[ampere]

Originally Posted by slakhs

I am planning to travel from Bangalore to Kumbakonam and Thanjavur between 23rd to 26th January. Which route is better

One or the other, you can stick to Salem-Trichy-Tanjore-Kumbakonam. In other words, plan for a stay in Tanjore while going. In that case you can use the Trichy route. Then while coming back use the Jayamkondam-Ulundurpet option.

[itzvicky201]

Originally Posted by slakhs

I am planning to travel from Bangalore to Kumbakonam and Thanjavur between 23rd to 26th January. Which route is better

Salem - Ulundurpettai - Vriddachalam - Kumbakonam or better to take Salem - Namakkal - Trichy - Thanjavur - Kumbakonam

I prefer better road conditions to a shorter route

Would suggest Salem-Namakkal-Trichy-Thanjavu-Kumbakonam. Travel from Bangalore to Salem and to Namakkal is a breeze. You will navigate through Namakkal for about 10-15 mins and then touch a single carriageway till Trichy for 90 kms. Roads are good with occasional pot-holes, I would say it is mangeable. Trichy to Thanjavur will be a good drive. Thanjavur to Kumbakonam is again single carriageway through rice fields and has narrow stretch for a while and some winding turns as well, with no street lighting.

I started from Bangalore at around 3:30pm (Indiranagar), reached Electronic city by around 4:45pm. Reached Salem by 8:00pm. Had dinner in Salem-Madurai highway around 8:30pm. Reached Trichy around 11:00pm and Thanjavur around 11:50pm. Hope this helps.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by ampere

One or the other, you can stick to Salem-Trichy-Tanjore-Kumbakonam. In other words, plan for a stay in Tanjore while going. In that case you can use the Trichy route. Then while coming back use the Jayamkondam-Ulundurpet option.

If you don't have work in Tanjore, then instead of Trichy-Tanjore route, you can take Trichy-Kallanai-Thiruvaiyaru-Kumbakonam route. Only for few kms between Thirukattupalli to Thingalur the road conditions are not good, but the other side on Tanjore-Kumbakonam are not great either that too with narrow roads with heavy traffic.

So may be better option to manage through the 10kms or so bad stretch in Thiruvaiyaru route rather than going via heavy traffic and tiring Tanjore route.

Note:- Roads in and around Kumbakonam are being freshly laid in super fast manner for upcoming Mahamagam festival. I am not sure if these new roads will last long considering the speed in which they lay roads, however i hope it lasts at least till Mahamagam

-Ravi

[slakhs]

Thanks everyone. Since I will be going to Kumbakonam first, I will probably take the Vriddachalam route and come back via Trichy as I anyway have planned overnight stay in Thanjavur on the 25th .

Will update the road conditions next week

[ampere]

Originally Posted by slakhs

Thanks everyone. Since I will be going to Kumbakonam first, I will probably take the Vriddachalam route and come back via Trichy as I anyway have planned overnight stay in Thanjavur on the 25th .

Please note roads around Vridhachalam are not all that great. But still thats the best option you have for Kumbakonam.

[slakhs]

I completed this wonderful trip and thanks for all the advices. My onward route was

Bangalore - Salem - Ulundurpet (bypassed on NH68) - NH45 towards Mangalampettai - Vriddachalam - Jayamkondan - T-Palur - Kumbakonam.

Route was as described earlier, the 2 lane bypasses in NH68/79 is ridiculous cost cutting. Few KMs after Vriddachalam to Jayamkondan was a very smooth drive but the road narrows a lot after J.Kondan.

Return was via Tanjore - Trichy - Musiri - Namakkal - Salem - Bangalore as I stayed in Tanjore overnight. All good roads though Trichy - Musiri SH road (not via Kulithalai) has intermediate rough patches and a few pot holes here and there.

IMO, the route via Tanjore is better than via Vriddachalam as the latter is longer and does not provide any value over the Tanjore route.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by slakhs

IMO, the route via Tanjore is better than via Vriddachalam as the latter is longer and does not provide any value over the Tanjore route.

Good point and very true. The distances are comparable. But you should also note, even though roads are good, you need to pass through Trichy and Tanjore bypass is long. But other wise its a good option.

[ravib]

Returned from a 3 day trip to Kumbakonam (Saturday 20th Feb to 22nd Feb) for Mahamaham 2016 festival event.

Took Bangalore-Salem-Attur-Ulundurpet-Vridhachalam-Jayankondam-Kumbakonam route both ways. For onward journey, the traffic was diverted towards Anaikarai as one way after crossing Jayankondam due to heavy traffic going toward Kumbakonam for Mahamaham. Return journey was through regular T.Palur route to reach Jayankonam. Roads are very good all the way.

IMPO, between Salem to Ulundurpet, there are too many tolls (each Rs. 47/-) Although the roads are maintained well, i think atleast 50% distance is 2L and they have intelligently kept the toll booths only where 4L roads are there. Since it is not a complete 100% 4L road, i think the toll amount is too high, because isn't the 2L roads minimum a government should provide for connectivity?

On the travel time wise, i felt the straight route via Attur-V.Koot Road-Vridhachalam is far lesser compared to going via Ulundurpet detour. I have done Bangalore-Kumbakonam via V.Koot road in 5.5 hours when the roads were good. Now that the road is horrible, unfortunately have to take longer route via Ulundurpet and is more time consuming at the cost of good roads and more tolls!

