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-   -   Chennai - Kochi : Route Queries (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/24393-chennai-kochi-route-queries-5.html)

If its a night drive and its your first time on these routes,I would reccomend sticking to the NH47 route till Palakkad and then take the Shoranur route.Daytime the route via Pollachi-Kollengode is an easier bet.Night time hardly any facilities and you wouldnt find any people on the roads once you leave NH7 at Dindigul,even fuel stations are few and far which are open round the clock.

Is the Avinashi route now clear of traffic jams caused due to four-laning? Planning to drive to Palakkad from Chennai tomorrow. A few months ago I got stuck for couple of hours near Avinashi, after which the Trichy-Karur-Kangayam-Palladam route was used for my next two trips to Palakkad. This route was deviod of traffic jams unless during school hours even though there is only two-lane road near Kangayam and Palladam.

How is Trichur->Palakkad and Palakkad->Coimbatore stretch these days?

did the night run from chennai to ernakulam through Trichy-Dindigul-Pollachi-Alathur. Roads are devoid of any traffic and ofcourse the tarmac is excellent. Distance wise, it is around 50 kms more than the salem route but with no truck traffic, can have a peaceful drive.

Dindigul can be a refuelling point once you leave Chennai as I was not sure of any good fuelling points past Dindigual which are reliable.

for my return trip, does it still make sense to deviate from Theni to Madurai on to NH45A for Chennai ? or has the road condition improved in the Dindigul route ? This is what I am planning to take

https://maps.google.co.in/maps?saddr...&t=m&z=9&via=1

During my yesterday's travel from Chennai to Palakkad via Trichy-Karur-Kangeyam-Palladam-Walayar, I find that the Coimbatore-Palakkad stretch is much improved due to extensive patch works. Note that I did not touch Coimbatore town and used L&T bypass. After L&T bypass the stretch continues to have two or three diversions due to ongoing (or halted) four laning however the stretch is better though uneven due to patch works.

I hope you know how to wade through Madurai city? If not use the Thirumangalam bypass and then the airport ring road.

Else if you are driving during day time, use the same Theni-Dindigul-Trichy option.

well,I was planning to try out the Madurai option but , at the end, decided not to and then it was a good decision , as the normal Theni-Dindigul road has improved a lot and there are very few constructions and they are very much manageable. Does not make sense to try any round about route. I passed these section around 7 PM and it was ok and hence should be manageable even for a night drive

Ranjith
how can I deviate from pollachi to govindapuram so that I can hit alathur ? Last week when I took the chennai- dindigual-pollachi-ekm route , for some reason, I couldnt end up on the alathur route and hence was put on the pollachi wadakkanchery route. WHere on this route should I deviate to hit alathur directly from pollachi ?
I have my next kochi run today evening.

The road to Vadakkencherry on the GQ (and not Wadakancherry which is near Guruvayur) deviates at Kollegode. When you are coming from Pollachi, the road is common till Kollengode and then it forks out. So you should look out for Alathur deviation at Kollengode.

Thanks ampere. Infact I had the route on my gmaps but when I reached the exact point as shown by my map, I couldn't find a proper deviation and hence I was forced to continue towards Vadakkenchery route. Is the deviation clearly marked ?

I am not sure if its marked. But I think the easier way to spot the deviation is to look for Kollengode palace. However I will wait for Ranjit's answer. Because I am not a frequent guy on that stretch.

Sorry I was travelling yesterday so couldnt respond.I guess you are done with this stretch,nevertheless for the benefit of others while coming from pollachi you would reach a railway gate with a road going right marked as palakkad-that takes you to palakkad via Koduvayur instead at this point go straight following the board marked cochin,guruvayur towards kollengode.After the gate you cross govindapuram and reach kollengode.from kollengode town after a kilomter or two you reach a point with a temple in the middle of the road.the left fork is marked with distances for vadakencheri-thrissur-cochin-guruvayur.the right curving fork is left unmarked.take the right road and it takes you to nh47 in 19kms/20-30mins via pallasana pallavoor kunhissery.at nh47 junction cut across the highway and proceed straight towards alathur and the road takes you straight to thrissur via alathur bus stand-pazhayannur-chelakara-vazhacode-wadakancheri-thrissur.road conditions are excellent and traffic is sparse.

Thanks Ranjit. Actually, I will be travelling tonight.
One another query is, if I take the Chennai-dindigul-pollachi route, what are your suggestions for good refuelling stops ? When I did the trip two weeks back, I couldn't find any decent bunks which appeared crowded (just a guage to see how much people prefer this bunk) and hence I had to refuel in one bunk at Dindigul..
Any suggestions ?

If its a night drive once you leave Dindigul i doubt you would find many pumps open.Refuel on the pumps on NH7.Else there are a couple of pumps near pollachi bus stand,other than that I cant think of any between kangayam-palladam-pollachi.I would suggest in whichever pump you find open not much of options.eating options also same story-dont expect to get anything once you exit NH7.