Originally Posted by KRRaj

Which is the best route to take from Bangalore to Kumbakonam?

I did Bangalore-Kumbakonam-Bangalore in February 2011. I took Bangalore>Trichy>Kallanai>Thiruvaiyaru>Kumbakonam route. See here for more details.

[ArunV]

Originally Posted by ampere

It would be definitely better to go via Trichy/Tanjore, You get much better roads (Many cases 4L)
Only debatable part is the Namakkal-Trichy section. Ravi mentions take the Thuraiyur road instead of Musiri.

Namakkal - Musri - Trichy is in a terrible condition. Namakkal - Thuraiyur - Trichy is much better.
I did both the routes on 17th Dec weekend.

Bangalore to salem - 4 Lane
Salem to Namakkal - 4 Lane
Namakkal to Trichy - 2 Lane
Trichy to Tanjavur - 4 Lane

[ravib]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

I did Bangalore-Kumbakonam-Bangalore in February 2011. I took Bangalore>Trichy>Kallanai>Thiruvaiyaru>Kumbakonam route. See here for more details.

Agree its a good route. I did this in my i20 on 1st Nov. Caution is to watch out for speed brakers that are not marked well between Trichy-Kallanai-Thiruvaiyaru-KMU.

If it is night drive better take Thanjavur 4L Route.

-Ravi

[sridhu]

Folks - what is the current recommended route from Bangalore to Tanjore?

Google maps is suggesting BLR- K'giri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Namakkal - Thiruchi - Tanjore at about 400km

Is that still the best route?

What are the good vegetarian places to break in Salem/ Namakkal? Remember a GRT in Salem. Is it still there? Any other options?

Thanks a ton.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by sridhu

Google maps is suggesting BLR- K'giri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Namakkal - Thiruchi - Tanjore at about 400km

Either via Namakkal-Thuraiyur-Trichy or
Namakkal-Karur-Trichy. (I would recommend the Karur option)

In other words Bangalore-Salem-Karur-Trichy-Tanjore. End to end good roads.

What are the good vegetarian places to break in Salem/ Namakkal? Remember a GRT in Salem. Is it still there? Any other options?

Its no more a GRT. That franchise model broke-up. The hotel still stands called Grand Estancia. In addition, a km before Grand Estancia, you also have Park Plaza.

[sridhu]

Update on the route folks:

Took K'giri-Dharmapuri-Salem-Thuraiyur- Thiruchi - Tanjore route on the to side &
Thiruvaiyaru-Kallanai-Thuraiyur-and back on the way back.

The roads were very good in both directions. Recommended. Took us about 6:30 hours including a couple of breaks of 15-20 minutes to get to Tanjavur. Sedate driving.

Had food at GRT (now Grand Estancia) on the way back. The food is OK. Service is excellent. Dinner only starts at 7:00 Pm. They get flustered if you go before that.

[ravib]

So can you confirm that all the potholes between Tanjore-thiruvaiyaru-Kallanai-Thiruvanikaval are all fixed and they laid the roads newly ?
Or did they do some patch work , so the drive is bumpy?

Thanks
-Ravi

[sridhu]

Originally Posted by ravib

So can you confirm that all the potholes between Tanjore-thiruvaiyaru-Kallanai-Thiruvanikaval are all fixed and they laid the roads newly ?
Or did they do some patch work , so the drive is bumpy?

Thanks
-Ravi

Yes Ravi. Not bumpy. Narrow roads of course. Light traffic

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ravib

So can you confirm that all the potholes between Tanjore-thiruvaiyaru-Kallanai-Thiruvanikaval are all fixed and they laid the roads newly ?
Or did they do some patch work , so the drive is bumpy?

Thanks
-Ravi

Originally Posted by sridhu

Yes Ravi. Not bumpy. Narrow roads of course. Light traffic

I finished Thingaloor much earlier. Initially I had thought of visiting it last on the way back from Kumbakonam after visiting Swamimalai, and the continue to Trichy via Kallanai.

That route typically sees lot of truck traffic. One look at Thiruvaiyaru and I was OK to go back to Tanjore and take the 4-lane. So visiting Thingaloor before hand helped a lot. I finished Swamlimalai and drove to Trichy via Tanjore. Much more easier.

[balenoed_]

Looking forward for a drive to Tanjore from Bangalore.

What is the best option at the moment considering the road conditions? Let me know if anyone has done it very recently. If you plot the route on google maps, that will be really helpful.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Looking forward for a drive to Tanjore from Bangalore.

Bangalore-Trichy-Thanjavur route is fine.

Now, you can reach Trichy in multiple routes and most are in decent condition now after recent repair work on some roads in the state highway routes:
-Bangalore-Salem-Namakkal-Karur-Trichy (NH route, best for a first timer, maybe about 30-50Km more but worth it)
Map Link

-Bangalore-Salem-Namakkal-Musiri-Trichy (more truck traffic, avoidable)

-Bangalore-Salem-Namakkal-Thuraiyur bypass-Trichy (better to have navigation/GPS if taking this route)

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by NPV

Bangalore-Trichy-Thanjavur route is fine.

Now, you can reach Trichy in multiple routes and most are in decent condition now after recent repair work on some roads in the state highway routes:
-Bangalore-Salem-Namakkal-Karur-Trichy (NH route, best for a first timer, maybe about 30-50Km more but worth it)
Map Link

-Bangalore-Salem-Namakkal-Musiri-Trichy (more truck traffic, avoidable)

-Bangalore-Salem-Namakkal-Thuraiyur bypass-Trichy (better to have navigation/GPS if taking this route)

Thank you for your prompt response. I would consider the Karur route in that case. I would like to make at least a small deviation while coming back, just to avoid the same route boredom. I found this route:- via Thiruvaiyaru, Attur.

https://goo.gl/maps/ACkzCtLts3v

Do you know about this route? Is it do able? or not worth it at all.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Do you know about this route? Is it do able? or not worth it at all.

Sorry, no idea about this route!
You can even do Thanjavur-Trichy-Thuraiyur bypass-Namakkal-Salem-Bangalore on the way back.

[autospeaker]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Looking forward for a drive to Tanjore from Bangalore.

The road condition between Trichy and Tanjore is not great, if I remember correctly. The route which maps shows, takes you on the cauvery river shore for 25-30 kms, literally, which is indeed a scenic beauty. But the road conditions are horrible is some places. Not to mention that the road is single lane.
PS: This was the condition when I did a Trichy-Tanjore-Kumbakonam trip in Dec 2015. Hope it's better now.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Looking forward for a drive to Tanjore from Bangalore.

Do take a look at this post and the one referenced in that post for alternative routes
- here (Bangalore to Kumbakonam : Route Queries)