Originally Posted by J.Ravi

I will be taking NH 7/47 route.

My MMI Lx130 v 6.0 recommends this route from my Basaveswara Nagar home to my hotel at Kochi having 504 km via SH 17/NH 209/47: Bangalore>Maddur [SH 17 - 4 lane]>Kollegala> Chamarajanagar> Sathyamangalam [NH 209 - 2 lane]>Coimbatore>Kochi as against 547 km via NH 7/47. I am tempted to take this MMI recommended route for the up journey and NH 7/47 for the return journey. As I programme to leave my home by 3 am tomorrow, I can easily reach Kovai for breakfast/refuelling, and then, continue further to Kochi.

Kindly enlighten me about the latest road condition of NH 209.

[rahulrajeev]

I drove from Bangalore to Kollam, Kerala during the first week of this month in my VW Polo. We started from Bangalore at around 2.30 AM and reached Outer Madurai by around 07.00 AM. Initially we were confused on which route to take as NH-47 through Palakad was the other option in our mind. But last moment we decided to take the Madurai route as we could cover maximum distance through the four way track.

From Madurai we deviated to Rajapalayam direction and through Srivilliputhur we reached Tenkasi at around 09.00 AM. The only problem with this route is that you will not find good stop over to refresh.
From Bangalore to Madurai outer we could average a speed of 100 Kph. When we reached Tenkasi by 09.00AM we covered 520 Km in six and a half hours and the credit goes to good roads maintained by NHAI. From Tenkasi to Kollam on NH-208 driving was a real pain as we entered Kerala the traffic was moving in snail speed and around 12 noon I reached my home @ Kollam.

Even though we could have had our breakfast from Tenkasi we waited till reaching home to have a sumptuous meal cooked by my mother.
Overall its good to take Tenkasi route if you want reach Kollam, Trivandrum or Pathanamthitta while coming from Bangalore or Chennai compared to Palakkad route as there is good road to serve you till Tenkasi. Let me know if you need more details on this route.

[coolclouds]

Did Bangalore-Kochi on NH7/NH47 route. Started yesterday evening at 10.30pm from Madiwala and was raining quite good till Krishnagiri and then around Trichur.

No big queues at toll booths except Attibelle. There was traffic block immediately after Salem toll booth and a Sona travels bus parked along with Police vehicles. Was there any accident?

Avinashi route was quite easy and better than expected. It took one hour 25 mins from Perundurai toll to L&T toll. Finally, reached Ernakulam at 6.30am with one break at Thoppur.

Roads are mostly in good shape.

[sbkumar]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

My MMI Lx130 v 6.0 recommends this route from my Basaveswara Nagar home to my hotel at Kochi having 504 km via SH 17/NH 209/47: Bangalore>Maddur [SH 17 - 4 lane]>Kollegala> Chamarajanagar> Sathyamangalam [NH 209 - 2 lane]>Coimbatore>Kochi as against 547 km via NH 7/47. I am tempted to take this MMI recommended route for the up journey and NH 7/47 for the return journey. As I programme to leave my home by 3 am tomorrow, I can easily reach Kovai for breakfast/refuelling, and then, continue further to Kochi.

Kindly enlighten me about the latest road condition of NH 209.

IMO, in terms of speed and amenities along, NH 7/NH 47 is the best possible route.

Thanks, sbkumar, for kind advice. I am tempted by NH 209 in view of scenic beauty with shorter distance to cover. I travelled on this stretch two decades back.

[lloydofcochin]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Did Bangalore-Kochi on NH7/NH47 route. Started yesterday evening at 10.30pm from Madiwala and was raining quite good till Krishnagiri and then around Trichur.

No big queues at toll booths except Attibelle. There was traffic block immediately after Salem toll booth and a Sona travels bus parked along with Police vehicles. Was there any accident?

Avinashi route was quite easy and better than expected. It took one hour 25 mins from Perundurai toll to L&T toll. Finally, reached Ernakulam at 6.30am with one break at Thoppur.

Roads are mostly in good shape.

Took the same route. Started from behind IIMB at 12am and reached Fort Cochin by 12pm with multiple Sleep/Food/Coffee breaks. The roads were pretty OK except Avinashi and the Kuthiran stretch. Avinashi was quite dusty and the Car is unrecognizable now

Got stuck at Attibelle for a good 20-25 mins.

