[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

No. I did not stay at Cenneys. I stayed at Victoria Hotel which is a budget hotel with decent rooms and a restaurant with a few veg/non-veg dishes. They also have secured car parking and it is next to the highway. I saw Cenneys a little ahead of Victoria hotel on the right hand side while going towards Salem.

Is this hotel that you had stayed-
http://www.victoriahotel.in/index.htm

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Is this hotel that you had stayed-
http://www.victoriahotel.in/index.htm

Yes. That is the hotel that I stayed at.

[johannskaria]

Drove Mumbai Kerala (Thrissur) via Bangalore - Coimbatore - Palakkad - Pattambi - Kunnamkulam - Thrissur . The roads are good. The only bad stretch I got is between Coimbatore and Walayar(Kerala border).

The 16 year old 800 did not leave me stranded on the solo drive, covering distance in 30hours with one break in Salem for some sleep. With Rs 4450 as Petrol cost it was an economical drive too.

[jayakumarkp]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

Thank you both again. I started from Pune from 4:00 a.m. and reached Hosur by 5:30 p.m. With two breakfast (yes two!) stops and one lunch stop (1 hour 30 minutes in total). After Kolhapur, for a few kilometers, there was a dense fog that slowed everyone down. Refueled at Reliance Pumps twice. Most of them have started operations again.

Again, started from Hosur at 4:10 a.m. and reached home by 12:15 p.m. today (477 km from Hosur) with a 1 hour break for breakfast/refuel after Salem at the A2B. Had a bit of traffic at Kuthiran. Stuck to 80/90 after entering Kerala. There was some fog after leaving Hosur for a few kilometers that again slowed down people a bit. Will add more details later on.

Hi pjbiju,
I am planning for a Palakkad(PKD) to Pune via Bangalore trip myself and hence, was curious about how your return trip went by.

Would like to know how your return journey went by. When did you start, where did you halt etc.

I am planning to start early from Pkd and halt at possibly Chitradurga for the night before continuing the next day early.

Thanks & Regards,
Jk

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by jayakumarkp

Hi pjbiju,
I am planning for a Palakkad(PKD) to Pune via Bangalore trip myself and hence, was curious about how your return trip went by.

Would like to know how your return journey went by. When did you start, where did you halt etc.

I am planning to start early from Pkd and halt at possibly Chitradurga for the night before continuing the next day early.

Thanks & Regards,
Jk

With an early morning start you could well reach Hubli by night.Unless ofcourse you prefer a sedate drive.Chitradurga-Naveen Regency-ok for a night's stay.Dont expect breakfast before 8am!

If you decide to push on,you can stay at Davangere-Apoorva Resorts,Sankama or Srigandha Residency

Hubli has enough hotels suiting all kinds of budgets.

You would be at Hubli in around 5hrs from Tumkur.

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by jayakumarkp

Hi pjbiju,
I am planning for a Palakkad(PKD) to Pune via Bangalore trip myself and hence, was curious about how your return trip went by.

Would like to know how your return journey went by. When did you start, where did you halt etc.

I am planning to start early from Pkd and halt at possibly Chitradurga for the night before continuing the next day early.

Thanks & Regards,
Jk

Hi JK,

I had started from home at around 4:15 a.m. and stayed for the night at Shiggaon (Google Maps coordinates 14.995489, 75.212215). The name of the hotel was Garuda and there is a CCD inside the same campus. I reached there by 7:30 p.m. or so with many stops on the way for breakfast, shopping and lunch. I would not recommend this hotel, though it was not that bad for a night. With an early start from Palakkad you can easily make it to Hubbli or Dharwad for the night and find better hotels there to stay.

Next day I started from there after 6:30 a.m. and reached home (Pune) by 3:30 p.m. or so. We stopped at Sankam Residency, Belgaum for the buffet breakfast which was very very good and at one of the Vittal Kamat's near Pune for lunch. If you need any specific details, let me know and I will be glad to help.

[jayakumarkp]

Finished the Palakkad to Pune trip on 7th September.
Had started on 6th morning 6.30hrs from Palakkad.
Went via bangalore and reached Davangere by around 1900hrs. Had taken personal breaks at Coimbatore and bangalore since had to meet up with couple of friends. Must have lost around 3.5 hours between the personal visits.
Stayed at Pooja International for the night. Very decent rooms at 1100rs for non AC. Started the Pune leg at morning 630.
Reached fursungi at evening 4. Took deviation from Kapurhol via saswad to fursungi. At the time we were on, the road was slightly congested due to some local festival. Otherwise this road is recommended for people going towards hadapsar. There is a ghat section as well. Beware of traffic jams in rush hour near hadapsar though.
Road surface was great throughout except for patchy surface on the highways in Maharashtra.
Got delayed due to longish lunch break and the traffic at Saswad road.
Overall, a very satisfying trip.
Thanks to Ranjith and Biju for the tips! Was of great help!

