[srikanthpotluri]

Hi Team,

Will be travelling from Chennai to Coimbatore this month 20th and 21st on business.

Need some help.

Can someone confirm if this route is good to travel?

Chennai-Vellore-Vaniyambadi-Tirupathur-Uthangarai-Harur-Salem-Bhavani-Avanashi-Coimbatore

I am at Tamabaram-East. While going its a must that we need to go through Salem to pick someone.

On return we can come straight and it would be late in the evening.

Thanks
Sri

[Nikhil_blr]

Hi,

I just made a trip from Bangalore to Coimbatore via Salem, and can give you a small tip for the Avinashi to Coimbatore stretch.

The NH47 from Avinashi to Coimbatore is horrible: it only a 2 lane, full of truck and bus traffic for daily commuters between Tirupur and Coimbatore, and at some places it has lots of potholes. I had to drive on 3rd gear at 30-40kmph at many places!!

On the return trip, I took the NH209 to Annur, and a took a right turn onto SH80 and reached Avinashi much earlier. Best of all, the journey was pleasant and smooth, even though the road is not perfectly straight and is not meant for high-speed traffic.

So I would recommend this route for you. You would land directly in Coimbatore Bus Stand.

The Salem-Avinashi stretch is also good with toll-roads, though at some places the road is still under construction. There is no alternative here.

Happy journey,

Regards
Nikhilesh

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Nikhil_blr

Hi,

I just made a trip from Bangalore to Coimbatore via Salem, and can give you a small tip for the Avinashi to Coimbatore stretch.

The NH47 from Avinashi to Coimbatore is horrible: it only a 2 lane, full of truck and bus traffic for daily commuters between Tirupur and Coimbatore, and at some places it has lots of potholes. I had to drive on 3rd gear at 30-40kmph at many places!!

On the return trip, I took the NH209 to Annur, and a took a right turn onto SH80 and reached Avinashi much earlier. Best of all, the journey was pleasant and smooth, even though the road is not perfectly straight and is not meant for high-speed traffic.

So I would recommend this route for you. You would land directly in Coimbatore Bus Stand.

The Salem-Avinashi stretch is also good with toll-roads, though at some places the road is still under construction. There is no alternative here.

Happy journey,

Regards
Nikhilesh

Don't go via Uthangarai. Drive all the way till Krishnagiri on NH46 and hop on to NH7. That is a much easier and cleaner route to take till Salem. Also its not that longer. Then onwards its the regular rumble of NH47 plus what others suggest.

Eating options: A2B before Thoppur on NH7.
NH46 : Saravana Bhavan at Vellore

[aargee]

Originally Posted by ampere

Don't go via Uthangarai. Drive all the way till Krishnagiri on NH46 and hop on to NH7. That is a much easier and cleaner route to take till Salem. Also its not that longer. Then onwards its the regular rumble of NH47 plus what others suggest.

+1 to that.
I did the same way from Chennai to Kochi during Dec 25 (up) & 28 (down), take the route Chennai-Vellore-Krishnagiri-Salem-Coimbatore & the roads are awesome. Just watch out for several speed breakers just before Salem (indications are several twist & turn roads & the sign boards are present). From Salem to Coimbatore, just watch out for the oncoming traffic on the same side of the road as road work is in progress.

[aargee]

Some more additional info
Watch this for the toll fare - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post1689273

[srikanthpotluri]

thanks Nikhil, Ampere & Aargee -

so to confirm - is this i should be doing from Salem to Coimbatore - "On the return trip, I took the NH209 to Annur, and a took a right turn onto SH80 and reached Avinashi much earlier. Best of all, the journey was pleasant and smooth, even though the road is not perfectly straight and is not meant for high-speed traffic.?

Please confirm.

[srikanthpotluri]

Guys can please confirm? much appreciated, any one has idea about any accomodation at Anamalai WildLife Sanctuary?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by srikanthpotluri

Guys can please confirm? much appreciated, any one has idea about any accomodation at Anamalai WildLife Sanctuary?

Since you need to go to Salem, you have to take NH47 anyway. The Mettur/Bhavani is taken by folks, who can bypass Salem. So on the NH47, its till Avinashi anyway.

The rest route is as others have mentioned. No idea about Annamalai sanctuary. Never been there.

[Nikhil_blr]

Originally Posted by srikanthpotluri

thanks Nikhil, Ampere & Aargee -

so to confirm - is this i should be doing from Salem to Coimbatore - "On the return trip, I took the NH209 to Annur, and a took a right turn onto SH80 and reached Avinashi much earlier. Best of all, the journey was pleasant and smooth, even though the road is not perfectly straight and is not meant for high-speed traffic.?

Please confirm.

Yes - when going towards Coimbatore, you should do the reverse: Take the right turn in Avinashi towards Annur, then in Annur take the SH80 towards Coimbatore. You will reach Ganapathi / Gandhipuram Bus stand.

NB: I recommend this route if you want a good smooth road plus less traffic. The only thing is that you cannot go very fast on this road because of high number of curves and the number of villages it goes thru.

[csentil]

If you want to stay in Top Slip then you should call and book in advance and the Govt Guest house/cottages available there. If you know someone in the Police dept or State Govt, get a letter from them. That could help. I don't remember any resorts there.

Ideal route to Coimbatore from Chennai is

Chennai - Kanchipuram - Vellore - Krishnagiri (take left towards Salem) - Dharmapuri - Salem. You can hit the bypass for all of them. From Tambaram East take the ORR to Poonamallee Highway.

From Salem its the 4 lane road which ends 10 kms before Avinashi. Strongly suggest that you take the Annur road from Avinashi as everyone suggests. Its a right bang inside town. Check google maps. At Annur you will meet the Sathy - Coimbatore Road.

Once you enter Annur, there will be a major junction and you just need to take the left there. Its quite easy. The road as everyone said, will go through Saravanapatti, Ganapathy and hit Coimbatore Gandhipuram Bus Stand.

For your return, if you are coming from Coimbatore especially in the evening, I would suggest the same route.

You could alternatively do: Coimbatore - Annur - Sathyamangalam - Athani - Andhiyur - Ammapettai - Mettur - Thoppur - Krishnagiri - Chennai.

Roads are good throughout this stretch.

[vineethvazhayil]

Originally Posted by csentil

You could alternatively do: Coimbatore - Annur - Sathyamangalam - Athani - Andhiyur - Ammapettai - Mettur - Thoppur - Krishnagiri - Chennai.

Roads are good throughout this stretch.

Interesting option there.. Should try for my next Palakkad drive. NH209 is excellent, good surface and lots of twists and turns. Hope the remaining part from Sathy to Mettur also is good.

[srikanthpotluri]

Thanks alot Sentil for those details, very much helpful.

Will do the same and will update the Road conditions next Monday.

[srikanthpotluri]

Hi Folks,

Just an update. I completed the Chennai -Coimbatore-Pollachi-TopSlip-Mettur-Chennai route this weekend.

Took the same route as suggested by our friends here -

Chennai-Krishnagiri-Salem-Avinashi-Annur-Coimbatore.

From Coimbatore post business we went to Pollachi for night stay. Next morning took the road towards Sethumadai and went to TopSlip, here the sanctuary climb is pathetic, but no choice

Return was Coimbatore bypass-Avinashi-Mettur-Krishnagiri-Chennai.

Everywhere roads are good-Salem to Avinashi - need to watch out for a lot of wrong driving by maniacs.

--
Sri