[Pacifier]

Originally Posted by treadmark

Have planned to Visit Rameshwaram, Madurai, Palani and then to Thrissur with my wife, mother and 3 year old kid.

Hi,
We did a Banglaore - Madurai - Rameshwaram- KK- Kodaikanal- Palani as part of a big trip just this last week.
As you are already are planning to cover Madurai, if at all possible, would recommend you to do a halt in madurai and then continue on to Rameshwaram next day and then to Palani purely based on travel time. Doing more than 7-8 hrs in a day might become tedious.

Cheers

[treadmark]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

In Madurai, some of the known NV places are Kumar mess and Amma mess.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by manjubp

It is tough to cover Bangalore to Rameshwaram Via Thanjavur in a day with young kid. I would recommend to have halt at Thanjavur, with this you can cover Temples in Trichy too.

I think then we need to skip Thanjavur as we have already booked rooms in Rameshwaram and Palani for a night stay.

Originally Posted by Pacifier

Hi,
As you are already are planning to cover Madurai, if at all possible, would recommend you to do a halt in madurai and then continue on to Rameshwaram next day and then to Palani purely based on travel time. Doing more than 7-8 hrs in a day might become tedious.
Cheers

I don't want to stay in Madurai since we will be heading to Thrissur after Plani, hence booked rooms in Hotel Ganapat Palani, was told this is the best bet available in town.

Also our kid is used to long drives now, we do Bangalore ~ Thrissur once in every month or even more at times, few months back even we did Bangalore Trivandrum with a break in Kaniyakumari for sunset and it was close to 14 hours.

Cheers!

[sabby_4c]

I am planning to visit Rameshwaram from Bangalore on Christmas weekend Saturday. Looks like the Trichy route is suggested due to the road constructions in Madurai and even google is suggesting the same route.

Could others who have done this route tell me approximately how much time it would take to drive till Rameshwaram ? Planning to bring parents so do not want to drirve more than 8 hours. Also, if a night stop is required, I'd welcome suggestions for good places that is closer to either Bangalore or Rameshwaram.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by sabby_4c

Could others who have done this route tell me approximately how much time it would take to drive till Rameshwaram ? Planning to bring parents so do not want to drirve more than 8 hours. Also, if a night stop is required, I'd welcome suggestions for good places that is closer to either Bangalore or Rameshwaram.

Its about 300+ to Trichy from Bangalore and another 220+ to Rameshwaram. You can cut some distance by doing Karur-Manparai-Pudukottai (This avoids Trichy)

All in all, you are still looking at ~10+ hrs of travel time. Or the other option is break at Trichy, spend a couple a days visiting temples and head forward. On return, start at leisure from Rameshwaram, take a halt in Salem.

[searacer932]

Originally Posted by sabby_4c

I am planning to visit Rameshwaram from Bangalore on Christmas weekend Saturday. Looks like the Trichy route is suggested due to the road constructions in Madurai and even google is suggesting the same route.

Could others who have done this route tell me approximately how much time it would take to drive till Rameshwaram ? Planning to bring parents so do not want to drirve more than 8 hours. Also, if a night stop is required, I'd welcome suggestions for good places that is closer to either Bangalore or Rameshwaram.

Suggest that you do a halt at Sivaganga. Bangalore to Rameswaram is roughly 10+ hours in car. It will be quite strenuous for your parents without a break. Sivaganga is roughly 2.5 hours from Rameswaram.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by sabby_4c

I am planning to visit Rameshwaram from Bangalore on Christmas weekend Saturday.

It is probably one of the worst travel days of the year (22-Dec), I expect half of Bangalore (figure of speech ) at every toll plaza enroute. Budget 8 hrs for Trichy, 9 hrs from Madurai and expect 2+ km long lines in toll plazas. Ideally I'd suggest leaving 2 days earlier/later, whichever works for you.

Road construction is happening on both Trichy and Madurai routes. Below are my notes comparing both routes from a drive 2 weeks back. Personally for a daytime drive, I'd prefer Trichy-Karaikudi route.

Madurai-Rameswaram - Took 3 hrs overall.

1. Absolutely no 4-laning work between Madurai and Thiruppuvanam. And this section is a PITA.
2. 4-lanes with manageable diversions exist between Thiruppuvanam-Manamadurai, Manamadurai-Paramakudi.
3. Except Ramnad, whose bypass existed as a 2-lane, none of the other towns have a working bypass.
4. Beyond Paramakudi its a wide 2-lane till Ramnad bypass after that it is the usual 2-lane that existed before.
5. The only bad sections are the ones where bridge work is going on. Even in-town roads in Manamadurai and Paramakudi are manageable.
6. Too many barricades.
7. Traffic is high and borderline lawless.

Rameswaram-Trichy - Took 3:45 hours (incl 10 min for Uchipuli railway gate and 20 min for coffee break)

1. ECR-Karaikudi is being made into wide 2-lane.
2. 2 km of road work happening between ECR and CK Mangalam, rest of the stretch no work is happening. Stretches are OK to rough, can maintain 80 throughout. Next to nil traffic helps a bit.
3. Relatively longer stretches of road widening happening between CK Mangalam and Devakottai. The joints are uneven at places. So if you have a bad section coming up, slow down.
4. Bulk of the work is happening between Devakottai and Karaikudi bypass. Some sections are complete and rest are WIP
5. Overall at daytime all the bad sections can be dealt with easily.
6. Karaikudi bypass to Trichy bypass is in excellent condition and can maintain 100 except for suburban Trichy region.
7. Fastag works well on the 2 tolls between Karaikudi and Trichy, but is not a dedicated lane.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by sabby_4c

I'd welcome suggestions for good places that is closer to either Bangalore or Rameshwaram.

