[binand]

Originally Posted by D C

Thrissur to Cochin is the NH 47 and is great stretch.

"Great" is debatable. If you are used to the GQ sectors elsewhere, it is still a disappointment. Thrissur to edge of Thrissur district is fine. Beyond that, service roads disappear and you'll find roadside shops have their frontage directly on the highway. By the time you reach Angamali town it will start resembling say, Indiranagar 100 ft Road. The lack of a proper interchange with MC Road means you'll spend some time at the signal here. The Aluva-Kalamassery-Edappalli stretch is then completely taken over by Cochin Metro construction.

[D C]

Originally Posted by binand

"Great" is debatable.

"Great" compared to his other option of taking the ghats road I would take it back and say "good" instead, given your comments on the Angamally, Aluva, Kalamassery stretch

Originally Posted by longhorn

Anyone having info on good fuel stations along the Salem - Avinashi route? Or along the Perundurai - Kangeyam - Palladam - Pollachi stretch? Planning to drive down from Chennai to Kerala for Xmas. Any updates on road conditions between Avinashi and Mannuthy would also be welcome.

I would tank up from Chennai normally. If not, my choices are the BP company outlet (along with the Adyar Aanand Bhavan restaurant) at Ulundurpet (its on the right side, but both way U turns are close) or the IOC outlet in Chandranagar, Palakkad

Avinashi to coimbatore - Roads are good, except for a 2 kms before the Coimbatore L&T byepass. However, watch out for speed bumps and on coming traffic. There are no lanes and some part of the roads are two way as only one side of the road are open to traffic in some areas. This stretch wont kill your excitement anyways!

No updates on Coimbatore to Palakkad through Walayar. I usually bye pass this through Nachipalayam - Velanthavalam - Athicode - Kozhinjampara - Chandranagar. The roads are very good and scenic.

Palakkad to Mannuthy - The roads through Ottapalam - Kulapully - Cheruthuruthy is a good stretch, without medians. However, road condition is very good.

[svkndv]

Planning to travel from Hosur to Perumbavoor on 20/12 and prefer to travel by coimbatore->Walayar->palakkad->Trissur. Is anyone traveled by this road recently? What is the current condition of the roads in this stretch?

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by svkndv

Planning to travel from Hosur to Perumbavoor on 20/12 and prefer to travel by coimbatore->Walayar->palakkad->Trissur. Is anyone traveled by this road recently? What is the current condition of the roads in this stretch?

Good roads all the way from Bangalore till Coimbatore L&T exit and there on bumpy till Walayar. Four lane work going on between Walayar to Vadakkancherry with diversions, but manageable.

Better, take Palladam-Pollachi-Vadakkancherry, if you are looking for less traffic and good surface.

OT: Yesterday morning (5.30am), there was long queue of vehicles at Attibelle toll booth starting from border itself and it took some 25 minutes to cross. Some sections of State Highways are faster than GQs at least during such delays.

[pramodpk]

I plan to drive from Chennai to Vaikom on 23rd December, Monday.

I plan to make it a relaxed drive with a stop over at Hotel Chennis, Perundurai or the Traveller's Inn after Salem.

The starting point is Adayar. 23rd December being a Monday, I want to start after the morning peak hour traffic. Is 11:00 AM a good time to start?

Which route should I take?

Adayar - Guindy - Airport - Tambaram - Chengalpet - Ulundurpet Salem?

Is there a connection from Old Mahabalipuram road to Chengalpet?

[binand]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Is there a connection from Old Mahabalipuram road to Chengalpet?

There's Kelambakkam-Vandalur (4-lane dual carriageway) or Thiruporur-Chengalpattu (I'm not sure, but I think this is a single carriageway road). The former is in excellent condition though could work out to be a bit longer.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

I plan to drive from Chennai to Vaikom on 23rd December, Monday.

I plan to make it a relaxed drive with a stop over at Hotel Chennis, Perundurai or the Traveller's Inn after Salem.

The starting point is Adayar. 23rd December being a Monday, I want to start after the morning peak hour traffic. Is 11:00 AM a good time to start?

Which route should I take?

Adayar - Guindy - Airport - Tambaram - Chengalpet - Ulundurpet Salem?

Is there a connection from Old Mahabalipuram road to Chengalpet?

From Ulundurpet, proceed further on NH45 towards Perambulur. Then take a turn towards Thuraiyur and proceed till you reach Kulithalai. From here take the Karur-Trichy by pass road (NH67) and proceed till you reach Kangeyam.
From here go towards Pollachi and then rejoin NH47 at Vadakencherry via Kollengode.
By this route you can avoid the mess at Walayar.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by svkndv

Planning to travel from Hosur to Perumbavoor on 20/12 and prefer to travel by coimbatore->Walayar->palakkad->Trissur. Is anyone traveled by this road recently? What is the current condition of the roads in this stretch?

