[ampere]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

You can even try the Vellore-Arni-Vandavasi route. The roads here too are good 2 lane roads

From Melmaruvathur he wanted to goto Tiruvannamalai. Hence I suggested the Vandavasi/Chetpet option which bypasses Tindivanam-Gingee.

[gopikb]

Originally Posted by ampere

Sorry! I some how always thought you may end up not going to Tiruvannamalai. So never realised that! The reason this came to mind was many use the Vellore/Acot - Polur/Arani road to Tiruvannamalai; esp those who come from Chennai. So was thinking was not try this option? Roads I don't think all that great, but they surely won't be that bad either.

Ampere, Thanks. Five years ago, whenever we drive to Melmaruvathur, Tiruvannamalai was a default stop for us. But since the past few years we had to skip Tiruvannamalai due to bad roads. Now the Melmaruvathur-Vandavasi-Chetput-Tiruvannamalai seem to have opened the corridor once again. I can do the below route which is good at present

Onward:
Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Melmaruvathur

Return:
Melmaruvathur-Vandavasi-Chetput-Tiruvannamalai-Harur-Morappur-Karimangalam-Krishnagiri-Bangalore

Sorry to hijack the Pondy thread. But might be useful for people who might want to visit Tiruvannamalai enroute to Pondy

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

You can even try the Vellore-Arni-Vandavasi route. The roads here too are good 2 lane roads

suresh, Thanks. The vellore-Arni-Vandavasi-Melmaruvathur is 113kms of 2 lane roads and Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Melmaruvathur is 95kms of 2 lane roads. The difference is not much and it does open up another option. I might probably try it next time for a change

[speedsatya]

We might also drive to Pondicherry through the GQ- Arcot - Tindivanam route. We have a toddler also travelling so plan is to stop for breakfast after krishnagiri. Plan is to start around 430 am
What options do we have ?


Sent from my iPad using Team-BHP

[vishnu-man]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

We might also drive to Pondicherry through the GQ- Arcot - Tindivanam route. We have a toddler also travelling so plan is to stop for breakfast after krishnagiri. Plan is to start around 430 am
What options do we have ?


Sent from my iPad using Team-BHP

Satya,
I had a similar issue when I'd traveled in March. I happened to mention in my post (#1089, page-73) about the eating joints. Here's a copy-paste for your reference:
Another note on the eating joints, we missed out having breakfast near Krishnagiri as my son was asleep and we didn't want to wake him up. The next best place we ended up was at Arya Bhavan (which is within HP Petrol Bunk's premises and also has a CCD), which is on your right hand side after the Vellore road's second toll. You can take the U-turn. It's pretty easy, there's a sign-board indicating about Arya Bhavan too.

Hope this helps.
Have a good one!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

We might also drive to Pondicherry through the GQ- Arcot - Tindivanam route. We have a toddler also travelling so plan is to stop for breakfast after krishnagiri. Plan is to start around 430 am
What options do we have ?

After the Pallikonda toll (About 200km), if you drive another 3-4 km you have CCD and there is Hotel Aryas also attached with it. But its on the other side of the road. Go further up you also have hotel Ananda; again on the other side of the road.

[Gokrish]

Originally Posted by ampere

After the Pallikonda toll (About 200km), if you drive another 3-4 km you have CCD and there is Hotel Aryas also attached with it. But its on the other side of the road. Go further up you also have hotel Ananda; again on the other side of the road.

And you have Hotel Deepam on the same side as CCD. But some of the openings on the divider like the one opposite this hotel were closed recently. Might be required to take a slightly longer detour!

[Safety is Param]

Planning a 2nd trip to Pondicherry next week. The 1st trip was in March this year - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post3386623

Have booked Kailash Beach Resort this time for close proximity to Paradise Beach!

[Safety is Param]

Originally Posted by Safety is Param

Planning a 2nd trip to Pondicherry next week.

Hi! I shall be returning tomorrow to Bangalore, however, am planning to visit Golden Temple at Vellore enroute.

Couple of questions -

1. Have heard that the temple is worth visiting during evening, mainly due to the lighting. How true is that? I shall have to start late from pondy and arrive late into bangalore because of this. Kindly suggest.

