[Chiro]

Hi,
I am planning a road trip from Mumbai to Kochi starting 23rd Nov in an i20.
My plan is the following.

Planned Route: Bombay-Pune-Kolhapur-Hubli-Chitradurga-Bangalore (use NICE road to bypass)-Salem-Bhavani-Coimbatore-Palakkad-Trichur-Kochi

Day 1: I plan to cover till Chitradurga or Bangalore
Day 2: Onward journey till Kochi

Does this itin look achieveable and are the roads ok for this route?

Also, can anyone advise on a decent place (travelling with family)to stay in either Chitradurga or Bangalore (which doesn't deviate from route too much).

Any comments and suggestions will be really helpful
Many Thanks in advance

Chiro

[Chiro]

Originally Posted by Chiro

Hi,
I am planning a road trip from Mumbai to Kochi starting 23rd Nov in an i20.
My plan is the following.

Planned Route: Bombay-Pune-Kolhapur-Hubli-Chitradurga-Bangalore (use NICE road to bypass)-Salem-Bhavani-Coimbatore-Palakkad-Trichur-Kochi

Day 1: I plan to cover till Chitradurga or Bangalore
Day 2: Onward journey till Kochi

Does this itin look achieveable and are the roads ok for this route?

Also, can anyone advise on a decent place (travelling with family)to stay in either Chitradurga or Bangalore (which doesn't deviate from route too much).

Any comments and suggestions will be really helpful
Many Thanks in advance

Chiro

Update from the 23rd Nov, 2013 trip.
Finally made the trip... drive is relaxing and you can keep a steady pace, save a couple of patches here and there.

Maharashtra roads are good, though there is construction happening in certain patches. Roads all the way to Bangalore and Coimbatore is excellent as well.

NH 7 / 47 connections between Coimbatore-Palkaad-Trissur is the real challenge. At a point I thought I was in a jungle safari, owing to excellent previous road conditions.

It will be worthwhile to try out the Dindigul route, which I learnt about a little too late.

Will be happy to share any details if anyone thinks its helpful.

Chiro

[bbhavan]

Dear friends.

Has anybody tried the below route from Mumbai-Cochin?

From the Google maps, it seems that it is 150km lesser than the normal NH4/47 route and also helps to avoid the detour through Pollachi.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by bbhavan

Dear friends.
Has anybody tried the below route from Mumbai-Cochin?

As we always maintained before that extra 150 km is worth it thanks to easy cruise on GQ. NH17 south of Mangalore is extremely crowded and its quite difficult to drive.

[bbhavan]

Originally Posted by ampere

As we always maintained before that extra 150 km is worth it thanks to easy cruise on GQ. NH17 south of Mangalore is extremely crowded and its quite difficult to drive.

I was thinking about leaving mumbai in the wee hours of morning.
So by evening, I should be somewhere near Udupi.

And if I continue further without taking a night halt, then i could cover the Kerala stretch in the night.

It is a weird thought, still probing an option.

[DieselAddikt]

Originally Posted by bbhavan

I was thinking about leaving mumbai in the wee hours of morning.
So by evening, I should be somewhere near Udupi.

And if I continue further without taking a night halt, then i could cover the Kerala stretch in the night.

It is a weird thought, still probing an option.

Sir, Did you take this route ? How were the roads ? I am planning to do Kochi - Goa in Feb via NH17. It will be great if you can share your views. Any information from anyone on the current condition of roads would be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
DieselAddikt

[ampere]

Originally Posted by DieselAddikt

Sir, Did you take this route ? How were the roads ? I am planning to do Kochi - Goa in Feb via NH17. It will be great if you can share your views. Any information from anyone on the current condition of roads would be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
DieselAddikt

It would be a highly congested traffic. North Kerala part to Mangalore would be extremely time consuming. So I am not sure how much you would actually enjoy. Please do consider that aspect also before you decide.

[DieselAddikt]

Originally Posted by ampere

It would be a highly congested traffic. North Kerala part to Mangalore would be extremely time consuming. So I am not sure how much you would actually enjoy. Please do consider that aspect also before you decide.

