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+1. NH67 between Needamangalam and Thiruvarur has lots of bunds and curves. Add to it truck traffic. It becomes difficult to overtake as well many a times. I think beyond that it eases esp as you near Thiruvarur. NH67 till Needamangalam is fantastic and very easy to drive. Drive on the 4-lane till it ends on the Tanjore bypass and then very good 2-lane till Needamangalam.

Hi,
Drove to Velankanni and back over the weekend. Left Bangalore on 18th April morning and back on 19th April evening. Thought of posting my experiences...

BLR-VELANKANNI:
============

Left Bangalore at 5 AM and reached Velankanni at 1.30 PM.
Route: BLR-Salem-Namakkal-Trichy-Tanjavur-ThiruThuraipoondi-Velankanni

Total Distance-485 km
Drive Time: 8 hours 10 mins
Toll Paid: 301

Road Conditions:
BLR-Salem-Namakkal (~4 hours) : Excellent 4 lane
Namakkal-Trichy(1.5 hours): 2 lane good roads. Just near Trichy we joined the Chennai Trichy Road (4-lane)
Trichy-Tanjavur (30 mins): Excellent 4 lane
Tanjavur-ThiruThuraipoondi-Velankanni: 2-lane good roads..(2.5 hours)

https://goo.gl/maps/VCNFI

VELANKANNI-BLR:
============
Left Velankanni at 10 AM. Entered BLR at 6 PM. Rached home at 8 PM http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/LOL.gif

Route: Velankanni-Thiruvarur-Tanjavur-Trichy-Karur-Namakkal-Salem-BLR

Total Distance-523 km
Drive Time: 8 hours 50 mins
Toll Paid: 409

Road Conditions:
Velankanni-Tanjavur (~2 hours): Good roads. Thankfully, we did not get closed railway crossings
Tanjavur-Trichy: Same as above
Trichy-Karur-Namakkal (~2:45 mins): 2 lane initially and then 4 lane towards the end. Road conditions are good but there is more traffic and you have to pay more toll as well
Namakkal - Salem - Bangalore - Same as above

https://goo.gl/maps/Zno1q

So, there are 2 different routes which I tried and here is my perspective:
Tanjavur- Velankanni:
One via thiruvarur and one via thiruthuraipoondi.
Distance wise both are the same. However, it took me 30 mins less via Thiruvarur. I got lucky with the railway crossings as well. There are towns on both routes. More traffic on the Thiruvarur route. Still this route took less time, strangely.

Both routes are good. The one via ThiruThuraiPoondi is more predictable since there are no railway crossings.

Namakkal-Trichy:
One via Karur and One Via Musiri

Distance from Trichy-Karur-Namakkal: 135 km (2:45 mins)
Toll: 108
Distance from Trichy-Musiri-Namakkal: 88 km (1:30 mins)
Toll: NIL :)

Hopefully, this helps those who are planning a trip in the near future...

Cheers
Anugrah

The Thanjavur-Needamangalam-Thiruvarur route is the most preferred one despite the level crossings in Needamangalam.
Good to know you did not face any hardships due to road conditions except for the fact that despite entering Bangalore at 6 PM you were able to reach home by 8PM. That's Bangalore traffic at it's worst.

Update as on 10/2/2016.

This post is relating to Trichy-Nagapattinam road conditions only.As usual the 4 lane between Trichy and Tanjavur is excellent with one toll.Tanjavur-Thiruvarur road is mostly narow with broken tarmac and clusters of potholes spread across.I had a tough time negotiating the potholes even during the night drive without almost no traffic.My Jetta's suspensions took atleast 8 hits during the course.Th stretch from Thiruvarur to Nagapattinam is relatively in better shape with lesser pothole frequency.

On the return journey took the Nagapattinam-Thiruvarur-Mannargudi-Tanjavur road which is in good shape but again are winding roads.Both the car and driver can breather easy in this stretch.I highly suggest taking this route which is less tiresome and scenic as well.This road joins the pattukottai-Tanjavur road just 8kms before Tanjavur and will join the 4lane highway.Please refer the maps for reference.

Pics 3 is the the Mannargudi route:thumbs up

Can someone help with places/landmarks to visit in Trichy and Tanjavur? Planning for a Velankanni trip in a week's time.

