[suresh_gs]

Folks

I will be driving to Coimbatore on Thursday and have booked accommodation in Hotel City Tower.
Should I go via NH209 or stick to the Hosur route. In the former the only option to break for food is Nijaguna Residency. Also what is the current condition of NH209.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Folks

I will be driving to Coimbatore on Thursday and have booked accommodation in Hotel City Tower.
Should I go via NH209 or stick to the Hosur route. In the former the only option to break for food is Nijaguna Residency. Also what is the current condition of NH209.

Hi Suresh,

I drove via NH209 last month and road conditions are good as usual.
I will be driving again this thursday towards Bandipur/Ooty.

-Ravi

[NPV]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

I will be driving to Coimbatore on Thursday and have booked accommodation in Hotel City Tower.
Should I go via NH209 or stick to the Hosur route. In the former the only option to break for food is Nijaguna Residency. Also what is the current condition of NH209.

If you want a toll-free drive go via NH 209, Kanakapura-Chamarajanagar-Dimbham-Sathy route.

However, the best way is to start early and stick to NH7 & 47 combination since 4 laning is complete till Coimbatore. Note that there is lot of flyover construction activity near Gandhipuram bus stand, 100 feet Road and Cross cut road. Good thing is City Tower is on other side of the bus stand but you still will be passing through this construction zone to get there.

[sibitg]

I plan to take Bangalore-Kanakapura-Malavalli-Kollegal-Chamarajanagar-Hasanur-Sathy-Annur-Coimbatore route with family this Friday. Plan to start by 5AM from Bangalore. Is this route safe to go with family? Hope the road conditions are good. Also I will look for the below hotels suggested by NPV.

Originally Posted by NPV

If you're taking the Kanakapura route here are some options:
1. Vasu Hotel and Hotel Shrinivas Sagar in Kanakapura town on left side of highway itself. But these may open post 6:30-6:45 am

2. Chamarajangar - Nijaguna

3. Sathyamangalam - Hotel Ramavilas opposite the police station

Originally Posted by sibitg

Kollegal-Chamarajanagar-Hasanur

From Kollegala, you can directly drive to Hasanur via 2-lane roads in forests of KA and TN, totally avoiding Chamarajanagar.

Is this route safe to go with family?

I drove on this route in November 2015. Fully safe.

Hope the road conditions are good.

The roads were good. See here for details and photographs.

[sibitg]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

From Kollegala, you can directly drive to Hasanur via 2-lane roads in forests of KA and TN, totally avoiding Chamarajanagar.

Is this the Germalam route?

[kala]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

From Kollegala, you can directly drive to Hasanur via 2-lane roads in forests of KA and TN, totally avoiding Chamarajanagar.

Originally Posted by sibitg

Is this the Germalam route?

I drove on this route in January while returning from Cochin. While the forest road in Tamilnadu (upto Germalam) is quite good with very little traffic, it becomes pretty bad as soon as you enter Karnataka. It does improve somewhat after about 3-4 kms of bad road, but the road is still quite narrow and traffic does pick up as you near Kollegal. Based on my trip logs I found that this diversion doesn't save any time either - The Kollegal-Hasanur stretch actually took me a few minutes longer via Germalam compared to my onward trip via Chamarajnagar.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by sibitg

I plan to take Bangalore-Kanakapura-Malavalli-Kollegal-Chamarajanagar-Hasanur-Sathy-Annur-Coimbatore route with family this Friday. Plan to start by 5AM from Bangalore. Is this route safe to go with family? Hope the road conditions are good. Also I will look for the below hotels suggested by NPV.

Just make sure you do not stop or get out of the car on the Dimbham ghats, there have been reports of leopard sightings especially in the evenings/nights.
Otherwise, no safety concerns on this route.

Any specific reason for taking this route ?

The 4 laning on NH47 is complete all the way to Coimbatore so you can take that route as well and it will be quite a fast drive given you plan to start at 5am.
You can also get to the Annur-Coimbatore route from Avinashi bypass on NH47 and till there you can enjoy the 4 lane

If you still decide to take the Chamrajanagar route, Vasu hotel at Kanakapura will not be open if you start at 5am, better bet is Nijaguna at Chamarajanagar.

[sibitg]

Originally Posted by NPV

Any specific reason for taking this route ?

Two weeks before I traveled through NH47, so need a change this time.

Originally Posted by sibitg

Is this the Germalam route?

Yes. The advantages include very less traffic, beautiful scenic road and avoiding the trouble of going through Chamarajanagar town. The main disadvantage is no road-side facilities like eateries, etc.

[sibitg]

Last Friday I drove to Coimbatore from Bangalore through Banshankari-Kanakapura-Malavalli-Kollegal-Germalam-Hasanur-Sathy-Annur. It was nice and safe trip, though greenery was less due to the summer. I drove very slowly through out the route without any time limit in mind.

As kala mentioned, road was not good in Karnataka side of border. I am OK as long as there are not large potholes where my Brio will struggle with its low ground clearance. Also road was narrow in some places. But traffic was very less, so it was not an issue for me.

The guard at Karnataka check post asked "something for tea". Looks like "collection" from commercial vehicles is a regular affair in both Karnataka and Tamilnadu check posts. I saw one pickup truck with vegetables handing over "something" at both border check posts. It was in my dashcam footage also

[NPV]

Question for Coimbatore experts...
If going to NSR Road in Sai Baba Colony, Coimbatore which is a better route ?
1.Take Avinashi Road all the way till it meets the Ooty (NH 67) road and turn right ? OR
2.Take Dr.Rajendra Prasad Road, then Power House Road, Cross Cut road and get off the ramp to enter Ooty Road ? This is the route Gmaps suggests but wondering if this is better than #1 ? Also, any landmark to spot the turn off to Rajendra Prasad Road from Avinashi road ?

[Arun.K]

Originally Posted by NPV

Question for Coimbatore experts...
If going to NSR Road in Sai Baba Colony, Coimbatore which is a better route ?
1.Take Avinashi Road all the way till it meets the Ooty (NH 67) road and turn right ? OR
2.Take Dr.Rajendra Prasad Road, then Power House Road, Cross Cut road and get off the ramp to enter Ooty Road ? This is the route Gmaps suggests but wondering if this is better than #1 ? Also, any landmark to spot the turn off to Rajendra Prasad Road from Avinashi road ?

Hi NPV,

The best option is take a right at Nava India junction (the second signal after PSG Tech./Peelamedu signal) or look for the NEXA showroom on the left side after PSG Tech. signal, move to the right most lane after that and turn right at the signal).
After turning right at Nava India junction, keep going straight in Dr. Rajendra Prasad road, after crossing SNR son's college compound there will be sharp left turn to cross a small bridge and immediate right turn after the bridge. Keep going straight you will reach 100 feet road and at the end of the road turn left for Power House road.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by NPV

Question for Coimbatore experts...
If going to NSR Road in Sai Baba Colony, Coimbatore which is a better route ?
1.Take Avinashi Road all the way till it meets the Ooty (NH 67) road and turn right ? OR

Another option is : Avinashi-Annur-Karamadai-Goundampalaym.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by ampere

Another option is : Avinashi-Annur-Karamadai-Goundampalaym.

Does this route go inside avinashi town ? Is it easy to cross the place ?
I'm thinking of just continuing on the 4/6 Lane till Neelambur and taking avinashi road till Nava junction as Arun has mentioned, but will try on another trip. Hectic one this time.