[sarathlal]

Originally Posted by civic-sense

Driving to Kollam tomorrow. Starting early morning. Which route is the best at this time? Through Coimbatore, Ernakulam? Or via Tenkasi? Or is it worth driving via Madurai, Nagarkoil, Trivandrum?

Originally Posted by bejoy

Starting early morning means you will end up in peak hours right from Avinashi. A strict no for driving through NH47 as the roads are bad along with peak Onam traffic. All roads would be crowded. Take NH7 to have a peaceful drive.

One disadvantage of taking the NH7 with an early morning start from Bangalore is that, would be hitting Nagercoil at peak evening traffic.
Even after reaching Trivandrum, there will be horrendous traffic at Thampanoor, Sreekaryam/bypass, Technopark, Attingal etc if hit during the 5 PM - 9 PM window.

[JohnyRider]

One more option is the Bangalore –Salem-Dindigul-Madurai-Tenkasi-Punalur- Kollam route. I drove to Kollam 2 months ago and roads were in good shape. Starting early morning at 5 AM would enable you reach Kollam by around 6:00 PM including breakfast and lunch break.

Mod Note: Your post contained [FONT] tags making it difficult to read. Please do not copy-paste content from other word processing software; rather, type directly into the posting window.

[naveen.raju]

Note:

The entire Cochin city is one huge mess. Be the terrible roads (which is published everyday in the paper and huge traffic across the entire city thanks to Onam festival). There are lot of one ways along MG road and Chittoor road. Skip MG road is what I would say. This is my office route and it's becoming worse each day. All roads leading to MG road (AL Jacob bridge, Pullepady, South and North bridge) is crowded for the last two days. And as always, kundanoor, Vytilla, palarivattom (the worst thanks to the construction of the flyover) and edapally is crowded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YBUfyILY1A

[jayeshgnath]

Originally Posted by ampere

Its always this route to Chennai. Much lesser traffic beyond Salem.

Walayar? No way. You should do Kuthiran-Vadekkenchery-Kollengode-Pollachi-Palladam-Mangalam-Avinashi-Salem.

This would help cover distance much faster. Please chart out the map for Pollachi so as to not get lost in there. In case, you need help, ask for Palladam road.

Thank you Ampere; i will surely check out the Pollachi-Palladam route as you suggested.

Regarding Route 1 and 2, any specific reasons why Route # 2 is not preferable? Apart from traffic, how are the road surface conditions in these routes?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by jayeshgnath

Regarding Route 1 and 2, any specific reasons why Route # 2 is not preferable? Apart from traffic, how are the road surface conditions in these routes?

There are more than one reasons for not choosing #2.

- Beyond Krishnagiri, you will have to battle it out with the Bangalore traffic to Chennai. That can be quite heavy
- Roads are good till Vellore/Walaja. But beyond they are quite bad. Ride is very bumpy.
- Traffic beyond Arcot is horrible, esp sand trucks. Add to the the bus menance from Kanchi to Chennai.
- The other option via Ulundurpet/Tindivanam is much-much more streamlined.

[NGM]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Note:

The entire Cochin city is one huge mess. Be the terrible roads (which is published everyday in the paper and huge traffic across the entire city thanks to Onam festival).

Thanx Naveen for the update.I will be reaching Aroor/ Kumbalam Toll Plaza by 5.30 PM tomorrow(peak time) and my destination is kakkanad/edappally.

Heard from a friend who traveled last week that he took more than 1.5 hours to reach Kalamassery from toll plaza last week due to road conditions/rain.

So i was think about trying an alternate route from alleppey.
Allepey -Thannermukkam-Vaikom-Thripunithura-SeaportAirpot Road-kakkanad.
Difference is just 9 Km.

But to avoid the block in main route due to road conditions/Onam weekend, is it better to take this alternate route.

Has anyone traveled recently through Thannermukkam-Vaikom-Thripunithura road.

[gandalf]

Hi All
I just returned from Kerala after the long weekend. the onward was the usual route to Trivandrum.
For the return (from Adoor) I decided to go for the Adoor -> Pathinamthitta -> Ranni -> Mundakayam -> Theni -> Dindigul -> Bangalore. This was my first time taking this route
The Roads in kerala are pretty decent, However the roads from Theni to Dindigul are in Not in the best shape and we ended up losing a lot of time due to traffic and small towns.We left @ 5 am and reached home @ 8:30 pm including breaks totaling to 2 hours. I generally go Via Punalur-> Thenmala -> Tenkasi-> Sankarankovil-> Kovilpatti -> Madurai -> Bangalore. These roads are much better compared to the theni route and hence would have reduced my travel time by atleast 2 hours.
I was wondering why a vast majority of the people prefer the Theni Route to the Punalur? Is there an alternate route that I missed out?