[Twiny]

Hi, if anybody carpooling from Cochin/Thrissur to Bangalore on 24/4, please PM me.. need two seats. Thanks

[ampere]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

Thanks, sbkumar, for kind advice. I am tempted by NH 209 in view of scenic beauty with shorter distance to cover. I travelled on this stretch two decades back.

The only problem is that till CBE you wont find any thing to eat (good hotels) and any clean toilets. More than hotels, break areas are more important.

[sbkumar]

Did BLR-CBE-BLR over the weekend. The last stretch between Chengampalli to CBE where the 4-laning is in progress was okay to drive in the day time. But yesterday on my way back, started from CBE at 7.30 PM. It took almost 2 hours to cross this stretch with rain and slow moving heavy vehicles slowing down the travel extremely. Please avoid this stretch at night if possible. The return trip was painful with non-stop rains until Hosur :-(

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by rahulrajeev

I drove from Bangalore to Kollam, Kerala during the first week of this month in my VW Polo. We started from Bangalore at around 2.30 AM and reached Outer Madurai by around 07.00 AM. Initially we were confused on which route to take as NH-47 through Palakad was the other option in our mind. But last moment we decided to take the Madurai route as we could cover maximum distance through the four way track.

From Madurai we deviated to Rajapalayam direction and through Srivilliputhur we reached Tenkasi at around 09.00 AM. The only problem with this route is that you will not find good stop over to refresh.
From Bangalore to Madurai outer we could average a speed of 100 Kph. When we reached Tenkasi by 09.00AM we covered 520 Km in six and a half hours and the credit goes to good roads maintained by NHAI. From Tenkasi to Kollam on NH-208 driving was a real pain as we entered Kerala the traffic was moving in snail speed and around 12 noon I reached my home @ Kollam.

Even though we could have had our breakfast from Tenkasi we waited till reaching home to have a sumptuous meal cooked by my mother.
Overall its good to take Tenkasi route if you want reach Kollam, Trivandrum or Pathanamthitta while coming from Bangalore or Chennai compared to Palakkad route as there is good road to serve you till Tenkasi. Let me know if you need more details on this route.

Please post the route details. It will help someone decide the next trip.

Originally Posted by lloydofcochin

Took the same route. Started from behind IIMB at 12am and reached Fort Cochin by 12pm with multiple Sleep/Food/Coffee breaks. The roads were pretty OK except Avinashi and the Kuthiran stretch. Avinashi was quite dusty and the Car is unrecognizable now

Got stuck at Attibelle for a good 20-25 mins.

The route from Avinashi till almost Coimbatore is a pain to drive with all the work going on as of now. Not to mention the dust thats present. And the sudden zig zag also irritates a lot. This should be fine in around 6 months and after that it should be a real blast to drive thru this road.

[B103]

Originally Posted by B103

I travelled the Bangalore --> Dindigul --> Theni --> Kumili --> Chry route last Saturday. It is a nice route except for 25-30 kms of bad roads. This section of bad road is near the ghats at TN-Kerala border.

Overall it was a good trip and the drive is very very scenic. Bangalore (Bellandur) to
Changanacherry is 620 kms and can be covered in 12 hrs via this route. Speeds of 130+ kmph is easily acheivable till Dindigul. Further to that the average speed reduces to 80 kmph and drops to 25 kmph in the ghat section. Road is winding and bad here. Again, from Vandiperiyar onwards, we can drive at an average speed of 55-60 kmph.


Problems we faced:
(1) Kumili check post is quite arrow and police were stopping and checking couple of
trucks which resulted in blocked traffic on both sides of the road. We lost around 20 mins there. Worse could happen at Walayar check post too. Since we were travelling on the next day of Vishu festival, many private vehicles returning from Sabarimala were seen on the road.

(2) People were feeling motion sickeness because of winding climb up and then down again. This would not be a problem in the Palakad-Thrissur route.

(3) You many not find many eateries and petrol pumps after Dindigul till Vandiperiyar. A little bit of planning will help.

(4) I assume break-down support facilities will be poor as well. Not sure though on this
point.