I'd recommend turning off the NH-47 at Avinashi then proceed along Mangalam-Palladam-Pollachi-Vadakkenchery and rejoin NH-47. Roads are patchy to bad between Madukkarai and Walayar, and the heavy truck traffic on the CBE bypass between Neelambur and Madukkarai will slow you down.

[aneezan]

I am planning a Bangalore to Nagercoil trip next week and it will be through Kerala this time. I have a number of stops on the way, hence:-

Bangalore -> Tiruppur(lunch at a friend's place)
Tiruppur -> Cochin(stay at another friend's place overnight)
Cochin -> Trivandrum
Trivandrum -> Nagercoil.

This is the first time I am taking this route through Kerala(normally it is the Nh7). Knowing that the roads are not the same as in TN, some advice on current conditions would be helpful:-
- I heard that there are a lot of "metro" and road constructions currently between the Cochin to Kollam stretch.
- Conditions from Coimbatore to Cochin.

Thanks.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by aneezan

Tiruppur -> Cochin(stay at another friend's place overnight)
Cochin -> Trivandrum
Trivandrum -> Nagercoil.

This is the first time I am taking this route through Kerala(normally it is the Nh7). Knowing that the roads are not the same as in TN, some advice on current conditions would be helpful:-
- I heard that there are a lot of "metro" and road constructions currently between the Cochin to Kollam stretch.
- Conditions from Coimbatore to Cochin.

Thanks.

Tiruppur-Cochin via Palladam-Pollachi-Vadakkancherry-Trichur-Kochi
Kochi-Trivandrum: NH47. Metro work happening inside Kochi city, road in good condition from Kochi to Kollam/Trivandrum.

Plan to do Kochi-Trivandrum-Nagarcoil during night/early morning else you will spend double time beating traffic.

Take bypass road at Trivandrum

[sachinnair]

I drove down from Chennai to Palakkad on Sunday 14th December. My updates on roads:

Chennai to Salem outskirts- highway all through. All good driving. There are patches between Kanchipuram and Vellore where the road surface is bad. The upper layers of tarmac have worn out, making the ride rough. Consider slowing down in these areas.

From Salem to Erode via Mettur and Bhawani dam- There is this signboard, saying route to Palakkad is to the right. This is just before Salem. I had taken this route once before, and took it again for the beauty of it. It passes in between hills, and looks like a slice of Kerala. The road is a smooth surfaced single lane, and just like Kerala, too many people, trucks and buses on the road. Trucks are slow, and getting space to overtake takes too long.

Erode to Coimbatore- smooth road. But the genius who planned and built this section built the many culverts on the highway slightly above road level. Then he had another brainwave, converted the culvert edges into speedbumps and painted them in appropriate white lines. So the highway has speedbumps every 10 km or so. The white lining on the dark speedbump is that it forces you to slow down before a few curves. Its also where, if you shift gears properly, you can overtake a lot of vehicles.

It was raining heavily in this part, and I had to slow down. I had a nasty shock for a microsecond when I ran my right wheels through a puddle while the left wheels were on the "drier" part of the road. The car took a small jolt to the right- the deeper water forced the right wheels to suddenly slow whereas the left continued as before. I think it was the ABS that saved me from doing the salsa on the road.

Coimbatore to Palakkad-
The Coimbatore bypass is smooth sailing, slowing every now and then for tollboths. But after the bypass, the road is still under construction and narrowed down to single lanes full of dust and idiots who will overtake from every which side. All sorts of vehicle filled with Sabarimala pilgrims converge here from all over TN, AP, and KA, adding to the crowd. (from the way they drive, they sure seem eager to meet God; not just on earth at Sabarimala)

Once you cross Walayar, Kerala state welcomes you with long lines of trucks waiting to cross the Walayar checkpost. Here, things get confusing, since the left of the road seems reserved for trucks, and the right of the road seems like a two -way for non commerical vehicles. I missed a median break in which to shift rightwards, and had t drive behind a truck till he joined the truck queue. Luckily I did not get stuck in the truck jam; that would have delayed me till midnight I suppose.

The rest of the road upto Chandranagar is as confusing. They are fourlaning the road, and the effective road is a two- lane. Huge flyover construction at the Chandranagar junction- crawl and continue crawling till the next junction (after PSV Ford, the one where Chittur - Manapullikav road intersects the highway)

[sunil8089]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

I plan to drive from Chennai to Vaikom on 23rd December, Monday.

I plan to make it a relaxed drive with a stop over at Hotel Chennis, Perundurai or the Traveller's Inn after Salem.

