[agbenny]

Originally Posted by rrahul_2778

Reached Madurai . Couldn't do pillayarpatti coz I started late from chennai . Excellent roads . But got caught in very heavy rains after Trichy. But fun drive.

In some post above , someone recommended New College House hotel. I checked it out , but me n wifey just came out in 1 min. It looks a depilated rundown lodge kind of place best suited for bachelors on a budget. Finally got into Rathana Residency. The guy gave me a deluxe ac room at economy price and I am a happy man now :-)

It's Good that you avoided new college house.it last it's charm, poorly maintained and filthy.

[aravinrd]

Hi,

I am visiting madurai on 19th Nov and can some one suggest a decent place to stay for a night (economy), preferably closer to the NH45 so that is is easier to start the next day journey. In the forum there is mixed response on New college house hotel so I am planning to avoid that.

[OnAnd]

Originally Posted by independence

guys,
We are planning to drive down to madurai this Deepavali from Chennai; (We will be celebrating with crackers after a gap of almost 6 years.... more on that later)
Has any BHPian done this route of late - what are your current experiences?
Plan to use my Xylo E8 - & intend to leave Chennai very early in the morning...
All advices solicited

Hello independence, I am sure you enjoyed your diwali
Now I am planning the same Chennai-Madurai by road this Sunday.
Can you share your experiences?
Thanks.

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by OnAnd

Hello independence, I am sure you enjoyed your diwali
Now I am planning the same Chennai-Madurai by road this Sunday.
Can you share your experiences?
Thanks.

Did this route in April. Wonderful road four laned through and through. Can maintain good speeds all the way through. We started at 12PM (Vandalur) and reached Madurai around 6 with a break for lunch of about 30 minutes. You need not even enter any major city. The Trichy bypass is great. All this is coming from a perspective of driving through the same road around 10 years back, when it was a mess

[ampere]

Originally Posted by OnAnd

Hello independence, I am sure you enjoyed your diwali
Now I am planning the same Chennai-Madurai by road this Sunday.
Can you share your experiences?
Thanks.

There is nothing to say about this route. Fully 4-laned all the way. Now I also hear there is an A2B between Trichy and Madurai as well (I think some where around Melur).

[manim]

Originally Posted by OnAnd

Now I am planning the same Chennai-Madurai by road this Sunday.

Here is one good place to eat at Trichy, just off the 4-lane with a large car-park.
Air-conditioned, great Non-Veg food, but always crowded.

Google-Map Coordinates:
10.78545, 78.68899

[DRIVE_ADDICT]

I did this route last weekend, nothing to compliant about a well tarred dual carriage way. It will be a breeze to drive from Vilupuram to Madurai. Traffic will be a disturbing factor till Chengalpat toll, and will be moderate after that.

One can take a break at Hotels near Vilupuram by-pass, Karaikudy for Non-vegs and Arya Nivas for Veggie.

Yes the Kannappar (Non-Veg) at Trichy is also good, i normally drove Chennai-Tirunelveli and take lunch at Kannappar.

[gurupalani]

On the first weekend of this month, I went for a trip to Rajapalayam and took this road. The road conditions are very good and there are no construction works happening as of last week. We traveled in the day, and the road was nearly empty. It was easy to maintain the cruising speed over 100 kmph.

Those of you who take the NH-7 around Thirumangalam, there is a nice restaurant called "Hari's restaurant". It is just past the Kappalur toll gate. The restaurant is not marked in google maps, but these are the co-ordinates: (9.841136, 78.006974). The food there better and cheaper compared to A2B. We had breakfast there while coming back and I absolutely loved the curd-vada there.



Palani.

[phamilyman]

Sorry for the mass quote - that's the easiest way to get people to respond, hence apologies in advance!! Now on to my query!

I'm heading down this side on the independence day extended weekend. The current plan is to leave chennai around 12:30 - 1:30am - basically as soon as I can, that day. Except for loo breaks this is an overnight non stop cruise if I can help it.

Pitstop locations
There's a slender chance that I will be landing back from a late flight - in which case I may have had only 4 hours of sleep before departing. In such a case, i may be unable to sleep right away, but I would be able to drive for three to four hours before I need to sleep. What are the appropriate safe points at about 150 / 220 / 300km where I can stop over, and sleep? I've used the highway upto Ulunderpet many times and I don't recall too many places that would be busy that late except the BP pump / AAB near the toll.

