[ampere]

Originally Posted by rohanak1

I second Ampere on Sai Sangeet. The food is excellent. I had used the Ranipet - Chittoor - Bangalore route on the NH4. Frankly, it was quite tiring and I would suggest using the route via Hosur -> Krishanagiri. I used it while travelling to Pondi and never felt tired. Stick to this route even if you stay near KR puram

+1 to that. The Hosur-Krishnagiri route is in superb condition till Ranipet and absolutely fatigue-free. And so is section beyond. (Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Tindivanam).

With the engine without breaking any sweat, one can reach in about 5.5 hours. And add to it that place Sai Sangeeth. Its a superb place for a break. For one its comes after Krishnagiri, so much less crowd at the hotel. And secondly I was once there at 6:30 in morning. The hotel was open. I asked, whats available? The guy asked me back: what do you want? Every thing on the menu is available! And that was at 6:30 in the morning. I was impressed. Even the food is of amazing quality.

[carChef]

+1 to the Hosur-Krishnagiri route.

I have been a regular on this route and I do the Bangalore-Pondy on this route atleast once in two months. I have done the Chittoor route. But honestly I stopped taking it because of two things:
1. Traffic and single lane : Overtaking is a pain and if you are stuck behind a state bus or a slow moving truck, you are done.
2. I saw couple of accidents and there are couple of very weird blind bends. So you need to keep yourself focussed at all times. Not saying that you don't need to do that on the other road. But Hosur-Krishnagiri-Arcot is an easy one and is less tiring..straight , wide and good quality roads.

Originally Posted by ampere

+1 to that. The Hosur-Krishnagiri route is in superb condition till Ranipet and absolutely fatigue-free. And so is section beyond. (Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Tindivanam).

With the engine without breaking any sweat, one can reach in about 5.5 hours. And add to it that place Sai Sangeeth. Its a superb place for a break. For one its comes after Krishnagiri, so much less crowd at the hotel. And secondly I was once there are 6:30 in morning. The hotel was open. I asked, whats available? The guy asked me back: what do you want? Every thing on the menu is available! And that was at 6:30 in the morning. I was impressed. Even the food is of amazing quality.

[amiya.c]

We finally had our long pending Pondicherry trip last weekend (28th to 31st Aug).
We took the Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Pondicherry route, the roads are awesome throughout and fatigue free. Had breakfast at Sai Sangeet as suggested by Ampere and Rohanak1 and that was the only break we took while going. I enjoyed the most after Arcot where we join the state highways and there are bypasses for these villages and towns.

[Shanmd]

Hi.

Any updates on these two routes.

Thanks.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by Shanmd

Hi.

Any updates on these two routes.

Thanks.

Mate, A BIG NO to the first route shown in the map. If you wish to test your vehicle's capability and face the likely consequences of screwing it up, then take Route 1. It is for the second route shown in the map.

[dhuli]

Ever optimistic, I keep track of NHAI website for the ill fated road project between Krishnagiri to Tindivanam via Thiruvanamalai. Here is the status (source link)

Expected completion March 2016! BTW, that is the first time they are clearly providing a target...41% remains pending.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by dhuli

Ever optimistic, I keep track of NHAI website for the ill fated road project between Krishnagiri to Tindivanam via Thiruvanamalai.
Expected completion March 2016! BTW, that is the first time they are clearly providing a target...41% remains pending.

Even if the road work is completed on NH66, i guess many users will either stick to the Vellore,Polur route or Morappur,Harur route to T V Malai considering the traffic on the NH .
Especially the latter has very less traffic considering movement of buses and lorries combined and it is very good to drive as well.

[dhuli]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Even if the road work is completed on NH66, i guess many users will either stick to the Vellore,Polur route or Morappur,Harur route to T V Malai.

Entirely possible. I like this route for its scenic beauty and that it passes alongside Arunachala!

[drive2eternity]

Hello Guys,

Long weekends are approaching us and I plan to utilize one of them for a trip to Pondicherry from Bangalore.

I have read all the posts on this thread (yes ) and understood that the best route to take is Bangalore-> Hosur-> Krishnagiri -> Ambur -> Vellore -> Arcot -> Cheyyar -> Tindivanam ->Pondicherry.

Request your inputs on below points:
1- How are the roads at present, anyone done this route recently?
2- We will start early morning, so which would be the ideal stop for breakfast?
3- My cousin has a kid (2 yr old), are there good restaurants all along this way, as we may need to stop several times?
4- The return journey should also use the same route?
5- Any other TBhpian doing this journey on 2nd Oct?

Cheers in Advance.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by drive2eternity

Hello Guys,

Long weekends are approaching us and I plan to utilize one of them for a trip to Pondicherry from Bangalore.

I have read all the posts on this thread (yes ) and understood that the best route to take is Bangalore-> Hosur-> Krishnagiri -> Ambur -> Vellore -> Arcot -> Cheyyar -> Tindivanam ->Pondicherry.

Request your inputs on below points:
1- How are the roads at present, anyone done this route recently?
2- We will start early morning, so which would be the ideal stop for breakfast?
3- My cousin has a kid (2 yr old), are there good restaurants all along this way, as we may need to stop several times?
4- The return journey should also use the same route?
5- Any other TBhpian doing this journey on 2nd Oct?

Cheers in Advance.

