[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by Rohit_Quad

This is what i have figured out till now. I have got no clue on what to see near Kanyakumari, i know there is a beach and that's about it. For me, these things are more about the drive than the actual destination .

Some spots closer to Kanyakumari are,
1) Vattakottai Fort. 7-10 Kms from Kanyakumari
2) Chothavilai Beach (Around 10 Kms from Kanyakumari)
Some pics here,
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...ml#post3883885
3) Suchindram Temple - 10Kms from Kanyakumari

Other places that you can cover during a day trips are,

1) Padmanabhapuram Palace - 35-40 Kms from Kanyakumari
2) Mathoor Thottipalam(Mathur aqueduct) - 15Kms from Padmanabhapuram Palace
3) Tirparappu Water Falls - 8Kms from Mathoor Thottipalam

Edit: Noticed that ravib has put a similar day trip plan as well.

[Rohit_Quad]

Thanks for the information guys. This is what I was looking for, some crisp pointers. I'll plan in such a way that I cover most of the places even if it takes me an extra day. I'll update if and once I start the trip.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by Rohit_Quad

Thanks for the information guys. This is what I was looking for, some crisp pointers. I'll plan in such a way that I cover most of the places even if it takes me an extra day. I'll update if and once I start the trip.

Enjoy your trip !
NH7 is a driver's paradise, especially after Namakkal all the way till Kanyakumari, traffic will be less. You can consistently maintain hourly average speed.

Please do go through this thread for breakpoints and restaurants on the way.

-Ravi

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by Rohit_Quad

Thanks for the information guys. This is what I was looking for, some crisp pointers. I'll plan in such a way that I cover most of the places even if it takes me an extra day. I'll update if and once I start the trip.

The link below is my trip details to Kanyakumari. Hope you find it useful.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...bangalore.html

[ArunDhanapal]

Hi All,

I need your suggestion here. I and my family- mother, wife, 2 kids - son is 6 and daughter is 1.5 months. are planning for a trip from Bangalore to Madurai, Rameswaram, Dhanushkodi and Thiruchendur and back to Bangalore. I have 5 days in total for the same.

I am planning to rent a car from Myles and will leave Bangalore on 20th or 22nd Morning at 4:30 AM.

PS : Madurai is the only place that can be skipped if has to.

I want to perform Pithru pooja for my dad at Rameswaram. Then will head to Dhanushkodi and finish Thiruchendur & Manapad

Please suggest good places to stay - ~2000.00. budget for rooms.


The idea isto finish Pithru pooja and 22 wells bathing, temple visit..Then will head to Devipattinam and Ramar paadam. Then go to Danushkodi.


Finally to Tiruchendur, temple ans straight to Manapad - for the kids to enjoy in the beach. Then start return journey to bangalore.

Please give info on where to stay, for food? Veg & Non Veg?

Any other places of interest nearby??? I prefer to go less crowded temples and calm beaches.

Any one who can suggest the sequence which will be great help here as this is the first time I am travelling to these places on my own.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by ArunDhanapal

I need your suggestion here. I and my family- mother, wife, 2 kids - son is 6 and daughter is 1.5 months. are planning for a trip from Bangalore to Madurai, Rameswaram, Dhanushkodi and Thiruchendur and back to Bangalore. I have 5 days in total for the same.

I had been to Kanyakumari and Rameswaram is the last week of December 2015. Here are my trip details

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...bangalore.html


Mod Note: Please avoid quoting the whole post when responding

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ArunDhanapal

I need your suggestion here. I and my family- mother, wife, 2 kids - son is 6 and daughter is 1.5 months. are planning for a trip from Bangalore to Madurai, Rameswaram, Dhanushkodi and Thiruchendur and back to Bangalore. I have 5 days in total for the same.

