[ravib]

Originally Posted by sateeshg

Hi,
Ch.Nagar-Dhimbam route is almost relaid, except for about 5 km near the Tamil Nadu border ( with potholes temporarily filled). I have traveled on this route yesterday ( 23 Oct).

Thanks for the update. Much appreciated.
In last few weeks, there were several truck breakdowns in this route, causing several hours of traffic jams. With heavy rains, its getting even more difficult.

I drove from Bangalore to Coimbatore then to Pollachi, last weekend.

Started at 6 am from C.V.Raman Nagar and reached Coimbatore exit around 12.15 pm and reached Pollachi at 1 pm including 1.5 hours break overall and constant driving of 95 to 105 kmph speed. So average kmph covered is pretty good.
Its really irritating to pay 3 tolls in L&T bypass for that 2L road which is heavy in traffic.

-Ravi

[hydtraveller]

Originally Posted by sateeshg

Hi,
Ch.Nagar-Dhimbam route is almost relaid, except for about 5 km near the Tamil Nadu border ( with potholes temporarily filled). I have traveled on this route yesterday ( 23 Oct).

Is it worth taking this route to go from Coonoor to Bangalore as against the Coonoor Krishnagiri Bangalore route. A travelling with ladies and a dog so the apprehension. Thanks

[ravib]

Originally Posted by hydtraveller

Is it worth taking this route to go from Coonoor to Bangalore as against the Coonoor Krishnagiri Bangalore route. A travelling with ladies and a dog so the apprehension. Thanks

As you are traveling with ladies , you are better off to stick to 4L via Mettupalayam, Salem, Krishnagiri, Bangalore. Given the heavy rains, and a gamble in Dhimbam ghats (due to frequent truck breakdowns and time delays), i won't recommend Dhimbam-Chamaraj Nagar route for this trip.

-Ravi

[sateeshg]

Entire stretch from Tamil Nadu border to Chamarajanagar is now completely asphalted. I traveled from Sathyamangalam to Mysore on Nov 20, and it was a smooth drive. The nightmare of potholes and gravel is now a thing of the past...err..till next big rain fall or 6 months of heavy trucks..

[NPV]

Not a Bangalore-Coimbatore query but for a day trip between Bangalore-Salem and maybe another 50-100Km from Salem (Visit couple of offbeat places like dams/reservoirs en route and return after lunch somewhere near Salem).

One option is the Nagavathi Dam near Dharmapuri, this can be combined with a breakfast stopover at Sai Sangeet near Thoppur.

Are there any other places to visit en route Salem and nearby ?

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by NPV

Not a Bangalore-Coimbatore query but for a day trip between Bangalore-Salem and maybe another 50-100Km from Salem (Visit couple of offbeat places like dams/reservoirs en route and return after lunch somewhere near Salem).

One option is the Nagavathi Dam near Dharmapuri, this can be combined with a breakfast stopover at Sai Sangeet near Thoppur.

Are there any other places to visit en route Salem and nearby ?

You can try shoolagiri dam(peaceful place) & have breakfast at murugan idli krishnagiri. Yercaud is very close to Selam if you are upto it, plenty of good places to eat on the highway.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by NPV

Not a Bangalore-Coimbatore query but for a day trip between Bangalore-Salem and maybe another 50-100Km from Salem (Visit couple of offbeat places like dams/reservoirs en route and return after lunch somewhere near Salem).

Near Attur you have Anaivari Waterfalls and Kalvarayan Hills(this is little far though). I have not been to this place, but heard about it recently. You can check youtube videos for more information.

[jkrishnakj]

Mettur Dam as well. If you do a round trip, you can visit Bhavani Sagar reservoir as well. Nice place.

[naadopaasaka]

Planning a Bengaluru-Karur-Coimbatore-Bengaluru trip this weekend onwards for 4 days or so. Would be grateful for help with the following.

1. Any COVID-related restrictions on the KA-TN border? Do we need RT-PCR tests or anything like that? Would vaccination certificates do?

2. Karur is a necessary stop en route Coimbatore, so I don't think we have too many route options, do we? Hosur-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Salem-Karur-Kangeyam-Palladam-Coimbatore. Any alternative suggestions?

3. At Coimbatore, we don't have any particular agenda. We're holidaying. We're thinking about visiting Valparai. Chose it over Pollachi (didn't look as impressive from a very basic Google search) and Coonoor (farther than we'd like). We might visit the Isha Foundation too. Any other ideas/ suggestions?

4. Our fleet will be a 2017 pre-facelift S-Cross and a 2017 Dzire from Bengaluru, and a 2019 BMW 320d from Chennai. Does Valparai offer a fun drive? It will probably just be one or two cars which go there.

5. Anything else at all that would be helpful?

Thanks in advance. Please also let me know if you want any particular information from me.

[SGK]

Any recent updates on the following route

Bangalore- Thoppur-Mettur- Sathyamangalam- Coimbatore.

Two weeks back I was stuck for around 1 hour near Salem due to ongoing road widening/ Flyover work after Salem. So if the above route is good, then would like to take the same.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by SGK

Bangalore- Thoppur-Mettur- Sathyamangalam- Coimbatore.

You may want to take Omalur-Tharamangalam-Sankari. Thoppur-Mettur is busy bus route.

Besides it makes no sense to go to Sathy. If you are going via Mettur, might as well take Thoppur-Mettur-Bhavani

[ampere]

Its not that bad to go through Salem these days once the flyovers came up? Something changed?

[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by ampere

Its not that bad to go through Salem these days once the flyovers came up? Something changed?

There are flyover works entering Salem from Krishnagiri that cause pile-ups at times. I've never had to stand-still (slow/ crawl - yes. Stop - no), but some of my friends weren't as lucky!

Same goes for Salem - CBE highway too. One of the under-construction flyover has been opened to traffic in the last few months, but there are couple of diversions for others that might cause a pile-up in an otherwise excellent stretch!

[Landkruzer]

Originally Posted by narayans80

You may want to take Omalur-Tharamangalam-Sankari. Thoppur-Mettur is busy bus route.

I drove in this route in mid Jan. This route was in very bad condition. Very bad undulating surface, potholes etc. Cant go beyond 30 km. Omalur-Tharamangalam was somewhat ok, but beyond that was very bad. Better avoided.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by Landkruzer

This route was in very bad condition.

This was one of the detours when the 5 bridges were built in Salem.

Another route I had accidentally tried was Mecheri-Edappadi-Sankari. This was a bit narrow after Mecheri. Edappadi-Sankari is very good road.