[Chevy_lover]

Hello to all,

I did Trivandrum - Bangalore-Pune last year. I took the Tvm-Nagercoil-Madurai-Salem-Krishnagiri-Hosur-Bangalore-Chitradurga-Belgaum-Pune route suggested by Hvk sir. The road was brilliant. There were lots of diversions because of road widening. But less traffic and total peace of mind. I totally avoided the ghats at Shenkotta and this route was as smooth as butter. I will recommend this route any time.

My two night halts were at Salem and Davengere.

My travelogue on this journey is also in progress!

[kj302]

Originally Posted by Chevy_lover

I did Trivandrum - Bangalore-Pune last year. I took the Tvm-Nagercoil-Madurai-Salem-Krishnagiri-Hosur-Bangalore-Chitradurga-Belgaum-Pune route suggested by Hvk sir. The road was brilliant. There were lots of diversions because of road widening. But less traffic and total peace of mind. I totally avoided the ghats at Shenkotta and this route was as smooth as butter. I will recommend this route any time.

I too vouch for this road. You can reach Bangalore from Tvm in 8-10 hours, depending on your driving style. However, be sure that you start from tvm before 5 AM, otherwise you will get caught in notorious tvm-nagarcoil traffic for hours.

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by kj302

I too vouch for this road. You can reach Bangalore from Tvm in 8-10 hours, depending on your driving style. However, be sure that you start from tvm before 5 AM, otherwise you will get caught in notorious tvm-nagarcoil traffic for hours.

Originally Posted by Chevy_lover

I totally avoided the ghats at Shenkotta and this route was as smooth as butter. I will recommend this route any time.

I took the Tenkasi -> Kulathupuzha -> Palode -> TVM route last week. Stretch between Kulathupuzha and Palode is full of pot holes and not good at this moment. If time to reach TVM is the priority, then this route is not recommended. Also, the Aryankaavu ghat section is narrow; a parked bus blocked the entire stretch causing a small traffic jam. Overall time taken to reach TVM from Tenskasi was 3 hours.

[amitk26]

I did Trivendrum - Bangalore last week took the following route.

Trivendrum -> Nedumangad -> Palode -> Tenmala -> Aryankavu -> Shenkottai -> Tenkasi ( one turn before Tenkasi) -> Rajpalyam -> Thirumanglam -> Selam -> Krishnagiri -> hosur ->Bangalore.

The route is good Nedumangad - > Palode - > Tenmala -> Araynkavu -> Shenkottai is hilly road but overall road is good.

Shenkottai -> Rajapalayam -> Thirumangalam is again good road doable 90 - 110 Kmph .

Thirumangalam to Bangalore NH7 is good and 4 lane all the way.

Total time 12 hours with 3 breaks total break time approx 2 hours.

The real bottleneck was between krishnagiri to Bangalore with all the holiday traffic coming back to Bangalore.

[maddjango]

Hi

Recently drove this stretch.
Route:
Took the NH46 from TVM till Nagercoil.
Took NH 47 B before Nagercoil and joined up with NH7.
Then it was NH7 all the way till Bangalore via Tirunelveli, Madurai, Dindigul, Karur, Salem .

Pros:
Great (4-lanes with neat and wide dividers!) roads most of the way. NH 7 was virtually deserted till Salem!
Scenic.
Quick!

Cons:
Very few places to stop for good food.
Mostly deserted.
Bypass Construction going on at 4-5 places. Would have to take detours.
Sometimes unexpected 2 wheelers coming from opp. direction on your lane. Stick to the middle of the road!

Facts:
Left at 8:00 AM after BF from TVM. Reached BLR at 6:30 pm. Leave earlier if you want to bypass the morning rush till Thirunelveli. Should gain at least an hr there!
Total 725 Kms.
Spend around Rs 150- 200 in tolls.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by maddjango

Hi

Cons:
Very few places to stop for good food.
Mostly deserted.
Bypass Construction going on at 4-5 places. Would have to take detours.
Sometimes unexpected 2 wheelers coming from opp. direction on your lane. Stick to the middle of the road!

The only way to avoid this problem is to plan the routing such a way that you are either at Madurai or Salem when you are hungry.

But yes that means getting into Madurai for food, which is kind of problematic.

At Salem, its not that much of problem. Hit the 5 roads signal, you can spot Cenney's Gateway right next. They have a pretty decent restaurant (its part of the hotel), with ample parking.

Further to Salem the two A2Bs should serve well, for the later part of the day.

Carry snacks/water for rest of the part.

[isacM]

Hello Everyone

I am planning to do a trip to TVM from Bangalore, what is the best / fastest route to reach trivandrum? also can anyone suggest decent accomodation in TVM, Thanks

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by isacM

Hello Everyone

I am planning to do a trip to TVM from Bangalore, what is the best / fastest route to reach trivandrum? also can anyone suggest decent accomodation in TVM, Thanks

Last month I drove from Bangalore to TVM. Took the following route:
BLR -> Salem -> Madurai -> Tenkasi -> Thenmala -> Kulathupuzha -> Palode -> TVM. Total drive time was 10:30 hours.