My favorites are mostly toll plazas or the parking of any major pump (IOCL Mathura) or 24x7 restaurant (think Sukhdev Dhaba near Delhi for those who've visited). What similar places would you recommend?

Hotels
This is tough. The new college house has terrible reviews now. What matters to me: parking, toilet / room hygiene, clean (not luxurious) sheets, decent ventilation / AC. The hygiene is non-negotiable by the wifey even if the room is small. This is critical since if it isnt good enough, we'll sacrifice sightseeing to settle the hotel. Just for reference, the kind of hotels we normally like are the neemrana ones - cozy comfortable places. BUT this time I would like to stay in a place costing 1500 or so if possible since we are likely to meet up with relatives who'll fly from Delhi to Madurai. Hence the challenge! Please help.

tripadvisor suggests the following . what does TBHP say?

• Hotel MR international - http://www.hotelmrinternational.in/h...s/2/DELUXE-A-C has good parking but below average reviews of room ventilation / comfort. 1700 + tax (~1800)
• Hotel Nook - http://www.agoda.com/hotel-the-nook/...durai-in.html? 2500 and bit far from meenakshi amman temple but highly rated
• Rathna Residency - Rahul above liked it. http://www.hotelrathnaresidency.com/rooms.html http://www.tripadvisor.com.my/Hotel_...amil_Nadu.html Its in the budget too. 1700.
• Cleartrip suggests Kathir palace - http://www.tripadvisor.com.my/Hotel_...amil_Nadu.html it has negative reviews on the parking and costs 2200 too.
• Simap residency: http://www.tripadvisor.com.my/Hotel_...amil_Nadu.html what worries me is this: "About 5 cars at max can be parked in the ground level but back to back, and one will have to leave the keys with the reception enabling them to move cars around."
• Northgate - http://www.hotelnorthgate.co.in/ about 2500
• Moskva - http://moskvahotel.in/ about 2800

We are likely to take a day trip from there to ramesvaram and kodai before returning to chennai on 17th. I'm thinking of doing kodai in the end, and stopping over at trichy rather than coming back to madurai - that saves us about 60km of driving, and keeps the drive easier on the return.

Thanks in advance if you managed to read till here!

Originally Posted by agbenny

It's Good that you avoided new college house.it last it's charm, poorly maintained and filthy.

Originally Posted by aravinrd

Hi,

I am visiting madurai on 19th Nov and can some one suggest a decent place to stay for a night (economy), preferably closer to the NH45 so that is is easier to start the next day journey. In the forum there is mixed response on New college house hotel so I am planning to avoid that.

Originally Posted by OnAnd

Hello independence, I am sure you enjoyed your diwali
Now I am planning the same Chennai-Madurai by road this Sunday.
Can you share your experiences?
Thanks.

Originally Posted by arvind71181

Did this route in April. Wonderful road four laned through and through. Can maintain good speeds all the way through. We started at 12PM (Vandalur) and reached Madurai around 6 with a break for lunch of about 30 minutes. You need not even enter any major city. The Trichy bypass is great. All this is coming from a perspective of driving through the same road around 10 years back, when it was a mess

Originally Posted by ampere

There is nothing to say about this route. Fully 4-laned all the way. Now I also hear there is an A2B between Trichy and Madurai as well (I think some where around Melur).

Originally Posted by manim

Here is one good place to eat at Trichy, just off the 4-lane with a large car-park.
Air-conditioned, great Non-Veg food, but always crowded.

Google-Map Coordinates:
10.78545, 78.68899

Originally Posted by DRIVE_ADDICT

I did this route last weekend, nothing to compliant about a well tarred dual carriage way. It will be a breeze to drive from Vilupuram to Madurai. Traffic will be a disturbing factor till Chengalpat toll, and will be moderate after that.

One can take a break at Hotels near Vilupuram by-pass, Karaikudy for Non-vegs and Arya Nivas for Veggie.

Yes the Kannappar (Non-Veg) at Trichy is also good, i normally drove Chennai-Tirunelveli and take lunch at Kannappar.

Originally Posted by gurupalani

On the first weekend of this month, I went for a trip to Rajapalayam and took this road. The road conditions are very good and there are no construction works happening as of last week. We traveled in the day, and the road was nearly empty. It was easy to maintain the cruising speed over 100 kmph.

