[satnan]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

Thanks Satnan. I had google searched in afternoon and so was confused why it was recommending Kutta route.

Google (I believe) estimates the time you would reach the Forest gate and then recommends you which road to take. May be this is the reason.

Any idea how is the Kanakpura route? I heard theres lot of road work on this route as well.
Thanks for sharing the forest timings. I thought it was till 4 am. Good to know it is 6 am.

I used to take Kanakapura route by default, but had a very bad experience last December as the road condition was bad. Mysore road had a lot of diversions due to the road widening, but was still a much better experience during December. Not sure if the condition of Kanakapura road has improved recently, though and someone who has recently taken this route may comment.

[rakesh.rvn]

Did a short Bangalore-Tirur-Thrissur -Bangalore trip.

30th April -
Started from KR Puram at 4:30 AM. Took the ORR-Peenya-Nelmangala-Bellur Cross- Srirangapatna route to Mysore. Good roads with relatively low traffic volumes. Halted for breakfast at Attrium/Swad restaurant on the Bangalore Mysore highway. Disappointed as the restaurant was just not ready to accept guests at 7:15 AM!!! Limited items available ( to be read as idling, pongal, kesari). First and last time at this restaurant...Rest of drive to Tirur was uneventful except for a block near Chundail where roadwork is ongoing.

1st May - Travelled from Tirur to Thrissur. Started at 3 PM and reached around 5 PM. Roadwork seems to be happening in all over Thrissur.

2nd May - Started for Bangalore at 5:30 AM. Breakfast halt at A2B Walayar. Reached A2B Hosur around 12:15 pm. Subsequently, got delayed by 3 hours because of the Chennai Silks showroom next door Reached KR Puram by 5:00 PM.

[DieselLover]

Originally Posted by binand

Please mention a few. For long those of us who used to do Bangalore-Calicut via Chamarajanagar used to lament the lack of any decent food options along this route. We only had a Nijaguna (whose food was terrible IMO) for a long time.



That's the one. The Dhimbam ghat road is quite notorious for traffic jams though.

Completed Ekm-Mysore-Ekm drive over last 4 days. For onward journey we took Ekm-Thrissur-Shoranur-Pattambi-Perinthalmanna-Nilambur-Gudalur-Gundlupet-Mysore. Started at 5 30 AM and reached Mysore at 3PM with couple of breaks for Breakfast & Lunch. Road is generally good with some bad sections at Nadugani ghats. Other than Nilambur-Vazhikadavu stretch, traffic was pretty thin too.

Return journey was thru Nanjangodu-Chamarajanagar-Dhimbam-Annur-Coimbator(bypass)-Palakkad-Ekm. Started at 8 30 AM after breakfast from Mysore and reached home by 5PM. There was little/no traffic in the stretch Nanjangodu-Annur and road was good throughout. There are no good hotels on this stretch and we had lunch after joining the Bangalore highway near Coimbatore around 1PM.

[JohnnyBoss]

Originally Posted by DieselLover

Road is generally good with some bad sections at Nadugani ghats. Other than Nilambur-Vazhikadavu stretch, traffic was pretty thin too.

This means the Pattambi - Perinthalmanna section has been patched up / relaid? It was bad for quite sometime.

[PearlJam]

Could anyone please suggest a scenic route (with good roads) between Kochi <-> Bangalore? The standard Salem-Coimbatore-Palakkad route is too boring and uneventful. Thanks!

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by PearlJam

Could anyone please suggest a scenic route (with good roads) between Kochi <-> Bangalore? The standard Salem-Coimbatore-Palakkad route is too boring and uneventful. Thanks!

Kochi - Calicut - Mysore - Bangalore. The drive through the forest is amazing. And the ghat sections before that as well.

If you can cross Calicut before peak hours then it should be a good drive theoretically.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by PearlJam

Could anyone please suggest a scenic route (with good roads) between Kochi <-> Bangalore? The standard Salem-Coimbatore-Palakkad route is too boring and uneventful. Thanks!

Kochi - Coimbatore - Satyamangalam - Mysore - Bangalore

[tharian]

Originally Posted by PearlJam

Could anyone please suggest a scenic route (with good roads) between Kochi <-> Bangalore? The standard Salem-Coimbatore-Palakkad route is too boring and uneventful. Thanks!

This is the fastest route and one which will let you reach on time or before unlike the other routes.

Originally Posted by ajmat

Kochi - Coimbatore - Satyamangalam - Mysore - Bangalore

The issue with this route is that, if a truck breaks down in the ghats, you are sure to be stuck for few hours. Not that it happens everyday, but it does happen frequently because of the number of trucks that use this route.

[binand]

Originally Posted by PearlJam

Could anyone please suggest a scenic route (with good roads) between Kochi <-> Bangalore? The standard Salem-Coimbatore-Palakkad route is too boring and uneventful. Thanks!

