[nfsfreak]

Originally Posted by ampere

Did you take the Theni bypass? If yes, was it the bypass which was that bad?

I took the bypass onward, and it was good. It was newly laid and Theni's new bus stand is in that bypass road.
While return, I went inside the Theni town (GoogleMaps some how did not take me through the bypass this time as it did for onward and I realised I missed the turn only after crossing the signal near bus stand )

[DieselLover]

Guys, Need an urgent help for an upcoming trip on Thursday

I need to travel to Bangalore (from Ekm) on Thursday afternoon to attend a meeting on Friday. I am planning to drive down along with family. We will be staying near ITPL and appreciate inputs on best route to ITPL while coming from Ekm? I am familiar with the route up to Madiwala but never been to ITPL before. I will start from Ekm around 1 30 PM so I assume we will reach Bangalore by around 11 PM.
On the way back (on Saturday morning) we are planning to visit Yercaud. Please help with the Bangalore - Yercaud route. We will mostly stay in Yercaud for night and drive back to Kochi on Sunday.

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by DieselLover

Guys, Need an urgent help for an upcoming trip on Thursday

I need to travel to Bangalore (from Ekm) on Thursday afternoon to attend a meeting on Friday. I am planning to drive down along with family. We will be staying near ITPL and appreciate inputs on best route to ITPL while coming from Ekm? I am familiar with the route up to Madiwala but never been to ITPL before. I will start from Ekm around 1 30 PM so I assume we will reach Bangalore by around 11 PM.
On the way back (on Saturday morning) we are planning to visit Yercaud. Please help with the Bangalore - Yercaud route. We will mostly stay in Yercaud for night and drive back to Kochi on Sunday.

You can take hosur - e city - silk board - marathahalli - itpl during onward journey. Traffic will be minimal around 11pm.

Other option is Hosur - Bagalur - sarjapur - Whitefield - itpl. This road will be very deserted post 1000 pm. I live near ITPL and this is my default route.

[DieselLover]

Originally Posted by arjithin

You can take hosur - e city - silk board - marathahalli - itpl during onward journey. Traffic will be minimal around 11pm.

Other option is Hosur - Bagalur - sarjapur - Whitefield - itpl. This road will be very deserted post 1000 pm. I live near ITPL and this is my default route.

Thanks a lot arjithin. I am not very keen to take deserted routes at night while travelling with family. Would stick to the silk board- marathahalli route.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by DieselLover

Guys, Need an urgent help for an upcoming trip on Thursday

I need to travel to Bangalore (from Ekm) on Thursday afternoon to attend a meeting on Friday. I am planning to drive down along with family. We will be staying near ITPL and appreciate inputs on best route to ITPL while coming from Ekm? I am familiar with the route up to Madiwala but never been to ITPL before. I will start from Ekm around 1 30 PM so I assume we will reach Bangalore by around 11 PM.
On the way back (on Saturday morning) we are planning to visit Yercaud. Please help with the Bangalore - Yercaud route. We will mostly stay in Yercaud for night and drive back to Kochi on Sunday.

EKM - BLR :
just follow standard NH47 + NH7 combo, the only bad stretch you will encounter will be walayar -> cbe bypass start. You can actually take a tea break (~ 5pm) just before the start of cbe bypass @gowrishankar (adjacent to a pertrol bunk on the RHS, just after you see the big board for AMRITA engg college on your LHS). I would suggest a dinner break at the BP GHAR DHABA outlet (petrol bunk, relatively good restrooms, good parking space and some play area for kids as well), < 1km on the LHS, after the thoppur toll booth. For the route to ITPL from bangalore, there is a shortcut where you take right from under hosur flyover, take the SH to sarjapur (in between you have to take a sharp left @bagalur), then go through sarjapur, right turn at dommasandra, onto whitefield. But since it would be pretty late in the night (with family) I would suggest you take the standard : silkboard -> take right onto ORR, then take right at marthahalli, then take left at kundalahalli gate, onwards to ITPL. Your are unlikely to hit traffic late in the night and most of the roads are well lit as well, although this will take you probably 30 mins extra (1 extra toll booth and some signals).

