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Hi All,

What is the best route from Thiruvananthapuram to Mysore? I would like to avoid NH17 as much as possible and look at other better options.
I will be driving a Scorpio with senior citizens onboard.

What are options for food? Planning to start at 6-7 am so as to reach Mysore before dark.

First on the route:

TVM-Madurai-Dindigul-Kangeyam-Chengapally-Gobi-Sathyamangalam-Chamarajanagar-Nanjangud-Mysore

- TVM-Madurai: You can go either Tenkasi or take the 4-lane via Nagercoil.
- Dindigul-Kangeyam: Either you can do: Dindigul-Odanchatram-Dharapuram-Kangeyam or Dindigul-Aravakurichi-Kangeyam.
- Sathyamanagalam-Chamarajanagar has ghat section (26 hairpins at Dimbam).
- Its good road, but a bad luck can cause a truck to break-down on the hairpin. Traffic is unmonitored.

On Timings:
- Its about 700km of drive. Thats easily 10-12hours of drive.
- Hence I would advise an start much earlier than 7AM. May be 4AM ?
- Madurai bypass has options for food. But once you are out of NH7 (4-lane) you are restricted to small hotels in town.
- Chamarajanagar has Nijaguna residency.

I must have passed that stretch around half an hour later (I started from Vyttila about 20 minutes after you started from Edappally), but don't recall encountering any fog. Was this somewhere close to Palladam ? (I turned left towards Annur at Kamanaikenpalayam - about 12 kms before Palladam)

I think it was close to palladam. All the vehicles had to drive with headlights on as the visibility was really bad.

I am doing a calicut - Mangalore drive this week. Please suggest a route for the same. In google maps there is a deviation after valapattanam which avoids pariyaram and directly enters into cheruthazham. How is the condition of this road? There is a slight reduction of around 5km in this new route but its better avoiding windy stretches near pariyaram. Suggestions please!

Trivandrum Nagercoil is in good condition now Some rough patches exist till Marthandam or so. But after that it is smooth. Couple of town entrance and exists are bad patches about 100 meters or so. Rest is good.

I started from Perumbavur at 5 AM and reached the end of the dual carriageway by around 6; day hadn't broken by then. So my Kuthiran was in darkness. The danger of oncoming headlights is very real; I just stuck behind a truck moving at a reasonable clip and functional tail lamps. I suppose Bharat Benz trucks haven't reached the level of disrepair that one sees in Ashok Leyland or other brand trucks. :-)

The turn-off at Vadakkenchery for Pollachi is signposted on NH 47. It is a right turn just before a bridge. If you take that, you might get stuck at the bridge itself, which is barely one lane and in pretty bad shape. The right thing to do is to cross that bridge on NH 47 and then take the right turn immediately afterwards.

This was pretty easy; as the straight road is completely barricaded and I negotiated the turns on the by-pass/detour following a bus towards Pollachi. But I can see that it could be confusing when alone; the thing is to take the detour to its end, take a sharp left turn and then take an equally sharp right turn with 50 metres.

The roads in Nenmara and Kollengode (and generally the entire strech in Kerala) is pretty narrow, so any disturbance has the potential to create a jam.

Today for me fog started soon after I left Pollachi behind; this was after 8 AM. Visibility was down to 50m for about 15km or so. Needed careful driving.

Chamarajanagar-Nanjanagud is quite bad per a friend who traveled last week, more painful if driving a low GC hatch or sedan.

Don't take that deviation. There is road widening happening under KSTP project on that stretch and is not advisable to take it till it is over. Instead, stick on to the national highway itself. The Taliparamba-Pariyaram stretch even though curvy is wide enough and should not be a problem at all.
See this post, where Bhpian 'Sachinnair' had reported about that route a week ago if you want further confirmation: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post3608744

perhaps the reason pollachi-palladam stretch is foggy could be because it is a very windy area (lots of windmills) where winds could be dragging moisture from the mountains to this "valley/pass"

The other option then is :

Chamarajanagar-Muguru-T Narasipur-Mysore.

I would suggest NH47 all the way till CBE by pass and then NH209 via Sathy, Chamarajanagar and Nanjangud.

Dhimbham ghats is a treat to drive with 27 hair pin bends.

I did Trivandrum - Bangalore last week and had mapped decent food stops between Trivandrum and Salem. Hope this helps https://goo.gl/maps/dCWEL

Once you cross Nagercoil, the road is brilliant and the drive is a breeze till almost you touch Salem, where traffic starts.

Driving through kerala, one wouldn't be able to do the journey in a day. The roads are narrow and speed cameras to boost. Plus, once you enter Palakkad district, the road condition is pathetic till you cross CBE. Madurai route is anyday better.

And I doubt, senior citizens would would have the same enthusiasm about the hair pins, that too after a full day's drive.

Drove down Mysore > Nanjanagud > Gundlepete and the roads from Mysore - Nanjanagud are not great and the traffic on the road was a lot even at 9 am.

While coming back from kalpetta we did Gundlepete > Chamarajnagar > Muguru > T Narasipura > Talakad > Malavalli > Kanakpura. Gundlepete - Chamrajnagar is patchy but they are laying down new roads in some stretches. Chamarajnagar > Muguru > T Narasipura > Talakad > Malavalli is brilliant roads except for a small 5km stretch just after Talakad. Added advantage is a quick stop near cauvery river bank with beautiful view :thumbs up

Thanks all for your replies.
Let me put down my itinerary and then the questions
Day 1 (Jan 22) : Mysore - Chamrajnagar - Sathy - Pallipalayam - Dharapuram - Madurai - Rameshwaram
Day 2 (Jan 23) : Rameshwaram - Tiruchendur
Day 3 (Jan 24) : Tiruchendur - Kanyakumari - Trivandrum
Day 4 (Jan 25) : Trivandrum - Mysore

Is the above routes doable in a Scorpio with senior citizens. There will be 5 adults and luggage. I will be the only driver. :)

Trivandrum to Mysore via Nagercoil, i feel is lengthier. I was looking at parallel route to NH 17.
How is NH 47 from Trivandrum to CBE?
Is any stretch 4 laned?
I don't mind 2 lane road as long as surface is smooth. I am fine for taking longer route if its comfortable, has food options and safe.

Thanks in advance.