[nairrk]

@sbraj
Okay note., Comparitively West nada is of less crowd.
Yes, from west nada one need to walk around to reach the east nada 'Q' barricade.
However, for elderly people and those who want to give other offering like Thulabharam etc, one can enter through west nada to the inside temple compound.
There is a seperate que for ladies and senior citizen inside this compound (Only those who want to go in a company or family need to stand outside que).
There are good hotels in the west nada also.
Once I stayed in Veeramani ARcade (rooms are convenient but parking outside the building -roadside) and next time I stayed in Gokulam resorts (next to veeramani) which is better than veermani but little difficult for bigger cars like sedans. But I found the place is good. Next time I will try Hotel Ayodhya which has got ample car parking.
Thanks

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by nairrk

@sbraj
There are good hotels in the west nada also.
Once I stayed in Veeramani ARcade (rooms are convenient but parking outside the building -roadside) and next time I stayed in Gokulam resorts (next to veeramani) which is better than veermani but little difficult for bigger cars like sedans. But I found the place is good. Next time I will try Hotel Ayodhya which has got ample car parking.
Thanks

Thanks for these details. I will PM you to get some more info.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by nairrk

@sbraj
Okay note., Comparitively West nada is of less crowd.
Yes, from west nada one need to walk around to reach the east nada 'Q' barricade.
However, for elderly people and those who want to give other offering like Thulabharam etc, one can enter through west nada to the inside temple compound.
There is a seperate que for ladies and senior citizen inside this compound (Only those who want to go in a company or family need to stand outside que).
There are good hotels in the west nada also.
Once I stayed in Veeramani ARcade (rooms are convenient but parking outside the building -roadside) and next time I stayed in Gokulam resorts (next to veeramani) which is better than veermani but little difficult for bigger cars like sedans. But I found the place is good. Next time I will try Hotel Ayodhya which has got ample car parking.
Thanks

Try Kanoos Residency. Its 5 minutes by walk from the main gate on the Trichur road. For 1600 + Tax on a room for two, its really worth it.

Here is the link:
Kanoos Residency - Guruvayur : The first world class hotel in Guruvayur with four star facilities

[nairrk]

Kanoos Residency is a good hotel (I have seen it, but not stayed there so far) in east Nada. However those who are coming from kunnamkulam chavakad route first approach will be west nada and mainly stay in hotels situated in the west nada itself.

Veeramani Arcade in west nada have suit rooms (like a flat -hall,two bedroom with attached bath, small kitchen etc) which they charged Rs.1700/-) and a big family can be accommodated. but the parking (only 3 or 4 cars) is outside (in front of the building on the roadside). In the entrace there is a vegetarian hotel 'Ganapathi Bhavan' and food is good/tasty.
Next to veeramani arcade there is small byelane and 150metre away one can find the gokulam resorts (Rs.1035 including taxes) for a A/C double bed/twin room (very good and neat rooms).
I have stayed in these two hotels - but will try other one next time.!

[gopikb]

sbraj, your timing of 5hrs 30 mts from Bangalore to Madurai is unbelievable. What car were you driving and at what speed? I know the road all the way to Madurai from Bangalore is very good. Still, your timing is mind boggling. I drove Bamgalore-Madurai over the Christmas weekend and it took me 7 hours including break of about 45 minutes. I thought I was driving fast and should limit my speed. But doing less than 6 hours on this stretch is just out of my reach. Do you drive a SUV?

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by gopikb

sbraj, your timing of 5hrs 30 mts from Bangalore to Madurai is unbelievable. What car were you driving and at what speed? I know the road all the way to Madurai from Bangalore is very good. Still, your timing is mind boggling. I drove Bamgalore-Madurai over the Christmas weekend and it took me 7 hours including break of about 45 minutes. I thought I was driving fast and should limit my speed. But doing less than 6 hours on this stretch is just out of my reach. Do you drive a SUV?

Well, I was not driving at very high speeds; usually in the range of 100-120 kmph. Vehicle is Hyundai Getz (2005) model. There were Maruti Zens/Honda Citys which were overtaking me. One can maintain that speed without taking much risks, as the roads are good. Keep maintaining the middle section of the road as you never know when some one may come in the wrong direction.

I think the trick is to start early in the day and get out of heavy traffic areas before dawn. I started at 3:55 am from HAL airport road and was in Salem bypass by 6.45 am. Had a 1 hour break there and then reached Madurai bypass by 10.30 am. Note that I didnot go to Madurai town, just the bypass.

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by sbraj

I started at 3:55 am from HAL airport road and was in Salem bypass by 6.45 am.

I started from Salem bypass(entered from Coimbatore route) at 2230 hours and reached Marathahalli(home) at 0130 hours.

I drive a Bolero and maintain speeds below 100kmph

So you reached 15 minutes earlier by holding speeds of 100-120 kmph. Any City or Skoda managing 140-160 will reach 25 minutes before me and 10 mins before you.

