[joecherian]

I did chennai kanjirappally on 22. Google maps directed me through vaigai dam instead of the normal route.this deviationfrom is at a place called devadhanapatty which is after batlagundu. This deviation passes through beautiful country side as well as vaigai dam. Nice road as well. This y one could bypass some of the road construction points and puts you directly to Theni. After theni, o remember seeingyou only 3-4 culvert constructions.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by joecherian

I did chennai kanjirappally on 22. Google maps directed me through vaigai dam instead of the normal route.this deviationfrom is at a place called devadhanapatty which is after batlagundu. This deviation passes through beautiful country side as well as vaigai dam. Nice road as well. This y one could bypass some of the road construction points and puts you directly to Theni. After theni, o remember seeingyou only 3-4 culvert constructions.

Thanks for the update
Where is the construction activity - on Batlagundu-Theni or Theni-Bodi stretch ? I thought that the entire stretch from Batlagundu-Theni was already widened.

[kavu75]

Originally Posted by joecherian

I did chennai kanjirappally on 22. Google maps directed me through vaigai dam instead of the normal route.this deviationfrom is at a place called devadhanapatty which is after batlagundu. This deviation passes through beautiful country side as well as vaigai dam. Nice road as well. This y one could bypass some of the road construction points and puts you directly to Theni. After theni, o remember seeingyou only 3-4 culvert constructions.

Can you get me the route map/link for the the above route you have mentioned? I will be taking Dindigul - Kumily stretch on August 27.

Thanks.

[Safety is Param]

Hello Fellow Members!

For anyone having a destination at AYUR COUNTY, MUNNAR – is the following route the most appropriate in terms of road conditions and ease of driving, considering that NH – 7 is leveraged till Dindigul?

Dindigul By-Pass -> Vakkampatty -> Sempatty -> Batlagundu -> Devadbanapatti -> Jeyamangalam -> Vaigai Dam Reservoir -> Theni -> Bodinayakanur -> Chinnakanal



Assuming a 5:30 am start from Bangalore, is Salem the best breakfast option, considering Shoolagiri outlets would open only by 7 am? (That’s my guess they open at 7am)

Salem to Dindigul is around 171 kms, and I believe the right distance at which one more break can be had. Considering it’s a family trip, can you please suggest a good hotel near Dindigul, some-place which has clean rest-rooms, especially for the ladies? Also, I believe it would be the right time for lunch, but we don’t want to tank up ourselves full as some people are expected to be motion-sick while ascending the Ghats. So, a decent food joint should do the job, if not an A2B kind of a thing!

With a breakfast stop of 45 mins, and other 2 breaks of 15-min each, can I assume that we can arrive in Munnar by 4 pm, assuming the latest we start from Bangalore is 5:30 am?

I am largely aware of the road conditions till Salem, but any pointers / suggestions / advice between Salem and Munnar are most welcome! As of today, I plan to follow Google Maps to the destination once we are past Salem.

Any alternate route that you may have traversed to Munnar, which is more scenic as well as safe when family is in tow – kindly advise on that too!

Thank you!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Safety is Param

Dindigul By-Pass -> Vakkampatty -> Sempatty -> Batlagundu -> Devadbanapatti -> Jeyamangalam -> Vaigai Dam Reservoir -> Theni -> Bodinayakanur -> Chinnakanal

Why do you want to turn to Jayamangalam? Be on NH45 to Theni. Take the Theni by pass and the exit on to Munnar Ghat road.

Route Link

[joecherian]

Originally Posted by kavu75

Can you get me the route map/link for the the above route you have mentioned? I will be taking Dindigul - Kumily stretch on August 27.

Thanks.

If you try a maps search for chennai to manimala , Google, by default shows the route.
https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Na...4999ca09ca!3e0

[sourav9385]

Fellow travellers!

The wife and I would like to drive down to thrissur from chennai on the occasion of onam.

We would like to stick to 4 lane barricaded highways only. No 2 lane-buses and trucks jumping into our lane-pushing us off the road-but very scenic route for us at all!

Plus, the route should have good quality, reliable & neat and clean rest stops and food outlets/restaurants mandatorily.

Keeping these points in mind, is it safe to say that we should take the regular Chennai-Vellore-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Salem-bypassing erode-Avinashi-Coimbatore-Palakkad route?

