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This is a painful option. The problem being crossing Kanchi. Add to it Kanchi-Chengalpet road is also not a great one.

Yes, Crossing Kanchipuram can be a pain. But the road from kanchi to Chengelpet is not all that bad. Infact i drove on this stretch till Walajahbad last October. The 2 lane road was in very good condition.
In my return trip from Chettipunyam, i took the road leading to Walajbad. This road was average with quite a number of potholes. Infact i was driving in the night. Post Walajahbad to kanchi, no issues at all except for Kanchipuram town traffic.

I did the Bangalore - Hoskote-Chittoor-Ranipet-Arcot-Vandawasi-Tindivanam-Pondicherry this time on the advice of a colleague who uses it to go to Chennai. Its a really good option :
1. Easier for folks live close to Old Madras Road.
2. Max toll to be paid is 64+16=80 rs till you reach Pondy. (Of course there is a 39 rs as soon as you enter Pondy. You cannot escape that. )
3. Pretty less traffic.
4. Good roads. Till Karnataka border its a four lane road. Then its a smooth single lane road.
4. Good options for food+loo breaks like CCD, Adigas on the way

It took me an hour less than the Krishnagiri-Vellore route.(probably because I dont have to go via Marthahalli+Silkboard+Bomanahalli)

Drove back from Pondicherry yesterday via Tindivanam - Vandavasi - Cheyyar - Arcot - Krishnagiri. Beautiful roads and almost zero traffic. Reached home in 6 hours with just 1 30 min break.

This section is good. Just that one needs to be cautious on the 2-lane sections after the border. Some times the truck traffic can be quite bad and painful.

+1 Thats exactly why it helps for people in East Bangalore. Plus you forgot Krishnagiri-Hosur-Electronic City traffic which you save.

Hello All,
I am doing a Blr-Pondi-Blr Drive during the Coming weekend (Feb 21/22), wanted to know which is the best route?
1) The tried and tested: Pondi - Tindivanam - Vandavasi - Cheyyar - Arcot - Vellore - Ambur - Krishnagiri - Hosur - Blr?
2) How is the current Road Condition?
3) Is there any alternate i should consider? will be driving with a Two year old so food option on the way and good roads are preferred (even if the distance increases a bit)

The route you intend to go is the alternate route as against the T V Malai route that is shorter. No second thoughts. Take the route you mentioned above.

In case you wish to drive on a major portion of the 4 lane road then proceed till Kanchipuram and then take the Kanchi-Chengelpet road. This is a very good 2 lane road. At Chengelpet you will intersect NH45 (GST). Then you can proceed to Pondicherry via Tindivanam.
The only bottleneck in the route that i am suggesting is the traffic hold up at Kanchi.

Thank you Suresh. I will leave out Kanchi for now. 2 lane / 4 lane doesn't matter as long as roads are good.
Also, where should I break for breakfast? Planning to leave BLR (eCity area) by 7 AM.

Krishnagiri is about 90 kms from Bangalore. I guess it should take you around 1-1.5 hrs to reach that place. You have plenty of options to break for tiffin enroute, like A2B, Kamat, Lakshmi Nivas or Vilas (not sure) etc..
Or else once you take a left turn towards chennai from krishnagiri, you have good options to break for tiffin.

Did Bangalore - Vellore - Arcot - Cheyyar bye-pass - Vandavasi (Missed taking bye-pass) - Tindivanam bye-pass Pondicherry last weekend.

Roads are good all throughout, traffic was minimal. Apart from few unmarked speed breakers around villages no issues.

Started from Silkboard at 05.45 AM, reached Aryas Vellore for breakfast at 08.15 AM. After a one hour break for breakfast started and reached Auroville around noon. Saw the place and started to Pondicherry via ECR.

A friend of mine did a road trip to pondicherry a few months back. He also has a 2 year old and wanted good roads and places to stop even if the distance was a little longer. I suggested Bangalore-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Salem-Ulundurpet-Villupuram-Tindivanam-Pondicherry. He was very happy with the road as it is completely four laned, The downside is that it is around 50 Kms more than the Arcot Cheyyar route and has a lot of toll booths.

There are plenty of options for food breaks on this route. I do it very often and it takes me about 5-6 hours with minimal stops but with a kid on board my friend did it in about 7-8 hours

Friends,

Sorry for the mass quote - we're going to Pondi this coming weekend (Thu-Sun). Couple of questions:
a. Any place within a 4k budget that has good wifi and has some space / green area for the son and isnt far away from the city? We normally stay at l'orient and love hanging out at the promenade/french quarter but we're open to other places this time. Sunway GRT Grand looks nice but not sure if it has green areas, or only a parking/lawn. Atithi has no space for the kid.
The wife must report for a scuba course everyday near the train station so cant have something near auroville (nice homestays there!)
b. Ideas for keeping the son busy in the days? http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ndicherry.html gave me some ideas. Any others? I'm thinking of Pichavaram.

thanks in advance!

@Phamilyman
You can take either of routes - via Arcot ( MPK Suhas) or via Ullundurpet.

Reg activities there:
If you plan to visit Auroville then check the requirements on their website - or check at the Pondy city office of the Ashram.

Thanks for all the suggestion folks. Our trip went well. It was an awesome break from our daily chores.
Few words of caution about roads etc. While going to Pondi, we took the road via Vellore. As already pointed out by many , roads till Vellore are butter smooth and post that roads are still OK but its an undivided highway and speed bumps just before and after a village reminded me of BLR-MYS drives :), But there are no potholes etc and roads till Pondi are good

Just got lost a bit to locate our club Mahindra resort after entering Pondi town but made it post a 20 min delay.

While returning back to BLR today, wanted to try the Salem route, Turned out that it was the biggest mistake I made on this trip :Frustrati, There are no doubts that Salem to BLR is an excellent drive, proper 6 lane roads with awesome tarmac quality. The problem was Pondi till Salem.
I think the mistake is that I relied completely on HERE (Nokia) maps thinking there can't be confusion between Pondi and Salem. It was a nightmarish drive guys, I do not recollect all towns but I surely passed Cuddalore and Neyveli
There was a stretch of around 95 Kms and I took close to 3 Hrs, All those 3 hrs driving on the horrible roads :Shockked: , I was cursing my decision of not going via Vellore road

So for all folks going to Pondi from BLR, I suggest the road via Vellore without a doubt . The exact map of the route I am suggesting is this - https://goo.gl/maps/DJt1A

From Pondicherry you should have come to Villupuram and then followed NH45 till Ulundurpet . Then you should have deviated to NH68 all the way till salem.

Did you come by the route I mentioned??

Mate

Did you come via Cuddalore, Neyveli and Vriddhachalam and then went via V Koot Road??. That would have been a hellish drive. I had the misfortune of driving on the V koot road in December last.