[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by Archie81

Yes, well almost. I didn't find the Gingee to Tiruvannamalai route bad. Its the Tiruvannamalai - Chengam - Singarapettai - Mathur - Krishnagiri stretch that's painful.

I don't know if I'll have the nerve to try this stretch again. But if I ever do this one again, I will try the Tirupattur-Bargur route to Krishnagiri as you suggested. But frankly speaking, by the time you hit Singarapettai, you're almost 3/4 of the journey done and already too exhausted to take another detour at this point thru a longer route, isn't it? I might give it a try on the way up from Bangalore towards Pondy, if I do next time. That sounds like a better plan, no? Thanks!

Recently one of the T BHP members tried the Singarapettai-Tirupattur-Bargur-Krishnagiri route. He drove in the night and found the 2 lane road to be fantastic.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ueries-27.html (Bangalore - Thiruvannamalai : Route Queries)

See post no. 403

[murthy_p]

Did Bengaluru - Kanchipuram - Pondicherry - Bengaluru trip between October 26, 2018 and October 29, 2018.

Took almost 30 minutes to join NH7 from NICE road on Friday evening due to peak hour traffic. Reached Kanchipuram around midnight and stayed at Hotel Jayabala International. Rooms are clean, has car parking facility and the best thing is Saravana Bhavan is located in the same building.

Visited few temples on Saturday morning and post breakfast at Saravana Bhavan, left Kanchipuram at 12 Noon. Took the farthest route option (as per Google maps) to Pondicherry. (Kanchipuram-Chengalpattu-Tindivanam-Pondicherry).

Need to travel around 30 kilometers on Kanchipuram - Chengalpattu road to join NH32. The state highway is in good condition and we need to be mindful of traffic around Walajabad roundabout. The drive from Chengalpattu to Pondicherry on NH32 is breeze to cruise.

Took the same route on my return journey yesterday. With 90% travel on 4 / 6 lane roads and rest on well maintained state highway, this seems to be a better option to drive to Pondicherry.

[virgopal]

Route update:
I believe Krishnagiri - Tiruvannamalai - Gingee - Tindivanam road is now almost fully repaired, restoring the original Bangalore - Pondicherry route as per HVK's post in HVK fb forum.
FYI: ampere, NPV, suresh_gs, ravib to please confirm.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by virgopal

Route update:
I believe Krishnagiri - Tiruvannamalai - Gingee - Tindivanam road is now almost fully repaired, restoring the original Bangalore - Pondicherry route as per HVK's post in HVK fb forum.
FYI: ampere, NPV, suresh_gs, ravib to please confirm.

Seems like recent rains have caused lot of damage to stretches on this route. Please read last couple of pages to see the updates from @binand and @Archie81

Given this, I would suggest you stick to Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi route (this will be faster with better roads and facilities and is 6 laned upto Arcot) Or take the alternative route via Bargur-Tirupattur-Singarapettai as mentioned by @suresh_gs

[ravib]

Originally Posted by virgopal

Route update:
I believe Krishnagiri - Tiruvannamalai - Gingee - Tindivanam road is now almost fully repaired, restoring the original Bangalore - Pondicherry route as per HVK's post in HVK fb forum.
FYI: ampere, NPV, suresh_gs, ravib to please confirm.

Totally agree with what NPV said. "Restored" is a "big" word for that NH66 (Now called as NH77) stretch between Krishnagiri-Uthangarai-Singarapettai and even beyond for about 10 kms. Road conditions improve only closer to Chengam.

So if you are heading to Thiruvannamalai, stick to Bargur-Tirupattur-Singarapettai route.
If you are heading to Pondy, stick to Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Tindivanam route. Period.

-Ravi

[mohan41]

Please suggest good beach resorts around Pondicherry for stay with family including two kids. I am planning to be there during the last week of December.

[GrandTourer]

Originally Posted by mohan41

Please suggest good beach resorts around Pondicherry for stay with family including two kids. I am planning to be there during the last week of December.

If it is quaint beach facing resort that you are looking for, then check out Le Pondy. It's right on Paradise beach. Would cost somewhere in the vicinity of 8-10k with discounts.