2. Sygic currently shows the route via Tindivanam - Gingee - Chetpet - Arani - Kannamangalam as the shortest - 161 kms - Is this route worth the effort or is the SH-5 through Tindivanam - Vandavasi - Cheyyar - Arcot the best bet?

I dont have wi-fi at my disposal right now for getting answers to the above questions myself.

Appreciate your inputs!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Safety is Param

Couple of questions -

1. Have heard that the temple is worth visiting during evening, mainly due to the lighting. How true is that? I shall have to start late from pondy and arrive late into bangalore because of this. Kindly suggest.

Its definitely worth it. But they don't allow camera inside. But no idea about timings. If you don't want to drive late, you can chose to stay at Vellore. Quite many places. And now there is also a GRT !

2. Sygic currently shows the route via Tindivanam - Gingee - Chetpet - Arani - Kannamangalam as the shortest - 161 kms - Is this route worth the effort or is the SH-5 through Tindivanam - Vandavasi - Cheyyar - Arcot the best bet?

Take the regular route back (Tindivanam-Vandavasi-Cheyyar-Arcot-Vellore). You don't gain much by taking interior roads.
Drive till Vellore. Get into the town. Ask for the CMC hospital. Its there you find the road to Arani. Within 1km you can see a fork and the Arani road turns to your left. Don't take that. Keep going straight and you should hit the temple.

[raveesh_k]

Hi friends,

Just returned from a 2N-3D trip to Pondicherry from Bangalore.

Last I travelled to the city was in Oct 2012 the route details for which you might have come across at -

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2923886

The 20 route milestones that I have mentioned in the above post remain almost the same with few changes/updates that I have mentioned in the new details below:

Journey Statistics:

Bangalore-Pondicherry

Route taken: BLR-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Arcot (bypass)-Cheyyar (bypass)-Vandavasi (bypass)-Tindivanam (bypass)-Pondicherry
Date: 1st May 2014
Start Time from Bangalore (Electronic City): 5:30 AM
End Time at Pondicherry (Auroville Visitor Center): 11:00 AM
Total Distance: 360 KM
Total Time: 5:30 hours
Break: 15 mins at Aryabhavan at Vellore and 15 mins after crossing Tindivanam bypass
Effective Travel Time: 5 hours

Pondicherry-Bangalore

Route taken: Pondicherry-Tindivanam (bypass)-Vandavasi (bypass)-Cheyyar (bypass)-Arcot (bypass)-Vellore-Krishnagiri-BLR
Date: 3rd May 2014
Start Time from Pondicherry (Auroville Visitor Center): 3.00 PM
End Time at Bangalore (Electronic City): 9.00 PM
Total Distance: 360 KM
Total Time: 6 hours
Break: 30 mins at Aryabhavan at Vellore.
Effective Travel Time: 5.5 hours

Set of wheels: Maruti Swift VXi. 4 people onboard with minimal luggage. Average with AC: Onward ~ 13 kmpl, Return ~ 14.5 kmpl. Tire Pressure: 32 psi front and back.

Looking at the 'Effective Travel Time', don’t be surprised because the roads are so good that you can easily maintain 100-110 throughout. In fact the engine was humming at 4k RPM at good stretches which goes to show the disappointing mileage of 13 kmpl in a Maruti.

Let me illustrate the route now.

