[pramodpk]

I am planning to drive to Chennai on Dec 20th. Due to some event in my daughter's school, I might be able to start only by 12:30 - 1:00 PM. Since I stay at Whitefield, the Kolar- Chittoor route is easier for me. Should I take it?

I want to stay somewhere near Besant Nagar. Could you please suggest a decent Hotel with car parking? Budget Rs 2000/- - Rs 3000/- per night.

This is the first time that I am driving to Chennai. Which route should I take to reach Besanth Nagar (the fastest)?

I plan to stay for 2 nights at Chennai and drive to Kochi (Vaikom) from Chennai on Dec 22nd. Is Besanth Nagar - Tambaram -Chengalpet - Ulundurpet - Salem the best route?

The places that I want to visit are-

1. Besanth Nagar Beach
2. Marina Beach
3. Drive along the Old Mahabalipuram road
4. Spencer Plaza.
5. Santhome - Mylapore

Any other places?

The purpose of the visit is Nostalgia. Basically want to show my wife and daughter the places where I spent close to 3 yrs.

[hserus]

The chittoor kolar road might be a bit bumpier and there's a bit of a ghat section as well, so you have to be a careful driver. Still if you want to take that, take it.

Near besant nagar and fitting your criteria - http://www.esthell.com/esthell-hotel-adyar/ (this is on the same road as the Adyar head post office)

Closer to 3k a night. As for besant nagar once you get to the kathipara junction head right and it is a straight road all the way towards adyar / besant nagar. Google maps should help you.

Spencer plaza is a dump - seedy shops. If you want a mall then go to Express Avenue or Citi Center.

Driving on OMR - that is much the same as driving along the tin factory - whitefield road. One IT company after the other. You could drive to mahabalipuram along the East Coast Road and that is a much nicer drive.

You are in time for the carnatic music season so catch a kacheri or two.

Salem the road you describe is as good as any.

Originally Posted by pramodpk

I am planning to drive to Chennai on Dec 20th. Due to some event in my daughter's school, I might be able to start only by 12:30 - 1:00 PM. Since I stay at Whitefield, the Kolar- Chittoor route is easier for me. Should I take it?

I want to stay somewhere near Besant Nagar. Could you please suggest a decent Hotel with car parking? Budget Rs 2000/- - Rs 3000/- per night.

This is the first time that I am driving to Chennai. Which route should I take to reach Besanth Nagar (the fastest)?

I plan to stay for 2 nights at Chennai and drive to Kochi (Vaikom) from Chennai on Dec 22nd. Is Besanth Nagar - Tambaram -Chengalpet - Ulundurpet - Salem the best route?

The places that I want to visit are-

1. Besanth Nagar Beach
2. Marina Beach
3. Drive along the Old Mahabalipuram road
4. Spencer Plaza.
5. Santhome - Mylapore

Any other places?

The purpose of the visit is Nostalgia. Basically want to show my wife and daughter the places where I spent close to 3 yrs.

[binand]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Since I stay at Whitefield, the Kolar- Chittoor route is easier for me. Should I take it?

Go for it. You'll save about an hour in your entire journey.

Originally Posted by pramodpk

I want to stay somewhere near Besant Nagar. Could you please suggest a decent Hotel with car parking? Budget Rs 2000/- - Rs 3000/- per night.

This one is close to my home in Chennai; we put up our guests here:

http://www.tripadvisor.in/Hotel_Revi...amil_Nadu.html

Should fit your budget - about Rs. 2000-2500 I'd say. It is about 5-6 km from Besant Nagar.

Originally Posted by pramodpk

This is the first time that I am driving to Chennai. Which route should I take to reach Besanth Nagar (the fastest)?