BLR -> yercaud :
there are two options 1 & 2
1 : https://goo.gl/maps/L3SOQ
2 : https://goo.gl/maps/7ub3f

option 1 is what google maps would throw at you by default. Pass through salem city and climb up through the wide ghat road - this is the standard route. Ample restroom facilities and good eateries.

option 2 is very scenic with 50-50 split on NH7+SH 2-lane driving through villages and narrow ghat roads for climbing up. There will be almost NIL restroom facility and very few decent eateries, once you are onto 2L roads. Traffic will be very sparse. But it will be nature at its best (especially the 2L driving and the narrow ghat climb). The final climb is full of butterflies and the real smells and sounds of forest. However, if you plan your bathroom/food break before or just after krishnagiri, and have stocked up on enough snacks and water, just go for this - the kids will love it.

[DieselLover]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

EKM - BLR :
just follow standard NH47 + NH7 combo, the only bad stretch you will encounter will be walayar -> cbe bypass start. You can actually take a tea break (~ 5pm) just before the start of cbe bypass @gowrishankar (adjacent to a pertrol bunk on the RHS, just after you see the big board for AMRITA engg college on your LHS). I would suggest a dinner break at the BP GHAR DHABA outlet (petrol bunk, relatively good restrooms, good parking space and some play area for kids as well), < 1km on the LHS, after the thoppur toll booth. For the route to ITPL from bangalore, there is a shortcut where you take right from under hosur flyover, take the SH to sarjapur (in between you have to take a sharp left @bagalur), then go through sarjapur, right turn at dommasandra, onto whitefield. But since it would be pretty late in the night (with family) I would suggest you take the standard : silkboard -> take right onto ORR, then take right at marthahalli, then take left at kundalahalli gate, onwards to ITPL. Your are unlikely to hit traffic late in the night and most of the roads are well lit as well, although this will take you probably 30 mins extra (1 extra toll booth and some signals).

BLR -> yercaud :
there are two options 1 & 2
1 : https://goo.gl/maps/L3SOQ
2 : https://goo.gl/maps/7ub3f

option 1 is what google maps would throw at you by default. Pass through salem city and climb up through the wide ghat road - this is the standard route. Ample restroom facilities and good eateries.

option 2 is very scenic with 50-50 split on NH7+SH 2-lane driving through villages and narrow ghat roads for climbing up. There will be almost NIL restroom facility and very few decent eateries, once you are onto 2L roads. Traffic will be very sparse. But it will be nature at its best (especially the 2L driving and the narrow ghat climb). The final climb is full of butterflies and the real smells and sounds of forest. However, if you plan your bathroom/food break before or just after krishnagiri, and have stocked up on enough snacks and water, just go for this - the kids will love it.

Many thanks Venky for the detailed post. As I mentioned before, I would stick to the safest route during onward journey as it will be quite late by the time I reach Bangalore.

For Yercaud, though the second option looks tempting, I would stick to the standard route through Salem city. I am planning to start from Bangalore early in the morning (6 30 or so). Can I reach yercaud by around 10 30 AM ?

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by DieselLover

For Yercaud, though the second option looks tempting, I would stick to the standard route through Salem city. I am planning to start from Bangalore early in the morning (6 30 or so). Can I reach yercaud by around 10 30 AM ?

from silkboard, budget 3 hrs to reach salem city. Then its 1 hr climb. Plus time for breakfast break. So i would say, 11am is a safe bet.

[DieselLover]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

from silkboard, budget 3 hrs to reach salem city. Then its 1 hr climb. Plus time for breakfast break. So i would say, 11am is a safe bet.

Hi Venky,
A last minute change in travel plan. Instead of Yercaud, we decided to visit Bannarghatta national part on Saturday morning. What is the best route and expected driving time from Whitefield to the park during morning hours? The plan is to reach park by around 9AM (opening time as per their website), spend some time there visiting zoo/safari and leave for Kochi by afternoon around 1 or 2 PM. Is this a feasible plan?

[NPV]

Originally Posted by DieselLover

A last minute change in travel plan. Instead of Yercaud, we decided to visit Bannarghatta national part on Saturday morning. What is the best route and expected driving time from Whitefield to the park during morning hours? The plan is to reach park by around 9AM (opening time as per their website), spend some time there visiting zoo/safari and leave for Kochi by afternoon around 1 or 2 PM. Is this a feasible plan?