1. Take the Hosur Road and head to Krishnagiri. It’s a good hour and half journey from Electronics City toll (down ramp).
1a. En route to Krishnagiri two tolls will be encountered, first toll is Attibele (25/-) and second toll is Krishnagiri (60/-)
2. Take a left.
2b. This left will come at a distance of 75 kms after crossing Electronic City Down Ramp Toll.
3. Just after taking this left you will see a sign to go right for Pondicherry. This is a very bad road. Though its 80 kms shorter than the route I took, it will take much longer time to cover in addition to the rattling your bones and suspension will go through. Very bad roads.
4. Not taking the right as mentioned above, head straight to Vellore. It’s a six lane. Brilliant condition. Few diversions though due to construction going on at the moment. When I say a diversion, it’s not a detour but single lanes created for vehicles alongside the under-construction site on the main highway.
5. After about 48 kms you will hit a toll (70/-); keep going straight.
5a. After about 53 kms from the toll mentioned in #5 you will hit another toll (75/-); keep going straight.
6. Just about 9 kms from #5a, keep a check on the right hand side of the road. You will spot a HP petrol pump along with a café coffee day and Aryabhavan. If you want you can take a pit stop here because as mentioned in an earlier post this is a fine eating place.
7. In case you want to stop here, you will have go straight further down and take a U-turn to come to the other side. U-turn when coming to the other side to Aryabhavan and when leaving Aryabhavan to come to your route will not be far to spot.
8. A special note I would like to mention here is that depending on your time of arrival at Aryabhavan, do try out the lunch meal if they are serving. Its 70 bucks and yum! (Clean toilets available)
9. After the break, take again a U-turn and you will back on route. Keep going straight. After crossing Vellore and you will see boards of Arcot directing to your right. Arcot Sign will come approx. 30 kms from #6. Ignore that and go straight.
10. After a while you will start seeing boards of Ranipet. Just after that you will hit a bi-fork (a Y junction). Take the left side.
11. This will take you to the Arcot bridge over a dry river bed. Your aim is to come to the other side. So take a U turn after crossing the river bed and come back. Note: To take this U-Turn, you will have to get down to the service lane on the left just when you cross the main bridge and take a U-turn underneath on to the right to come to the other side. This is because now they have closed all cuts in the divider on the main road. After taking the U-turn, get on to the bridge and just after the bridge ends, take the first left. This is the bypass road alongside the dry river bed. It’s a two lane but decent condition. Minimal traffic.
12. At the end of the road, you will hit a T-junction where you will see a board pointing to Tindivanam towards left. Take that. Good roads, two-lane but almost no traffic. You will cross Adhiparasakthi College o your right.
12a. You will hit a T junction showing signboard for Cheyyar towards left. Take that.
13. Now you will be heading to Cheyyar. Just before hitting a town you will see another bi-fork. Take the right lane (will be marked as a bypass). Go straight, there will be a crossing, keep going straight. At the end of the road, take a right to hit a bridge over a river bed. Just after the bridge take a left at the T-junction to head to Vandavasi.
14. Keep following the road, till you hit a small bridge which almost ends into a T-junction. After crossing the bridge, take the road on the right as this is the Vandavasi bypass road. This road again hits a T-junction at the end from where you have to take a left.
15. Go straight and you will start seeing some outskirt markets in Vandavasi. That is because you have bypassed the town and reached the other side. Straight ahead you will also see a bridge. Don’t take that, turn right instead. Now you are heading towards the last town before Pondicherry, i.e. Tindivanam.
16. Just before you hit Tindivanam, you can take a left on the college road as illustrated by post #453. This road takes you to a railway bridge after which you hit the main Chennai highway.
17. Right where you hit the main highway you will see a divider cut for you to go to the other side and take a right. Keep following the highway.
18. You will see a flyover. Do not get onto it, but rather take left which takes you to Pondicherry. Again 6 lane and excellent roads.
19. Just when you are able to see the Pondicherry toll gates in a distance you will see a cut in the left. This left takes you to the Auroville road and gets you to the other side on ECR.
20. Make your choice as to which side on Pondicherry you would want to enter from. I would recommend the Auroville road because you avoid a lot of traffic inside the Pondicherry.

While coming back we took exactly the same route. The only thing that you have to adjust to is the Arcot bridge detour (#11 above). On your way back, you don’t have to follow anything similar. After the bypass running along the dry river bed hits a crossing, you will see two possible lefts that can be taken. One is the extreme left and the other one is more of a left which is ahead of the extreme left (hope I am able to explain). Take this one, and you are on your way to Vellore.

You can stop over at Aryabhavan again for lunch/break if you please.
I also had a GPS device with me, which helped me a lot along with excellent guiding directions given in this post. After Vellore towards Pondicherry the roads are mostly 2 lane but excellent to drive on with minimal traffic.

Other points:
1. Booking for Matri Mandir in Auroville close from 11am to 2 pm. Plan your travel time accordingly. We arrived at 11.15 am so had to wait till 2 to get our bookings.
2. Parking at Auroville Visitor Center is 40/-
3. Petrol in Pondicherry is 70/-
4. Paradise Beach Opens at 9 am and is 12 kms from Beach Road in Pondicherry. To get to the beach you have to take a boat from the boat house at 150/- per person. Carry a water bottle for sure on the beach though they claim they have a beach restaurant but it did not open till 12 pm and we were damn thirsty by then.