If you start at 1 PM, you are entering Chennai around peak evening time on a weekday. If I were you I'd delay it so that I enter the city by 9 PM. In any case, the route to Besant Nagar is straightforward:

Sriperumbudur > Poonamallee (bypass) > Porur > Kathipara > Guindy > Kotturpuram (IIT/Anna Univ) > Madhya Kailas > IT Expressway > Indira Nagar bridge > LB Road > Shastri Nagar > Besant Nagar.

Originally Posted by pramodpk

1. Besanth Nagar Beach
2. Marina Beach
3. Drive along the Old Mahabalipuram road
4. Spencer Plaza.
5. Santhome - Mylapore

Any other places?

Not sure of Spencer Plaza. There are several more modern, engaging malls in Chennai. :-)

Few days ago I suggested some places for people who are coming with children to this side of Chennai. ECR has several properties that can keep kids occupied for hours.

[arulpeem]

I am leaving for Bengaluru to stay in a resort called Park Fields Resotel, Nakkanahalli tomorrow morning. We will go via Chitoor. I haven't travelled in that route for a few years now. The plan is to leave Taramani around 10am. Our choice for lunch is either at Ranipet toll gate or Chittoor. Lunch at Ranipet would be too early. We would reach Chittoor around 1.30 and that would be the right time for lunch. Are there good restaurants, preferably vegetarian, at Chittoor that any of you can recommend. Thanks

[NPV]

Originally Posted by arulpeem

Our choice for lunch is either at Ranipet toll gate or Chittoor. Lunch at Ranipet would be too early. We would reach Chittoor around 1.30 and that would be the right time for lunch. Are there good restaurants, preferably vegetarian, at Chittoor that any of you can recommend.

When you get to Chittoor you would turn left to go towards Bangalore (right goes inside chittoor town). Just about 500m ahead you will see a Cafe coffee day on the left and on right side there is a Hotel Bans (next to the hotel is the Chittoor bypass road towards Tirupathi).
If you proceed straight after that Coffee Day towards Bangalore, few Km later there are couple of Cafe Coffee Day outlets on either side of the road and also on the left side you will see a Reliance Petrol pump (I think the place is called Bangarupalayam) that is not functional but inside it is a Nandi Plaza restaurant that is functional, not great food but manageable.

If you can manage for another hour or so you can stop at Kolar - there is an Adigas on left side and just ahead of that is Woodys.

[luvurride]

Originally Posted by NPV

When you get to Chittoor you would turn left to go towards Bangalore (right goes inside chittoor town). Just about 500m ahead you will see a Cafe coffee day on the left and on right side there is a Hotel Bans (next to the hotel is the Chittoor bypass road towards Tirupathi).
If you proceed straight after that Coffee Day towards Bangalore, few Km later there are couple of Cafe Coffee Day outlets on either side of the road and also on the left side you will see a Reliance Petrol pump (I think the place is called Bangarupalayam) that is not functional but inside it is a Nandi Plaza restaurant that is functional, not great food but manageable.

If you can manage for another hour or so you can stop at Kolar - there is an Adigas on left side and just ahead of that is Woodys.

Bans is not on the Bangalore road, you will have to take the Chittoor bye-pass towards Tirupati(right turn just ahead of the CCD) and you'll see the hotel in a couple of kms.

The Nandi plaza inside the Reliance pump station in Bangarupalyam is nothing more than a typical omnibus stopover. Expect bare minimum food/hygiene.

Also the Adigas/Woodys will take easily 1.5hrs to reach from Chittoor.

Better be
t will be Bans or CCDs.

Edit: just noticed the date of your travel and realized my posting is late. Nevertheless it might help others.😊

[babu.sundaram]

Planning to drive next week.
Any feedback on how the stretch from Walaja to Chennai is (used to be super bouncy)?

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by babu.sundaram

Any feedback on how the stretch from Walaja to Chennai is (used to be super bouncy)?

It is super duper bouncy now

Do keep an eye for particularly bad section as you near Sriperubendur.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by babu.sundaram

Planning to drive next week.
Any feedback on how the stretch from Walaja to Chennai is (used to be super bouncy)?

