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I thought I read this on the forum only. Let me try to dig that. If that's not right, sorry for causing confusion on this topic.

Salem bypass after the Salem steel road exit towards Dharmapuri flyover construction is going on and service road is quite narrow to allow the huge flow of traffic.It took almost 45mins to traverse this traffic jam last weekend in the evening.

Hi.. plan to drive from Bangalore to Coimbatore next week on a weekday in my Alcazar AT. This is my first drive on this route, so thought of planning ahead. Looking at 2 options:

1. via NH 44 and NH544
Bangalore - K Giri - Salem - Erode - Avinashi - Coimbatore

2. via via NH948
Bangalore - Madduru exit - Malavalli - Chamarajanagara - Dhimbam - Coimbatore

I can see Route (2) could be scenic at many places, even though it may be single lane most of the way. It also seems to be shorter by 75kms door to door. I have seen many members have taken this route often, but what I would appreciate is some advise from those who have traveled more recently. Some helpful pointers could be on:

1. Traffic along the route
2. Driving difficulty on the single lane
3. Any specififc hazards
3. Availability of food options with recommendations
4. Any do's and dont's to follow

Thanks in advance.

This is regarding Route 1
You don't have to actually come to Erode. You can continue on the NH from Salem to Perundurai and Avinashi.
Regarding the next route, I have not done it recently.
Cheers

Route 2 does not have decent food options.
Traffic is manageable if you leave Bangalore early (6am or before).
I loved driving through the Dhimbam ghats but my wife was at her wits end because of so many sharp hair pin bends. If you are not comfortable with hilly roads, then you can avoid this route. Also there are stretches with no mobile network and minimal presence of civilization. So keep that in mind.

Enjoy your drive!

Yes, I saw there is a bye-pass - thanks.

Yes, I checked out few stretches of the route on Google street view (isn't it great now most roads in India seem to be covered by Google's street view!) and found them simply beautiful .. with rolling hills and thick woods. I'd have thought the traffic would be sparse, so we can easily do 70-80kmph in the straight stretches. Have you driven through the route lately? Are the roads good enough without too many bad stretches (I will be having two seniors as pax along with my wife). I have asked an younger cousin to join me on the trip, and if he does, I may be well inclined to take this route. And thanks for the good wishes :)

Here is my short experience when I travelled in February - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ml#post5502859

if this is your first time just take option 1

bangalore-hosur-krishnagiri-dharmapuri bypass- salem bypass- sankagiri by pass-avinashi bypass-coimbatore

4 and 6 laned throughout.. Truck traffic will be high depending on time of day but very much manageable.. You will hit some traffic in salem bypass but again it will only slow you down a bit. it till take 6-6.5 hours depending on where you want to reach in coimbatore.

Option 2 only if you are bored as it will take longer and no proper food places on the way. Option 1 has tons of choices for food and rest.

Avoid option 1 only during high volume holidays like diwali, year end etc where the toll booths will have a huge queue (especially the attibele one)

I have been driving this route for over 10 years and option 1 is a no brainer for someone doing it for first time.

Did a Bangalore-Coimbatore-Bangalore trip in last 2 days over the weekend.

Left Bangalore at 1.30 pm on Friday 26th May and too Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Thoppur-Mettur-Bhavani-Avinashi-Coimbatore route. It was mainly because, when i exited Thoppur ghats , it was around 4 pm and after a quick 15 mts tea break, i will be crossing Salem in peak hours. Didn't want to go through the painful peak hour 2W traffic all the way from Omalur to Salem and then to exit to Coimbatore route. So took right and went via Mettur and it was peaceful and scenic.

Thoppur to Mettur - road surface is good and in many places they are adding shoulders , so there are deep pits in one side. Its NOT recommended to drive in this stretch in dark/after sunset.

Mettur to Bhavani is more scenic and good roads and must be done only in daylight. But again there are few locations where small culvert/bridge repair work is happening, so traffic is allowed in one direction in those 3 to 4 construction areas and traffic piles up.

Those who want to do a relaxed and casual drive and bored of 4L roads, take this route. Those who are time conscious and want to cover the distance in shortest time, don't plan this route.

Took right from Bhavani and joined NH and it was raining all the way till Avinashi.

Return journey was yesterday Sunday 28th May. After lunch at Annapoorna near Race course/opposite to court, packed some snacks and left at 1 pm. Again drove very casually and didn't want to race against time just to enjoy the natural scenic drive, so took Coimbatore-Annur-Puliyampatti-Sathy-Bannari-Dhimbam-Kollegal-Kanakapura-Bangalore route.