References I took in coming up with this draft:
vsbabu's detailed route instructions is in post #446 in this thread
J.Ravi photos for Tindivanam bypass is in post #453

Hope this helps!
Cheers!

[Safety is Param]

Originally Posted by raveesh_k

Hi friends,
Just returned from a 2N-3D trip to Pondicherry from Bangalore.
Journey Statistics:Cheers!

Those are very good numbers compared to what I achieved twice in the last 2 and a half months.

I took the same route, to and fro, twice, however, always clocked between 6.5 to 7 hrs in our SUNNY

During the first trip, we took a break at KAMAT (25 mins) on the way to Pondy and at McD (Shoolagiri)(30 mins, sunset was quite good) while returning.

During the trip last week, we took a break at A2B (30 mins) on the way to Pondy, then one more lunch break at Aaryas (more than 30 mins) on Tindivanam-Pondy highway; and while returning at Krishna Sagar (25 mins) in Shoolagiri.

During both the journeys, the traveled distance was 374 kms one-way (starting and ending at Banashankari).

Wishing you many more fun-filled and memorable journeys!

[highwaycruizer]

Hi friend,

Just returned from a 3N-4D trip to Pondicherry from Bangalore in my Ford EcoSport TDCI.

Trip Details: Bangalore-Pondicherry-Bangalore 23rd - 26th May 2014

Took the following route BLR-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Arcot (bypass)-Cheyyar (bypass)-Vandavasi (bypass)-Tindivanam (bypass)-Pondicherry. Started from Bangalore (E-City) at 7 AM & reached Pondicherry at 12:00 PM

Also did a Pondicherry-Mahabalipuram-Pondicherry on the ECR. Loved the drive, even though being a Single lane road without a Median .

On return journey took the same route. Started from Pondicherry at 10:30 AM & reached Bangalore (E-City) at 4 PM. Faced traffic for the last 50 odd KMs

Average with AC: Onward ~ 14 kmpl, Return ~ 13 kmpl. Tire Pressure: 32 psi front and back.

The roads are so good that you can easily maintain 100-110 throughout. Would like to recommend the above route to anybody planning a Pondicherry-Bangalore trip.

Hope the info is helpfull

[vijayendra16]

Originally Posted by highwaycruizer

Hi friend,

Just returned from a 3N-4D trip to Pondicherry from Bangalore in my Ford EcoSport TDCI.

Trip Details: Bangalore-Pondicherry-Bangalore 23rd - 26th May 2014

Took the following route BLR-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Arcot (bypass)-Cheyyar (bypass)-Vandavasi (bypass)-Tindivanam (bypass)-Pondicherry. Started from Bangalore (E-City) at 7 AM & reached Pondicherry at 12:00 PM

Also did a Pondicherry-Mahabalipuram-Pondicherry on the ECR. Loved the drive, even though being a Single lane road without a Median .

On return journey took the same route. Started from Pondicherry at 10:30 AM & reached Bangalore (E-City) at 4 PM. Faced traffic for the last 50 odd KMs

Average with AC: Onward ~ 14 kmpl, Return ~ 13 kmpl. Tire Pressure: 32 psi front and back.

The roads are so good that you can easily maintain 100-110 throughout. Would like to recommend the above route to anybody planning a Pondicherry-Bangalore trip.

Hope the info is helpfull

Thanks You for all the information. I am going tomorrow and will take the BLR-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Arcot (bypass)-Cheyyar (bypass)-Vandavasi (bypass)-Tindivanam (bypass)-Pondicherry route. Hope the roads are still intact!

[Gansan]

Can someone update whether the Tindivanam - Tiruvannamalai route is good? If not, which one from Chennai? I have to take my aged parents and would like to avoid bumps.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by Gansan

Can someone update whether the Tindivanam - Tiruvannamalai route is good? If not, which one from Chennai? I have to take my aged parents and would like to avoid bumps.

No Please No. Never take the Tindivanam-TV malai route. I would suggest come all the way to Villupuram and then take the Villupuam-TV Malai road. This is a very good 2 lane road