[Horizon81]

There is news that excise have caught 7000 litres of spirit at punalur yesterday. People taking Tirumangalam-Kollam route, expect delays at Aryankavu check post due to heightened checking, especially at night.

Originally Posted by gandalf

Hi All
I was wondering why a vast majority of the people prefer the Theni Route to the Punalur? Is there an alternate route that I missed out?

Till Adoor/Karunagapally, taking NH208 is the best option. For reaching places to the North/North-East of these places, Kumily would be ideal entry point. I usually take Theni-Kumily to reach Ranni (in-laws), and NH208 to reach Kollam (my place).

[jayeshgnath]

Originally Posted by ampere

There are more than one reasons for not choosing #2.

- Beyond Krishnagiri, you will have to battle it out with the Bangalore traffic to Chennai. That can be quite heavy
- Roads are good till Vellore/Walaja. But beyond they are quite bad. Ride is very bumpy.
- Traffic beyond Arcot is horrible, esp sand trucks. Add to the the bus menance from Kanchi to Chennai.
- The other option via Ulundurpet/Tindivanam is much-much more streamlined.

Thank you so much Ampere! Will stick to the route you have suggested.

Will post updates on how it went!

[glenmz]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Take Avinashi-Mangalam-Palladam-Pollachi-Vadakkancherry route. Its much recommended over NH47. You can try Kollengode-Alathur-Vadakkancherry or Kollengode-Nenmara-Vadakkancherry, both are good.

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/11...572737!1m0!3e0

With a deviation from Avinashi, you can avoid many irritating humps till L&T.

Originally Posted by silversteed

Follow the suggestion given by coolclouds. Avinashi-Mangalam-Palladam-Pollachi is a straight road without any deviations. Pollachi-Nenmara-Vadakkenchery is also fairly straight, once you enter the SH. Don't worry about lonely stretches, it's as safe as the NHs.

Please avoid the stretch between Walayar and Vadakkenchery - not worth the pain.

Thanks guys. Started at 10 yesterday night. Has heavy lorry traffic till Krishnagiri. After that it was fairly clean. Follwed your suggestion, Avinashi - Mangalam - Palladam - Pollachi. Then after exiting the TN border, I saw a board direction to Thrissur, which I took. This took me thru Chittur. THe roads were broken for a while. Should I have followed the route pointing to Palakkad?
Passed thru the Thrissue toll at 6:45. After that it was a mess. The traffic after Chalakkudy is horrible at this hour. Finally reached my home at ernakulam by 9:30 thru seaport airport road.

[civic-sense]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Note:

The entire Cochin city is one huge mess.

Any idea how bad the MC road is? And how heavy is the traffic in the evenings from angamaly to kottayam?

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by civic-sense

Any idea how bad the MC road is? And how heavy is the traffic in the evenings from angamaly to kottayam?

No idea on the road condition (but heard it's pretty good) but expect a lot of traffic since Angamaly - Cochin is one major headache and people tend to take alternate routes. My friend took Chalakudy - MG Road couple of days back and it took nearly 3.5 hours (one side).

[kala]

Originally Posted by civic-sense

Any idea how bad the MC road is? And how heavy is the traffic in the evenings from angamaly to kottayam?

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

No idea on the road condition (but heard it's pretty good) but expect a lot of traffic since Angamaly - Cochin is one major headache and people tend to take alternate routes. My friend took Chalakudy - MG Road couple of days back and it took nearly 3.5 hours (one side).

Muvattupuzha-Kottayam is reported to be in very bad shape as well. So if you decide to take mc road, make sure bypass at least the koothattukulam-kottayam section by going via uzhavoor-marangattupalli-kidangoor-manarcaud. Of course if going to kottayam town you'll still need to suffer the traffic mess between kanjikuzhy and town.

[glenmz]

Originally Posted by civic-sense

Any idea how bad the MC road is? And how heavy is the traffic in the evenings from angamaly to kottayam?

If you are taking the seaport-airport route, be ready for delays at irumpanam jn (The one before Karingachira) and thiruvankulam (if travelling during day).
Rest should be alright. I got stuck at Irumpanam for about 40 mins at 8 AM.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by glenmz

Thanks guys. Started at 10 yesterday night. Has heavy lorry traffic till Krishnagiri. After that it was fairly clean. Follwed your suggestion, Avinashi - Mangalam - Palladam - Pollachi. Then after exiting the TN border, I saw a board direction to Thrissur, which I took. This took me thru Chittur. THe roads were broken for a while. Should I have followed the route pointing to Palakkad?
Passed thru the Thrissue toll at 6:45. After that it was a mess. The traffic after Chalakkudy is horrible at this hour. Finally reached my home at ernakulam by 9:30 thru seaport airport road.

Had you taken the road to Palakkad, you would've merged onto NH47 at Koottupatha junction. You would've just avoided Walayar mess.

This is the route we suggested:
http://goo.gl/maps/cTLuf