[SBR]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Bangalore-Salem 200 km
Salem-Trichy 126 km
Trichy-Thanjavur 55 km
Thanjavur-Nagore 100 km

Tollgate aka Number 1 Tollgate is a Trichy suburb where the road from Namakkal (SH25) ends and intersects with Madras-Trichy trunk road and the road towards Lalgudi-Chidambaram. Musiri is a town between Namakkal and Trichy, 50km from Namakkal and 26km from Trichy.
----

Thanks. So, the option I have is as under;

Bangalore - Salem - Namakkal (All 4 lane till Namakkal) - Musiri via thottiyam (50 KMS after Namakkal) - Toll Gate - Left at 4 way intersection- and right turn at NH45 Bypass - Catch Thanjavur road - Thanjavur - Thrivarur - Nagapattinam.

I have the option of doing Namakkal - Thuraiyur - Trichy - Tanjore - Nagapattinam as well.

Distance - 480 KMS Approx.

The other option I was thinking is Bangalore - Krishnagiri - Thiruvannamalai (Via Pondy route) - Gingee - Panruti - Sirkazi - Nagapattinam. Is this a good option & will the distance be any lesser. More than the distance, time taken should be less.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by SBR

The other option I was thinking is Bangalore - Krishnagiri - Thiruvannamalai (Via Pondy route) - Gingee - Panruti - Sirkazi - Nagapattinam. Is this a good option & will the distance be any lesser. More than the distance, time taken should be less.

You can safely skip the above option. Krishnagiri/TV Malai/Gingee is in horrible shape. Not worth it at all.

[nfsfreak]

Originally Posted by ampere

You can safely skip the above option. Krishnagiri/TV Malai/Gingee is in horrible shape. Not worth it at all.

+ 1 to that.

Originally Posted by SBR

Bangalore - Salem - Namakkal (All 4 lane till Namakkal) - Musiri via thottiyam (50 KMS after Namakkal) - Toll Gate - Left at 4 way intersection- and right turn at NH45 Bypass - Catch Thanjavur road - Thanjavur - Thrivarur - Nagapattinam.

I have the option of doing Namakkal - Thuraiyur - Trichy - Tanjore - Nagapattinam as well.

Try avoiding the drive after dark in Tanjore-Thiruvarur-Nagapattinam stretch. It has some nasty pot holes and many twisties.

Late night or Early morning start from BLR helps. While return, start by afternoon from Nagore.

[SBR]

Originally Posted by nfsfreak

+ 1 to that.



Try avoiding the drive after dark in Tanjore-Thiruvarur-Nagapattinam stretch. It has some nasty pot holes and many twisties.

Late night or Early morning start from BLR helps. While return, start by afternoon from Nagore.

Thanks Karthik. That was really helpful. I will stick to Bangalore - Salem - Namakkal - Thuraiyur - Trichy - Tanjore - Thiruvarur - Nagapattinam. Guess this would be the safest way considering its just me & wifey with kid are traveling. Also, this route is good till Tanjore if I am not wrong.

Plan to start from Bangalore around 4:00 AM and reach Nagore by afternoon say around 3:00 PM or before.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by SBR

Plan to start from Bangalore around 4:00 AM and reach Nagore by afternoon say around 3:00 PM or before.

If you are on the road by 4AM, I am sure you should reach Tanjore road 4-lane exit at Trichy north 10 for sure including a break fast break. Add another 40-50 minutes to hit Tanjore bypass.

[nfsfreak]

Originally Posted by SBR

Thanks Karthik. That was really helpful. I will stick to Bangalore - Salem - Namakkal - Thuraiyur - Trichy - Tanjore - Thiruvarur - Nagapattinam. Guess this would be the safest way considering its just me & wifey with kid are traveling. Also, this route is good till Tanjore if I am not wrong.

Plan to start from Bangalore around 4:00 AM and reach Nagore by afternoon say around 3:00 PM or before.

Yes, The roads are good till Tanjore.
After Tanjore, the road condition was generally OK but with occassional potholes till Thiruvarur and Thiruvarur to Nagappatinam was worser than Tanjore-Thiruvarur stretch (Update by Feb 2013).
From Tanjore, it should take around 3 hours max to reach Nagore with sedate driving. You can plan your break fast and lunch accordingly (not sure about decent hotels in Nagore/Nagapattinam).

[ravigop]

Originally Posted by nfsfreak

Yes, The roads are good till Tanjore.
After Tanjore, the road condition was generally OK but with occassional potholes till Thiruvarur and Thiruvarur to Nagappatinam was worser than Tanjore-Thiruvarur stretch (Update by Feb 2013).
From Tanjore, it should take around 3 hours max to reach Nagore with sedate driving. You can plan your break fast and lunch accordingly (not sure about decent hotels in Nagore/Nagapattinam).

From Tanjore I don't recommend going via Thiruvarur, Nagapatinam. The road condition is worst, there are places where there is no road at all (condition as of March 2013). I took this route not knowing the condition (it used to be a good road) and ended up breaking my backbone. However on return I took the ECR from Velankanni and exited ECR @ Athirampattinam. Entered Pattukottai took a break for dinner / coffee and from pattukottai reached Tanjore (45 mins) & Trichy (another 45 mins). This drive was excellent compared to the onward route.
Hence I highly recommend you guys to look alternatives, another one being Tanjore - Mannarkudi --> Nagapattinam. I don't know about this route. If somebody got an idea please suggest.

