[csentil]

Originally Posted by rki2007

I left home in Bangalore at 6.15 and reached Avinashi at 9.30---I didnt understand can you clarify please. 3hrs and 15mins from BLR-Avinashi is it.

Just saw this post. Yup. 6.40 Silkboard. 7.00 Attibele. 7.30 - Krishnagiri, 8.30 - Salem. approximate times + or - 5 minutes. Salem to 4 lane ending before Avinashi is a dream run. Watchout at the Bhavani intersection after the Cauvery river bridge.

Early start helps. Having a Civic also helps.

Update on Avinashi - Coimbatore: Road work in full swing. Road conditions are really sad. Better to go via Annur even though its longer by a few kilometres.

@ajithnarasimhan: How is the road from Kollegal to Chamrajnagar? Used to be really bad before. Is this doable by car?

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by csentil

Just saw this post. Yup. 6.40 Silkboard. 7.00 Attibele. 7.30 - Krishnagiri, 8.30 - Salem. approximate times + or - 5 minutes. Salem to 4 lane ending before Avinashi is a dream run. Watchout at the Bhavani intersection after the Cauvery river bridge.

Early start helps. Having a Civic also helps.

Google says Salem-Avinashi is 120 kms. With two toll booths and one hour, you were really fast

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Google says Salem-Avinashi is 120 kms. With two toll booths and one hour, you were really fast

More surprised about 1 hour between Krishnagiri and Salem. Was just remembering the times when we used to cover about 15 kms from Salem to Kaveripattanam in roughly 1 hour on an average day with slighly more traffic itself. Also, there was a day during the recent X-mas/New-Year vaccation when one of my friends lost about 90 minutes in all the toll booths from Krishnagiri to Salem.

[csentil]

Folks, Sunday morning traffic is very less. It doesn't happen always. I do Bangalore - Coimbatore often and its not everytime that I can get to that side that quickly. Saturday mornings are typically bad. Sunday evenings are bad. If its a long holiday you are a goner!

The return trip took longer as it was on a weekday morning. Also the uphills from Krishnagiri to Hosur makes for a lot of slow moving traffic.

@ajithbr. Kaveripattanam. Karimangalam, Periyampatti, Dharmapuri and other towns on the Salem - Avinashi (Sankagiri, Chittode, Perundurai) is now a distant dream. All neatly bypassed with the highway not even being close to most of these towns. Krishnagiri - Salem or atleast till the outskirts of Salem is a 4-6 lane dream run and so is Salem to Perumanallur where the 4 laning ends if I am right!

There is a way to save precious time at the tolls. Have change in hand always. Especially lot of five rupees. Choose the toll gate in which there are no cars. I have seens lines which looks short but will have 7 cars. Whereas a longer looking queue having 3 buses, 1 lorry moves faster. All town/mofussil buses have passes and they generally breeze through. It is not necessary to only go to the toll booth marked "cars". You can always use the empty tolls marked heavy vehicles. The last toll gate on the left most corner is generally for tall vehicles or long trailers, if that's empty use it. Following these typically cuts down atleast 15 minutes or more in a journey. No jumping queues please.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by csentil

@ajithbr. Kaveripattanam. Karimangalam, Periyampatti, Dharmapuri and other towns on the Salem - Avinashi (Sankagiri, Chittode, Perundurai) is now a distant dream. All neatly bypassed with the highway not even being close to most of these towns. Krishnagiri - Salem or atleast till the outskirts of Salem is a 4-6 lane dream run and so is Salem to Perumanallur where the 4 laning ends if I am right!

Agreed and experienced as I drive frequently between Bangalore and Kerala (through Walayar). Generally, takes anywhere between 2 to 3 hours from Koramangala to NH-7/NH-47 junction in Salem. About a couple of months back, had to take a bus from Salem to Bangalore late night which made me nostalgic since it touched all the towns of old routes of ours which touched atleast a dozen towns before Salem. I gave a buffer time of 1 hour and expected bus to touch Madiwala in 4 hours but it took ONLY 6 hours with 15-minutes breaks at Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and Hosur.

[ampere]

Where do the SH to Annur and Puliampatty start? Is it after Avinashi town?
(If yes in that case one cannot escape the mess of 4L construction).

I was trying to see if there is way to get on these SH before the 4L mess at Avinashi.

