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Thanks a lot everyone. So, adding an extra day sounds very practical and meaningful too. Let me see if I manage to convince my boss. I'm the only driver and your pointers have actually got me thinking. This trip is meant to unwind a bit from the chaos but 2 days are very less as I understand and that defeats the very purpose. :)

If unwinding is the idea, trust me in two days you are adding to more stress being on the road. Though I understand, its fun too, but I think you should take an extra day off.

- Start early 3AM/4AM and being Rameshwaram by 2/3PM.
- Visit temple in the evening and nearby location
- Day 2 morning hire and jeep and go to Dhanushkodi to be back for lunch.
- Go for a second round of darshan or laze around the beach.
- Day 3 start driving back after break fast. Drive at leisure to be home by evening.
- Hotel for stay: http://www.daiwikhotels.com

What time are you back from work on Friday. If you can come earlier say by noon, then you can reach Madurai the same night where you can break for the night. The next morning you can cover some of the famous temples in madurai before proceeding to Rameswaram.

It will be a very hectic schedule if you leave on Saturday early morning. You will end up only driving for the 2 days.

Thanks ampere and suresh. I had bookmarked Daiwik hotels as well going by the reviews. Friday is a full working day and so I would be able to leave only early morning the next day.
It's time to pester my boss for an extra day off now.

Remember to take it easy during the drive. take breaks as required, be relaxed yet attentive, watch out for people, animals, two wheelers/mopeds criss-crossing the undivided highway, vehicles stopping suddenly in the middle of the road especially during the last 150 km undivided stretch as you near Rameswaram. Its better to stay within 70kmph here.

Rameswaram is a bit arid and full of thorny bushes along the sides of the road (Acasia shrubs). Be careful not to drive too close along the road edges to minimize chances of getting your tyre punctured by one of those long thorny dry branches/twigs lying along the road edges.


You can check out my travelogue for some additional perspective.

Enjoy the drive, the fun is in the journey, get two additional days off if possible to relax and enjoy:)

Also, don't forget to stop over in Pamban Bridge. It has amazing views and if you are lucky, you may get a sight of train passing through depending on the time you reach there.

Moreover, just to set your expectations about the temple, don't expect the temple to be very neat and clean (no offence intended). Since it is a coastal area, there will be lot of sand and floors will be wet all the time. There are 22 wells inside the temple and people take bath in sequential order. It is considered as a very holy thing to do. If you are planning to go for it, hire a person who can get water from each well. He may charge per person 50 or 100 bucks IIRC.

-Ravi

A friend is doing the Bangalore-Madurai-Rameswaram-Kanyakumari circuit.

Is https://goo.gl/maps/3scc3CYeDnt the right bypass for Madurai towards Rameswaram ?

Yes that is the correct bypass.
- Go till Thirumangalam
- Take Trichy Exit
- Go past Airport
- Take the Rameshwaram road.

Sadly there is no north east side bypass road which can cut down the distance by a lot.

Folks
I intend to visit Rameswaram, Dhanushkodi and Kanyakumari in the last week of December. I have few queries.

1. Is it better to halt at Madurai instead of driving till Rameswaram.
2. Good hotels to stay in Rameswaram. Looks like Daiwik is bit too costly
3. How are the road conditions from Rameswaram to Kanyakumari. Any good hotels to stay in Kanyakumari.

How to locate the highway to Rameswaram from Madurai assuming I break for the night in Madurai.

Unless you want to visit Madurai temples, you are better driving all the way.

Look at Pearl Residency. Thats another decent option.

Instead of going via ECR all the way, take the SH via Ottapidaram to come to Tirunelveli 4-lane bypass. This way you would avoid Tuticorin also. But then you dont get anything on the way.

TTDC is a good place to book at Kanyakumari.


Difficult. No option as per what I know, but use maps and ask for Rameshwaram road.

As ampere already said, unless you want to visit Madurai, drive all the way to Rameshwaram. Please note that although the weather will be nice in December, there will be heavy rush in Madurai and Rameshwaram as it is Sabarimala season. If temple visit is the main intention, I would recommend some other time for the visit.
I had done a Madurai - Rameshwaram drive in Dec 2013 and you can find the details here.

Thanx Mate for your prompt response. I think I will drive straight away to Rameswaram instead of halting at Madurai. My intention is to club both Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi. I guess 2 days should be good enough to cover both these places.
Then i intend to drive to Kanyakumari.

In that case if you start early and drive you should make it to Rameshwaram by 3/4PM. That means you should be able to have a darshan the first day itself. That gives you the next morning hour to visit Dhanushkodi. Unless you plan to bathe from the 22 wells. :)

Dont know about others. Then the only other option, is go to trip advisor, sort it based on budget/reviews and start contacting. No idea about Queen place.

Found a couple more and they seem to have good reviews.

https://jiwanresidency.com/
http://hoteltempletower.in/

Thanx Amp. I contacted Hotel Pearl Residency. Looks like rooms are booked till 28th Dec from 25th Dec. How about Queen Palace??

Agree with ampere. 2 nights stay would be enough to cover Dhanushkodi and Rameshwaram. We were not able to get a Darshan inspite of taking special ticket for entry. There is no body to manage the crowd. The staff is really rude. Also, keep in mind that mobile phone is not allowed inside. Better to keep it at the hotel.

Also, I took my car to Dhanuskkodi, parked it there and took a tempo to the ruins. I don't think it is worth to hire a jeep all the way from Rameshwaram.

Queen palace was new when we visited. Hence it was clean but service was bad (no service to talk about) but it is OK for a night stay. They have sufficient parking space which the other hotels do not have. Daiwik is too overrated.