- If Rameshwaram is the most important place to visit, and if you head there directly, then a 4:30 start means, you will reach by 3/4PM
- All puja activities and Dhanushkodi will be for the next day. Assume half day for morning puja and visit to Dhanuskodi and back.
- So you should be able to make a start to drive to Tiruchendur by the second day evening. If I assume you start by 3PM you should be able to make it by 8.
- Day 3 you can have darshan at Tiruchendur and spend the time at the beach in the evening. But that said, that would be more like relaxing day for you with least activity.
- Or another plan can be that you spend one more day at Rameshwaram and start very early the next day to have a morning darshan at Tiruchendur.
- Later enjoy the beach in the evening (This actually makes more sense to me)
- Day 4 head to Madurai. You can make by it noon. Have an evening darshan.
- Day 5 head back to Bangalore.


Routes:

- Bagalore-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Salem-Madurai-Ramnad-Rameshwaram.
- At Madurai, go till Thirumangalam on the NH7 bypass and exit out towards Airport. And then once on ring road, exit to Rameshwaram road.
- Food options on NH7 is not a problem. Only after Madurai not aware of any prominent ones. You will need to find.
- Best place in Rameshwaram to stay is Hotel Daiwik. Few others include TTDC and Pearl Residency. There is also a Temple Towers property now.
- Rameshwaram to Tiruchendur is about 230km and you should account for about 4-5 hours. Pack food from Rameshwarm as you cant expect much on this section of ECR.
- A 4AM start from Rameshwaram early morning, you should be able to make it by 8:30/9. And head straight for darshan.
- Tiruchendur-Madurai is quite easy: Head to Tirunelveli and latch on to the 4-lane. Madurai has so many places.
- Look into Tripadvisor and choose. Do note, many hotels in Madurai dont provide car park. You may want to check on that before booking.
- Carry GPS which would help you find roads early morning incase you miss out on turns.

[Nalin Kumar]

Hi All

I plan to do a Bangalore - Trivandrum drive soon. From bangalore till kavalkinaru its a no brainer, I am keen to avoid Nagercoil traffic during late evening and also the onward traffic in NH 66 (two days back KSRTC bus took 3+ hours to cover 70 odd kilometres between Trivandrum and Nagercoil). What could be the other suggestions? Could anyone tell me the condition of the route Aralvaimozhi - Kulasekharam - Vellarada - Kattakada route? Or would it be advisable to join Marthandam after Kulasekharam? Thanks.

[fergus]

Hi Team bhpians, I was planning on a trip next month to kanyakumari from Goa.. From Goa I see 2 routes one via mangalore, cochin and the other via bangalore, madurai. I have 5 days at my disposal. Please guide the best route, stopovers and places of interest to see. I had initially thought of using one route to go and return by the other route. On the onward journey I had planned to stop at mangalore and cochin and on the return journey stop at bangalore. Please suggest places to see enroute. Thanks.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by fergus

Hi Team bhpians, I was planning on a trip next month to kanyakumari from Goa.. From Goa I see 2 routes one via mangalore, cochin and the other via bangalore, madurai. I have 5 days at my disposal. Please guide the best route, stopovers and places of interest to see.

Going via Kerala is definitely going to be slower as roads are narrower and traffic is higher, even the metro construction in Cochin could be a dampener.
I think you can still visit Mangalore en route Bangalore and then drive to Kanyakumari via Madurai on the NH7. With 5 days I would suggest you plan visits to Mangalore, Madurai, Kanyakumari and Rameswaram. In fact if you omit Mangalore (you can always visit it easily from Goa) you can include Rameswaram too.
Madurai - visit the Meenakshi temple
Kanyakumari - boat ride to Vivekananda rock & Thiruvalluvar statue, sunset point &Triveni Sangam, Devi temple, Gandhi museum, Vivekananda Kendra.
About 10km away is Suchindram temple and about 25km away is Padmanabha puram palace, check the timings and holidays and plan accordingly.
Rameswaram - Ramanatha temple, several other theerthams, Pamban Bridge, Kodandarama temple, Dhanushkodi.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by fergus

Hi Team bhpians, I was planning on a trip next month to kanyakumari from Goa.. From Goa I see 2 routes one via mangalore, cochin and the other via bangalore, madurai. I have 5 days at my disposal. Please guide the best route, stopovers and places of interest to see. I had initially thought of using one route to go and return by the other route. On the onward journey I had planned to stop at mangalore and cochin and on the return journey stop at bangalore. Please suggest places to see enroute. Thanks.

