Team-BHP - Bangalore to Karaikudi : Route Queries

- - Bangalore to Karaikudi : Route Queries (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/53002-bangalore-karaikudi-route-queries.html)

Hi

I am planning to go to karaikudi in march. I was wondering if anyone knows how the road condition is or if there is a better route.

Route I am planning ~470KM
Hosur->Krishnagiri->Dharmapuri->Salem->Karur->Tiruchy->karaikudi

Any idea of which hotels are good to stay in karaikudi? please:

thanks for your help in adv

The road upto Thoppur is fully 4 laned and upto Salem is 90% done. Salem - Karur - Tiruchy is work in progress. I think Salem - Karur was in a bad state sometime back but looks like its getting done now from what I read in the papers.

I did this in 2004. We left in the afternoon, stayed over in Salem and continued via Trichy.

Note there are two ways to Trichy - via Karur or another way where you take a hard left. The road was bad and I already damaged a tyre so it was hell. The scorpio with us, disappeared. So ensure you do not turn off!

Trichy to Karaikudi is ok. Road narrows approaching Karaikudi. we stayed at the Bangala which is fairly high-end

You do not need to go through Karur. From Namakkal take the road via Thottiyam, Musiri, Kulithalai and then Trichy. Roads till Musiri is oh k and a little bad after that. Namakkal to Trichy took me around two and half hours in mid December.

Any idea how the road condition is now? I plan to do the same route as mentioned.
Hosur->Krishnagiri->Dharmapuri->Salem->Karur->Tiruchy->karaikudi

BLR-Trichy is getting better day by day.

As of today, instead of Karur-Trichy you will need to deviate out of Namakkal from NH7 to go via Thuraiyur.
Once NH67 gets 4Laned, this would be a breeze and no need to deviate at Namakkal but deviate from one 4L to another at Karur!

Here is the latest on BLR-Trichy.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...condition.html

Trichy-Karaikudi is the normal NH210, with lots of trucks and pot hotels hear and there. This is the info which I heard quite some time back. Not aware of the current status. But yes there are lots of buses and trucks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sylvan (Post 2305453)

Any idea how the road condition is now? I plan to do the same route as mentioned.
Hosur->Krishnagiri->Dharmapuri->Salem->Karur->Tiruchy->karaikudi

Avoid Karur-Trichy NH67 since it is being widened. Instead take Namakkal-Thuraiyur-Trichy route.

Trichy-Karaikkudi is not great, but not problems as such.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvkumar (Post 2305792)

Avoid Karur-Trichy NH67 since it is being widened. Instead take Namakkal-Thuraiyur-Trichy route.

Trichy-Karaikkudi is not great, but not problems as such.

When i went last in december from Karaikudi to Trichy, the roads are decent enough and no potholes. only few patches here and there, but manageable to maintain good speed ~70kmph.

I guess the condition wouldn't have changed much, as there were no rains. Also, its election season in TN, so probably it could be better by any chance.

-Ravi

I do the Chennai-Karaikkudi/Rameswaram leg often and I can tell you that the road from Trichy to Karaikkudi is excellent. The outskirts of Trichy is slightly uneven but after a few kilometers the road is very good. It's a 2 way state highway, but with sparse traffic driving is a breeze. Beware of 2 unmarked speed bumps just before Thirumayam. The road from Karaikkudi to Ramanathapuram is bad with frequent nasty surprises. Of course, just before Ramnad, it connects you to the ECR and it's a breeze to Rameswaram.

That is surprising about the traffic part that you mention.
I was told that there is quite heavy truck traffic and Rameshwaram bound buses from Chennai on the Tricy-Rameshwaram section.
(I had done this section quite long back)

Or has this situation changed after the transformation on NH45?

Can you please comment on that?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ampere (Post 2324825)

The bus traffic you talk about is usually during early morning or nights. I usually leave Chennai after breakfast and cross these areas around noon and it's relatively free. Till the outskirts of Trichy, you may find some local traffic. Beyond that, traffic is sparse.

Quote:

Originally Posted by swiftdiesel (Post 2323123)

It's a 2 way state highway, but with sparse traffic driving is a breeze.

Agreed. I had travelled many times to Pillayarpatti via Trichy/Pudukottai on this 2-laned NH 210.

I've been on Trichy-Karaikudi many times pre-2005, most of the times its been rough and potholed, its good to hear atleast the road to Karaikudi is in good shape :)
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SwiftD, Ravi, Question for you people. Is there a way to catch the ECR earlier than at Devipattinam to entirely avoid the bad stretch ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by narayans80 (Post 2327495)

Is there a way to catch the ECR earlier than at Devipattinam to entirely avoid the bad stretch ?

You can consider SH 26 via Aranthangi to reach ECR, if it is good. But, I don't know its latest road condition.