to reach Krishnagiri.

[Jazzybala]

Originally Posted by manish84

Planning to drive to Pondicherry from Sadashivanagar on 31 Oct morning. I have read last few pages of this thread and most members have suggested Blr > Hosur > Krishnagiri > Tiruvannamalai > Tindivanam > Pondy route.

Would this route help to avoid the congestion between Hosur and Krishnagiri toll?
Blr > Attibele > Kelamangalam > Rayakottai > Krishnagiri > Tiruvannamalai > Tindivanam > Pondy

I am traveling with an infant and would want to minimise the total time taken to reach Pondy. Planning to start at 5 am.

You could also take BLR-Rayakottai-Palacode-dharmapuri-Thiruvannamalai-Pondy route and avoid Krishnagiri completely.

Do note that this is a circuitous route and mostly on State highways but scenic in the monsoons.

[whitewing]

Did a BLR->Pondy run over the Deepawali weekend

31st Nov (BLR->Pondy), took the Blr > Hosur > Krishnagiri > Tiruvannamalai > Tindivanam > Pondy. Started early ~4.30AM (North B'lore), got stuck for almost 45 mins at the first flyover construction at Krishnagiri, post that it was a breeze.
We stopped every hour or so for our dog to stretch his legs plus a breakfast break at Shoolagiri. Excluding the breaks took up ~7 hrs of sedate driving.

3rd Nov (Pondy->Blr) returned via the same route and took us ~8.5hrs of drive time, there appeared to be more vehicles on the road and boorish traffic as well. Saw several cars (I assume returning to B'lore, most were KA registered) that were overtaking dangerously with little care of others.
Came across an accident that had occurred a short time prior - 2 wheeler was knocked down by a car. There was already a good amount of locals assembled some other drivers, so proceeded shortly after checking that ambulance was called. Didn't look good for the rider.

Road conditions are excellent, asphalted roads. Such a pleasure to ride on them, when compared to the concrete on the major NHs & expressways. Most of this stretch is 2 lane with no dividers.