I had been to Kanyakumari and Rameswaram last December. Here is my travel details

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...bangalore.html

[SajiNSalin]

Originally Posted by fergus

Hi Team bhpians, I was planning on a trip next month to kanyakumari from Goa.. From Goa I see 2 routes one via mangalore, cochin and the other via bangalore, madurai. I have 5 days at my disposal. Please guide the best route, stopovers and places of interest to see. I had initially thought of using one route to go and return by the other route. On the onward journey I had planned to stop at mangalore and cochin and on the return journey stop at bangalore. Please suggest places to see enroute. Thanks.

Five days is too short for this trip. It will take you two days to reach Kanyakumari from Goa and so four days will go in the drive to and fro. The drive from Kerala border at Kasargode to Cochin, especially near Kozhikode, is a pain and many times downright dangerous due to the very high density of traffic and maniacal drivers. In Dec 2015 I had driven from Trivandrum to Goa via Kozhikode and Mangalore and returned via Jog falls, Hassan, Bangalore. Your best route may be to drive to Mangalore and take the road via Bangalore and head south via NH44. Jog falls to Hassan is two lane and potholed in many places. I am not sure about Mangalore-Hassan, but Hassan to Bangalore was very good.
In any case avoid driving through Kerala as it is very tiring and slow.

[fergus]

Originally Posted by SajiNSalin

Five days is too short for this trip. It will take you two days to reach Kanyakumari from Goa and so four days will go in the drive to and fro. The drive from Kerala border at Kasargode to Cochin, especially near Kozhikode, is a pain and many times downright dangerous due to the very high density of traffic and maniacal drivers. In Dec 2015 I had driven from Trivandrum to Goa via Kozhikode and Mangalore and returned via Jog falls, Hassan, Bangalore. Your best route may be to drive to Mangalore and take the road via Bangalore and head south via NH44. Jog falls to Hassan is two lane and potholed in many places. I am not sure about Mangalore-Hassan, but Hassan to Bangalore was very good.
In any case avoid driving through Kerala as it is very tiring and slow.

Thanks for your advice. Now I know why most of the Team bhpians go via Bangalore. I am looking for a scenic smooth drive so I will avoid the route Goa-Mangalore-Cochin -Kanyakumari. I will go via Bangalore only. Looking at the other replies are they any other tourist sites to see besides religious ones?

[fergus]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

I had been to Kanyakumari and Rameswaram last December. Here is my travel details

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...bangalore.html

I checked out your travelogue which was very informative. Thank you Are there any other places to visit enroute Bangalore to kanyakumari besides religious sites and beaches? .You did the trip from Bangalore to kanyakumari in less than 12 hrs.Are there any current updates on the road conditions?

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by fergus

I checked out your travelogue which was very informative. Thank you Are there any other places to visit enroute Bangalore to kanyakumari besides religious sites and beaches? .You did the trip from Bangalore to kanyakumari in less than 12 hrs.Are there any current updates on the road conditions?

As far as the route is concerned, it is NH7 all the way from Bangalore to Kanyakumari. No issues on the road conditions. I left home in bangalore by 6 30 AM and reached Kanyakumari by 4 45 PM inclusive of breakfast and lunch. I did not cross 100 kmph speed throughout the journey.
If time permits, may be you can visit Kovalam beach which is near to kanyakumari.
In my trip I visited Rameswaram from Kanyakumari. If at all you plan to go to Rameswaram, visit to Dhanushkodi is a must.