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-   -   Bangalore - Kanyakumari NH7 : Route Queries (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/56197-bangalore-kanyakumari-nh7-route-queries-16.html)

I too drove Nagercoil-Bangalore couple of weeks back, except Hosur-Krishnagiri stretch rest all are excellent. The maduri byepass road is bit bumpy, the single lane road after kavalkinaru is average as usual. If possible, avoid crossing salem during peak hours.

Referred your post here. Cant believe ECR has gone bad. Double confirmed from the route link as well. Is the whole section bad or few places around Tuticorin alone?

I may be wrong but I remember reading a news report that the "East Coast Road" project was only upto Thottukudi and not upto Kanyakumari.

Roads are average right after Kanyakumari (after Anjugramam turn). Later it worsens around Thomas Mandapam.

http://goo.gl/maps/J8vDZ

My plan was to drive along the Sea.

Road was so bad that I had to take deviation and drive via Point B.

My highly broken Tamil did help a little. People were kind enough to talk in Hindi / English, as they were unable to decode my so-called Tamil :D


Another point missed to add, between Madurai-Kanyakumari had one of the amazing dosa's (had 2 big ones) ever. Currently do not have hotel details. Will post pic after reaching home.

The hotel is right after Toll Booth and not difficult to miss.

Exact location: http://goo.gl/maps/OBQ4K

This is the hotel I was talking about..

Mods: Can you please merge with above post?

Yes, this hotel is immediately after crossing the SalaiPudur Toll booth on the left(While going towards Kanyakumari). Another 5 Kms from here and there is Capsi Restaurant, they serve good Non- Veg food as well.

Surprisingly it I could not find the location in Google. But MMI maps have it in there.

http://maps.mapmyindia.com/#map+of+C...uuAQqyMzR4ZTZl

Yes, when I did my Coast to Coast ride [http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...3-states.html], the villagers strongly suggested to me that I not ride along the coast as the roads were really bad. I then took ECR till Tuticorin and then rode onwards to Tirunelveli where I took the bypass and caught up with NH7.

For few good reasons (apart from my vehicle suspension n my body-ache), I felt nice of taking that route.

Let pics talk now...

The first pic is very nice. What church is that in the background?

Its St. James Church. There are couple of more churches at Manapad.

ECR or not. Tiruchendur-Kanyakumari has never improved since I've seen my dad drive in early 90s. Its a 1-1.5 lane wide road at best. It was almost identical when we returned in 2001. I don't see any different feedback from various people who've taken since. The photos too resemble how they were 10-20 years back. Its a route which the local buses don't take, you'll hardly find 1-2 buses doing Tiruchendur-Kanyakumari/Nagercoil this way. Most equivalent road I can quote is Adoni-Alur.

As a part of the ECR project, Madras-Pondy was newly laid. Nagapattinam-Ramnad and Ramnad-Tuticorin were relaid. Other sections existed from other NH and SH projects.

From Kanyakumari if you're heading to Rameswaram, probably better to go via Tirunelveli-Tuticorin. The Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur-Tuticorin route was very bad in some sections so avoiding Tiruchendur and taking NH7A from Tirunelveli to Tutircorin via Pudukottai is a better option as the road is good (it definitely was last year). Once you get to Tuticorin you can take the ECR to Ramanathapuram and that stretch was super awesome when we travelled :)

Quite confusing! First I thought how come Pudukottai comes here ? Then when I looked at Google maps, I saw there is one more by the same name! :)

So folks do note its not the big Pudukottai town, but a small on NH7A.

Guys, planning Bangalore - Kanyakumari this weekend, IDD long weekend. Please do help me with road conditions and any deviations to Kanyakumari, aslo planning to go Rameshwaram, any tips on Kanyakumari- Rameshwaram - Bangalore route.

Please also suggest place of stay in Kanyakumari