[binand]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

1. I'll be leaving from Tirur post lunch on Monday. Which would be the ideal route? From Tirur the default route would be via Chamravattam-Ponnani-Chavakkad-Kondungaloor-Paravoor-Ekm. Will this be the best option both from traffic and time perspective? Or does it make sense to go the Thrissur-Ekm 4 lane route?

The default route from Tirur would be Tirur-Chamravattam-Edappal-Kunnamkulam-Thrissur-NH47. Slightly longer but perhaps better quality roads could be had by Tirur-Vailathur-Puthanathani-NH17-Kuttipuram-Edappal and as above. Going via NH17 beyond Chavakkad used to be a nightmare - narrow roads, horrible traffic, way too many small towns etc.

Disclaimer: I last did this route several years back, so conditions could have changed since then.

[kala]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Hello All,
Need to drive from Tirur (Malappuram) to Ernakulam next Monday. Have a couple of questions. Appreciate inputs.

1. I'll be leaving from Tirur post lunch on Monday. Which would be the ideal route? From Tirur the default route would be via Chamravattam-Ponnani-Chavakkad-Kondungaloor-Paravoor-Ekm. Will this be the best option both from traffic and time perspective? Or does it make sense to go the Thrissur-Ekm 4 lane route?

I'd choose the default route itself. Since it appears that you're going to be travelling during the day, whichever route you take will have quite a bit of traffic, so your average speed isn't going to be too much beyond 40-50 kmph irrespective of the route - so the shorter route will probably take you to the destination earlier.

@Binand : NH17 road conditions are much better now than what it was a couple of years back, but the traffic has increased even further to counter it.

I travelled through the Calicut-Trichur-Cochin route a couple of weeks back and was quite frustrated with the traffic. Tried taking the Akkikkavu-Kecheri shortcut to avoid Kunnamkulam, but ended up waiting about 20 minutes at a traffic jam in Kecheri (close to the point where the short cut joins the Guruvayoor-Trichur highway). Also the 4-lane road between Trichur and EKM is becoming a real pain due to the innumerable traffic signals that you encounter on the way, and the interceptor vans waiting to pounce on you at the very few places where you can really afford to drive faster than 70kmph.

2. I'll be hitting Ekm during evening peak hour. My destination is BTH Hotel on the DH Road. Which would be the ideal route to reach there once I hit Ekm outskirts. Google Maps suggests to go though the city to Marine Drive, take a left and enter DH Road from Marine drive.

To get to BTH, going via Marine drive would probably be the best when coming from the Northern side via NH47 or NH17. If you're going on NH17 there's an alternate route via Pallippuram-Vypeen to get to Marine drive via the Goshree bridge. Can help you avoid the traffic in Paravoor town and the narrow Paravoor-Edappally stretch, but I'm not sure if you will gain much in terms of time because the roads are rather narrow even on that route and traffic isn't much lighter.

[car FANATICUS]

Hello All,

This is my first post on this forum.
I am planning a Bangalore-Allepey trip on 25th May. My ride is Duster 85 PS.
What is the best and fastest route? I have following in my plan as of now :-
Bangalore - Dharmapuri - Salem - Coimbatore - Palghat - Thrissur- Ernakulam - Allepey.
I know it must have been covered numerous times on this forum and this thread particularly but just wanted a fresh perspective on this please !.

Thanks in advance.

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[binaiks]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

2. I'll be hitting Ekm during evening peak hour. My destination is BTH Hotel on the DH Road. Which would be the ideal route to reach there once I hit Ekm outskirts. Google Maps suggests to go though the city to Marine Drive, take a left and enter DH Road from Marine drive.

If you are coming through NH17, take a right at the "container road junction" just about a km after Varapuzha bridge. This road would directly land near the first Gosree Bridge, and you can proceed from there to Marine drive via High Court - this way you can avoid all the traffic from Edappally to Marine Drive. Tracing on Google Maps can be seen here.

If you are coming via NH-47 (i.e., getting off to the highway at thrissur and preferring to crawl at 70kmph on a beautiful wide 4-laned road paying some Rs. 80 as toll), then take a right at Kalamassery. The turn comes before "Premier Junction" (Apollo Tyres junction). The road splits a bit before the junction. There are boards indicating "Vallarpadam Container Terminal" near the turn. Get onto that road - that road leaves you near the first Gosree Bridge (Ponjikara). See on Google Maps here.

When coming from NH-47, sticking to the city roads are shorter in distance, but the traffic will eat up a lot of time. Using the "Container Road" is a better option if your destination is anywhere near Marine Drive/MG Road.