If you still prefer thiruvarur route for some reasons then Hotel Selvi's is one good place you can have breakfast and lunch. They have veg and non veg options in separate restaurants.

[jacs]

Originally Posted by ravigop

However on return I took the ECR from Velankanni and exited ECR @ Athirampattinam. Entered Pattukottai took a break for dinner / coffee and from pattukottai reached Tanjore (45 mins) & Trichy (another 45 mins). This drive was excellent compared to the onward route.

Hi Ravi,

So you took the below route in return?

Velankanni - Athirampattinam - Pattukottai - Tanjavur - Trichy - Karur - Salem - Bangalore

How is Athirampattinam to Trichy roads?

Total travel time was 1.5hrs vs the 3 hours via Tiruvarur right?

[ravigop]

Originally Posted by jacs

Hi Ravi, So you took the below route in return? Velankanni - Athirampattinam - Pattukottai - Tanjavur - Trichy - Karur - Salem - Bangalore How is Athirampattinam to Trichy roads? Total travel time was 1.5hrs vs the 3 hours via Tiruvarur right?

They were far better than tiruvarur nagapattinam roads. Athirampattinam --- pattukottai --- thanjur is two lane but very decent roads. Thanjur to trichy is 4 lane NH.

[jacs]

Guys,

Reached home yesterday early mornoing after the trip. Took Kottayam - Kumily - Dindigul - Trichy - Tanjavur - Mannarguddi - Thiruthuraipoondi - Venlankanni on both ways as it was good.


Road condition update for Bangalore travellers

Dindigul to Trichy : Excellent 4 lane till city limits and good roads in city too

Trichy to Tanjavur : Excellent 4 lane till city limits and good roads in city too

Tanjavur to Mannarguddi : Good, narrow village highway kind. Less traffic so no worries at all.

Mannarguddi to Thiruthuraipoondi : Good, narrow village road. Nothing to be cautioned, recollect few small humps and rough stretches.

Thiruthuraipoondi to Velankanni - Excellent

[ampere]

Originally Posted by jacs

Dindigul to Trichy : Excellent 4 lane till city limits and good roads in city too

Good update Jacs. Did you notice any new hotels between Dindigul and Trichy on the four lane?
Quite surprised, that there are hardly any.

[jacs]

Originally Posted by ampere

Good update Jacs. Did you notice any new hotels between Dindigul and Trichy on the four lane?
Quite surprised, that there are hardly any.

Infact I did not notice good restaurants on the 4 lane. However as we hit Trichy city after exiting the toll road (while coming from Dindigul), there is a Pure Veg Hotel named Amrita on left hand side. Toilets were clean here. Had just coffee from here hence unable to comment on food quality. Not a bling kind but decent.

In Velankanni, I stayed in VPN Residency. Good option I would say. Rooms and rest rooms were clean. Ample parking space. Church is nearby.

[fordday]

Updates as on 09 September, 2013.

I did a Bangalore Nagore trip with stay at Thanjavur. Route was Bangalore - Salem - Namakkal -Thuraiyur - Trichy - Thanjavur - Mannargudi - Thiruthuraipoondi - Nagore

Bangalore - Salem - Namakkal = Good four lane NH. But I was distressed with too many diversions in Hosur - Krishnagiri stretch. NHAI is removing the beautiful wide median and may be extending the road into it.

Namakkal -Thuriayur - Trichy = Two lane state highway but very less traffic and smooth tarmac for 90% of it.

Trichy -Thanjavur = Four lane NH, smooth all the way.

Thanjavur - Mannargudi = State highway smooth 80% the way with occasional rough patches.

Mannargudi - Thiruthuraipoondi = State highway, 60% of the stretch with topmost bitumen layer gone, rest very smooth.

Thiruthuraipoondi - Nagore = EC Road, smooth all the way.

Had to ask for directions at these smaller towns as markings are all in Tamil.

There are absolutely no big potholes all the way, maybe 2 inch deeper ones at max, at some places. But thankfully no 'sudden' appearance of these. You get adequate warnings with road surface going bad with gravel exposed and tyres making lot of noise before one of those pothole appears.


Stayed at PLA residency for around 2k per night in AC deluxe room for three adults with breakfast and tax included. They have a restaurant attached which is frequented by locals, so no worry about food.

For the first time I faced 1 km long queues at the toll gates between Hosur - Krishnagiri. It seemed whole of Bangalore was driving out because of the long weekend.

[denomathew]

Anybody taken the following route :
Bangalore -> Salem -> Attur -> Virudhachalam -> Chidambaram -> Karaikal -> Nagor -> Velankanni
Google shows this as the 1st choice with 472KM.

How is the road condition in the above route? or should i stick to the usual route through thrichy&thanjavur ?
Planning to travel this weekend.

Thanks

[ampere]

Originally Posted by denomathew

Anybody taken the following route :
Bangalore -> Salem -> Attur -> Virudhachalam -> Chidambaram -> Karaikal -> Nagor -> Velankanni
Google shows this as the 1st choice with 472KM.

Its a good road and worth taking. Expect higher traffic south of Chidambaram.