Those of you who take the NH-7 around Thirumangalam, there is a nice restaurant called "Hari's restaurant". It is just past the Kappalur toll gate. The restaurant is not marked in google maps, but these are the co-ordinates: (9.841136, 78.006974). The food there better and cheaper compared to A2B. We had breakfast there while coming back and I absolutely loved the curd-vada there.
Attachment 1191379


Palani.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by manim

Here is one good place to eat at Trichy, just off the 4-lane with a large car-park.
Air-conditioned, great Non-Veg food, but always crowded.
Google-Map Coordinates:
10.78545, 78.68899

I dont know about the restaurant, but the hotel above (Gardenia) is also a very good place to stay. Perfect location for the highway. You can hit any exit highway (Chennai, Tanjore, Madurai, Dindigul, Pudukottai etc) under 5 minutes without any traffic. Food is very decent. Pricing on the higher side a bit.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

We are likely to take a day trip from there to ramesvaram and kodai before returning to chennai on 17th. I'm thinking of doing kodai in the end, and stopping over at trichy rather than coming back to madurai - that saves us about 60km of driving, and keeps the drive easier on the return.

Whats the plan here? Seems like a long haul. Rathna is a decent place. But do expect locations of these hotels to be quite jam-packed. Very rarely any of these budget hotels have their own parking you have to park on roadside.

The other hotel to look at is Metropole.

http://the-metropolehotel.com/

[NPV]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Hotels
This is tough. The new college house has terrible reviews now. What matters to me: parking, toilet / room hygiene, clean (not luxurious) sheets, decent ventilation / AC. The hygiene is non-negotiable by the wifey even if the room is small. This is critical since if it isnt good enough, we'll sacrifice sightseeing to settle the hotel. Just for reference, the kind of hotels we normally like are the neemrana ones - cozy comfortable places. BUT this time I would like to stay in a place costing 1500 or so if possible since we are likely to meet up with relatives who'll fly from Delhi to Madurai. Hence the challenge! Please help.

tripadvisor suggests the following . what does TBHP say?

My suggestions:
-Don't confine yourself to 1500 budget, on a trip with family and a small child in tow, this could mean the difference between an enjoyable and a horrendous trip
-Hotel Metropole was very good when we visited couple years ago, it's close to the Melur district court and very easy to get to the NH49 for Rameshwaram as well as the Airport via ring road and it bypasses the busiest traffic areas of the town! Tariff for double AC was about 2400/- and included breakfast.
-To visit the Meenakshi temple (if you plan to), it's better to use services of an auto rickshaw rather than drive yourself and try to find parking in the small bylanes near the temple.

Some of the hotels closer to Meenakshi temple are New college house and Supreme, these are also decent from what I know. Supreme has parking just opposite to the hotel building. But this area is quite congested, lots of people milling around and needless to say lot of traffic.

*If you like veggie food, do try Sabari near New College House

You may want to refer these threads as well for more options:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...-rates-99.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...-advice-3.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...-5-days-6.html

[jyobeb]

The Nook is a nice place and you will like it. Dont worry about it being too far from the temple because Madurai is only 12km, end to end! The temple is only 1km from the Nook and you cannot take your car there anyway. Take a Rik to and fro, from Meenakshi Amman temple.
The same goes for Moscva too, but its pretty much on a crowded street.
The Northgate is a great place too, but the other side of town and about 3km from the temple.
Travelling to Rameswaram will require you to hit the ring road which is slightly closer from North Gate, but going to Kodaikanal will be easier from the Nook side!
Hope this helps!
Do message me if you need help.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by agbenny

It's Good that you avoided new college house.it last it's charm, poorly maintained and filthy.

Originally Posted by aravinrd

Hi,

I am visiting madurai on 19th Nov and can some one suggest a decent place to stay for a night (economy), preferably closer to the NH45 so that is is easier to start the next day journey. In the forum there is mixed response on New college house hotel so I am planning to avoid that.

Originally Posted by OnAnd

Hello independence, I am sure you enjoyed your diwali
Now I am planning the same Chennai-Madurai by road this Sunday.
Can you share your experiences?
Thanks.

Originally Posted by arvind71181

Did this route in April. Wonderful road four laned through and through. Can maintain good speeds all the way through. We started at 12PM (Vandalur) and reached Madurai around 6 with a break for lunch of about 30 minutes. You need not even enter any major city. The Trichy bypass is great. All this is coming from a perspective of driving through the same road around 10 years back, when it was a mess

Originally Posted by ampere

There is nothing to say about this route. Fully 4-laned all the way. Now I also hear there is an A2B between Trichy and Madurai as well (I think some where around Melur).

