[mankuthimma]

Back from Pondicherry.
The roads via Krishnagiri - Chengam - Thiruvannamalai - Tindivanam - Pondicherry is absolutely fantastic. It was a nightmare to drive to Thiruvannamlai on the same route last year . But now with wide 2-lane roads, one can just glide through these butter smooth roads. The bypass at Uthungurai and Singarapettai is not yet open, even though it seems to be ready. But didnt take long time to pass through these towns. Jpwever Gingee and Tindivanam took some time to cross. Had a stop over at Thiruvannamalai for 2 hrs, had good darshan at the temple followed by lunch at Ananda Ramanas.

Got misled by gmaps quirks on two occasions - nearly missed the right turn to Tindivanam road from Thiruvannamalai bypass, it is under the flyover. Anyway, there was a easy U-turn after taking the flyover. And later at Tindivanam, gmaps guided through the town which took some time due to congestion, but realized later during return journey that there are excellent roads to bypass the town. Looks like gmaps routing algo still hasnt learnt about the bypass. Tindivanam to Pondicherry.. oh man! what a joy to drive !!

For return journey chose to come via Tindivanam - Vandavasi - Cheyyar - Arcot - Ranipet - Chittoor, just to avoid the evening traffic while entering Bangalore from Krishnagiri - Hosur side. The roads till Tindivanam and its bypass is superb! Had to explicitly mark the Tindivanam bypass in gmaps though . The roads from Tindivanam till Cheyyar is good but not the best, constant tyre noise due to rough road surface, but it gets compensated by almost nil traffic and beautiful rural landscape all around. Stopped at Amirtha Restaurant Ranipet for lunch. Must say it is one of the finest lunch we had ever in a highway restuarant!!

One welcome development on Chittoor section of the highway is that the road joints at the flyovers have been patched up and it makes for a smooth ride. Mulbagal to Kolar has been relaid with silky smooth tarmac now. There are few diversions along, but didnt cause much of an issue.

Within Pondicherry, tried out Hope Cafe at Auroville, CGH's Palais De Mahe in White Town. Excellent food and ambience!! And chanced upon this place called Grami Cafe, an unassuming place along ECR road on the outskirts serving excellent dishes with local ingredients and millets at unbelievable down to earth prices. Had to pinch ourselves to believe such places still exist !!

[Landkruzer]

Originally Posted by mankuthimma

And later at Tindivanam, gmaps guided through the town which took some time due to congestion, but realized later during return journey that there are excellent roads to bypass the town. Looks like gmaps routing algo still hasnt learnt about the bypass.

The road segment marked in red in the attached image is actually a one way road, but marked as a two way road on google maps. Since it is marked as two way and there is little traffic in the wrong direction (Gingee to pondicherry), google maps considers as faster route and gives in-accurate directions.

To make the google maps to give accurate directions, we need to report this to google to mark it as one way.

Steps to do this from computer
1. Click on send feedback
2. Click "Add or fix the road"
3. Select the road (marked in red in the attached image)
4. Click "Traffic direction" and enter the comments. You can enter your comments something like this. ( This is a one way road. The no entry/one way sign boards can be seen in the street view at a) 12.237003901300405, 79.64853545859907 b) 12.235962474573912, 79.64951886682549 c)
12.23129792540212, 79.64909291248533. Since it is marked as a two way road, google maps gives wrong directions for people travelling to puduchery from Gingee. Please mark this road as a one way from south to north direction.)
5. Click done
6. Click submit.

Only when multiple people report a specific problem, google will consider it for correction. Request everyone to report this google.

Once the correction is done, map will provide accurate direction.

[Landkruzer]

Google maps has updated the one way road as mentioned in the previous post. As a result of that google maps gives a better directions when gonig from gingee to puduchery. Depending on the traffic conditions, it gives directions using the new bypass or using the inner bypass. Hope this will be useful for the new users traveling in this route.

[iamgyan]

Returned yesterday from a 3 night visit to Pondi. Took the usual Krishnagiri - Arcot - Cheyyar - Tindivanam route while going and returned via the shorter Tindivanam - Gingee - Tiruvannamalai - Krishnagiri route after checking this thread before leaving. Road conditions are good either way.

However, I would still prefer the Arcot-cheyyar-Tindivanam route due to
1. it being 4 to 6 lane Arcot to Bangalore. The shorter route being a dual carriageway felt more mentally taxing and need to swerve/overtake a lot leading to more side to side movements for passengers.

2. felt the chances of an accident are more on that route (No divider + metal barricades at many places as makeshift slalom course)

3. couldn't use the cruise control at all that i could use a lot on the regular Bangalore Arcot section.

4. Would be pain after dark with high beams. I was able to hit Krishnagiri just after sunset so was just about ok.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Landkruzer

Google maps has updated the one way road as mentioned in the previous post. As a result of that google maps gives a better directions when gonig from gingee to puduchery. Depending on the traffic conditions, it gives directions using the new bypass or using the inner bypass. Hope this will be useful for the new users traveling in this route.

The bypass which has newly come up is on the directly on the Thiruvannamalai highway. The old bypass is further up on the road to Vandavasi. So is folks are driving from Arcot to Tindivanam, its easy to take the first bypass (older one) and also avoid the Gingee traffic.

[shibulijack]

Hello! I'm planning to travel from Bangalore to Pondicherry this week and I wanted to get review of the Krishnagiri-Ambur-Vellore-Vandavasi-Tindivanam route.

