[sridharp77]

I just came back from Kerala two days ago . The roads from Thrissur to Palakkad is not all that great. From Palakkad till Walayar it is good. Do not take the route via Salem. Lots of work is going on and the condition of roads are not all that great. Use the Mettur route. From Thoppur till Horsur (Full four lane) the road is in great condition. From Horsur till Bangalore other than at places where the flyover is getting constructed the condition of the road is excellent. I was able to reach Bangalore from Palakkad in little less than 6 hours (non stop).

[hellstar]

Originally Posted by unni.ak

Driving down to Alleppey tonight. Planning to take the Salem - Coimbatore - Palakkad route. The last few updates suggest that the Coimbatore to Trichur stretch is bad.

How about the Salem - Dindugul - Kumili stretch? Any updates on this route?

unni u sure do travel quite frequently to home don't you , and putting on some serious mileage

[lloydofcochin]

Hi All,

Planning to ride down to Cochin on Saturday. I have 2 routes in mind, via Salem - Palakkad or Mysore - Gudallur - Nilambur, Which will be the best bet considering the monsoons and the roads? If someone can update on the distance via Nilambur that would be great.

Cheers
Lloyd

[jacs]

Originally Posted by lloydofcochin

Hi All,

Planning to ride down to Cochin on Saturday. I have 2 routes in mind, via Salem - Palakkad or Mysore - Gudallur - Nilambur, Which will be the best bet considering the monsoons and the roads? If someone can update on the distance via Nilambur that would be great.

Cheers
Lloyd

Please enquire well before taking Mysore - Gudallur - Nilambur route, this route gets closed quite often during Monsoon due to land slides.

[swathyd]

Any body know the present condition of roads in kuttippuram (malappuram) ? I am planning a trip to kollur . If possible give info on kasargod roads and also manglore -udupi stretch , as it was completely broken up before an year .

[bijuks]

Originally Posted by unni.ak

How about the Salem - Dindugul - Kumili stretch? Any updates on this route?

The route Bangalore - Salem - Dindigul - Theni - Kambom - Kumily is good. Up to Dindigul, it is 4 lane highway - note that there are many small diversions as the construction is still not complete - But, majority of this streatch is very good.

Not sure about the road conditions after reaching Kerala.

[unni.ak]

Originally Posted by hellstar

unni u sure do travel quite frequently to home don't you , and putting on some serious mileage

I try.

Originally Posted by bijuks

The route Bangalore - Salem - Dindigul - Theni - Kambom - Kumily is good. Up to Dindigul, it is 4 lane highway - note that there are many small diversions as the construction is still not complete - But, majority of this streatch is very good.

Not sure about the road conditions after reaching Kerala.

Kerala roads are bad. Palakkad to Angamaly is in bad condition. Aroor to Cherthala 4-lane is also bad. Why do we use water-soluble tar?!!

So, if some one is planning to take Salem - Coimbatore - Cochin route, please try an alternative. If you have a SUV, the route is ok. But for sedans and small cars, its torture.

[srikarsai]

I am Taking off on a Trip to Munnar from Bangalore on Monday.
Can Anyone Please Update me about the conditions following route :
bangalore-Housr-Dharmapuri-Salem(all on NH7)-(NH49)Coimbatore-Pollachi –Udumalapet – Chinnar – Munnar ( Night Stay in Coimbatore)

...Planning to Drive through the Forest Santuary when approaching Munnar.

Will be thankful If Anyone Can Give Me a Update.
Thanks,
Cheers

[ak916]

Bangalore to Salem is entirely 4 lane tolled road, so its a good stretch to drive on. Between salem and coimbatore, there is only about 50 kms of road that is 4 laned and I am guessing they would have started collecting toll because last week they were doing a dry run and testing their booths.

I am not sure about the present road condition from coimbatore towards munnar but coimbatore towards cochin sure is horrible, mainly due to traffic.

[srikarsai]

Originally Posted by ak916

Bangalore to Salem is entirely 4 lane tolled road, so its a good stretch to drive on. Between salem and coimbatore, there is only about 50 kms of road that is 4 laned and I am guessing they would have started collecting toll because last week they were doing a dry run and testing their booths.