My suggestion is to take the Nagercoil route instead of Tenkasi route. Nagercoil route is much easier to drive but approx 30 KM more. IMO, this route would be faster too, as the roads till Nagercoil would be very good. But you will hit heavy traffic between Nagercoil and TVM.

BTW, I started from BLR at 3:55 am, was in Salem by 6.45am, in Madurai bypass by 10:30am. Advice is to start early to get out of heavy traffic areas before dawn.

See the other thread also for more info:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post1665415

Regarding accommodation, where exactly in TVM is your destination? There are plenty of options near Statue area like South Park, Maurya Rajadhani, Muthoot Plaza, in the heart of the city.

[maddjango]

Fastest and Best route IMO is Bangalore>Salem>Dindigul>Madurai>Tirunelveli>Nager coil. I have done the route in 10 Hours with breaks in between.
It would be good if you start real early from Bangalore (Before 6 atleast) so that you can cross the Tirunelveli>Nagercoil>Trivandrum stretch before evening rush hour starts.

I had started from Bangalore at 7 am. And reached Tirunelveli around 2 pm. From there though I took 3 hours to negotiate Tirunelveli>Trivandrum. Just make sure to take the NH47B after Pannaikudi to Nagercoil and not continue on NH7 to kanyakumari.
Roads are very good most of the way on NH7. But NH47 is mostly single lane and traffic would be heavier.

Accommodation is available in plenty. There is a 'Ginger' Budget hotel by Tata on the TVM NH by-pass near Technopark. It is outside the city, though nearer to kovalam. Within city, you have plenty choices ranging from Taj Residency, Comfort Inn, Keys International, South Park, Muthoot Plaza, Muscat Hotel, etc.. depending on where you want to be close to.

[sree70]

I too agree with maddjango that the best route would be B'lore>salem>Madurai>Tirunelveli>Nagercoil>Trvndur am.
I did the part of the strecth in reverse direction about 15days back.
It almost took 1hr45mins to travel 72KMS from Trvduram to Nagercoil bye pass. Even though State highways may be little shorter but prefer NH47,47-B & NH7 to make it faster.
If you want to avoid deserted & Boring NH roads then take Blore>Tirumangalam>Rajapalyam>Tenkasi>Ambasamudram >Kallakadu>Panaikuddi>nagercoil >trvnduram route and it is very Green allround & scenic.
In Trvnduram stayed in Hotel Geet International near to Commissioners office in MG road.

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by sree70

If you want to avoid deserted & Boring NH roads then take Blore>Tirumangalam>Rajapalyam>Tenkasi>Ambasamudram >Kallakadu>Panaikuddi>nagercoil >trvnduram route and it is very Green allround & scenic.

sree70, how much is the distance from Tenkasi to TVM via Ambasamudram -> Kallakadu -> Panaikuddi? How is the road conditon? How much time does it take to cover this distance? Are these curvy, twisty roads? Any snaps of the greenery?

[sree70]

sbrj,
I travelled from Trivanduram to tenkasi & the distance between them is about 190KMS. Since i took breaks & Manimathur Falls & papanasam temple iam not able to give the time duration of travel.
The roads from Pannikudi to tenkasi is plain, normal & less traffic and not much curves & twists. We really enjoyed the greenery & hill veiws on en route. Posting few photos enroute.

[sbraj]

Nice pics sree70, especially the one with the lake. Will cover this route during my next trip. Thanks for the update.

[isacM]

Thanks everyone, I have decided to take blore - salem - madurai - ngrkovil - tvm route, booked accomodation in Ginger Hotels (1900 INR / day double room). Will update once back from trip.

[hellstar]

Originally Posted by sbraj

But as indicated by HVK Sir (first link below), driving during the night time could be an issue due to limited facilities and animals roaming around.

You can be sure there is no wildlife sighting on these roads now!

Originally Posted by kj302

I too vouch for this road. You can reach Bangalore from Tvm in 8-10 hours, depending on your driving style. However, be sure that you start from tvm before 5 AM, otherwise you will get caught in notorious tvm-nagarcoil traffic for hours.

why do you need to go to nagercoil, just take the MC road to Anchal - Kulathupuzha and join tenkasi that way better provided you time your trip properly

Originally Posted by maddjango

I had started from Bangalore at 7 am. And reached Tirunelveli around 2 pm. From there though I took 3 hours to negotiate Tirunelveli>Trivandrum. Just make sure to take the NH47B after Pannaikudi to Nagercoil and not continue on NH7 to kanyakumari.
.

That section of the road from nagercoil to tvm is crowded at all time by heavy vehicle traffic bringing consumables to kerala. Such traffic is lesser on the tenkasi route as the gradient on the roads i much more steeper than the loaded trucks to handle with ease.

Originally Posted by sree701691503

Blore>Tirumangalam>Rajapalyam>Tenkasi>Ambasamudram >Kallakadu>Panaikuddi>nagercoil >trvnduram route and it is very Green allround & scenic.
.

Blore>Tirumangalam>Rajapalyam>Tenkasi>kulathupuzha->Anchal-> Trivandrum