Team-BHP - Bangalore to Munnar : Route Queries

Hi Team-BHPians,

I am visiting Munnar driving from Bangalore. Stay is at Rose Gardens, NH 49 Road, Karadipara. Onward 21 May Saturday and return is 24 May Tuesday.

I got from another post that these are the routes
1. Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Bhavani - Perundurai - Tirupur - Palladam - Udumalaippettai - Chinnar - Maraiyoor - Munnar
2. Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Bhavani - Kangayam - Dharapuram - Udumalaippettai - Maraiyoor - Munnar
3. Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Namakkal - Karur - Dindigul - Theni - Bodinaykanur - Munnar

Which route is good considering my destination (Karadipara)? or does not make any difference? :)

And which route is most scenic?

Any suggestions on places to visit in Munnar (Sunday and Monday)? This is a family trip. We will be driving in Innova and Accent Viva. Thanks for the suggestions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ffarozan (Post 2355418)

Your place of stay is not far from Munnar town. Any route will do. If you are looking for a scenic route, then Udumalpet-Munnar is the one. Take route 2 from your list. Touch salem and take NH47 to reach perundurai and from here deviate to Kangeyam.

I will also be travelling in the same route this Saturday, 21st. :)

In Munnar, places to be visited are Pullivasal (Attukal Water falls), Mattupetti Dam, Echo Point, Kundala Dam, Eravikulam National Park. There is also Tata Tea museum.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rameshnanda (Post 2355606)

Thanks Ramesh. Which places are good to see on Sunday? I presume places will be crowded on Sunday and relatively less on Monday. So depending on the crowd, do you have suggestions on which places are good for Sunday and for Monday.

Also if we start around 5-6am on Saturday, Salem would be good for breakfast. Any restaurant suggestions - so that we dont waste time in finding restaurant. A quick south indian place will be good. And what will be a good place for lunch?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ffarozan (Post 2355730)

ffarozan, If you are going to use one day for sight seeing, then make it on Monday. It will be less crowded than Sat and Sun.

You can consider having breakfast on NH7 just after Dharmapuri and just before the Thoppur Toll Plaza at Adyar Ananda Bhavan (remember, you have take U turn to come to the other side of the road). If you enter Salem town, you may lose some time. A2B from Bangalore should take about 2 - 2.5 hrs. For lunch, you can plan either at Udumalpet or Maraiyoor (Note - Quality will be average).

I feel it will be better to cover Mattupetti Dam, Echo Point, Kundala Dam route on Sunday and keep Eravikulam and Tea Museum for Monday. Both the areas will be crowded on Sunday, but the second sets entry is ticket based and can have long queue on Sunday. Mr Tomy, owner of Rose Garden is the best person to suggest an itinerary based on your interests. There is a very scenic route through Lakshmi Hills from Kallar (near Karadipara) to Munnar town (not the normal route) which you can give a try.

There is an OK place in Udumelpet near the railway gate on route to Marayoor (don't remember the name now), Hotel Chandana is an option in Marayoor, you can find details of both the places in the my earlier post on the same thread.

ffarozan, I would suggest, climb up one route and come down the other. One thing i did experience during my trip, at mid-day Theni, Bodi was much cooler than what it was nearing Marayoor.

The best time to visit Mattupetty is to go around sunrise time. I visited a little late around 7am on Monday and there was just one vehicle apart from mine, it was nice to enjoy the beauty all alone :) The Top Station road is a great scenic drive at that hour.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ffarozan (Post 2355730)

Also if we start around 5-6am on Saturday, Salem would be good for breakfast. Any restaurant suggestions - so that we dont waste time in finding restaurant. A quick south indian place will be good. And what will be a good place for lunch?