The starting point is Adayar. 23rd December being a Monday, I want to start after the morning peak hour traffic. Is 11:00 AM a good time to start?

I suggest to make a early morning start at 4:30AM from Adayar, the roads will be free. But don't delay till 6 AM, the traffic will be heavy especially till Chengalpet (Mahindra City) and all the toll gates in GST Road.

If you plan in that way, you can have a breakfast at A2B or Arya Niwas at Ulundurpet (around 8:30 AM) and can have lunch at Palakkad / Pollachi around 2PM, depending on the route you take. After lunch, drive in relax to Vaikom. One good place for a afternoon tea break is Indian Coffee House near Pattikad (next to a BP pump).

My sincere suggestion is try to avoid night driving, especially the Palakkad / Pollachi to Trichur stretch.

Originally Posted by longhorn

Anyone having info on good fuel stations along the Salem - Avinashi route? Or along the Perundurai - Kangeyam - Palladam - Pollachi stretch? Planning to drive down from Chennai to Kerala for Xmas. Any updates on road conditions between Avinashi and Mannuthy would also be welcome.

Whenever I travel from Chennai to Kerala, I prefer to fill fuel at Salem, than from Highways. One good pump is: KPN HP Petrol Pump, which is at NH7.
I felt their petrol is pure and much better than many Chennai pumps - getting good pulling power and mileage.

If you are going via Krishnagiri, its on the way, but if you are going via Ulundurpet, you have to go about 2 kms in NH7 (towards north).

The address and location is as follows:
Address: 18, Suramangalam Main Road, Palaniappa Nagar, Thiruvagoundanur, Salem, Tamil Nadu

Its just 100m from NH7. The google link is as follows:

https://www.google.co.in/maps/place/...ed=0CG0Q_BIwCw

[joecherian]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

I plan to drive from Chennai to Vaikom on 23rd December, Monday.

I plan to make it a relaxed drive with a stop over at Hotel Chennis, Perundurai or the Traveller's Inn after Salem.

The starting point is Adayar. 23rd December being a Monday, I want to start after the morning peak hour traffic. Is 11:00 AM a good time to start?

Which route should I take?

Adayar - Guindy - Airport - Tambaram - Chengalpet - Ulundurpet Salem?

Is there a connection from Old Mahabalipuram road to Chengalpet?

If you are starting from adyar, I would suggest to take omr till thiruporur and then take the right fork towards chengalpet. This way, you can avoid all the madness till chengalpet on GST. Thiruporur chengalpet is single lane but excellent road. With the railway over bridge done in chengalpet, it is really easy to pass through the town.
If you like driving in 2 lanes, then I would suggest to take the trichy karur dharapuram pollachi wadakkencherry route. But then the flip side is, you might not find any decent hotels. This is my usual route from chennai to cochin but then I always do a night drive. Same for me on 24 as well.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by sachinnair

I drove down from Chennai to Palakkad on Sunday 14th December. My updates on roads:

What you should have done:

Chennai-Tindivanam-Ulundurpet-Salem-Bhavani-Avinashi-Mangalam-Palladam-Pollachi-Palakkad.

Its smooth sailing all the way.

[D C]

Originally Posted by sachinnair

Coimbatore to Palakkad-
The Coimbatore bypass is smooth sailing, slowing every now and then for tollboths. But after the bypass, the road is still under construction and narrowed down to single lanes full of dust and idiots who will overtake from every which side. All sorts of vehicle filled with Sabarimala pilgrims converge here from all over TN, AP, and KA, adding to the crowd. (from the way they drive, they sure seem eager to meet God; not just on earth at Sabarimala)

Once you cross Walayar, Kerala state welcomes you with long lines of trucks waiting to cross the Walayar checkpost. Here, things get confusing, since the left of the road seems reserved for trucks, and the right of the road seems like a two -way for non commerical vehicles. I missed a median break in which to shift rightwards, and had t drive behind a truck till he joined the truck queue. Luckily I did not get stuck in the truck jam; that would have delayed me till midnight I suppose.

Here is another option to bye pass Walayar. Google Maps

This is from the first toll plaza on L&T bye pass towards Palakkad. I used to take this road always. The roads are good with less traffic. They are two ways without medians and through rural areas and small towns and it's a scenic route. I don't recommend this route during late nights as this involves some isolated areas. I don't mean dangerous, but it would be tough to find help in case of a breakdown.

Originally Posted by ampere

What you should have done:

Chennai-Tindivanam-Ulundurpet-Salem-Bhavani-Avinashi-Mangalam-Palladam-Pollachi-Palakkad.

Its smooth sailing all the way.

Are you talking about the route through Tiruppur to Palladam? I have taken this route many times and is a great option during night drives. However, I find it very tough to cross Tiruppur town during day times.