Did the return trip back from Chry to Bangalore today. We came back in the same way -- via Kumili, Theni itself. Started around 6:15 in the morning and reached Bangalore at 6:45 in the evening.

The places through we drove in Kerala was indeed very scenic and beautiful. I got a chance to closely watch the nature as we started in the morning and my brother was in the driver's seat

One incident which shook me like no ends is related to a blue Chevrolet Beat (TN 70 B 2761) in the Dindigual-Salem highway. This car had a T-BHP's (got BHP?) sticker in the rear glass. We both were doing 110+ and this car cut sharply into the front of mine from the left. I had to apply quick breaks to make space and my heart was in my mouth, for some time. It was uncouth and rude behaviour at it's best.
This car was driven same way, as far as I could see it.

Whomever it is, if you get a chance to see this thread, my request to you is to please drive carefully. Road is a shared resource, kindly follow the rules and give some consideration for other vehicles too. It is a shame to do such irresponsible driving esp with a T-BHP sticker on the car.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by B103

Did the return trip back from Chry to Bangalore today. We came back in the same way -- via Kumili, Theni itself. Started around 6:15 in the morning and reached Bangalore at 6:45 in the evening.

The places through we drove in Kerala was indeed very scenic and beautiful. I got a chance to closely watch the nature as we started in the morning and my brother was in the driver's seat

If you really want to enjoy the hill station beauty [Kuttikkanam / Kumily] you should reach this place at around 6 AM in the morning. Sure you will be blessed with some mist, sometimes to a really huge level where you have visibility only to few feets in front of you! Really refreshes a traveller ! I usually plan my trip from Bangy [10 PM] so that I reach Kumily @ 6 AM in the morning and the pics which I take en-route has awarded me a fair share of jealousy from my colleagues and have made them a huge fan of Kerala!

I returned to Bangalore this morning from my Kerala trip.

While going, I took the route of Bangalore>Maddur [SH 17 - 4 lane]>[SH33] Malavalli>Kollegala> Chamarajnagar> Sathyamangalam [NH 209 - 2 lane]>Coimbatore>[NH47] Kochi.

The road [SH33] from Maddur to Malavalli was bad with a lot of potholes for a distance of about 25 km. But, after reaching NH 209, the scenerio changed completely. The road was very good all the way to Chamrajnagar. After crossing into Tamil Nadu, it became excellent all the way to Coimbatore. The scenic beauty of the Dhimbum Ghats was simply breathtaking. We had a photo session en route at Dhimbum.

The road from Coimbatore to Thrissur was rough and patchy. I didn't enjoy driving on this stretch. Thrissur to Kochi was a nice 4-lane road that ensured smooth ride although some flyovers were still under construction.

After staying in Ernakulam for two days, we went to Kayamkulam to attend a marriage yesterday. Though it was Easter Sunday, traffic on NH47 from Kochi to Kayamkulam was more than expected. Here too, I didn't enjoy my drive.

After lunch, we left Kayamkulam to Trichy/Bangalore via Mavelikkara>Kanjirapalli>Mundakkayam>Kumily>Theni> Dhindukkal>Trichy>Salem>Krishnagiri. I enjoyed each and every moment of my driving on this route. We had clicked many photographs on the way. If one wants to enjoy the Nature with leisurely drive, then this is the route to take.

I reached Bangalore after finishing my work at Trichy.

[joecherian]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

I returned to Bangalore this morning from my Kerala trip.

While going, I took the route of Bangalore>Maddur [SH 17 - 4 lane]>[SH33] Malavalli>Kollegala> Chamarajnagar> Sathyamangalam [NH 209 - 2 lane]>Coimbatore>[NH47] Kochi.

The road [SH33] from Maddur to Malavalli was bad with a lot of potholes for a distance of about 25 km. But, after reaching NH 209, the scenerio changed completely.
.

That means if we take the NH209 right from bangalore, roads are good all the way till cbe ?

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by joecherian

That means if we take the NH209 right from bangalore, roads are good all the way till cbe ?

NH209 is fantastic right now all the way from Bangalore via Kanakapura, Malavalli, KOllegala, Chamarajanagar, Dimbam & Sathyamanagalam. Watch out for narrow bad roads in one section of Kanakapura town and keep an eye on signboards since there are several turn offs, and you can go off track if you are not careful.