The standard route is the quickest too. But if you really have the time, you could take:

Routes avoiding the Walayar pass:

1. Chalakkudi-Malakkapara-Aliyar-Pollachi. Lush forests, several dams/waterfalls etc.
2. Kothamangalam-Munnar-Marayur-Udumalpet. Very touristy though.
3. Nilambur-Gudalur-Mysore. More forests. People claim they've spotted tigers. Lots of fauna can be spotted generally.

Routes avoiding the Thoppur ghat:

1. Annur-Dhimbam-Chamarajanagar. A different ghat road.
2. Bhavani-Mettur-Palacode-Hosur. Hills and interior Tamil Nadu.

Routes that don't appeal much to me (when starting from Kochi), but for completeness:

1. Vadakkanchery-Kollengode-Pollachi-Perundurai
2. Mannarkkad-Agali-Annur-Avinashi
3. Kozhikode-Sulthan Bathery-Mysore or Kozhikode-Mananthavady-Mysore

[Note that in several of these routes, there is a night-travel ban. Roads close at around sundown and reopen only at sunrise]

[DieselLover]

Originally Posted by tharian

The issue with this route is that, if a truck breaks down in the ghats, you are sure to be stuck for few hours. Not that it happens everyday, but it does happen frequently because of the number of trucks that use this route.

Annur-Dhimbam-Chamarajanagar route has literally no refreshment options. The road is good/ scenic and traffic was very less when travelled back to Kochi from Mysore on last Sunday

[rakesh.rvn]

Completed Whitefield-Tirur drive today.
Route taken was Whitefield-Silk Board-Hosur-Salem-Coimbatore-Palakkad-Shoranur-Pattambi-Trithala-Kuttipuram-Tirur
Start time: 4:30 AM
End time: 3:15 PM
Breaks- 2 hours for breakfast and lunch

Had my first (and hopefully last) run in with the infamous traffic barriers between Krishnagiri and Salem. Was behind a bus and didn't realise that the second barrier was so close to the first one (my judgement may be at fault as well) . Tried to go through anyways as couldnt stop with a car close behind. Anyways, the slow speed and Harrier's build quality meant that I got away with minor scratches on the front bumper.

Breakfast : A2B, NH 44, Salem Coimbatore stretch. Seems to be the worst A2B in the chain. They were struggling to serve with barely 50% capacity at 7:30 AM. Taste also not in line with others - they even managed to mess up filter coffee!!!. Just not worth taking a U-turn and driving back. Will make it a point to drive till Saravana Bhavan further down the road.

Lunch: Pisharody's Heritage Home, Shoranur. Good Kerala style vegetarian meal; made up for the breakfast disappointment.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by PearlJam

Could anyone please suggest a scenic route (with good roads) between Kochi <-> Bangalore? The standard Salem-Coimbatore-Palakkad route is too boring and uneventful. Thanks!

You can try the options that @binand has provided - routes parallel to the NH544 route. They're all but slower than the NH. Money saved by not paying toll will get consumed by the lower FE if starting in the daylight.

Originally Posted by tharian

The issue with this route is that, if a truck breaks down in the ghats, you are sure to be stuck for few hours.

I have been in that situation - used to take my chances and almost always take this route, until I finally ran out of luck. Things were looking bright until we reached the Dimbham ghat, and then it went downhill. Took almost 13 hours for a Bangalore-Palakkad trip.

Found my old post (All Roads to Kerala).

[sandeepsc]

I have put this query in Mumbai-Kerala route thread but since I know the route between Mumbai and Bangalore, I want to know the good and fastest route to reach Arookutty near Kochi from Bangalore or say Davanagere (Where I plan to halt for overnight). I am starting my trip from Mumbai on 15th May and plan to reach Arookutty next day on 16th May. Since this will be my first road trip to this part of India along with my family, I don’t want to do any adventurous or risky trip. Your suggestions are welcomed for finalizing the route.

[EV NXT]

There are quite a few cameras on the Salem - Krishnagiri sector. They are not on the centre of the road but mounted on poles to the side of the road. Does anyone know if these are operational as yet or are they fixed for some other purpose such as traffic census etc?

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by sandeepsc

I have put this query in Mumbai-Kerala route thread but since I know the route between Mumbai and Bangalore, I want to know the good and fastest route to reach Arookutty near Kochi from Bangalore or say Davanagere (Where I plan to halt for overnight). I am starting my trip from Mumbai on 15th May and plan to reach Arookutty next day on 16th May. Since this will be my first road trip to this part of India along with my family, I don’t want to do any adventurous or risky trip. Your suggestions are welcomed for finalizing the route.

Pretty straightforward from Bangalore. Hosur-Krishnagiri-Salem-Coimbatore-Palakkad-Thrissur-Kochi. 4/6 lane NH throughout. Plenty of eateries, reasonably heavy traffic but should be a smooth drive. Watch out for speed cams once you enter Kerala at Walayar.

You would need to take a call on how to bypass Bangalore. Depending on where you are halting and the time of day you start/pass Bangalore, you can decide which route to take.