[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by sarathlal

This road has broken up again

It does have better surface now, but extremely large holes were showing up while traversing this path last week. Low sedans will have a tough time negotiating them.

Yes. Went through some craters that should have been on the moon! Thankfully my linea managed to circumvent them without scraping it's belly.

[Twiny]

Hi, I am planning a travel to Varkala on April 18th(Good Friday). Please suggest what would be the ideal time to start the journey from Bangalore(Old Airport Road). Also if an overnight halt is needed in between, which is the best place/hotels (around Thenmala ?)

[subincb]

Originally Posted by Twiny

Hi, I am planning a travel to Varkala on April 18th(Good Friday). Please suggest what would be the ideal time to start the journey from Bangalore(Old Airport Road). Also if an overnight halt is needed in between, which is the best place/hotels (around Thenmala ?)

Best would be early morning 5-5.30. We left at 5.30am from Kanakpura road and at Salem morning traffic was just starting to grow. We could pass without much difficulty. We felt starting 15 mins earlier would have been better. We reached Mangalapuram at 5.00pm via Tenmala, Kulathupuzha road. 2 petrol and 1 lunch and 1 snack stop

[Aiel]

Originally Posted by Twiny

Hi, I am planning a travel to Varkala on April 18th(Good Friday). Please suggest what would be the ideal time to start the journey from Bangalore(Old Airport Road). Also if an overnight halt is needed in between, which is the best place/hotels (around Thenmala ?)

Considering that is Good Friday, you can expect much more traffic than normal weekends/Fridays. The ideal time to start would be as early as possible - at least by 5AM.

We started on a weekday from the Bannerghatta area around 5:15AM, and reached Attingal (near Varkala) by around 5:30PM, with breaks for breakfast (A2B, after Salem) & lunch.

There are places around Thenmala (for example, Hormuz Inn, Thenmala Ecoresort, etc), which fall on the highway.

We had lunch at Hotel Amil, Rajapalayam, which is a great place for a break with good food (my wife loved the veg meals, which she felt was tasty without going overboard on the spiciness); this can be a potential location for a stay (if you are running late), as they have clean rooms for stay.

[robincsamuel]

Originally Posted by Aiel

Considering that is Good Friday, you can expect much more traffic than normal weekends/Fridays. The ideal time to start would be as early as possible - at least by 5AM

I had a different experience last year. We travelled from Bangalore to Pathanamthitta on Good Friday, and it was one of the most peaceful drives I have ever had. The roads were absolutely free, especially in Kerala. We took the Salem-Dindigul-Kumily route.

[pratim]

Originally Posted by pms

Drove back Kollam to Blr yesterday. Started at 5:40AM and reached home by 7:20PM. Roughly 13:40Hrs drive door to door. Drive was uneventful barring the 20mins block just before Attibele toll booth due to flyover construction as the service road was choked plus the city traffic from ECity to Old Airport road.

Hey, any suggestions for fuel stops? I had good experiences with Nayara fuel station before Salem. Any presence of these guys beyond Dindigul?

My journey starts day after tomorrow early morning.

Cheers
Pratim

[pms]

Originally Posted by Twiny

Hi, I am planning a travel to Varkala on April 18th(Good Friday). Please suggest what would be the ideal time to start the journey from Bangalore(Old Airport Road). Also if an overnight halt is needed in between, which is the best place/hotels (around Thenmala ?)

Pls plan to start around 5AM from BLR as its a long weekend and you might encounter some traffic. Some good places to stay near Thenmala could be Thenmala Heritage, Thenmala Ecoresort, Madhuvanam Resorts..

[pms]

Originally Posted by pratim

Hey, any suggestions for fuel stops? I had good experiences with Nayara fuel station before Salem. Any presence of these guys beyond Dindigul?

My journey starts day after tomorrow early morning.

Cheers
Pratim

I have seen some outlets of Nayara beyond Dindigul as well. Some of these locations are as below on the highway, should be good for your refill.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/XJxUECrvfj8GBJ396 - post Dindigul
https://maps.app.goo.gl/aWutat2wKmzmBATL9 - post Thirumangalam
https://maps.app.goo.gl/NYdVbBiRU3DLEaaN7 - before Srivilliputhur

I normally fill from IndianOil or HP, not really have any preferences just get into a big outlet where there are some vehicles present for re-fill.

Have a safe and enjoyable drive!

[ampere]

Not sure if this was discussed or mentioned earlier:

Omalur-Tharamangalam-Sankagiri is getting 4-laned with all bypasses in places. This should be the perfect option to bypass Salem for those heading to Coimbatore and beyond.

All the towns I see bypasses coming up. At Sankagiri we need a clean interchange to the Salem-Coimbatore 4-lane. Today that does not seem to the case.


On a different note: I see even Edappadi has a bypass!

[Garth]

I have a Bangalore - Ernakulam drive coming up on the weekend of 26th April. How are the road conditions? There were a few flyovers under construction when I did the drive last year. Also the road surface wasnt that great back then. Has there been any improvements?

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Garth

I have a Bangalore - Ernakulam drive coming up on the weekend of 26th April. How are the road conditions? There were a few flyovers under construction when I did the drive last year. Also the road surface wasnt that great back then. Has there been any improvements?

In January this year I had traveled to Kochi and then to Alappuzha and back to Bangalore, had posted an update here (All Roads to Kerala).

[kit_dennis]

Originally Posted by ampere

Omalur-Tharamangalam-Sankagiri is getting 4-laned with all bypasses in places. This should be the perfect option to bypass Salem for those heading to Coimbatore and beyond.

Thankyou for this! Took this route today after many years. The 4-lane is 90% completed which saved atleast 10 minutes compared to Salem route and 2 toll collections.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by kit_dennis

Thankyou for this! Took this route today after many years. The 4-lane is 90% completed which saved atleast 10 minutes compared to Salem route and 2 toll collections.

Great to hear this!
How difficult it was to get back to the 4-lane at Sankagiri? The map says there is no clean merging at the point where this meets the Salem-Coimbattore highway.

[kit_dennis]

Originally Posted by ampere

How difficult it was to get back to the 4-lane at Sankagiri? The map says there is no clean merging at the point where this meets the Salem-Coimbattore highway.

That's right. No clean merge. After crossing the highway underpass, took a left towards Salem on the service road and merged on the highway after more than a kilometre.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by kit_dennis

That's right. No clean merge. After crossing the highway underpass, took a left towards Salem on the service road and merged on the highway after more than a kilometre.

Yes this is what I also saw. Given it's a 4-lane road to Omalur, I hope they plan a better strategy for merging.