Thank you for the quick response ampere. What would be the alternate route ? Kochi - Blore - Hubli - Goa ? Last time I drove Kochi - Blore, I took 9.5hrs to complete the route. Considering that I would maintain similar speeds, how long will it take to travel till Goa ? I have been out of state for the past 2 years. Hence I have no clue of the current situation of the roads. I will mostly be driving alone.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by DieselAddikt

Thank you for the quick response ampere. What would be the alternate route ? Kochi - Blore - Hubli - Goa ? Last time I drove Kochi - Blore, I took 9.5hrs to complete the route. Considering that I would maintain similar speeds, how long will it take to travel till Goa ? I have been out of state for the past 2 years. Hence I have no clue of the current situation of the roads. I will mostly be driving alone.

You can do kochi-blore would take you around 10hours and blore-hubli-goa would take you another 10-12hrs depending on driving styles.Ideal to do it over two days for a stress drive.NH17 route would tire you out.

[DieselAddikt]

ranjithp1, so is it going to be a minimum of 20hr drive ? Then like you said, I might have to stay at Chithradurga or Devangere and resume the next day. Thank you for your inputs.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by DieselAddikt

ranjithp1, so is it going to be a minimum of 20hr drive ? Then like you said, I might have to stay at Chithradurga or Devangere and resume the next day. Thank you for your inputs.

Any time its better.

Maybe for the fun part you should also try the Sathyamangalam route.

Kochi-Trichur-CBE-Annur-Sathyamangalam-Chamarajanaga-T-Narasipur-Bannur-Srirangapatna-Pandavpura-Nagamangala-Neligere-Huliyar-Hiriyur-Chitradurga.

It also saves ~100km. But yes most sections are 2-lane. But they are good 2-lane. Some bad sections between Chamarajanagar-Srirangapatna.

[DieselAddikt]

Originally Posted by ampere

Any time its better.
Kochi-Trichur-CBE-Annur-Sathyamangalam-Chamarajanaga-T-Narasipur-Bannur-Srirangapatna-Pandavpura-Nagamangala-Neligere-Huliyar-Hiriyur-Chitradurga.

Yes. My only objective is to spend some quality time on the road. The destination is not that important. Decided Goa because some of my other friends will also be reaching Goa the same time. I think I should consider this route too. Thanks for the pointers. So from what I gather, NH17 should be avoided. It will either be Kochi-Blore-Chithradurga or Kochi-Sathyamangalam-Chithradurga. Any other routes that can be considered ? A bit of bad roads here and there is fine. But the roads should be less congested so that I can be at peace and enjoy my drive.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by DieselAddikt

Yes. My only objective is to spend some quality time on the road. The destination is not that important. Decided Goa because some of my other friends will also be reaching Goa the same time. I think I should consider this route too. Thanks for the pointers. So from what I gather, NH17 should be avoided. It will either be Kochi-Blore-Chithradurga or Kochi-Sathyamangalam-Chithradurga. Any other routes that can be considered ? A bit of bad roads here and there is fine. But the roads should be less congested so that I can be at peace and enjoy my drive.

This route is 2-lane highway drive at its best.
- CBE-Chamarajanagar is nice NH209 with 26 hairpins.
- Chamarajanagar-T-Narasipur-Bannur is good
- Bannur-Srirangapatna : Not much of an idea. May be bad too.
- Srirangapatna-Pandavpura-Nagamangala-Neligere-Huliyar-Hiriyur Awesome 2-lane all the way. Speed breakers yes. But hardly any traffic.

See this update:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post3337653

And to beat traffic on NH47, you can also do :
Trichur-Vadakkencherry-Kollgode-Pollachi-Palladam-Avinashi-Annur
At Annur you join NH209.

So this is what I meant : Route Link

[kala]

Originally Posted by ampere

- Bannur-Srirangapatna : Not much of an idea. May be bad too.

The Bannur-Srirangapatna road was pretty decent about a year back except for the initial 1-2 kms inside Bannur town. Haven't travelled that way since then.

[DieselAddikt]

Thank you ampere, renjithp1, kala. I will definitely be considering this route. Sounds like they are good options.