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!