[ampere]

Originally Posted by JohnnyBoss

1. From Velankanni to Tanjavur, is the route via Mannargudi still the best option?

I think so too. Crossing 3 railways lines and the town traffic of Nidamanagalm along the narrow roads may just tire you out. Thiruthuraipoondi+Mannargudi should be a better option. (But please note I have not take that stretch myself. Hence would be unable to tell you right condition)

2. What is the best route to Poondi Basilica from Tanjavur? Gmaps shows 3 routes viz
(a) regular Trichy route and turn right at Sengipatty
(b) via Pillaiyarnatham, Chitrakudi and Budalur
(c) via Thiruvaiyaru, Sathanur

Thiruvaiyaru is the better option. But please note once you reach that town and are getting ready to enter SH22, you will be raided by a barrage of trucks. The State Highway 22 sees a lot of truck traffic.

3. From Trichy to Pollachi, which route I should take, via Karur, Dharapuram or Dindigul, Palani? Only consideration is good roads.

Yes thats the best option.

- Drive till Karur on 67. Good thing it gets to NH7 way beyond Karur town. -
- Then drive till Arvakurichi and exit to Dharapuram.
- Crossing Dharapuram is easier than Udumalpet.

Roads are good all over. But you need to carry food. Dont expect much till Dharapuram. And Dharapuram also expect bare minimum. Dont remember seeing any good places. But things may have changed off late.

[ashishjose]

Hi,

I am planning to drive to Velankanni from Bangalore in 2 days. What is the condition of the roads and the best route. Appreciate any responses on it. Thanks, Ashish

[cerk]

This posting is for commuters traveling to Velankanni. I took Bangalore->Salem-Namakkal-->Trichy--> Tanjavur --> Mannarguddi--> Velankanni.

Road condition from Bangalore to Nammakkal on NH-44 is nice and one can clip 100 KMPH. From Nammakkal to Trichy the state highway -25 is a single road but in a much better condition than Bangalore's pothole ridden roads. Over taking is an issue due to slow moving tractors, local buses and bike riders not giving way. No wonder that the TN registered vehicles have such high-powered horns! After an hour and half, you are back on Trichy 2 lane high way. Enroute to Trichy, you will pass the bridge over Cauvery river and it is a treat to see the river bed- brimming in water rather than just mud. We stopped for Meals / Lunch at Hotel Mayaas. It is right on the Karur bye-pass road comes on your left, nice parking place to park your car and treat yourself for a nice south Indian veg meals.

From Trichy, we took the NH-83 to Tanjavur. Nice road to drive only spoilt by the frequent barricades put up by the police. Stay on NH-83, bye-pass Tanjavur, shortly, the road to Mannarguddi is a single lane, but very well maintained upto Mannarguddi. Post Mannarguddi the road is not that great but yet it is still better than Bangalore road! It is a bit tiring due to slow moving local vehicles and goats / cows crossing the road. It takes an hour and half to reach Thirupoondi, post that the road is good all the way till Velankanni.

As per Google Map- From start point at home in HBRR L/O started at 7.09 AM, stopover at ShriKrishna for breakfast just after Hosur at 9.11 AM for 30 Mins break, Stopover at Hotel Mayaas for Lunch at 13.14 TO 13.56 PM, Reached Clinton Park Inn at 16.59. A 9 hour comfortable journey in my Toyota Fortunner.

[cerk]

Originally Posted by cerk

This posting is for commuters traveling to Velankanni. I took Bangalore->Salem-Namakkal-->Trichy--> Tanjavur --> Mannarguddi--> Velankanni.

RETURN Journey: Took the same route for my return journey back to Bangalore. i.e Velankanni->Mannarguddi->Tanjavur->Trichy->Musiri->Namakkal->Salem->Bangalore. Absolutely good road all along the way with some exception from Velankannni to Mannarguddi. We left Velankanni at 6.20 AM and after 2 hours drive we were at A2B restaurant( just after Tanjavur 2 lane toll road. This place has fairly well maintained rest rooms. Sufficient car parking space and it is right next to the highway Traffic was starting to build up after we crossed Salem. More than 10 min's waiting in Q at all the toll plaza's. Keep atleast 20 bucks of coins..you will need it at these toll-gates. Lot of options for lunch break at Krishnagiri stretch including A2B and Saravana bhavan. We chose to drive on and reached Bangalore at 3.30 PM.

[ashishjose]

Hi,

Just completed my road trip to Velankanni. Find below the route I took.

Sarjapur Road - Hosur - Salem- Attur - Virudhachalam - Kumbakonam - Velankanni.

Road Conditions:
4 lane highway till Virudhachalam (In between there were stretches of 2 lanes while crossing bridges). Could attain triple digit speeds easily.

Virdhachalam - Kumbakonam - 2 lane with 10-15 km with pot holes one side. One side would have potholes while the other did not have and as there was not traffic, I drove on the other side to avoid the potholes. Can go between 70-110 km/hr

Kumbakonam - Velankanni - Narrow roads going through towns but no traffic which meant I was doing 60- 80km/hr

I relied on Google Maps.