Also noticed a new hotel called "Hotel Vasantham" on left after crossing Ulundurpet towards Attur, may be after 20 kms drive. Seems to be good/decent from looks and could serve as an alternate to Hotel Rama's near Attur. Took dinner break at Hotel Rama's and as usual it was great !

-Ravi

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by ravib

Returned from a 3 day trip to Kumbakonam (Saturday 20th Feb to 22nd Feb) for Mahamaham 2016 festival event.

Hello Ravi,

Nice to hear that you attended the festival in Kumbakonam. Between Salem and Ulundurpet, we have 3 toll plazas and in between the road converges to a 2 lane road from a 4 lane road.
It is better to avoid V Koot road like plague. The other option could be
Via Hosur, Krishnagiri, Kambainallur, Morappur, Harur, Theerthamalai, T V Malai, Tirukkoilur by pass, Ulundurpet and the regular route to Kumbakonam. The drawback of this route will be the lack of places to break for lunch/tiffin especially between Krishnagiri and T V Malai by the above said route.
I am not sure if we have decent hotels to break for food in Harur.

[luvurride]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Nice to hear that you attended the festival in Kumbakonam. Between Salem and Ulundurpet, we have 3 toll plazas and in between the road converges to a 2 lane road from a 4 lane road.

Harur is a fairly big town and I spotted some decent looking hotels. But never tried them personally, so can't comment. Should be ok for a casual tea break.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Hello Ravi,

Nice to hear that you attended the festival in Kumbakonam. Between Salem and Ulundurpet, we have 3 toll plazas and in between the road converges to a 2 lane road from a 4 lane road.
It is better to avoid V Koot road like plague. The other option could be
Via Hosur, Krishnagiri, Kambainallur, Morappur, Harur, Theerthamalai, T V Malai, Tirukkoilur by pass, Ulundurpet and the regular route to Kumbakonam. The drawback of this route will be the lack of places to break for lunch/tiffin especially between Krishnagiri and T V Malai by the above said route.
I am not sure if we have decent hotels to break for food in Harur.

Thanks Suresh.
Yes, i am aware of the other route, however due to hectic office work, was tired and didn't want to spend more effort in 2L/Village roads driving. Though i like it personally and will do it often when with full energy, this time opted for 4L/Highway roads to reduce driving effort.

I have also earlier tried the route via Bangalore-Salem-Attur-Thalaivasal-Veeraganur-Perambalur-Ariyalur-T.Palur-Kumbakonam. In my previous visit, though roads are good till Perambalur, Perambalur-Ariyalur stretch was not that great. Also this route is a 2L with lot of villages. So avoided it for same reason as above.

Originally Posted by luvurride

Harur is a fairly big town and I spotted some decent looking hotels. But never tried them personally, so can't comment. Should be ok for a casual tea break.

I too felt the same. When traveling with family and kids, its good for a tea break, but decent rest rooms for ladies may be problematic. We don't know it yet, unless someone has better information to report.

-Ravi

[ampere]

Originally Posted by luvurride

Harur is a fairly big town and I spotted some decent looking hotels. But never tried them personally, so can't comment. Should be ok for a casual tea break.

Originally Posted by ravib

I too felt the same. When traveling with family and kids, its good for a tea break, but decent rest rooms for ladies may be problematic. We don't know it yet, unless someone has better information to report.

Yes Harur is a big town. However the bypass has no hotels which I am aware off. You need to get into town closer to bus stand (The usual places).

[jkrishnakj]

Ravi - I'm really surprised one could do Bangalore - Kumbakonam in less than 6 hours. Which route were you able to do this and was it recent ?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Ravi - I'm really surprised one could do Bangalore - Kumbakonam in less than 6 hours. Which route were you able to do this and was it recent ?

Assuming he went via V Koot road and Veppur, at a sedate pace, I would expect:

- Salem : 200km : 2:30 hours 150 minutes (4-lane)
- V Koot Road : 90km 80 minutes ~4-lane
- KMU : 120 km 2 hours (120 minutes)

Gives a total of : ~6 hours of drive time. Today this I think is not possible as the roads have fallen apart.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Ravi - I'm really surprised one could do Bangalore - Kumbakonam in less than 6 hours. Which route were you able to do this and was it recent ?

Originally Posted by ampere

Assuming he went via V Koot road and Veppur, at a sedate pace, I would expect:

- Salem : 200km : 2:30 hours 150 minutes (4-lane)
- V Koot Road : 90km 80 minutes ~4-lane
- KMU : 120 km 2 hours (120 minutes)

Gives a total of : ~6 hours of drive time. Today this I think is not possible as the roads have fallen apart.

ampere answered everything for me It also matters at what time we leave bangalore and what time we cross Salem. I was able to make up this time ~6 hours in both the directions once.
Once in July 2013 and then in late 2014. I left Bangalore C.V.Raman Nagar at 4.45 am and reached Kumbakonam Kamaraj Nagar at 10.30 am including 30 minutes breakfast break at Thoppur A2B. But now it is impossible as roads are not motorable.

-Ravi