Also, what would be best time do embark on this journey? And what is the usual travel time for this route? Can it be completed within 10 hours of drive time, barring rest stops for food?

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated! It would just be me and my wife with minimal luggage in the elite i20 CRDi. Thanks & Cheers!

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by sourav9385

Fellow travellers!

The wife and I would like to drive down to thrissur from chennai on the occasion of onam.

We would like to stick to 4 lane barricaded highways only. No 2 lane-buses and trucks jumping into our lane-pushing us off the road-but very scenic route for us at all!

Plus, the route should have good quality, reliable & neat and clean rest stops and food outlets/restaurants mandatorily.

Keeping these points in mind, is it safe to say that we should take the regular Chennai-Vellore-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Salem-bypassing erode-Avinashi-Coimbatore-Palakkad route?

Also, what would be best time do embark on this journey? And what is the usual travel time for this route? Can it be completed within 10 hours of drive time, barring rest stops for food?
!

The route suggested is probably the best one. The other option is the ulundurpet-salem route. But I think this route has some stretches of 2 lane roads.so probably better to stick to the vellore route. The Coimbatore by-pass - walayar check post is 2 lane with work in progress. Probably half of the palakkad-thrissur stretch is also 2 lane. Apart from this the whole route is 4 lane ( walajah- krishnagiri is 6 lane) and will be a good drive.

4 lane roads and scenic typically do not go hand in hand.

Plenty of very good places to stop for food/ rest room breaks. My personal preferences

- Alankar: Before Vellore
- Saisangeet: After walajah toll and after Ambur
-A2B: Thoppur
-A2B: after Salem
-Malabar: Walayar

10 hours driving time sounds just about ok. But if you are traveling around Onam, truck traffic at Walayar checkpost may cause delays if you get unlucky. From my experience Chennai- krishnagiri takes ~ 3 -3.5 hours. Krishnagiri-palakkad ~ 5 hours. Have not done palakkad-thrissur.

Try to start early, between 4-5am if you are comfortable. This will help clear the city and outskirts quickly. Don't delay till 6. You will get stuck in the heavy college/industry traffic towards sriperumbadur.

[sourav9385]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

The route suggested is probably the best one.

Plenty of very good places to stop for food/ rest room breaks. My personal preferences

- Alankar: Before Vellore
- Saisangeet: After walajah toll and after Ambur
-A2B: Thoppur
-A2B: after Salem
-Malabar: Walayar

10 hours driving time sounds just about ok. Try to start early, between 4-5am if you are comfortable. This will help clear the city and outskirts quickly. Don't delay till 6.

Thanks mate! Some excellent suggestions there!

We drove to Yelagiri last Saturday, and were very very happy with the condition of the road after crossing Sriperumbudur. I just hope the roads stay like that till we cross Tamil Nadu. And you're absolutely right about the college buses and trucks clogging up the roads early in the morning. I've read the previous few pages of this thread and I understand that roads in Kerala aren't at their best at this time. So I'm not expecting anything spectacular.

So, say we start by 4 AM. We would like to have breakfast, a coffee perhaps, and then lunch on the way before we enter Kerala. Considering food & coffee breaks, can we reach Thrissur by 5-6 PM?

I don't drive like a maniac on the highways. The car is just a couple of months old, and I like keeping it within 120 at all times

[maheshmenon]

Originally Posted by sourav9385

Fellow travellers!

The wife and I would like to drive down to thrissur from chennai on the occasion of onam.

We would like to stick to 4 lane barricaded highways only. No 2 lane-buses and trucks jumping into our lane-pushing us off the road-but very scenic route for us at all!

Plus, the route should have good quality, reliable & neat and clean rest stops and food outlets/restaurants mandatorily.

Keeping these points in mind, is it safe to say that we should take the regular Chennai-Vellore-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Salem-bypassing erode-Avinashi-Coimbatore-Palakkad route?

Also, what would be best time do embark on this journey? And what is the usual travel time for this route? Can it be completed within 10 hours of drive time, barring rest stops for food?

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated! It would just be me and my wife with minimal luggage in the elite i20 CRDi. Thanks & Cheers!

I just drove down from Thrissur to Chennai yesterday on my Polo. I took the Villupuram / Ulundurapet / Salem route and I would strongly recommend this route especially if you are close to Porur and able to use the Chennai By Pass. We left around 10am and reached home (Porur) at 8pm including a 1 hr break.