Below link has my trip details to Rameswaram and Kanyakumari.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...bangalore.html (Unforgettable round trip from Bangalore - Kanyakumari - Rameswaram - Bangalore)

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Below link has my trip details to Rameswaram and Kanyakumari.

One difference since 2016 has been the accessibility of the Rameswaram to Arichalmunai, you can take your own car until land's end.

[kavensri]

Need your inputs/comments.

I am planning for a Madhurai-Rameswaram-Dhanuskodi-Kanyakumari trip next week (3 days trip from 25th to 27th). I am planning to hire an Innova. We are 6 of us, aged parents and my two kids. Main intention of this trip is for my parents, who have to take bath in those 22 wells to complete the rituals (after our last year visit to Kasi).
This is what my plan is:
Day 1: Start as early as possible in the morning, see the main temple in Madhurai and then reach Rameswaram by evening.
Day 2: Temple visit in Rameshwaram after taking bath in those 22 wells, visit Dhanuskodi and then try to reach Kanyakumari by evening. Do some sightseeing if possible.
Day 3: After seeing places in Kanyakumari, try to reach Bangalore before 9pm.

Is this is the right plan? Why I am asking is, I have seen some of the BHPians here doing other way around (BLR-KANYA-RAMES-MADHU-BLR). But in my case, I want to do Rameswaram first as that is the sole reason for this trip. So, is there is any difficulties with this ‘reverse’ trip?

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by kavensri

Need your inputs/comments.

I am planning for a Madhurai-Rameswaram-Dhanuskodi-Kanyakumari trip next week (3 days trip from 25th to 27th).
Is this is the right plan? Why I am asking is, I have seen some of the BHPians here doing other way around (BLR-KANYA-RAMES-MADHU-BLR). But in my case, I want to do Rameswaram first as that is the sole reason for this trip. So, is there is any difficulties with this ‘reverse’ trip?

I guess there are no difficulties in your itenary. Choice is entirely yours as to which place you wish to visit first.

You can refer my trip details here. In Rameswaram, do not miss the train journey on the Pamban bridge. It is a must.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...bangalore.html (Unforgettable round trip from Bangalore - Kanyakumari - Rameswaram - Bangalore)

[Secretariat]

Originally Posted by kavensri

Need your inputs/comments. I am planning for a Madhurai-Rameswaram-Dhanuskodi-Kanyakumari trip next week (3 days trip from 25th to 27th).

Way way too strenuous for the elderly.

The Madurai Meenakshiamman temple closes at 12.30 PM, I think. Its a 7 hour drive from Bangalore. Reaching it is touch and go. Temple reopens at 4.00 PM. There will be waiting times due to the crowd. And then Rameswaram is a 3 hour drive from Madurai.

Second day also is too tight - finishing the rituals, going to Dhansuhkodi and then reaching Kanyakumari for sightseeing is also ambitious.

You might want to consider dropping Kanyakumari entirely. Or else stretch it to 4 days.

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

I guess there are no difficulties in your itenary. Choice is entirely yours as to which place you wish to visit first.

You can refer my trip details here. In Rameswaram, do not miss the train journey on the Pamban bridge. It is a must.

Sure, I will definitely do that.

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...bangalore.html (Unforgettable round trip from Bangalore - Kanyakumari - Rameswaram - Bangalore)

Yes, I have gone through your travelogue and also one from mpksuhas as well.

Originally Posted by Secretariat

Way way too strenuous for the elderly.

The Madurai Meenakshiamman temple closes at 12.30 PM, I think. Its a 7 hour drive from Bangalore. Reaching it is touch and go. Temple reopens at 4.00 PM. There will be waiting times due to the crowd. And then Rameswaram is a 3 hour drive from Madurai.

Thanks for the information. This will definitely help me in planning my Madhurai temple visit. May be, I will do this during my return journey.

Originally Posted by Secretariat

Second day also is too tight - finishing the rituals, going to Dhansuhkodi and then reaching Kanyakumari for sightseeing is also ambitious.

You might want to consider dropping Kanyakumari entirely. Or else stretch it to 4 days.

Thanks for your valuable inputs. I cannot extend my trip beyond 3 days, so I will definitely drop the plan to visit Kanyakumari. In the beginning, my plan was to just do Madhurai and Rameswaram in 3 days. But someone suggested that I can also cover Kanyakumari. So, after your suggestion, I will skip Kanyakumari as I do not want to strain my parents.

[vint]

I'm planning to visit Madurai / Karaikudi / Kovalam next week. I see in Google maps that there's some road block on NH 44. Did you face any ? Did it cause any delay ?

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by vint

I see in Google maps that there's some road block on NH 44. Did you face any ? Did it cause any delay ?

Which roadblock are you talking about? The only activity on NH7 was the Salem bridge construction, which doesn't cause significant delay as long as you don't do in peak times.

[vint]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Which roadblock are you talking about? The only activity on NH7 was the Salem bridge construction, which doesn't cause significant delay as long as you don't do in peak times.

It seems to be near Salem. Here's snapshot of Google Maps from that place: