[e-katz]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Start at 5-6 am perhaps so that you can reach TVM before 7 pm.
MDS-Trichy, 4 hrs
Trichy-Madurai, 2 hrs
Madurai-Nagercoil, 3 hrs
Nagercoil-TVM, 2 hrs
Remaining time, breaks + delays

One last thing :-). Which are the best places to put fuel on this route?

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by e-katz

One last thing :-). Which are the best places to put fuel on this route?

Very difficult Q - I found many of the pumps off in the service road or below flyovers!

You can do the drive in one tank refilling. I would do that refill just after the end of Madurai bypass where I have routinely refilled in a BPCL pump - opposite the M&M showroom - which accepts credit cards. After Madurai, there are several new petrol pumps, but I don't know any to specifically recommend.

Not sure if TN or KL is cheaper for fuel now, but depending on that, you may want to refuel in one of the innumerable pumps on either side of the border.

BTW, don't carry chicken with you in the car - chicken prices have soared in Kerala to 2-3X what they are in TN, and no saying if the over-zealous cops at the TN-KL border may stop you & say that you are smuggling chicken - used to happen with rice....

[e-katz]

Completed the road trip today!

Started at 5:30 am. Reached Trichy around 9:45. Madurai around 11:30, tirunelveli around 1:45. reached the turn for nagercoil around 2:30. From then on it was quite slow because of the poor condition of the roads, thankfully traffic was not so much. Reached TVM around 4:30.

Great fun, the 4 lane highways are great to drive. Just wish better facilities for eating were present on the highway instead of having to go into the city. There are one or two, but you miss them because these folks dont advertise much ahead of the actual shop. That would help drivers to plan ans slow down their cars.

Thanks to hvkumar, narayans80 and ampere for their suggestions

[gajadonga]

I had travelled from Madurai-Sabarimalai and return last week.

Onward journey was through Madurai-Sankarakovil-Shenkkotai-Achankovil-Konni-Sabarimala.

Return journey was Sabarimalai-Konni-Punalur-Kulathupuzha-Shenkkotai-Puliangudi-Shankarankovil -Kalugumalai-Kovilpatti-Madurai.

The road Kulathupuzha-Shenkkotai-Puliangudi-Shankarankovil--Kalugumalai-Kovilpatti-Madurai was good.

Puliyangudi-Shankarankovil--Kalugumalai-Kovilpatti, this is state highway and minimal traffic but road conditions are good.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by e-katz

One last thing :-). Which are the best places to put fuel on this route?

Ulundurpet BP Ghar at 195km milestone from Madras, 1.5 km before Ulundurpet toll.
BP at ~ 285 km mark from Madras towards Trichy.
Madurai BP Ghar (~ 450km mark from Madras) just after Othakadai toll.

Have personally filled at these 3 multiple times, especially first and last are preferred ones. All 3 accept cards, except maybe at late nights where pump attendants are rather lazy :P

Couldn't find much pumps after Madurai, you should possibly make it to TVM if you fill at the Madurai pump.

[arun_josie]

I will be driving from Nagercoil to Chennai some time during this week and hence would like to know on the below,

- Any exits that I need to be careful to make sure that I am not entering any towns/city?
- Where do I take exit to take Madurai Bye-pass?
- Decent pit stops along the way? Especially after Madurai.
- Any thing else that I should be aware of?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

- Where do I take exit to take Madurai Bye-pass?

Go till Tirumangalam (south of SIPCOT). Exit 4-lane and take the ring road which goes via Madurai Airport. That should continue on to Trichy 4-lane.

- Decent pit stops along the way? Especially after Madurai.

I think there is an A2B between Madurai and Malur. Beyond Trichy you will find A2B at Ulundurpet and Aryas at Tindivanam.

[freakmuzik]

I'm planning to drive from Trivandrum to Chennai and back sometime in June. I assume it will take approximately 12 to 13 hours with short breaks. How much will the total toll amount to for this travel approximately?

I'm planning to travel with 5 people in my Wagon-R (k10). Considering an avg FE of 18kmpl, going by car seems to be damn cheaper than train or bus! Can't even imagine the math for a diesel car!

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by freakmuzik

I'm planning to drive from Trivandrum to Chennai and back sometime in June. I assume it will take approximately 12 to 13 hours with short breaks. How much will the total toll amount to for this travel approximately? I'm planning to travel with 5 people in my Wagon-R (k10). Considering an avg FE of 18kmpl, going by car seems to be damn cheaper than train or bus! Can't even imagine the math for a diesel car!

Used to be around Rs.600 an year back.

I have done the trip multiple times in my old WagonR, but the F10D always returned around 13-14kmpl with speeds around 100kmph. Glad to know the K10 fares much better in this regard.

[sumeshmani]

Originally Posted by freakmuzik

I'm planning to drive from Trivandrum to Chennai and back sometime in June. I assume it will take approximately 12 to 13 hours with short breaks. How much will the total toll amount to for this travel approximately?

I'm planning to travel with 5 people in my Wagon-R (k10). Considering an avg FE of 18kmpl, going by car seems to be damn cheaper than train or bus! Can't even imagine the math for a diesel car!

Hi, have you completed this trip?
If yes, please share the road condition details for the Nagercoil-Trivandrum stretch. Last time I used this route, roads were bad from NH-7 to Trivandrum

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by sumeshmani

Hi, have you completed this trip?
If yes, please share the road condition details for the Nagercoil-Trivandrum stretch. Last time I used this route, roads were bad from NH-7 to Trivandrum

During lasting week of April, it was average with patch work done on most of the potholes.

[arun_josie]

Any good options for stay on the Chennai - Trichy stretch? I will be driving from Hyderabad to Nagercoil. My plan is to stretch till Trichy, but would like to know other options as well on the way.

[srikanthns]

I am planning to travel from Trivandrum to Sullurpet. Google Maps gives the distance as 860 km. I plan to start by 1700hrs, go to a colleague's house near Valliyoor, 30 km from Nagercoil. Stay the night in my colleagues house. Start the next day by 0600 or max 0630 hrs and plan to reach Sullurpet by 1800 hours. Is this plan Ok? Only I hear that there are no good hotels between Nagercoil to Madurai. So break fast is a problem (I cannot ask my colleague prepare breakfast at such early hours!) any known hotels on the way? Lunch can be managed at Ulundurpet, I gather from the earlier posts in this thread. This will be my first long drive. I have driven a maximum of 120 km one way till date.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by srikanthns

Start the next day by 0600 or max 0630 hrs and plan to reach Sullurpet by 1800 hours. Is this plan Ok?

Looks OK to me.

Only I hear that there are no good hotels between Nagercoil to Madurai. So break fast is a problem (I cannot ask my colleague prepare breakfast at such early hours!) any known hotels on the way? Lunch can be managed at Ulundurpet, I gather from the earlier posts in this thread. This will be my first long drive. I have driven a maximum of 120 km one way till date.

Madurai is about 300km of empty 4-lane. With an average of 75km you should cover this in 4 hours at a sedate drive speed and cruising just about in three digits. Instead of 6 if you start by 4, you would be in Madurai at 8 in time for breakfast! (And I am not joking. That would work).

If thats not possible, carry food in your car like bread, butter, jam, fruits, hot water and tea bags etc. I think some hotels have come up around Thirunelveli.

[kala]

Originally Posted by srikanthns

Only I hear that there are no good hotels between Nagercoil to Madurai. So break fast is a problem (I cannot ask my colleague prepare breakfast at such early hours!) any known hotels on the way?

Last time I drove from Trivandrum to Bangalore, I stopped for breakfast at Hotel Saravanabhavan (not sure if it's an original or a pretender) about 10 kms before Kovilpatti. Was quite a decent place. Can't recall the exact name of the place, but the coordinates are Latitude 9.1242845, Longitude 77.7080453 (Search for "9.1242845,77.7080453" in Google maps, you should find the place on the map).

Originally Posted by ampere

Madurai is about 300km of empty 4-lane. With an average of 75km you should cover this in 4 hours at a sedate drive speed and cruising just about in three digits. Instead of 6 if you start by 4, you would be in Madurai at 8 in time for breakfast! (And I am not joking. That would work).

Just checked my logs for that Trivandrum trip - I passed Nagercoil at 6 AM and was at the start of Madurai bypass by 8:40 AM. That was inclusive of a break of around 20 minutes at Kovilpatti for breakfast. So 4 hours is certainly an overkill for Nagercoil-Madurai, the distance is only around 225 kms. And as you said since it is a 4 lane stretch with excellent road surface and sparse traffic, you can actually average 100kmph without going over 120 at any time.