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-   -   Bangalore - Pondicherry : Route Queries (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/19838-bangalore-pondicherry-route-queries-26.html)

Hi All,

We are planning to travel from Bangalore to Pondicherry, starting tomorrow, and coming back on Thursday, 27 Oct evening.

The route we are planning to take, thanks to the numerous invaluable inputs in this thread is as follows-

Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Kanchipuram-Chengalapettu-Tindivanam-Pondicherry.

We'll be traveling in my Swift, with 3 adults and one kid aged 4.

Kindly post any news and views you may have on this plan, esp regarding the route and any recent feedback on road conditions.

Looking forward to your comments, I'll keep you posted.

Cheers,
R_S

If you read the last few pages on this forum you will find several recommendations for the Arcot-Vandavasi-Cheyyar route and I think this will be shorter than Kanchipuram route too (also not sure if the Kanchipuram-Chengalpattu town traffic will be a deterrent on your planned route).
Hope this helps.
EDIT:See Post #363 from @ampere and #366 from J Ravi - our resident route experts !

Roadieswift,
The road up to Kancheepuram is butter smooth. From Kanchipuram to Chengalput is a short distance with single road and the traffic is moderate and you can ignore this issue.From Chenagalput Upto Pondy is smooth like the former one. Dont for get to take the service road to Pondy from Tindivanam bye pass. Tindivanam Pondy is good when I went there was no toll but no idea now.

Hi All,

Unfortunately there's been a change of plans.. Pondy didn't work out, so we had to waste today's day cooling our heels in Bangalore. However, there is a new plan in place and we will be leaving for Mudumalai tomorrow morning. Planning to stay at The Wilderness.

Many thanks to NPV and navan49, for your valuable suggestions! Will keep you posted on the actual events.

Cheers,
R_S

Hi Folks,

We will be making a trip to Pondicherry in a couple of weeks and would like to know the following from folks who have already travelled there:

Routes based on the suggestions provided by majority of the members in this thread:

Car: Honda City (ANHC) (Hope the routes mentioned below are doable considering the low GC of the car)

1) Bangalore->Krishnagiri->Vellore->Kanchipuram->Chengalpattu->Tindivanam->Pondy

2) Bangalore->Krishnagiri->Vellore->Arcot->Cheyyar->Vandavasi->Tindivanam->Pondy

Suggestions Needed for the following:

1) We are planning to do both routes but are confused which one to do for onward journey and which for return based on the following points:

a) Planning to visit temples in Kanchipuram (Ekambareshwar, kamakshi Amman, Varadaraja Perumal Temple) on the way.
b) Since we will be travelling on a weekday, will it be a good idea to do the Kanchipuram route by leaving early at 4:30AM from Bangalore considering the weekday traffic, crowd etc at Kanchipuram?. If so, need help on good hotels to stop for Breakfast since stopping at Krishnagiri will be too early.

2) If we are not doing the kanchipuram route for our onward journey:
a) Need help on good hotels to stop for breakfast via Vellore->Arcot->Cheyyar->Tindivanam->Pondy route since Krishnagiri will be too early again stopping for breakfast.
b) Since we will be returning back from Pondy on Sunday, is it a good idea to do the Kanchipuram route and visit the temples mentioned above considering the Sunday crowd, traffic etc in Kanchipuram and also along the entire route?
c) Incase this option turns out to be a good idea, can we do Pondy->Mahabalipuram->Chengalpattu->Kanchipuram->Krishnagiri->BLR instead of the one mentioned earlier or would it be too crowded due to sunday traffic?

Appreciate your suggestions and inputs.

Cheers,
KTP

Hi,

1. Please note that the all the temples in Kanchipuram MAY be closed between 12.30/1.00pm- 4pm

2. Reg. Hotels, if you start at 4.30am in BLR, you can have breakfast either in Vellore (or ) Kanchipuram itself

3. Pondy->Mahabalipuram->Chengalpattu->Kanchipuram->Krishnagiri->BLR

Pondy -> Mahabalipuram - ECR Road
Mahabalipuram -> Thirukazhukundram -> Chengalpattu -> Kanchipuram - State highways of around 70km but it will easily take 1.5hrs ( not sure about the road condition after the monsoon rain )

As seagull mentioned, Kanchi temples would be closed in the afternoon.
A better solution can be to cover these on the way back, by starting early to reach Kanchi in time. If you do that you can have a food break at Kachi itself (for the return leg)


If you want to cover Kanchi while going to Pondy then, if you start by 4AM sharp, you should be in Kanchi by around 9AM. That gives you about 3 hours. Now darshan times depends on the crowd that day.