Since you need to reach Bannerghatta by 9am, start before 7.30am.
If you're closer to Hope Farm or Kundalahalli in whitefield, you can take whitefield-hope farm/Kundalahalli-Old Airport Road-outer ring road-silk board-hosur road-NICE Road and get off at Bannerghatta road exit and go towards the park.

For your drive to Kochi - From Bannerghatta park, get back to NICE road and get off at the Hosur Road exit and proceed towards Hosur (other direction is towards Bangalore!).

[DieselLover]

Originally Posted by NPV

Since you need to reach Bannerghatta by 9am, start before 7.30am.
If you're closer to Hope Farm or Kundalahalli in whitefield, you can take whitefield-hope farm/Kundalahalli-Old Airport Road-outer ring road-silk board-hosur road-NICE Road and get off at Bannerghatta road exit and go towards the park.

For your drive to Kochi - From Bannerghatta park, get back to NICE road and get off at the Hosur Road exit and proceed towards Hosur (other direction is towards Bangalore!).

Thanks NPV. I am staying at Ginger which is opposite to SAP labs as per their website.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by DieselLover

Thanks NPV. I am staying at Ginger which is opposite to SAP labs as per their website.

That's good, so just come out from Ginger to the main road, turn left and at signal turn left again towards Gopalan Habitat apartments-Brookefields-Kundalahalli, turn right onto old airport road, turn left onto Outer Ring Road. Keep on this road for some distance and at Silk Board junction turn left onto Hosur Road. Do not take the elevated expressway which comes almost immediately instead proceed below. After 4-5 signals you will see Hosa Road junction, here get onto service road to enter NICE Road.

[sourav9385]

Gentlemen!

What would be the most comfortable route from Chennai to Thrissur?

I'm not looking at anything scenic. Need a route that has highways with dividers, plenty of rest stops, good & smooth motor-able roads.

Would the usual route through Tindivanam be any good? I'm thinking Chennai-Chengalpattu-Tindivanam-Ulundurpet-Salem-Erode-Coimbatore-Palakkad-Trichur.

If not, what would you suggest?
Like I've mentioned before, we prefer highways that have dividers, even if it means spending an hour extra in the car, driving another extra 100 kms.

Planning to do this route during end of August, during Onam.

Any pointers would be appreciated. Thanks & cheers!

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by DieselLover

Bannarghatta national park

You can book the entry and safari tickets online:
http://bannerghattabiologicalpark.org/ticket/
Take two printouts of the tickets and walk in directly to the entry gate. You can avoid the queue at the ticket counter

Originally Posted by sourav9385

What would be the most comfortable route from Chennai to Thrissur?

I'm not looking at anything scenic. Need a route that has highways with dividers, plenty of rest stops, good & smooth motor-able roads.

Would the usual route through Tindivanam be any good? I'm thinking Chennai-Chengalpattu-Tindivanam-Ulundurpet-Salem-Erode-Coimbatore-Palakkad-Trichur.

You already have the best route. Except for the stretch between Neelambur and Walayar (including the Neelambur-Madukkarai L&T toll road), the rest of it is good, and 4-laned.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by sourav9385

Would the usual route through Tindivanam be any good? I'm thinking Chennai-Chengalpattu-Tindivanam-Ulundurpet-Salem-Erode-Coimbatore-Palakkad-Trichur.

This route should be good

Hope you meant NH47 from Salem onwards (Erode town is bypassed on this route) - that will take you all the way to Coimbatore L&T bypass and onwards to Walayar, Palakkad and Trichur

[DieselLover]

Originally Posted by silversteed

You can book the entry and safari tickets online:
http://bannerghattabiologicalpark.org/ticket/
Take two printouts of the tickets and walk in directly to the entry gate. You can avoid the queue at the ticket counter

Thanks.. Just booked it online

Originally Posted by NPV

That's good, so just come out from Ginger to the main road, turn left and at signal turn left again towards Gopalan Habitat apartments-Brookefields-Kundalahalli, turn right onto old airport road, turn left onto Outer Ring Road. Keep on this road for some distance and at Silk Board junction turn left onto Hosur Road. Do not take the elevated expressway which comes almost immediately instead proceed below. After 4-5 signals you will see Hosa Road junction, here get onto service road to enter NICE Road.

Thanks again. How do I get back to NH7 (towards Salem) after visiting the park?