The road upto Ulundurpet is excellent and 4 lane with divider and service roads. from Ulunderpet after the right turn onto Salem Highway, the road alternates between 4 and 2 lanes but the road is good and the Heavy vehicle traffic is negligible as compared to NH7 also the queue at the tool gates are shorter.
After Salem the road is 4 lane upto Coimbatore bypass from where it is 2 lane again but the road condition is again excellent. After the end of the CBE Bypass the bad stretch begins and lasts till you near Palakkad, there is no road to speak of.( Note : drive cautiously on the right side near walayar else you will get stuck with the trucks) Then again after crossing Palakkad onto NH 544 (previously NH 47) there is again a small bad stretch due to construction activity.
Post that its 2 lane all the way to Manuthy with some potholes especially on the road sides due to the recent rains. Some appear suddenly so caution is advised.
After the right on Mannuthy towards Thrissur, expect good roads uto Swaraj Round (Except 2 huge potholes 2 km before East Fort Jn and a very small bad patch near Selex Mall East Fort).
Keep in Mind that the round and its approaching roads are jam packed due to Onam traffic
If you can leave by 6am from Chennai, you have good places to have coffee on GST road and you can plan to have breakfast at A2B Villupuram and lunch as described in the previous post after Salem

have a safe trip !

[sourav9385]

Originally Posted by maheshmenon

I just drove down from Thrissur to Chennai yesterday on my Polo. I took the Villupuram / Ulundurapet / Salem route and I would strongly recommend this route

The road upto Ulundurpet is excellent and 4 lane with divider and service roads. from Ulunderpet after the right turn onto Salem Highway, the road alternates between 4 and 2 lanes but the road is good and the Heavy vehicle traffic is negligible as compared to NH7 also the queue at the tool gates are shorter.

Thanks for the suggestion mate!

I have just one question for you. Is the road connecting Ulundurpet to Salem equipped with divider in the middle & barricades on the sides?

If so, how is the condition of the road surface when compared to the Chenani-Bangalore highway?

I was not keen on this route just because the indicated distance between Ulundurpet and Salem is 141 KMs, and the road is not a national highway.

If that road is a 2 lane highway with no dividers, I'm absolutely not interested in spending 2 hours jumping to the side of the road to avoid some nutjob coming the other way.

[maheshmenon]

Originally Posted by sourav9385

Thanks for the suggestion mate!

I have just one question for you. Is the road connecting Ulundurpet to Salem equipped with divider in the middle & barricades on the sides?

If so, how is the condition of the road surface when compared to the Chenani-Bangalore highway?

I was not keen on this route just because the indicated distance between Ulundurpet and Salem is 141 KMs, and the road is not a national highway.

If that road is a 2 lane highway with no dividers, I'm absolutely not interested in spending 2 hours jumping to the side of the road to avoid some nutjob coming the other way.

From Ulundurpet to Salem the road alternates between 2 lane and 4 lane (Please bear in mind the 2 lane means one lane in each direction!) on the 2 lane stretch, there are no dividers but on the 4 lane stretch which is the norm here when any density area with people / junctions / bus stops etc are present, the road is 4 lane (again 2 lanes in each direction!) there are dividers present. The road condition is excellent to say the least.

And BTW Chennai to Ulundurpet is NH45 and Ulundurpet to Salem is NH 68

[Thampu]

Anybody taken the Dindigul-Theni-Cumbam-Kumily-Erumely-Ranni route recently?

Planning to drive down from Bangalore to Ranni for Onam.

Thanks in advance.

[Thampu]

Anybody has taken Dindigul-Theni-Cumbum-Kumily-Erumely-Ranni route recently?

Planning to drive down from Bangalore to Ayroor for Onam.

Thanks in advance.

[sourav9385]

Originally Posted by maheshmenon

From Ulundurpet to Salem the road alternates between 2 lane and 4 lane ... The road condition is excellent to say the least.

And BTW Chennai to Ulundurpet is NH45 and Ulundurpet to Salem is NH 68

Thanks again for the clarification mate!

I think we're gonna stick to the route through Vellore-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Salem. As they say: A known devil is better than an unknown angel

Besides, having done that route a couple of days ago, I refuse to drive on roads without dividers.

Just isn't worth the hassle, especially when I have a choice of choosing 6 lane roads with dividers.