[csentil]

Yes, this starts just after the Avinashi town towards Coimbatore. So you will have to go through approx 10 kms of 2 lane road uptil Avinashi, cross the town (where the roads have been widened) and then take the right just after the town.

If you don't want to hit the 2 lane at all, then you need to get off the 4 lane a few kms after the Bhavani junction. Chittode ->Gobichettipalayam->(take left around 5 kms after gobichettipalayam town; this is the road to Nambiyur/Avinashi)->Nambiyur->take right to Puliyampatti(just ask someone in town)->Puliyampatti->take left to Annur.

Or you can just do gobi->Sathy->Puliyampatti->Annur->Coimbatore.

From Bhavani to Coimbatore via these routes should be 20 kms extra. However these are all two lane roads and you will need a minimum of 2 hrs+ to do them.

[ajithnarasimhan]

Originally Posted by csentil

Just saw this post. Yup. 6.40 Silkboard. 7.00 Attibele. 7.30 - Krishnagiri, 8.30 - Salem. approximate times + or - 5 minutes. Salem to 4 lane ending before Avinashi is a dream run. Watchout at the Bhavani intersection after the Cauvery river bridge.

Early start helps. Having a Civic also helps.

Update on Avinashi - Coimbatore: Road work in full swing. Road conditions are really sad. Better to go via Annur even though its longer by a few kilometres.

@ajithnarasimhan: How is the road from Kollegal to Chamrajnagar? Used to be really bad before. Is this doable by car?

The road is doable by car, some bad patches still exist, average speed on this stretch is 50kmph.By bad i mean , the patches are not VEHICLE breakers, you can negotiate them at 20-30 kmph.No major pit holes to be frightened about.

[verditer]

Originally Posted by csentil

Just saw this post. Yup. 6.40 Silkboard. 7.00 Attibele. 7.30 - Krishnagiri, 8.30 - Salem. approximate times + or - 5 minutes. Salem to 4 lane ending before Avinashi is a dream run. Watchout at the Bhavani intersection after the Cauvery river bridge.

Early start helps. Having a Civic also helps.

Wow. csenthil's timings look incredible and used to be almost impossible just couple of years earlier.

But as he rightly said, having a Civic definitely helps... A cousin of mine has a Civic too, and he too reports such timings,,, and the Civics maintain 130-140kmph without much ado. And less traffic and good wide 4-lanes : Civics breeze through in record times.

I didn't believe these timings when csenthil reported, but when he said 'having a civic', I understood that is the truth.

[sumannandy]

How is the condition of NH209? We are planning for a trip this week to Kodaikanal and thinking of coming back through NH209. Safety and road condition would be a big concern for us.

[ampere]

The problem is with lack of good hotels and break area on the NH209.

If going with family and that too beyond CBE,better to stick to the regular GQ rather than Kanakpura road.

[androdev]

Need help with route and hotel information for BLR to Coimbatore trip.

We have to go to Kerala (Mannarkkad), we usually take a flight to Calicut or Coimbatore from Bangalore and use a car for the remaining distance. We have elderly people and small kids so long drives never get the vote :(

This time around I got an approval for driving down, but with an overnight stopover at Coimbatore. So here is the info I need, appreciate your help.

1. Comfortable route from BLR to Coimbatore? Kids and elderly on board. Car is BMW 520D with not so good GC. Speed is not important but route should be safe and comfortable. Would like to avoid road widening works. What would be the travel time if driven in family-mode?

2. Good hotel in Coimbatore for overnight stay with good dinner and breakfast option. Have to pick one or two members from the Coimbatore airport next morning (not all agreed to drive :( ) so easy access to Airport is nice to have.

Thanks!

[DRIV3R]

Not sure about the route, but as for the accommodation, try KR Residency which is opposite KMCH hospital. It's hardly a 5 min drive from the airport, plus you get good food next door (Anandhas), if not from there.

[coolclouds]

NH7-NH47 combo is the best option. You may try Tiruppur route to avoid road widening work after Avinashi (about 10kms extra)

[androdev]

What do you guys think of the above route as part of BLR - Coimbatore Airport - Palakkad drive?

How bad is the 4-lane-work stretch between Avinashi and Coimbatore airport - keeping in mind that the car has poor GC?