Originally Posted by manim

Here is one good place to eat at Trichy, just off the 4-lane with a large car-park.
Air-conditioned, great Non-Veg food, but always crowded.

Google-Map Coordinates:
10.78545, 78.68899

Originally Posted by DRIVE_ADDICT

I did this route last weekend, nothing to compliant about a well tarred dual carriage way. It will be a breeze to drive from Vilupuram to Madurai. Traffic will be a disturbing factor till Chengalpat toll, and will be moderate after that.

One can take a break at Hotels near Vilupuram by-pass, Karaikudy for Non-vegs and Arya Nivas for Veggie.

Yes the Kannappar (Non-Veg) at Trichy is also good, i normally drove Chennai-Tirunelveli and take lunch at Kannappar.

Gents - please advise on my hotel request as mentioned above!

Originally Posted by ampere

I dont know about the restaurant, but the hotel above (Gardenia) is also a very good place to stay. Perfect location for the highway. You can hit any exit highway (Chennai, Tanjore, Madurai, Dindigul, Pudukottai etc) under 5 minutes without any traffic. Food is very decent. Pricing on the higher side a bit.




Whats the plan here? Seems like a long haul. Rathna is a decent place. But do expect locations of these hotels to be quite jam-packed. Very rarely any of these budget hotels have their own parking you have to park on roadside.

The other hotel to look at is Metropole.

http://the-metropolehotel.com/

Thanks man. My plans are always running running!

The plan is currently as follows:

14th : Reach madurai by 9-10 am. Check into hotel , 2nd family arrival at 1.30pm


- Madurai Local sightseeing
- Madurai Shopping


15th : Get ready , breakfast & leave by 10-11 , Reach rameshwaram by afternoon, have lunch
proceed to dhanush kodi , see small temples ( ram teerth , etc etc)


16th morning : Main darshan & pooja at Agni teertham ( main temple rameshwaram ) ~4-5am
- Have breakfast & proceed to next destination


- Stay at ANY BEACH LOCATION


17th - Reach Chennai

-----------------------------------------------

This has run into a bit of a problem. They absolutely want to see the main darshan on the 16th. That kills kodai.

I need guidance here. Ideally here is what I want to do:
14th - Sight see madurai.
15th - Sight see rameswaram with the major daytime pooja if possible
16th - Some beach location - that's safe enough for two children aged 3/4 under our supervision.
17th - more beach, as long as we reach chennai by 8pm.

i am struggling as to a good beach location nearby that has good sightseeing too. Any ideas? Tranquebar? Pondicherry is too far away to fit in.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

i am struggling as to a good beach location nearby that has good sightseeing too. Any ideas? Tranquebar? Pondicherry is too far away to fit in.

Tranquebar has Neemrana property. (Bungalow on the beach)

See Lalu's log.

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

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

The current plan is to leave chennai around 12:30 - 1:30am - basically as soon as I can, that day. Except for loo breaks this is an overnight non stop cruise if I can help it.

If you are leaving that early, you'll face some minimal traffic till you cross extended city limits of Paranur toll You should easily reach Trichy in 4 hrs flat at sane speeds, Madurai is another 90 mins from there. Even if you start a little late like 3-4am, it should be ok. You would still avoid the initial traffic, you might encounter a little on Trichy bypass and some entering Madurai. I don't really see a need to wake as early as 1230-1am for a Madras-Madurai drive.

Ulundurpet A2B is 24-hrs, it is well lit all the time. Ulundurpet toll is also well lit if you want to power nap for a few minutes. The restroom is close to the toll booth on the same side going from Madras.

There is another COCO at 286 km mark on southbound NH45 which I remember seeing well lit, but refuelled on another trip in daytime. But that'll take you close to Trichy (320 km mark on NH45).

I'd second ampere's suggestion of staying at Metropole in Madurai, that way you save the hassle of entering and exiting Madurai. Madurai traffic has a huge population of cycles, certainly not a pleasant experience to drive through after a highway drive. Unless you are used to it, not for the faint hearted

If you don't get in Metropole and are staying on the other end of town, take the Dindigul road from Trichy.

For Rameswaram you just have to retrace back on NH45 and take a right at the bypass and Rameswaram exit is 3 km from NH45 on the bypass road.

If you are doing Kodaikanal, take Ramnad-Karaikudi-Tirupattur-Natham-Dindigul-Kodaikanal. Don't even bother crossing Madurai.

EDIT: I see you don't have much time for Kodai.