The stretch from Walajah toll till chennai is pot holed one and driving becomes bumpy due to the melting of the tar. We have quite a number of pot holes on this stretch. Not sure if they have been patched up.
The worst part is after paying toll at Chennasamudram toll plaza, we have to endure this torture.

[pgrcrazy]

Pot holes have been patched up but they have made the ride very bumpy. Road conditions in hosur has also improved.

[ravib]

Couple of days back i read in the Bangalore TOI that, based on the report submitted by Indian Road Congress (IRC), Madras High Court had warned NHAI to fix the road problems (~45 places) in stretch between Vellore and Madras before February 3rd 2015 else court will order to stop collecting Tolls in this section.

IRC will again inspect the road once the repair work is completed.

I hope NHAI takes a serious note about this and addresses the problems by making the surface smooth (not just patching it here and there). Else we will have a free ride post Feb 3rd, but in a bad road damaging axles & wheel alignments !!!

-Ravi

[prashkul]

Originally Posted by hserus

Spencer plaza is a dump - seedy shops. If you want a mall then go to Express Avenue or Citi Center.

Driving on OMR - that is much the same as driving along the tin factory - whitefield road. One IT company after the other. You could drive to mahabalipuram along the East Coast Road and that is a much nicer drive.

You are in time for the carnatic music season so catch a kacheri or two.

I'm flying to Chennai today and have pretty much two full days tomorrow and Wednesday (after the Consulate appointments both days in the morning).

Seeking suggestions to spend the two days. Ideally, would like to cover Mahabalipuram and Kanchipuram tomorrow and keep Wed for shopping. I have visited Spencer Plaza previously. Would like to go to some place else for shopping for my wife, where I can get good clothes at reasonable costs. My wife doesn't care for brands, as long as the quality is good.

We are put up in Kalaimagal nagar and don't know Tamil. Please help me giving some pointers to spend these two days as per the above plan.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by prashkul

Would like to go to some place else for shopping for my wife, where I can get good clothes at reasonable costs. My wife doesn't care for brands, as long as the quality is good.

We are put up in Kalaimagal nagar and don't know Tamil. Please help me giving some pointers to spend these two days as per the above plan.

In that case you can just go to T Nagar (<5km away) for reasonable prices for shopping. But again, that's mostly for sarees and non-branded stuff (brands = malls). I could be wrong here since I have only visited T Nagar for jewellery and sarees but i'm sure it offers much more.

Spencer plaza can mostly be skipped as its not nearby - its limited range + limited brands and is a bit far away (~10km).
You can also skip the EA/Phoenix malls since they offer primarily the big brands that you're not interested in.

[mazda4life]

Originally Posted by prashkul

I'm flying to Chennai today and have pretty much two full days tomorrow and Wednesday (after the Consulate appointments both days in the morning).
Seeking suggestions to spend the two days.

Couple of suggestions after being in the same boat as you are : Shopping options in T Nagar ( Usman road) would be sufficient in my opinion , for the second day we engaged a taxi for Mahabalipuram and also covered the Astalakshmi temple in Besant beach area.

[prashkul]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

In that case you can just go to T Nagar (<5km away) for reasonable prices for shopping.

Originally Posted by mazda4life

Couple of suggestions after being in the same boat as you are : Shopping options in T Nagar ( Usman road) would be sufficient in my opinion , for the second day we engaged a taxi for Mahabalipuram and also covered the Astalakshmi temple in Besant beach area.

Thanks Phamilyman and mazda4life.
I think my wife may get dresses like salwar-kameez etc, maybe some westerns. Looks like T-Nagar is good option for shopping.

I'm planning to check with local hotel guys regarding hiring taxi for Mahabalipuram & Kanchipuram. Any idea on the costs? Is it per km or full day charges for x km? Are both doable in a day? Any local must-see places? Also, I definitely want to have lunch at the famous Saravana Bhavan. Which would be the closest?