I am not sure about the present road condition from coimbatore towards munnar but coimbatore towards cochin sure is horrible, mainly due to traffic.

Thanks Friend ,
Appreciate it ...

[bijuks]

Originally Posted by srikarsai

I am Taking off on a Trip to Munnar from Bangalore on Monday.
Can Anyone Please Update me about the conditions following route :
bangalore-Housr-Dharmapuri-Salem(all on NH7)-(NH49)Coimbatore-Pollachi –Udumalapet – Chinnar – Munnar ( Night Stay in Coimbatore)

Do you want to go to coimbatore?

Search for Munnar in this forum, there are many threads on the road conditions and direct route to Munnar from Bangalore. Shortest would be BLR-Hosur-Thoppur-Mettur-Bhavani-Perundurai-Kangayam-Dharapuram-Udumalpettai-Marayoor-Munnar - Approx 450Kms and can be covered in 9 to 12 hrs.

If you really want to go to Coimbatore, then, you can come to Udumalpettai from Coimbatore. Roads must be good (no recent experience)

[lloydofcochin]

I took the Bangalore - Mysore - Gudalur - Nilambur route to Cochin. The road condition was pretty good up till Perinthalmanna.

The complete route I took was Bangalore - Mysore - Nanjangud - Gundlupet - Bandipur - Gudalur - Nadugani - Vazhikkadavu - Nilambur - Manjeri - Perinthalmanna - Pattambi - Guruvayur - Cochin.

There is a stretch of very bad road, 10-12 kms after Gundlupet before Bandipur, it is a bone jarring journey there. Surprisingly the road till Perinthalmanna from the Kerala border at Vaazhikkadavu was very good. The stretch from Perinthalmanna to Guruvayur via Pattambi is in a very bad shape. Total distance on the Odo was 513 kms. I guess that I clocked 12-15 kms more since I came through Manjeri, there was a diversion from a place called Vadapuram 17-18 km before Manjeri and that would have saved those kms.

I took this route since this was the shortest from Bangalore to Cochin.

NB: The total distance is from my apartment nr BEML gate, HAL to my house in Fort Cochin.

[joecherian]

Another road update: Guess this will be useful for all who travel to Bangalore from central kerala ( kottayam,kanjirappally,ranni side)
I took the Kumily route as I had a very bad experience driving through palghat when I went to Cochin.
One line update is, roads are perfect 100 % all the way. I was in doubt whether I should drive through Dindigul or take the Dharapuram route ( as the road between Sempatty and Oddanchatram was in bad shape when I last took this route in Jan this year). Still, decided to try my luck and took the Sembatty Dharapuram route. To my surprise ( and luck), the road has been laid completely and it is one smooth drive all the way(except 2 culvert constructions)
The exact route which I too is Manimala ( which is my home town) - Erumely - Mundakkayam-Kuttikkanam-Vandiperiyar-Kumily-Cumbum-Theni-Periyakulam-Batlagundu-Sembatty-Oddanchatram-Dharapuram-Kangayam-Perundurai-Bhavani-Mettur-Thoppur-Hosur-Sarjapur-C V Raman Nagar.
Total distance is 620 (door to door) and we took 13.5 hours (with 2 major stops) and around 6 short stops for my pet puppy

Average fuel consumption was 18 with 90% AC on my Indigo LS

[apratimg]

Hi Guys,
Planning a road trip from Mysore to Bekal (Kerala) via belur, HaleBidu (BHS).
Can anyone suggest on the time it will take + route and road conditions.
Some friend of mine said it will take around 10-12 hours + time spent on BHS.

Thanks a lot in advance.

-Apratim

[Matt]

Originally Posted by lloydofcochin

I took the Bangalore - Mysore - Gudalur - Nilambur route to Cochin. The road condition was pretty good up till Perinthalmanna.

The complete route I took was Bangalore - Mysore - Nanjangud - Gundlupet - Bandipur - Gudalur - Nadugani - Vazhikkadavu - Nilambur - Manjeri - Perinthalmanna - Pattambi - Guruvayur - Cochin.

lloydofcochin, at what time did you cross the Mudumalai forest? I heard that it is closed in the night times.