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

If you decide to push on,you can stay at Davangere-Apoorva Resorts,Sankama or Srigandha Residency

Hi Ranjit,
The Srigandha Residency is undergoing renovations. Found others to be slightly expensive for the budget I had in mind. Since it was only us two guys ( me and my cousin ) we checked out Pooja International and stayed there. Pooja International seemed like a failed Grand venture now being picked by another owner. Rooms were slightly old, but decent for a one night stay.
Charged us 1100 for a Non AC room. I found it to be worth the money. There's covered parking as well as a restaurant in the building.

Mod Note: Please do NOT post back to back. Use multi-quote option instead

[Scaryskodamenon]

Has anyone done this trip recently? I plan to drive from Thrissur, Kerala to Mumbai and back. Date of travel is 13th and expect to reach Mumbai on 14th. Because of my late arrival in India on 12th, i don't expect to start before 10 am on 13th. Can i Make it up to Davangere , Karnataka before 8 pm on 13th as i don't intend to drive late in night. I will be the sole driver accompanied by my wife. Please suggest any good hotels in Davangere or Tumkur for us to take a night halt. Thanks in advance.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by Scaryskodamenon

Please suggest any good hotels in Davangere or Tumkur for us to take a night halt. Thanks in advance.

Apoorva Resorts, Davangere. This is on the highway itself.
http://www.apoorvaresortsdavangere.in/

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Scaryskodamenon

Please suggest any good hotels in Davangere or Tumkur for us to take a night halt. Thanks in advance.

Apoorva Resorts is quite expensive and not worth it for just an overnight break.
Please look up the Bangalore-Pune thread, there are few options discussed there, look for Parag's posts

EDIT:Found a recent post (Bangalore - Pune - Mumbai : Route updates & Eateries) - You can consider Sankama and Shrigandha Residency.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Scaryskodamenon

Has anyone done this trip recently? I plan to drive from Thrissur, Kerala to Mumbai and back. Date of travel is 13th and expect to reach Mumbai on 14th. Because of my late arrival in India on 12th, i don't expect to start before 10 am on 13th. Can i Make it up to Davangere, Karnataka before 8 pm on 13th as i don't intend to drive late in night. I will be the sole driver accompanied by my wife. Please suggest any good hotels in Davangere or Tumkur for us to take a night halt. Thanks in advance.

Distance wise it may not be a problem. But its the traffic in KL section, Walayar, Salem, Bangalore bypass and also the tolls which can pull you down like anything. Drive time wise its about 8-9 hours to Bangalore and another 6 hours to Davanagere. I really doubt if you will be able to pull till Davanagere with an 10AM start. I would suggest take break at Bangalore on day 1.

[@Chaand]

Originally Posted by Scaryskodamenon

Because of my late arrival in India on 12th, i don't expect to start before 10 am on 13th. Can i Make it up to Davangere , Karnataka before 8 pm on 13th as i don't intend to drive late in night.

I did Davangere - Mumbai three weeks back. Took me 12 hours door to door despite encountering some accident sports on the Mumbai Bangalore Highway. Hit a lot of traffic once I reached Navi Mumbai. However, I had left Davangere at 4 AM, which helped me get a head start. To top it it was a Sunday with light traffic at Belgaum, Kolhapur etc.

Point which I'm trying to make is that it's difficult to cover approximately 900 km in 12 hours when you would be leaving as late as 10 AM.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by NPV

Apoorva Resorts is quite expensive and not worth it for just an overnight break.

I don't think it is that expensive because last month one of my friend stayed here at 1900/- night. He booked through Make my trip I think. Their tariff in the website is little on the higher side though, standard room is 2500/-

[vrprabhu]

Originally Posted by ampere

But its the traffic in KL section, Walayar, Salem, Bangalore bypass and also the tolls which can pull you down like anything....

I would suggest take break at Bangalore on day 1.

+1.
Thrissur - Palghat will be OK. Palghat to Cbe (bye-pass) will be slow. From there you can take all the bye-passes (Erode, Salem & Bangalore) and reach Neelamangala. I have done this route once and overnighted at Chitradurga.

However, I agree with Chaand - if you don't have an early start, traffic will slow down your progress.

Originally Posted by @Chaand

I had left Davangere at 4 AM, which helped me get a head start. To top it it was a Sunday with light traffic at Belgaum, Kolhapur etc.

Point which I'm trying to make is that it's difficult to cover approximately 900 km in 12 hours when you would be leaving as late as 10 AM.

And also considering that this is peak summer - even with AC driving in the heat continuously from morning to night will be tough.

Incidentally, I too had to drive down to Calicut from Pune. Wanted to take the Bangalore - Mysore route. But on second thoughts, stuck to the usual route of Belgaum - Yellapur - Ankola - Mangalore - Calicut (visited some temples enroute). In this route, work is going on in some parts between Ankola and Kundapura and going was fairly slow. However, as usual the travel between Mangalore to Calicut took more than 7 hours (with just one halt of 15 minutes)...

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by vrprabhu

+1.
Thrissur - Palghat will be OK. Palghat to Cbe (bye-pass) will be slow.

It's the other way round - 4 laning mess on the Trissur-Vadakkenchery stretch. Vadakkenchery-Madukkarai will be a breeze, 4 laning almost complete on this stretch except the fly-over at Madukkarai Junction