My preference:
- 4 lane as much as possible

I don't care about the shortest route or paying additional tolls, but looking for a stress free drive (especially with a toddler in the car).

[Shrek8421]

Originally Posted by shibulijack

Hello! I'm planning to travel from Bangalore to Pondicherry this week and I wanted to get review of the Krishnagiri-Ambur-Vellore-Vandavasi-Tindivanam route.

My preference:
- 4 lane as much as possible

I don't care about the shortest route or paying additional tolls, but looking for a stress free drive (especially with a toddler in the car).

I need this same info.
Also I recommend taking the vellore bypass. This means 120km of single lane highway

https://goo.gl/maps/UWcFAWerbH9Q7fRZ9

[heysac]

Hi all, what are some good options for tea and lunch while going from Bangalore to Pondi via the Krishnagiri -> Tiruvannamali -> Gingee -> Tindivanam route?

Originally Posted by mankuthimma

Had a stop over at Thiruvannamalai for 2 hrs, had good darshan at the temple followed by lunch at Ananda Ramanas.

Do you know of any other good options along this route?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by heysac

Do you know of any other good options along this route?

One may be hotels in Thiruvannamalai and the other is Tindivanam bypass on GST (Chennai-Trichy Highway). Dont know of others. For Thiruvannamalai you need to go into the town. Sparsh still remains one best premium places to stay which is hardly 2km from the start of the bypass. I guess it may be a good place to take a break and relax. I am assuming the restaurant would also be good.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by heysac

good options for tea and lunch

For tea/coffee there would be more options.

For restaurants on the road, without going into town:

1. Anudhinam near Dheeran Chinnamalai school after Mathur.
2. Sri Sai Bhavan on Singarapettai west entry.
3. Arunai Arasar on Tiruvannamalai bypass. Its hidden by trees so you can't spot while driving towards Tindivanam.
4. Jain Bhavan and Udupi Sri Krishna Bhavan after Gingee town.

There are 1-2 more between Gingee and Tindivanam, but I haven't noted the exact locations.

There are decent non-AC options on the way. Don't go with 5-star expectations in mind.

[heysac]

I took the Hosur->Krishnagiri->Tindivanam route. The roads are amazing, however they are 1 lane for the latter part.

My fuel efficiency was almost the same both ways as opposed to some who have described lower efficiency on return journey. Make sure you fill from a good stattion, I found the Ashram owned station in Pondy (White Town) which probably helped: https://maps.app.goo.gl/py8VgLhtUBdPaLjb6

There are many Nayara stations on the way in TN however the petrol is very expensive in TN. Pondy is much cheaper!

Be aware that on return, TN police did a very thorough check to try and find alcohol bottles which we didn't have but I was surprised since the guy spent 5 minutes and opened many bags even though we had a toddler and a young boy with us! Maybe the DL number ticked him off!

[SourPai]

I am planning to travel to Pondicherry during last weekend of Nov. Will be taking Sarjapur Road -> Hosur-> Krishnagiri -> Tindivanam -> Pondicherry (white town)

Was checking the toll rates, they are surprisingly low for a 300+ Km journey. I hope the roads are in good condition. Looking at comments in this thread, they seem to be in good condition. Anyone has latest info? I will anyways update once I complete the trip

[BudgetFailure]

95% of the Roads are excellent.

[sidsden]

Hi Guys,

Driving down to Pondicherry this weekend (Thanksgiving weekend in the US). I live right on Old Madras Road close to TC Palya.
After going through a lot of posts, I am confused about which route to take. My dilemma is between:
1. Kolar - Chittoor - Arcot - Cheyyar - Tindivanam - Puducherry
This is the logical route to take for me although GMaps shows this is about 32 kms longer than the other. Though I plan on leaving around 5 AM, taking this route means I hit the highway right away. I am however surprised how very few people on this thread are actually endorsing this route given how little Bangalore traffic one has to face, especially for folks living in KR Puram/Whitefield/Kalyan Nagar areas.
One thing I would like to know from folks who have done this route is, GMaps is showing me an alternate route from Ranipet that goes to Tindiavanam via Gingee. Do I need to consider this for some reason?

2. Hosur - Krishnagiri - Tiruvannamalai - Gingee - Tindivanam - Puducherry
This is the more popular route I guess. Also as mentioned above, this is 32 kms shorter. Since I am leaving early I can still take this route and not face a lot of Bangalore traffic. But again, living right on the Kolar highway, I am conflicted.

Not considering
3. Hosur - Krishnagiri - Arcot - Cheyyar - Tindivanam - Puducherry
Since I have direct access to the Kolar highway, I don't think I need to first go to Krishnagiri and then head for Arcot. Also, this will be much longer for me, at around 35 kms longer than the direct route to Arcot via Hosakote and Kolar.

Other than this, are there any other factors or routes that I need to consider?
For my return journey, I will very much head via the Kolar route, to avoid city traffic while entering Bangalore unless I take this route for my onward journey and don't find it feasible for return.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by sidsden

Hi Guys,

Driving down to Pondicherry this weekend (Thanksgiving weekend in the US). I live right on Old Madras Road close to TC Palya.
After going through a lot of posts, I am confused about which route to take.

Definitely driving via Chitoor is preferable given you get on to highway easily. But the only I guess would the on going work between Chitoor and Ranipet.

Also the road conditions between Arcot and Tindivanam is about average. But still less on traffic compared to others.

If some member can confirm that Chitoor-Ranipet can be handled well, I would suggest this option.