[kala]

Originally Posted by binaiks

If you are coming via NH-47 (i.e., getting off to the highway at thrissur and preferring to crawl at 70kmph on a beautiful wide 4-laned road paying some Rs. 80 as toll), then take a right at Kalamassery. The turn comes before "Premier Junction" (Apollo Tyres junction). The road splits a bit before the junction. There are boards indicating "Vallarpadam Container Terminal" near the turn. Get onto that road - that road leaves you near the first Gosree Bridge (Ponjikara). See on Google Maps here.

When coming from NH-47, sticking to the city roads are shorter in distance, but the traffic will eat up a lot of time. Using the "Container Road" is a better option if your destination is anywhere near Marine Drive/MG Road.

Good option. I had forgotten about the Kalamassery-Vallarpadam road. Should certainly be faster than via Edappally/North overbridge.

By the way are you sure the toll on NH47 is Rs. 80 ? My memory was that I paid something around Rs. 50 (or may be 55) one way when I travelled last. (Of course even that is daylight robbery since you can't drive at speeds higher than 70 and you generally spend around 10 minutes or sometimes even more at the innumerable traffic lights on that stretch)

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by kala

By the way are you sure the toll on NH47 is Rs. 80 ? My memory was that I paid something around Rs. 50 (or may be 55) one way when I travelled last.

There has been a revision in rates from 29 Mar'13.Toll charges for vehicles other than cars were raised between Rs 10 & Rs 40. The toll rate for cars was reduced by Rs 5 from 55 to 50 one way

[jacs]

Originally Posted by jacs

We are driving next weekend KOCHI - THRISSUR - SHORNUR - PATTAMBI - NILAMBUR - THEPPAKKADU - GUNDLUPET - MUTHANGA - SULTAN BATTERY - KOZHIKODE - EDAPPAL - PONNANI - CHAVAKKAD - KODUNGALLOOR - KOCHI

We had a pleasant journey, most of the stretch was very good. Only change is that we drove straight from Kuttipuram - Kunnamkulam - Trissur instead of Edappal -Ponnani.

• Vazhikadavu - Gudalur road has some big potholes here and there. Especially in the bends making the drive bit dangerous as vehicles take wrong side to avoid potholes.
• Gudalur checkpost - Theppakkadu stretch had broken tarmac in many places but drivable.
• Inner routes in Kozhikode are part of the "Japan Water Project" and has bad roads. Especially the route via Kakkur, Balussery, Tamarassery route.

[Ajith-s]

There has been a lot of discussion around the condition of roads at "Kuthiran" (between Palakkad and Thrissur), if one is drving to Kerala (Kochi, Alleppy, Thrissur...) from Bangalore using the "normal" roure of Bangalore - Dharmapuri - Salem - Coimbatore - Palakkad - Thrissur - Eranakaulam/Kochi route.

We did this trip last week and the week before, and managed to cover this difficult stretcgh without any issues. Yes the road for around 20 kms are bad, but did not face any traffic pile-ups. Some part of the road has been "patched" very recently making things a bit easier.

However, anyone using this route please keep an eye open for some really BAD potholes, especially just before and after the Kuthiran hill and also on the hill. Some of these result in some rash drivers swerving suddenly to avoid these.

This stretch is best covered in 60 kmph or below, for the sake of your vehicle and your back!

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by kala

I'd choose the default route itself...

Originally Posted by binaiks

If you are coming through NH17, take a right at the "container road junction" just about a km after Varapuzha bridge...

Thanks for the valuable inputs. Just returned from the trip. While going I took the Chamravattam-Chavakkad-Kondungaloor-Vypin-Goshree Bridge route to reach Marine Drive. Total time taken was 3 hr 40 min with a 20 min break. @Kala you were totally right about the traffic on the Vypin route. Very narrow roads with 5-6 bridges undergoing widening to accommodate 2 way traffic. 3 of these bridges currently have a signal . On top of it the road was dug up in many stretches for KWA work. I took 1hr 30min from Kondungaloor to my destination BTH. Although with this route you can hit Marine drive without hitting any major signal. But the drive is stressful.

While returning I planned to take the route suggested by Binaiks, but due to a last minute change of plan, I had to go to Lake Shore Hospital. So returned via the standard Bye-pass, Edapalli, Varapuzha-Paravoor-Kondungaloor-Chavakkad-Chamravattam-Tirur route. Took around 4 hrs with a 30 min stop for lunch. Took close to 1 hr from Lakeshore to Varapuzha. So no real time benefit over the Vypin route. But felt it was better to be stuck in traffic and signals as opposed to driving in vastly varying speeds on the narrow Vypin Roads.

Road conditions were great except for the Tirur Chamravattam Stretch which was very uneven. Traffic was also manageable on NH 17. never encountered a situation where I was stuck behind a slower vehicle for a long time.

The Chamravattom Bridge is a real boon to people in the Tirur area. Total distance was only around 110km from Edapalli to Tirur. The fact that it takes 3-4 hrs for this distance is a different story

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by Ajith-s

There has been a lot of discussion around the condition of roads at "Kuthiran" ........

