[kbnissan]

Originally Posted by mankuthimma

- Since this is our first visit, anything to keep in mind regarding correct entrance for queues, mobile phone/footwear deposit counters etc ( I am thinking relative to Tirumala temple ).
- Any good place to have breakfast midway between Kochi and Guruvayur ?
- Good places for kerala veg food closer to temple in Guruvayur and Thrissur ?

Thanks to Rajeevraj who has already addressed the point on the queue / deposit counters.

Not too familiar with the restaurants midway between Kochi & Guruvayoor. I recall a hotel called The Surya in Angamaly. Quite a long time ago, we had been there a couple of times for lunch. But no solid suggestions on this route.

A few options in Thrissur - Pathans and Hotel Bharath which is near Ragam theater in the round and Hotel Akshaya in Punkunnam. Both Akshaya and Bharath have parking facilities. My personal recommendation is Bharath.

For Guruvayoor - we have always defaulted to Sree Gokulam Vanamala. Recently we tried Hotel Devaragam and found it to be good. Both are good options. Gokulam Vanamala has limited parking but is within a 2-3 minutes walk from the Main Entrance of the temple. Devaragam is a short drive from the main entrance of the temple and has decent parking facilities.

FYI - The hotels in both Thrissur and Guruvayoor can be found on google maps.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by mankuthimma

Couple of more questions -
- Since this is our first visit, anything to keep in mind regarding correct entrance for queues, mobile phone/footwear deposit counters etc ( I am thinking relative to Tirumala temple ).
- Any good place to have breakfast midway between Kochi and Guruvayur ?
- Good places for kerala veg food closer to temple in Guruvayur and Thrissur ?

Just adding some more info.

I had been to Kochi and was driving to Calicut today. Last minute we decided why not visit Guruvayoor. Left Fort Kochi around 7.30 and reached Guruvayoor at 10.15. Route was Vypin-Kodungalloor- Triprayar-Chavakkad- Guruvayoor. Typical Kerala traffic throughout. From Alleppey you probably need to navigate all through Kochi. So time your start early enough. Both Kodungaloor and Triprayar are famous temple towns. You can look it up and decide if you want to stop.

As I usually do, I parked in Hotel The Vysakh and had breakfast from there. The temple entrance is 2-3 min walk from their back gate. This would be a good option for you also. They don't allow you to park if you don't plan to use the restaurant. Food is fairly decent. Temple was quite crowded. I estimated atleast 2 hrs in the regular queue, so opted for the special ticket and was in and out in 20-30min.

[mankuthimma]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Just adding some more info...

Originally Posted by kbnissan

For Guruvayoor - we have always defaulted to Sree Gokulam Vanamala.

Hey @Rajeevraj and @kbnissan, thanks a lot again. You guys made our visit very easy with all the finer details. Here is a short summary -

Thrissur district was under orange alert for heavy rain on our day of travel. It made us rethink our plans, but no other choice, we thought let Guruvayoorappan handle all these things and started around 6.30 AM from Arookutty. Stopped for an early breakfast at Gokul Ottupara, Edapally. Took Thrissur route, surprisingly it was a smooth straight 4 to 6 lane highway unlike the typical 2L twisty roads. The temple was heavily crowded that day, opted for the special entry ticket. For some reason, the darshan was stopped for almost an hour, queues were standstill, we were able to get the darshan only around 12 noon, but it let us soak in the grandeur of the temple and the atmosphere which was so nice. Dark clouds started looming and the drizzle started just after we got out of the temple. It was already late for the Mammiyoor temple. Had lunch at Gokulam Vanamala next to the temple. Simple, but very good food.
Started towards Thrissur, but the clouds became darker and darker, almost like night sky and it started pouring cats and dogs by the time we reached Vadakanathar temple parking. We had still good few hours to wait until the temple opens at 5 PM, but the rains made us worry, with heavy heart decided to skip the temple visits and started towards Kochi, only to be disappointed to see a sunny weather midway!! but such is the divine play.

[shalini_g]

Planning Guruvayur trip this month end . Google shows two routes and which one is best . Has anyone recently travelled via Mysore->Nilambur route

Route A: BLR - Mysore - Gundlupet - Mudumalai - Nilambur - Kunnamkulam - Guruvayur

Route B: BLR - Krishnagiri - Salem - Coimbatore (Bypass) - Palakkad - Thrissur - Guruvayur

[binand]

Originally Posted by shalini_g

Route B: BLR - Krishnagiri - Salem - Coimbatore (Bypass) - Palakkad - Thrissur - Guruvayur

This one, with two modifications.

1. Bangalore-Rayakottai-Salem instead. The Bangalore-Coimbatore thread I think has the most up-to-date information about the construction status of NH844 (ie, Hosur-Rayakottai-Palacode-Dharmapuri).