Your options for breakfast when going from Bangalore would be:
1.Hotel Krishna - in an Indian Oil petrol bunk on LHS of NH7 near Krishnagiri (near Shoolagiri). Not sure what time they open
2. A2B (Adyar Ananda Bhavan) - in a Bharat Petroleum petrol bunk near Krishnagiri on LHS of NH7 (near Shoolagiri) but they open at 6.30am and may not have too many options if you reach early
3. A2B - in a Bharat Petroleum petrol bunk near Dharmapuri on RHS of NH7 so you will need to take a U turn

Salem is 200km from Bangalore so it may be a little late for breakfast. It's better to avoid Salem town as you need to take a deviation (Saravana Bhavan, etc are there in town). There are a couple of options on NH7 itself near Salem
1. At the turn towards NH47 (there is a huge circle) - this is the old road to go towards Coimbatore. Just at that junction on RHS there is a hotel Apoorva
2. Just after the circle I mentioned above, when going straight on NH7 towards Namakkal there is one more hotel on RHS (forgot the name though). But this may be difficult to locate since NH7 now has a flyover there and this hotel is down below so you need to stay on the service road and make a U turn below.

Hope this helps.

@NPV it may not be late to hit Salem for BF. Since one needs to hit Munnar, the idea would be to reach before light fades.

Here is the break-up for the two routes.

If one plans to go via Udumalpet,
2-3 hours for Salem, (200)
1-1.5 Perundurai, (80
0.5 Kangeyam , (35)
1.5-2 hours up to Udumalpet (70)
3 hours to Munnar. (90)

So its about 480km to Munnar plus distance to the resort if far away (this has to be covered in the light). So its about 10 hours (this is without any breaks). Add about 2 hours for food, you are almost talking about fag hours of evening, if you start by 6.

Hence good to start as early as 5. So in that case you are in time for BF at Salem. If you are OK to splurge, GRT; right on the highway is the perfect place (but splurge is what you do with about 300 per person!)

Now if you are going via Theni, the calculation almost remains the same.

2-3 hours to salem (200km)
2 hours to Dindigul (180)
1.5 hours to Theni (80)
3 hours (max) to Munnar (Some one can correct me here) (80)

So you see either way its good first stop at Salem. If you start early say 4 or 5, you can have BF and also exit the Salem city, before it wakes up (though bypasses are in place and its not a problem to cross the city).

Did you two completed the travel to Munnar?

Sorry, last two days I couldnt check this thread.
There was this marigold homestay at Munnar with Double room @2000 with free B/fast. Decent place, owner known to me.
4 rooms available for booking.

Anybody may browse marigoldleasure.com for further details.

Folks, returned on Monday evening from Munnar.
It was a very enjoyable trip and the drive was awesome !

Route taken:
Friday May 20 -> Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem (all on NH 7) - Avinashi - Coimbatore (on NH 47). Stayed overnight at Coimbatore Srri Aswini Deluxe Hotel
Saturday May 21 -> Coimbatore - Pollachi - Udumalaipet (all on NH 209) - Chinnar - Marayoor - Munnar (all NH 49). Stayed at Clouds Valley Munnar, Evening stroll through Munnar town
Sunday May 22 -> Sightseeing Munnar - Mattupetty Dam - Echo Point - Top Station - Kundala Dam - Tea Museum
Monday May 23 -> Munnar - Poopara (all on NH 49) - Bodi metu - Bodi - Theni - Periakulam - Bathlakundu - Dindigul (all on NH 45) - Karur - Namakkal - Salem - Dharmapuri - Krishnagiri - Hosur - Bangalore (all on NH 7)

Will post more details of distances, tolls, check posts, etc soon in my travelogue.
Please correct the highway numbers if any of the above is incorrect :)

Folks,
Those planning to visit Munnar via Udumalpeta and Marayur on a Sunday morning had better be aware of traffic snarls on the outskirts of Munnar.

It took us an hour to traverse 10 kms on May 15th, on account of the narrow road and buses parked at vista points. At many places, it is tough for two buses to pass at the same point.

Further, though Top Station offers fantastic views, it involves a steep drop to the vista point on a slippery walkway, and therefore one needs to be in good shape to visit that point.