Trichy: Srirangam, Rock Fort, Thiruvanaikaval and Samayapuram. Thiruvanaikaval is close to Srirangam. Crowds at Srirangam are very unpredictable. You need to budget some time.
Tanjore: Brihadeeshwara Temple

In Trichy, you can cover Rockfort, Srirangam, Samayapuram, Kallanai dam while in Thanjavur,we have the famous BIG TEMPLE. If time permits, there is also another famous temple callled THANJAI MAMANI KOIL. It is a set of 3 vishnu temples (part of 108 divya desams) very close to one another.

Did the Bangalore to Velankanni last weekend. We started around 5 AM from Bangalore and reached MGM residency Velankanni by 1 PM. Stopped at Park Plaza - Salem for breakfast and didn't stop anywhere else for any other breaks.

Roads were excellent throughout, took the Namakkal - Trichy - Tanjavur- Thiruthuraipoondi route which is great, except for all the bends after Tanjavur. Another challenge is lack of any decent places with rest rooms after Tanjavur - especially while travelling with ladies. There is a Cafe Coffee Day near Tanjavur on highway with an IOC pump attached and is a great place for break before moving towards Velankanni.

Hope this helps.

Did the BLR-Velankanni route last weekend.

We were 3 guys in 2 cars on a drive, so we took the scenic route.

BLR-Pondy was via Salem, Ulundurpet, Villupuram and Pondy. Nice 4 lane all the way except between Villupuram and Pondy

Pondy to Velankanni was via the ECR. Painfully slow. Narrow, beautiful roads but too much traffic. Absolutely hated this stretch.

The regular route is actually more scenic. You get 100km of SH between Arcot and Tindivanam.

Lesser said the better. Especially Pondy-Cuddalore is just too bad. The real ECR actually opens up after Velankanni all the up to Rameshwaram and Kanyakumari. But unfortunately no facilities on this section.

Hi All - An urgent query. I will be traveling from Bangalore to Thriuvarur tomorrow. I intend to take the route - BLR->Salem->Namakkal->Trichy->Thanjavur->Thiruvarur. I will be traveling with a 2 year old kid and my wife. Is the route above good in terms of road conditions and restaurants? We intend to start by 9am tomorrow. I saw the alternate route in google maps which is via Vridachalam & Kumbakonam. I am not familiar with this route. Please let me know which one is better in terms of road conditions and restaurants.

- Good roads all the way.
- Namakkal-Trichy : I assume you are using Musiri
- Lots of food options before Salem. Not much after Salem and Trichy (If you go via Thiruaiyur, you end up at toll gate point which is easier to go to Tanjore road).
- Trichy-Tanjore is 4-lane. Some traffic till BHEL
- Take Tanjore bypass. Go all the way till 4-lane. Continue towards Thiruvarur.

Edit:
Forgot to add:
- Tanjore-Thiruvaur is via Nedamangalam. At Nedamanagalam you to cross 2 railway crossings. You can get delayed. It may not be easy. Sometimes it gets jammed.
- Nedamangalam to Thiruvarur : Road may be rough and need to be careful as it goes over bunds


Overall I think still Trichy makes more sense, as the bulk of driving is on good roads. If you go Ulundurpet, then a lot of driving is on 2-lane rough roads. Distance wise pretty much the same.

Thanks Ampere!! For lunch probably I will enter Trichy and have. Is there a bypass for trichy?

If you plan to start by 9 am, you won't be able to reach Trichy for Lunch.
You can stop in Salem (lots of restaurants in Salem Bypass) or Namakkal A2B for Lunch which will be around 12.30 to 1 pm depending on speed you drive.

As ampere mentioned, If you take Thuraiyur/Musiri route, you will land in Trichy Toll gate, and you can easily latch to NH45 and exit quickly to Tanjore road. This is the Trichy bypass without entering the city.

Don't plan to go via Vridhachalam-Kumbakonam as the roads are not good between V.Koot road to Vridhachalam and also you are driving with infant on board. Best is to go via Trichy.

-Ravi

Ravi answered all your questions. He is the expert on that region who knows it inside out.

When you start by 9, it will 11:30/12 when you reach Salem. And will be past 3 or so you reach Trichy. If you latch on to correct roads (Toll Gate to Tanjore road, if going via Thuraiyur), then getting onto Tanjore road would be easy. Typically you see heavy traffic till BHEL/NIT Campus. Usually it thins out after the toll booth on Tanjore road.

It should be about 40-45 minutes to Tanjore. I assume you should be crossing by 4/4:30. Factor another 90 minutes for Thiruvarur (60km) accounting for time crossing Nedamangalam.