2. Palakkad-Shoranur-Wadakkanchery-Kunnamkulam-Guruvayur is, in my opinion, better.

[sajiseb]

Originally Posted by shalini_g

Planning Guruvayur trip this month end . Google shows two routes and which one is best . Has anyone recently travelled via Mysore->Nilambur route

Took the Bangalore-Rayakottai-Salem road last week. Very good drive except for a few of deviations - peaceful with hardly any traffic.

[raghavan]

Originally Posted by shalini_g

Planning Guruvayur trip this month end . Google shows two routes and which one is best . Has anyone recently travelled via Mysore->Nilambur route

Route A: BLR - Mysore - Gundlupet - Mudumalai - Nilambur - Kunnamkulam - Guruvayur

Route B: BLR - Krishnagiri - Salem - Coimbatore (Bypass) - Palakkad - Thrissur - Guruvayur

Hey Shalini_g, which route did you take ? I am planning to drive down this weekend to Guruvayur.

[Capri89]

Originally Posted by raghavan

which route did you take ? I am planning to drive down this weekend to Guruvayur.

Am in Thrissur now (with BIL) as part of few Kerala temple visits including Guruvayoor.

Started from Bangalore today morning and took Hosur - Krishnagiri - Salem - Coimbatore route. Lot of diversions near Krishnagiri that slowed down the journey and also few in Salem.

Intends to return via Rayakottai.

Hope this helps.

[SilverSurferHC]

I am planning Bangalore - Cherai Beach - Mangalore - Bangalore trip next week. Google shows diversion( Bangalore to Cherai Beach) onto Highway 844 -> 44->544 . Should i follow this lead?.

Also on my journey towards Mangalore, i have to drop my relatives to the airport and head to Mangalore. Again google tricks you here with a different route vis-a-vis if I were to take the route directly from Cherai (Highway 66). Looking forward to suggestions

P.S: Shall be visiting Guruvayur temple. Considering its summer vacation, do you suggest buying the VIP darshanam at the temple or pre booking it.

[binand]

Originally Posted by SilverSurferHC

Highway 844 -> 44->544 . Should i follow this lead?. .

These days it is advisable to do so. Please read the post just above yours (#338) to understand why.

Originally Posted by SilverSurferHC

Also on my journey towards Mangalore, i have to drop my relatives to the airport and head to Mangalore.

Of course, the airport is accessed from 544. So you will have to leave 66 and reach the airport via one of the numerous east-west connecting roads between the two. Which one, let Google guide you.

Originally Posted by SilverSurferHC

P.S: Shall be visiting Guruvayur temple. Considering its summer vacation, do you suggest buying the VIP darshanam at the temple or pre booking it.

Guruvayur is a perennially crowded temple. It is always best to take the paid darshanam ticket if you can. Saves you many hours of queuing up.

Same advice for accommodation in case you need it.

[SilverSurferHC]

Thank you all for your help. I had a wonderful week-long road trip: Bangalore -> Cherai Beach (with a visit to Guruvayur Temple) -> Udupi -> back to Bangalore.

I left Bangalore at 6:30 (Rajajinagar), took the Nice Road via Electronic City, and ate breakfast at A2B (I suggest you avoid it). Google kept prompting me to take a detour from Nice Road, not the one from Hosur. I followed the advice here and kept moving towards Rayakottai. The route was a mixed bag, with excellent surfaces and narrow roads. I reached Cherrai beach around 5:30.

Return Journey: Headed to Cochin Airport and then towards Mangalore. Heard about Swamy's cafe (Since 1969). Since we were missing dosas and coffee, we did not mind the detour. The road towards Mangalore was a mixed bag, with NH construction ongoing in many places. We missed a few completed sections because of Google prompts. I had lunch at Hi Lite Mall Kozikode and a coffee break at Bulbul Cafe Kannur (both detours were worth it). A special mention - Keralites have taken Swachh Bharat seriously. Hats off to their Civic sense. I reached Udupi at 9:30 PM for a 7:00 AM start from Cherai.

On the return, we took the Karkala ->Ujre -> Dharmastala route. Lunch, as always, is at Sagar Ratna Ujre. A word of caution, Shiradi is far from complete. I dread the monsoon, and some stretches feel like driving through a quarry. Watch out for trucks carrying rocks and maintain a safe distance. I reached Bangalore at 7:30 with a massive jam between Peenya & Goragunte palya. I prefer driving back on a Saturday or a weekday to avoid the Sunday rush.

[SilverSurferHC]

Received a challan from Vaahan as my co passenger was not wearing a seat belt. The image clicked at 5:00 AM in Kerala, clearly showed both front & rear number plates. Down by 500 bucks. I would still rate this better than the time I had parked near Lalbaug on 26th January . Got a call from cops asking me to move my car. I did a 2 kms dash with kids in tow spoke to the officer and everything seemed fine, until i later discovered a INR 1000 challan. Weird.