But note that at 4 in the morning while starting, only guy open for food is the Coffee Day at Shoolagiri. Adyar Anand Bhavan at Shoolagiri opens only beyond 6 I think.

So, If you decide to visit Kanchi while going and chose to come back via Cheyyar, then a good a place break is Vellore Saravana Bhavan. But to reach the hotel you have to get away from the highway and need to go about 4-5km.


While going to Pondi

* Ekambaranathar temple is located in Big Kanchi [the one you will get first while entering Kanchi from Bangalore/Chennai].

* Kamakshi Amman temple is located on the way to bus-stand.

* Varadaraja Perumal temple is located in Little Kanchi [the one you will get first while entering Kanchi from Chengalpet/Walajabad].

* It will take minimum half-hour to go by car from Ekambaranathar temple to Varadaraja Perumal temple. Add more time for Sundays and peak hours. Crossing the bus-stand and Gandhi Road is a pain. While coming from Chengapet/Walajabad, a diversion is to be taken as Gandhi Road is one-way in a particular stretch near the chariot-stand.

* Minimum time required to cover all the three temples including inter-temple transportation: 4 hours. As already mentioned, temples in Tamil Nadu close at 12 noon and again open in the evening. Covering all the three temples in one day without intervening closure period is difficult. I suggest, utilise the temple closure period for lunch, and perhaps, shopping of silk sarees.:D

* Hotel Saravana Bhavan [genuine - not a fake] has two branches in Kanchi: one at Gandhi Road [with good secured car parking facility] and the other near the bus-stand [road-side parking]. I always go to the former and avoid the latter due to its congested location.

* Hotel Arya Bhavan [reccommended] and CCD are located after Pallikonda toll plaza on RHS attached to HP COCO pump on NH 46 while going from Bangalore towards Vellore.

* Ambur is famous for its biryani. I don't have any personal experience on that.

* Adyar Ananda Bhavan and Hotel Surguru located diagonally opposite to each other at Nehru Street near Ashram/beach are good eateries in Pondy. Hotel Jayaram [the first you get while entering Pondy from Bangalore] located on LHS on Kamaraj Salai is also recommended. It has secured car parking facility.

* There is no good eatery worth recommending on Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi stretch.

* No issues of bottom-scraping due to low GC in any one of the two routes mentioned.

* Bon voyage.

@kirantp, if you want some place on the highway, there is also one Arya Bhavan just before Vellore. On my trip to Pondicherry through Kanchi (I had left Blr at 4:30 am), I had stopped at this place at around 7am or so. The food was decent and service was quick.

It is behind a CCD outlet (which was closed at that time) attached to an HP petrol pump. Not sure of the coordinates but I remember it was about 20 minutes before Vellore.

[Edit: Oops, just noticed that J.Ravi has mentioned about Hotel Arya Bhavan ]

Hi,

If you are planning to cover Kanchi, i would advise you to also add Kailasanathar temple as well. It is one of the old temples and a must see in Kanchi.
Regards to food, there is a hotel bang opposite to Saravana bhavan at Gandhi road.Food is good and service is quick as well

A big thanks to all of you for taking the pain and providing valuable suggestions and inputs.

After going thru each one of your points, I am almost certain that we will now be doing the Kanchipuram route both ways so that we can cover more temples and at the same time enjoy the food at kanchi. My wife, a typical Tamilian, is already hinting me on shopping silk sarees at Kanchi and I am scared that it might leave a gaping hole on my wallet that is already filled with lots of holes due to frequent hike in Petrol price :Frustrati . Nevertheless, worth going for it rather than spending double the price if purchased in BLR :D

Thank you sir for your suggestions. I shall add them to my plan as I do not want to miss any piece of information and later run around for it

There is another Arya Bhavan below the Vellore Katpadi bridge on NH46. After the bridge that crosses the railway line you have to take left at a median where it says Vellore-Katpadi. You will go below the bridge and at the junction on the left you have Arya Bhavan. This is an excellent place in Vellore to stop for breakfast. Sservice within 5 minutes, and ample car parking too.

It is called Hotel Aryaas.

After going thru each one of your points, I am almost certain that we will now be doing the Kanchipuram route both ways so that we can cover more temples and at the same time enjoy the food at kanchi. My wife, a typical Tamilian, is already hinting me on shopping silk sarees at Kanchi and I am scared that it might leave a gaping hole on my wallet that is already filled with lots of holes due to frequent hike in Petrol price :Frustrati . Nevertheless, worth going for it rather than spending double the price if purchased in BLR :D[/quote]

Reg: Silk Sarees ensure to buy genuine one ( lot of fake ones available in kanchi ). It's better to go for government supported weavers co-operative society shops ( couple of them like anna society are in gandhi road,kanchipuram )