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This roads are good on this route except for few diversions on the Palakkad-Alathur-Vadakkencherry stretch and some rough sections between L&T Coimbatore bypass and Walayar. And it is excellent all the way from Salem to L&T coimbatore bypass, Chennai-Ulundurpet is also good, just a few diversions due to widening. In this route, NH47 can slow you down after Vadakkencherry (unless you choose a non-peak traffic time) so comparatively the Kumily route may be faster.

I second the suggestion from Rajeevraj. Mankara-Cherpulassery is decent, and saves you from the maniac private buses plying between Palakkad and Kozhikkode.

***

How's the condition of the Valanchery-Chelary route?

Salem-CBE is excellent, until Neelambur. Neelambur-Madukkarai on the L&T bypass road is so-so. Madukkarai-Walayar is mostly work-in-progress. Walayar till Vadakkenchery is mostly 4-laned, with just a few under-construction stretches. Vadakkenchery-Mannuthy is in bad shape, with the Palakkad-Thrissur private buses making it all the more "exciting". This is the update from a friend who did Irinjalakkuda-Bangalore yesterday.

Road condition is very good. But the high traffic and mostly twisty road makes it a nightmare drive.

Has anyone taken the Hosur -Bagalore - Sarjapur road? Any changes to the entry to this route while coming from Salem after flyovers at Hosur are completed. Read in "On BYpassing Bangalore" thread that the Sarjapur bypass is done.

I frequently use this route to bypass traffic/tolls latest being 2 weeks back. It is in good condition overall.

Sarjapur bypass is done. It's wide and very convenient (you dont have to drive through that narrow streets any more :) )

Also, all the flyovers from hosur side is done. you just need to take the service road of hosur bus stand flyover. Bagalur road is bang opposite to the bus stand.

Road condition:
Hosur-Bagalur-Sarjapur: very good roads.
Sarjapur- Varthur turn junction - Whitefield: some bad roads in between, with some nasty potholes but manageable.
Varthur turn Jn - ORR (via Sarjapur main road): Good roads.

When you are driving ? I will be taking the Chennai, Dindugal, Kottayam route by September last week (27 or 28th). I can update if you are planning after this.

Palaghat, Coimbatore, Chennai route is really in good condition except for a small stretch between Valayar and L&T by-pass but may have to travel 60-70 KM extra if you take this route.

Vinu, I leave later tonite (16th early morning) I'm going via Kumily. Heard that Kutticanam would be quite foggy!
Wwill update the road conditions here asap!
Cheers!

Yes NPV
I'm taking that route also considering where I'm placed on the map, this is the most practical route especially because I can head to the KK road in 20mins from my place. I was concerned about the roads.
If I was driving solo (which it was when I started off) I would do Salem Erode Vellor etc!
But now my family is boarding so quickest options are priority!:)
Wwill update road conditions here!

Note from Support: Post edited. "esp", "coz"

Heard from the NHAI director (who handles Kuthiran section ) that the tentative date of completion is March 2017 including the tunnel. He also indicates that patch repairs have been done on the route in the last 4-5 days so the road is motorable. However folks who travel on that route often say the route is quite bad. Anyone been on this route in the last 4-5 days and if so what is the road condition ?

Had been on this route a day back and was travelling around 4 AM . It was raining heavily and was difficult , the roads were pretty bad and not visible due to rains and more over heavy vehicles from opposite direction will blind you .

Avoid night travel on this route

Reached chennai safe and sound! Was a nice drive. Left at 3:30am from Thiruvalla. Got on the KK road via Tengana. Amazing roads all the way to kumily. There were 2 or 3 spots of road repairs on the way. We had no hold ups as it was that early. Kuttikkanam had heavy fog and needed extra caution. Crossed over to TN and the roads were overall brilliant but sadly every town section was bad. Some more worse than the other, the road till Dundigal has no divider, from Dundigal it's good road 4 lane all the way to chennai.

Trichy had some diversions to get to the bypass due to flyover construction. Due to the chennai bound traffic I avoided getting in through Tambaram and used the chennai bypass instead to get to Kilpauk. We reached the bypass by about 4:00pm. Which included 1.5hrs of stoppage time for breakfast and lunch. There are tolls from Dindugal but only happy to pay if the roads are good.

General opinion on road condition is that it's Good (7 on 10). With the exemption of every town sections being a drag!

Hope am not late in posting. An alternate you can consider is Palakkad-Mannarkad-Kumaranputhur-Pandikkad-Manjeri-Areekode-Mukkam-Tamarassery-Balussery-Koyilandy-Vadakara-Kannur

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/10...11.8744775!3e0

Road work was going on in the Areekode-Mukkam stretch, when I took this road just before Onam. But heard that this has been completed and the stretch is good.

The advantage is that you can totally avoid the traffic jam prone Perintalmanna-Angadippuram stretch and Ramanattukara-Eranhikkal bypass and also the Korapuzha bridge (Elathur) mess! Traffic is also considerably less with only smaller towns all the way till Koyilandy

Early morning start from Coimbatore will mean you will hit Ramanattukara at the peak hour - best avoided

Travelled through this area few days back. Its better to use Shoranur-Palakkad stretch than Kuthiran. As the roads on both side became 4 lane, this short stretch now looks so congested and you have to drive like a convoy model for most of that part.

My nephew who travelled that way (from Wayanad to Palghat) a couple of weeks ago reported that even the Mukkam-Thamarassery stretch wasn't too great. Not sure if that also was part of the area that had roadwork ongoing which you say has been completed now.

Hello,

I am planning to drive from Bangalore to Kerala in October and would be taking the Dindigul-Theni-Kumbum-Kumily route. I am planning to stop-over at Kumily and stay overnight there. Is anybody here aware of any good/ reasonable/ safe-for-family hotels/ homestays in Kumily? My budget is around 1500/-. Have anybody tried this option?

Thanks in advance for any pointers.

Thanks,
Sunil.

If it's a stop over for the night, you may be better off staying at Theni - Western Gatz is a good place, but not sure about tariffs, you can check online.
The hotel is on the highway and you will not waste time going around.

I do not have an idea about home stays/hotels in Kumily.