Not a lot of options for lunch. There is an A2B in Attur on the other side. We stopped at Kumbakonam for lunch.

We started at 7.20am from Bangalore and reached Velankanni at 3.20pm. We had a 40mts lunc break in between. Google Maps stated 9hr 5mts at the start but it took us 8 hrs with the lunch break.

[Bibin]

Any recent updates on Velankanni roads from Bangalore?

[ravib]

I travelled to Velankanni during Christmas holidays via Kumbakonam, Thiruvaru, Nagapatinam.

Most of the road conditions remains same as in previous posts.
Thiruvarur to Nagapatinam road conditions are average and pot holes are there for ages. Nothing much changed.

-Ravi

[djjebs]

Hi guys! Which is the best current route to Velankanni from Bangalore. Planning to drive next week.

[nijelj]

Originally Posted by djjebs

Hi guys! Which is the best current route to Velankanni from Bangalore. Planning to drive next week.

I drove towards using the google maps directions. In a word, the experience was horrible. Before starting on way back, I consulted my colleague who does this trip every year. He told me this route:
Velankanni Mannargudi Trichy Namakkal Salem Bangalore and vice versa. I came back via this route and it was slightly longer distance wise but there was no confusions.

[vvijayakrishnan]

Originally Posted by djjebs

Hi guys! Which is the best current route to Velankanni from Bangalore. Planning to drive next week.

As the road between Thanjavur to Tiruvarur is being converted into a four lane toll road at a snails pace, it is better to take Thanjavur - Mannargudi - Tiruvarur route to Velankanni. Though the road from Mannargudi to Thiruvarur is quite small in width, and is very curvy, but you can enjoy greenery around. The extra distance is not much but the journey will be relaxing.

[ampere]

I was just wondering how would Attur-Vridhachalam-Kumbakonam bypass - Kollumangudi-Karaikal-Nagapattanam-Velankanni would be ?

I think Trichy/Tanjore/Mannargudi would still be the safest option. Simply for the reason you get more open roads rather than those blind 2-lanes around Kumbakonam.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by ampere

I was just wondering how would Attur-Vridhachalam-Kumbakonam bypass - Kollumangudi-Karaikal-Nagapattanam-Velankanni would be ?

KMU bypass-Kollumangudi-Karaikal is decent. Patchy at PY border, one small sectionwhere it becomes a sand road out of the blue. Rest was neatly surfaced and doable in 1:15 hrs.

KMU-Karaikal isn't a pedal to metal road either, this is a typical 2 lane with limited visibility in most curves. Its best done at 60-80 kph.

Karaikal-Velankanni is again patchy until PY border and great all the way to Velankanni except for the bridge work at Nagapattinam bypass.

One recent news I heard about Vriddachalam-Kumbakonam was that its now littered with speed breakers all through. T. Palur-Neerathanallur-Kumbakonam is a disaster, the 10 km stretch is a pain the rear to drive.

All above updates from my drive in Feb, and the speed breakers are a new development as of summer holidays.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by nijelj

I drove towards using the google maps directions. In a word, the experience was horrible.
Velankanni Mannargudi Trichy Namakkal Salem Bangalore and vice versa. I came back via this route and it was slightly longer distance wise but there was no confusions.

Originally Posted by djjebs

Hi guys! Which is the best current route to Velankanni from Bangalore. Planning to drive next week.

Krishnagiri - Pallikonda - Arani -Panruti - Vadalur- Chidambaram - Sirkazhi - Karaikal - Velankanni route might be a bit long - Total 509 km , but the roads are decent. The Sirkazhi - Karaikal - Velankanni section is as always winding road. You can't do great speeds in this section - except in the bypass parts : Chidambaram bypass and another bypass south of Sirkazhi.

From Karaikal you can bypass Nagapatinum town to reach Velankanni.

Caveats: Karaikal has Mangani festival (Karaikal Ammayar festival) blocking the main Porayar road at this time. Karaikal has 2 main roads passing through the town. This quaint French town still has open drainage and the small link roads are connected to the main roads with medieval blocks of concrete.

Velankanni has been dug up for drainage work and as a result, you can't take your car into the main car park. The main Basilica itself is under renovation now.

[m8002?]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Velankanni has been dug up for drainage work and as a result, you can't take your car into the main car park. The main Basilica itself is under renovation now.

Where does one park then if we have to drive down assuming you are not staying in the hotels close by?

I was planning for a trip in the next couple of weeks.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by m8002?

Where does one park then if we have to drive down assuming you are not staying in the hotels close by?

I was planning for a trip in the next couple of weeks.

You can park near the 'new' Morning Star church. You may be stopped on the way, but tell the guards that you have someone who has difficulty walking. In short give some excuse. I was not stopped the first time last week.

BTW, they have an electric cart to ferry people from the Morning star church to the main Basilica.

You can have food in the Shrine cafeteria without getting fleeced. They provide decent food at nominal rates.