This stretch is best covered in 60 kmph or below, for the sake of your vehicle and your back!

Here are some pics I have taken from Trichur side of Kuthiran till Irumpupalam. The images are about 15 days old and the same condition applies for most of the 15-20 kms stretch.

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by Ajith-s

There has been a lot of discussion around the condition of roads at "Kuthiran" (between Palakkad and Thrissur), if one is drving to Kerala (Kochi, Alleppy, Thrissur...) from Bangalore using the "normal" roure of Bangalore - Dharmapuri - Salem - Coimbatore - Palakkad - Thrissur - Eranakaulam/Kochi route.

I took this route couple of days back. Onward trip to Blore was fine since I covered this stretch at around 5am. But while coming back there was a huge traffic pile up just after Kuthiran. The major reason for this traffic hold up was because buses and other morons decided to take the wrong lane and overtake the slow moving traffic. This two lane was converted to 4 lanes of vehicles moving in one direction at some sections. Return trip was covered at 4pm. It's best to cover this stretch at around 6-8am. Less traffic and you have enough light to avoid the potholes.

[tachobells]

Folks,
Going from Bangalore to Trivandrum on Friday. Planning to start at 5am and planning to take the Nagercoil route. Should I consider Thenkasi route?

What are the average travel times? Traveling with my baby. Shortest route preferred.

[kala]

Originally Posted by tachobells

Folks,
Going from Bangalore to Trivandrum on Friday. Planning to start at 5am and planning to take the Nagercoil route. Should I consider Thenkasi route?

What are the average travel times? Traveling with my baby. Shortest route preferred.

Shortest in terms of distance could perhaps be via Rajapalayam-Thenmala-Nedumangad, but the one via Nagercoil is likely to be faster since the road till Kavalkkinar (where you turn off from NH7 to NH47B towards Nagercoil) is excellent and you can average around 100kmph easily.

I have done Bangalore (Silk board Jn) to Kavalkkinar in under 7 hours during the times when there was no roadwork and you could reach Salem in 2.5 hrs (Nowadays it takes around 3). If you're a reasonably fast driver I'm sure you should be able to cover the 650 kms or so on NH7 in in about 8 to 8.5 hours max.

The last 85-90 kms from there till Trivandrum would be slow because of traffic, Account for about 2 to 2.5 hours for this stretch.

[torque18]

Hello

We are planning a trip to Kerala from Delhi in the first week of June and plan to visit basically the upper regions of the state including Vagamon, Munnar, Thekkady, Idukki, Wayanad and Antirapilyy falls.(any other interesting place that I am missing?)

I need help with the route I should be taking to reach my first destination Wayanad from Delhi. Its quite a long journey with me being the sole one driving and so I would like to take a route which is serene and scenic and not chaotic. Google maps show me an interesting route via Goa as it traces the coastline right upto Wayanad from Goa onwards. However, I have ABSOLUTELY no idea of what this route holds for me. Also it might be looking good on the map but might not be as scenic.

The other route considered is via Gwalior-Jhansi-Nagpur/Indore. I know the roads will be more or less perfect tarmac except for the Jhansi cantt region which is without tarmac.

Please suggest the route I should ideally be taking keeping in mind that I plan to be there the third day.

Regards

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by torque18

Hello

We are planning a trip to Kerala from Delhi in the first week of June and plan to visit basically the upper regions of the state including Vagamon, Munnar, Thekkady, Idukki, Wayanad and Antirapilyy falls.(any other interesting place that I am missing?)

I need help with the route I should be taking to reach my first destination Wayanad from Delhi. Its quite a long journey with me being the sole one driving and so I would like to take a route which is serene and scenic and not chaotic. Google maps show me an interesting route via Goa as it traces the coastline right upto Wayanad from Goa onwards. However, I have ABSOLUTELY no idea of what this route holds for me. Also it might be looking good on the map but might not be as scenic.

The other route considered is via Gwalior-Jhansi-Nagpur/Indore. I know the roads will be more or less perfect tarmac except for the Jhansi cantt region which is without tarmac.

Please suggest the route I should ideally be taking keeping in mind that I plan to be there the third day.

Regards

Lot depends on how many days you have at your disposal.
Driving the NH17 in South KA & North KL is not an enviable job, I would suggest you take the fastest route down to the "buffer zone" and then work your way up, progressing with the monsoon!

Assuming you reach Bangalore first, then you can plan the circuit as follows:

Bangalore-Salem-Dindigul-Kodaikanal-Thekkady-Vagamon-Kattapana-Idukki-Munnar-Udumalipet-Valapari-Athirapalli-Chalakudy-Trissur-Nilambur-Wayanadu-Kannur-Mangalore-Goa