[ant_vas]

HI All,
Am traveling to pondicherry this weekend. Plan to start on friday afternoon around 4 PM and travel back to bangalore on sunday post lunch.

The last time i travelled in august we took the krishnagiri-utthangari-chengam-tiruvannamalai-tindivanam-pondicherry route and the roads were good for most part and we were able to maintain decent speeds.

With monsoon finally arriving in TN, not sure if the road condition is still the same or has deteriorated. Could anyone who might have taken this route in the last couple of weeks update on the current conditions

Thanks in advance

[strawhat]

Originally Posted by ant_vas

The last time i travelled in august we took the krishnagiri-utthangari-chengam-tiruvannamalai-tindivanam-pondicherry route and the roads were good for most part and we were able to maintain decent speeds.

If you are planning to go through Tiruvannamalai, Bargur-Tirupattur-Singarapettai-Chengam route is the best and fastest. I have just completed a trip to Tiruvannamalai. Took me 3 and half hours in total including a coffee break. We encountered bad patches in Tirupattur and between Singarapettai-Tiruvannamalai. But those were very few and far between. The single line surface from Bargur diversion to Tirupattur railway bridge and again from Tirupattur outskirts to Singarapettai is scenic and fantastic. Absolutely no sign of monsoons ravaging the roads.

[ant_vas]

Did Bangalore-Pondicherry-Bangalore trip over the weekend in my dzire zxi+. Started at 4 PM from BTM and took krishnagiri-mathur-uthangarai-tiruvannamalai-thindivanam-pondicherry route.

The krishnagiri-tiruvannamalai route is a mix of good and batch patches. Some place road is good and other places the top layer of the road is missing leading to pot holes. But overall i found this route to be in average to good condition and average speed was around 55-60kmpl.

Tiruvannamalai to thindivanam to Pondicherry is good and average speeds were around 80 kmph

Over all i took 6 hours each side to complete the trips including 20 mins break. My car returned an average of around 17 kmpl with 100% AC.

[gtonsing]

Planning to drive to Pondichery this weekend. Should I blindly follow google maps? Is there a better route? Maps showing me this. Kipaak Cafe is where I will be headed.
Also, what would be the best times to start from Bangalore? Contemplating between early (5 am) start and catch lunch in Pondicherry or 10 am, have lunch somewhere and continue? Other than Hosur/Krishnagiri, are there good eating places along the way? I am going to be with children.

[adi_gt]

Originally Posted by gtonsing

Planning to drive to Pondichery this weekend. Should I blindly follow google maps? Is there a better route? .

Ideal route is Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Arcot-Chheyar-Tindivanam-Pondy. Check for the details by bhpians on the bypass routes from Chheyar to Tindivanam in the earlier posts.

[gtonsing]

Originally Posted by adi_gt

Ideal route is Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Arcot-Chheyar-Tindivanam-Pondy.

Thanks. if I detour (a little but) to Ambur, I can still stick to this suggestion, right? Do I need to necessarily touch Vellore? I thought there was a right turn shortly after Krishnagiri? Is that not the route?

[procrj]

Originally Posted by gtonsing

Should I blindly follow google maps?

Nope. Maps is just showing you the shortest route. The most comfortable one is the route suggested by adi_gt.

Originally Posted by gtonsing

I thought there was a right turn shortly after Krishnagiri? Is that not the route?

Dont take the detour via Tiruvannamalai. Follow Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Arcot-Chheyar-Tindivanam-Pondy. This way you have lots of pit stops as well on the way till you hit the right turn after Vellore. A few that I personally prefer are
Sai sangeet - https://goo.gl/maps/me2wb5GtViz
A2B Arcot - https://goo.gl/maps/kF7FZRif2sr

Check this post (Bangalore - Pondicherry : Route Queries) for the town bypass that you need to take in order to avoid traffic within towns.

If you plan to take ECity Flyover to get to Hosur, then do check status as it has be open on and off. Also the road below the flyover is a mess because of white topping. If you stay close to NICE road, then that would be your best bet to get onto Hosur road.

[Sanjay1707]

Will be driving from Puducherry to Bangalore Airport on Monday morning to take a flight. Need advise on how to proceed beyond Hosur towards the airport.