After crossing Ganapathy and all the way till we cross Saravanampatti, there was good traffic and slowly traffic reduces. Road contidtions are good throughout. After Annur , the roads are simply amazing , literally zero pot holes and butter smooth roads towards, Sathy-Bannari-Dhimbam ghat roads, Dhimbam till we exit TN border. It was excellent and fantastic.
Once we enter KA, the road conditions drastically changes and deteriorates till Kollegal. Kollegal - Malavalli - Kanakapura was good as the road widening work is done and no issues.
Didn't want to go stratight from Malavalli towards Mandya-Mysore road to avoid Sunday evening return traffic. So took right towards Kanakapura , thanks to mpksuhas, for his advise when i spoke to him and his post after his trip on May 1st in Mysore road.

However post kanakapura , till Harohalli and till Nice road, its a mess as the construction work is aborted and its neither in old shape nor in new way. Its dangerous and best avoided post sunset due to crazy driving by many people. From kanakpura, it took 2 hours and i reached Bangalore at 9.30 pm which is obviously slowest timings if we take this route.

Hi Raghavan,

Given that you have 2 senior citizens and wife in the car, i wanted to let you know about few things on this route.

1) After Kanakapura, there is only one decent stop for rest rooms and food which is Nijaguna Residency in Chamrajnagar. Post which the next one is only at Coimbatore, so really there are no good options and you can't stop in nearby place for any urgency or rest room break or food.
2) Indeed the route is scenic with many forest areas and agricultural lands and less in traffic, but beware of the driving pain till KA border. (except between Kanakapura to Kollegal).
3) Dhimbam ghats as 27 hair pin bends and its a gamble. Many times, in that ghat roads trucks break down and will pile up traffic for easily 4+ or more number of hours till it is cleared. Also, there is some risk/caution of elephants blocking the way (not always, but the risk exists). We can't drive in this route post sun set, so you have to time out the travel and plan accordingly.
4) Overall E2E travel time is atleast 1 to 2 hours more in this route than NH route.

Due to above reasons and mainly because you have senior citizen, i recommend you stick to standard NH route as the travel time is less for them (about 6 to 7 hours of driving time plus breaks) with good stop overs all the way.
You can try out this KA side route via Kollegal later alone without senior citizens, may be post monsoon when Kaveri flows in good flow. My 2 cents....


-Ravi

I have done Route 1 until Salem twice in the last 2 years while driving to Tanjore, so I thought I should try out something different. Thanks for your advise.

Thanks ravib, you have travelled just yesterday on this route - so it can't get any fresher than that! I think I will take on your advise to do this route post-monsoon.

Thanks warrioraks.checked out your post and the last lines stuck a chord :)

Hi!
I have been a regular traveller on the Dhimbam route to Coimbatore and have done a couple of drives recently too. There are far better facilities for food now than a decade or 2 ago! And being the" road less travelled" will amaze you with fantastic views. You can halt for breakfast at Maddur, exit the expressway and proceed towards malvalli and kollegal has few good restaurants too now for breakfast. If you choose to drive via Germalam the views are even better. But do this only if you have basic maintenance skills like fixing a flat tyre, or changing a wheel as roadside assistance is NIL.
But the scenary, ohh that makes up for everything!

Have a safe ride, whichever option you choose.

If you still want majority two lane roads, try out Bangalore - Thoppur-Mettur- Athani -Sathyamangalam-Coimbatore. Its been years since I travelled on this route but it used to be smooth two lane tarmac all through out.

And I honestly thought my decision to try out Route 2 later after the monsoon would be simple and a no-brainer !! Never foresaw one of the two senior citizens (my dad, stepping into the the 90's) remembering with nostalgia his earlier trip several decades back with his students on this route (he was a faculty in a Training school in the 80's) and longing to re-vist the route. Above all, the wife, by now fully charged and captivated by the google imagery, starts egging me not to give up so easily but try out Route 2!!

The long and short of it is, we are going to do Route 2, and I may just need all your best wishes :D !!

Good for you! The awesome views, rural vistas, rolling hills and the odd pachyderm ( if one is lucky) plus the lack of traffic on this route never cease to delight and blow away the city blues. Stock up on some eats, fruits and tender cocos , a nostalgia inducing playlist ( to sing along to) ,brush up on 'em DIY maintenance skills and one is set to go!
And yes, do use the toll saved plus some for some useful gifts to be shared with the lesser previleged enroute ( flip flops in assorted sizes in the boot maybe).Dopamine guaranteed!:)