1. Bangalore to Vellore is 6 lane and excellent. Since it is a long weekend, expect queues at the toll booth. Vellore-Pondicherry should also be good as per posts here. No recent first hand experience

2. Plenty of restaurants. Recommended- A2B at Shoolagiri (Approx 1.5 hours from SilkBoard). Highly Recommended: Saisangeet ~50KM after Krishnagiri (~2.5 hours from Bangalore), Few more in the Vellore (another 1 hr from Saisangeet) area.

3. There are several till Vellore, Once you leave the Bangalore-Chennai Highway towards Arcot, I don't recall any major family friendly places. But others can provide more details.

4. Return should also be on the same route. Time it well, otherwise expect long long queues at Krishnagiri and Attibelle toll. You can also plan to by-pass Attibelle toll via Hosur-Bagalur-Sarjapur.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by drive2eternity

1- How are the roads at present, anyone done this route recently?
2- We will start early morning, so which would be the ideal stop for breakfast?
3- My cousin has a kid (2 yr old), are there good restaurants all along this way, as we may need to stop several times?
4- The return journey should also use the same route?
5- Any other TBhpian doing this journey on 2nd Oct?

Cheers in Advance.

Apart from what Rajeevraj mentioned, would like to add couple of points.

You have mentioned early start. Since its a long weekend, it would be best to cross Silk board before 04:15 AM. Else, be prepared for long queues at Attibele and Krishnagiri toll booths. Past that you wont find much of an issue.

Also, in case you have not traveled much on NH 7 towards Krishnagiri, the turn off from NH 7 to Vellore at Krishnagiri can be missed easily. Signboards are present, however it can be easily missed since they are small and just at the turning. Do keep an eye out for left turn some 4KM's after Krishnagiri toll booth.

For resturants, apart from those mentioned above. You can check out Aryas at Vellore Location and at Tindivanam Location

[Shanmd]

Originally Posted by drive2eternity

Hello Guys,

Long weekends are approaching us and I plan to utilize one of them for a trip to Pondicherry from Bangalore.

I have read all the posts on this thread (yes ) and understood that the best route to take is Bangalore-> Hosur-> Krishnagiri -> Ambur -> Vellore -> Arcot -> Cheyyar -> Tindivanam ->Pondicherry.

Request your inputs on below points:
1- How are the roads at present, anyone done this route recently?
2- We will start early morning, so which would be the ideal stop for breakfast?
3- My cousin has a kid (2 yr old), are there good restaurants all along this way, as we may need to stop several times?
4- The return journey should also use the same route?
5- Any other TBhpian doing this journey on 2nd Oct?

Cheers in Advance.

Just finished this route in reverse. Half of it.
Pondicherry to Tindivanam is great. Thereon to Arcot is a two-laner (non-potholed) winds around some really nice green fields. Won't find many options for food stops in the villages you cross. (I also had a 2yr old child, and a hungry partner)
Left Pondi at 11am, reached Banglore by 8pm. Drove without trying to kill people on the road. Took a last minute decision to go through the Chittoor-Kolar route, while having lunch at Arcot. That made sense considering we had to go to Yellahanka. So more of two-laners till Mulbagal.
I took the Krishnagiri-Vellore route two months ago while on my way to Chennai. It's very good.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by drive2eternity

I have read all the posts on this thread (yes ) and understood that the best route to take is Bangalore-> Hosur-> Krishnagiri -> Ambur -> Vellore -> Arcot -> Cheyyar -> Tindivanam ->Pondicherry.

The above route is what I would've taken.
But in the last weekend, one of my colleagues completed a trip to Pondicherry and he suggested taking the Arcot>Kanchipuram Bypass>Tindivanam.
He went from Bangalore to Pondi Via Tiruvannamalai(he wanted to visit a temple there) and then came back via Kanchipuram

How does it compare to the Arcot>Cheyyar>Tindivanam route quoted above?

5- Any other TBhpian doing this journey on 2nd Oct?

I am.

3- My cousin has a kid (2 yr old),

Originally Posted by Shanmd

(I also had a 2yr old child, and a hungry partner)

I also have a 2 year old with me. Looks many people became parents in 2013

[drive2eternity]

Hello guys,

I'm back from the Pondicherry trip. An update regarding the route:

We took the Bangalore-> Hosur-> Krishnagiri -> Ambur -> Vellore -> Arcot -> Cheyyar -> Tindivanam ->Pondicherry route. And the reverse while returning.
The roads till Vellore are excellent. You can make good progress. From Arcot to Tindivanam via Cheyyar bye-pass is a single lane State Highway. However, the road quality is good 95% of the route, with just some minor bad patches. Tindivanam to Pondicherry is again good 4 and 6 lane roads.
There is a plethora of restaurants till Vellore, but from there, nothing much.

We followed the car navigation from Map My India. It initially gave some other route, so I had to add way points to get this route into the system.

Also, the route is very scenic and we had to make a couple of stops just to click the scenery.

Hope this helps.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

The above route is what I would've taken.
But in the last weekend, one of my colleagues completed a trip to Pondicherry and he suggested taking the Arcot>Kanchipuram Bypass>Tindivanam.
He went from Bangalore to Pondi Via Tiruvannamalai(he wanted to visit a temple there) and then came back via Kanchipuram

How does it compare to the Arcot>Cheyyar>Tindivanam route quoted above?

Its too late to answer now. You would already be back! Avoid the Kanchi option. Its a detour. Does not help for Pondicherry. Kanchi option is good only if you plan to visit Mahabalipuram. In that case you can go via Chengalpet