Lesson learned: It doesn't help driving like a bat from hell, you dont save much time anyways.

[gopikb]

sbraj, Thank you. That explains the difference. I started at about 5.00AM and was stuck with some slow moving traffic in Salem bypass. I was also consistently doing 100~120 on a free road and slow down to 80~90 when I see traffic or people ahead of me on the road. So the trick is to start very early and beat peak hour traffic at both Bangalore and Salem. I am glad that Bangalore - Madurai is doable in less than 6 hours even without driving like crazy. I have another Bangalore - Tirunelveli trip coming up on the 16th of this month. I will try to start early and see if I can match your time.

The other difference I noticed is that you are nearer to Hosur road. I had to start from Rajarajeshwarinagar and it takes atleast 35 ~ 45 minutes for me to reach silkboard even during the early morning time due to multiple speed breakers enroute

Thanks for posting your experiences

[coolclouds]

There are more slow moving traffic on return to Bangalore from Salem especially at Thoppur and after Krishnagiri. One's calculation and skill can save some time here irrespective of the speed.

[srikant]

I do frequent trips, Thrissur to and fro Bangalore. And i am alone most of the time. I ve been using Bangalore-Palghat-Coimbatore-Bhavani-Salem-Dharmapuri-Krishnagiri-Hosur-Bangalore route. Bored of that route and was planning to switch to some other route and came across 2 options:

1. Thrissur-Wadakancherry-Cherplaserry-Nilambur-Bandipur-Mysore-Bangalore
2. Thrissur-Calicut-S,Bathery-Gundlupet-Mysore-Bangalore

I want suggestions from you guys as to:

1. How are the road conditions?
2. Are they safe, since i am alone most of the time ? (I ve heard from my friend that he had problem with police at checkpost near nilambur forest for no reason, asking for money to open the gate as he was alone . .strange )
3. Is there any other alternative and safe route i can try?
4. Any specific time to leave? (Like, On my regular Thrissur-PGT-Salem-Bangalore route, I leave Thrissur at 4am so that i can easily cover palghat and also traffic at Avinashi route in early hours and also reach electronic city by 11.00am and thus dont get stuck in electronic city peak hour traffic.)

[TomRider]

Originally Posted by srikant

I do frequent trips, Thrissur to and fro Bangalore. And i am alone most of the time. I ve been using Bangalore-Palghat-Coimbatore-Bhavani-Salem-Dharmapuri-Krishnagiri-Hosur-Bangalore route. Bored of that route and was planning to switch to some other route and came across 2 options:

1. Thrissur-Wadakancherry-Cherplaserry-Nilambur-Bandipur-Mysore-Bangalore
2. Thrissur-Calicut-S,Bathery-Gundlupet-Mysore-Bangalore

I want suggestions from you guys as to:

1. How are the road conditions?
2. Are they safe, since i am alone most of the time ? (I ve heard from my friend that he had problem with police at checkpost near nilambur forest for no reason, asking for money to open the gate as he was alone . .strange )
3. Is there any other alternative and safe route i can try?
4. Any specific time to leave? (Like, On my regular Thrissur-PGT-Salem-Bangalore route, I leave Thrissur at 4am so that i can easily cover palghat and also traffic at Avinashi route in early hours and also reach electronic city by 11.00am and thus dont get stuck in electronic city peak hour traffic.)

I have never experienced such problems in check post in Nilambur (I think it s either Vazhikkadavu or Nadugani check post you are referring to. You need to give a toll/fee [Rs.25] to enter Tamilnadu @ Nadugani. Thats it.). If you start at 4am, you should be in Nilambur @ 6 and Vazhikkadavu @ 6.30. Then the ghat section starts. In Nadugani Ghat sections, there can be elephants at that time. So delaying your trip for another half an hour will be ideal. Nilambur to Bangalore should not take more than 6 hoursunder normal driving conditions.

The road condition was pathetic in Calucut-Bathery-Gundulpet when I heard last.

The route is safe if there are no elephants.

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by gopikb

I have another Bangalore - Tirunelveli trip coming up on the 16th of this month. I will try to start early and see if I can match your time.

gopikb, a word of advice. Do not stop in isolated places while driving before dawn (to attend nature's call for example). I was advised by the TN highway patrol near Krishnagiri that it is not safe. Recently a colleague's friend who stopped suffered knife cut wounds during a robbery attempt on NICE road.

[gopikb]

sbraj, Thank you for your sincere advice. I will remember this when driving on the highway. I have heard about the robbery attempts in NICE road too. Too bad police patrolling is not enough in NICE road. I have never seen one in the multiple times I had used the road.

[coolclouds]

I will be traveling to Kochi tomorrow and would like to try Omallur-Shankari SH.

Request your inputs on:
Exit point on NH7/Landmarks
Road condition/traffic at 4-5pm
Time saving compared to Salem, if any

Thanks in advance,

[PatienceWins]

I am travelling to Cochin from Bangalore on Tuesday. I plan to take Salem-Palghat route. Any updates?