[karmix]

Hello Everyone!

Me n my fiancée are planning for a nice honeymoon to ooty. We're gonna start the drive from Cochin in our Indigo marina (with lotsa supplies in the trunk) :P.

Our itinerary is like this :

On arrival we were planning to stay at the Tata guest house for 3 days and then move over to the Redhill resort for 2 days.

We would like to visit Yercaud on the way back for 2 or 3 days and then carry on back to Cochin.

I'd be grateful if someone could help me out with the route, some info on good places to stop on the way (food or tea or views etc), and on good cozy places to stay in Yercaud. Any other suggestions for changes are also most welcome as we are newbies to that region.

Thankx

[ampere]

One sincere question: After Ooty do you really want to go to Yercaud?
In my opinion you should extend your stay in Ooty itself.

On the route: Cochin to Ooty can be done either via CBE-Mettupalayam or via
Trichur/Kunnankulam/Pattambi/Perinthalmanna/Nimabur.
I would choose the latter for the nicer drive experience and less traffic.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

+1 to ampere's suggestion = that way, you can visit Mysore too, if you want.

If yercaud is an absolute must visit- take that route on way back.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

+1 to ampere's suggestion = that way, you can visit Mysore too, if you want.

If yercaud is an absolute must visit- take that route on way back.

Or: Visit Ooty, take the way back via Waynad. Stay there for some time and return via Calicut.
NH212 is one of best pleasure-inducing drives!

[kala]

Originally Posted by ampere

On the route: Cochin to Ooty can be done either via CBE-Mettupalayam or via
Trichur/Kunnankulam/Pattambi/Perinthalmanna/Nimabur.
I would choose the latter for the nicer drive experience and less traffic.

I'd been to Ooty last weekend and my brother-in-law who joined us there from Cochin said the CBE-Ooty drive via Mettupalayam was a real horror. That section took him almost 4.5 hours because of really heavy traffic on Saturday morning.

I have never travelled on the Trichur-Nilambur stretch of the second route, but the road between Nilambur and Ooty is in pretty good shape, and if the initial portion is also anything near that, the Nilambur route would certainly be the preferred one.

[dubeee]

Originally Posted by kala

I'd been to Ooty last weekend and my brother-in-law who joined us there from Cochin said the CBE-Ooty drive via Mettupalayam was a real horror. That section took him almost 4.5 hours because of really heavy traffic on Saturday morning.

I have never travelled on the Trichur-Nilambur stretch of the second route, but the road between Nilambur and Ooty is in pretty good shape, and if the initial portion is also anything near that, the Nilambur route would certainly be the preferred one.

Instead of the main road from Mettupalayam to Coonoor, you can take a diversion just after the Bhavani bridge, go left and up via Kotagiri, then Kattabetu to Ooty. This is less crowded and a far better scenic drive.

Cheers!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by kala

I'd been to Ooty last weekend and my brother-in-law who joined us there from Cochin said the CBE-Ooty drive via Mettupalayam was a real horror. That section took him almost 4.5 hours because of really heavy traffic on Saturday morning.

I have never travelled on the Trichur-Nilambur stretch of the second route, but the road between Nilambur and Ooty is in pretty good shape, and if the initial portion is also anything near that, the Nilambur route would certainly be the preferred one.

For the second route, you will need to get into Tirchur town from NH47 and take the Guruvayur road.
But dont turn on to Choondal road, but keep driving towards Kunnamkulam. From then its straight. Pattambi/Perinthalmanna/Melattur/Nilambur/Gudalur. At Gudalur turn to Ooty instead of going straight to Bandipur.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by ampere

For the second route, you will need to get into Tirchur town from NH47 and take the Guruvayur road.
But dont turn on to Choondal road, but keep driving towards Kunnamkulam. From then its straight. Pattambi/Perinthalmanna/Melattur/Nilambur/Gudalur. At Gudalur turn to Ooty instead of going straight to Bandipur.

The better route from Trissur is to take the Shoranur road (instead of Guruvayur road), which is the next cutting in Trissur Round, and go via Shoranur and Pattambi to Perinthalmanna and Nilambur. Roads around Wandoor and Pandikkad are supposed to be in a bad condition.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

The better route from Trissur is to take the Shoranur road (instead of Guruvayur road), which is the next cutting in Trissur Round, and go via Shoranur and Pattambi to Perinthalmanna and Nilambur. Roads around Wandoor and Pandikkad are supposed to be in a bad condition.

Thanks for the detail HVK. That seems a good option.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Originally Posted by ampere

For the second route, you will need to get into Tirchur town from NH47 and take the Guruvayur road.

No. Just as the Trichur bye pass start, (I guess the place is called Amballoor), do not turn left (ie. ollur). Continue on the byepass. Either turn left when you see the Oushadhi factory on right, or, the more straightforward left turn from the Palakkad end of the Trichur byepass (ie, Mannuthy). Furst riad tajes you through front of Jubliee Mission Hospital, from where you find your way to Patturaikkal / Poonkunnam / Sitaram Maruti dealership, and then take the Shornur SH. The second brings you closer to patturaikkal junction. (Sorry, cannot give you directions within the town.)

Both these can help you avoid the busy Ollur stretch, as well as the round.

The trichur round always drives me round the bend, it is very busy at peak hours.

Only confusing point on this route is the T junction couple of KM after the "Akamala Ayyappa temple" at Wadakkancherry (Do not confuse with the other Wadakkancherry on NH 47). The SH turns left to Shornur here - the road straight takes you to Chelakkara.

[karmix]

Wow! Thank you all for the responses!

One sincere question: After Ooty do you really want to go to Yercaud?
In my opinion you should extend your stay in Ooty itself.

Thanks Ampere, we have also decided to skip yercaud for now and am now looking at Wayanad. Following HVK's suggestion we're gonna get into thrissur and go via Shoranur and Pattambi to Perinthalmanna and Nilambur to Ooty. So the first leg of the trip is set!

I had one more idea, after the initial stay in Ooty we would carry on to masinagudi and stay there for 2 nights. Then drive through Mudumalai national park and continue to sulthan bathery through gudallur. (looks simple enough on googlemaps )

Advice needed :
1. Is Masinagudi worth a visit from ooty?
2. Is the masinagudi-mudumalai-gudallur route okay or is it a trap by the googlemap pothole bandits?
3. Places to stay in Wayanad - any suggestions are welcome

PS: I'll post a travelogue later (scout's promise)

Thankx

[ampere]

Originally Posted by karmix

I had one more idea, after the initial stay in Ooty we would carry on to masinagudi and stay there for 2 nights. Then drive through Mudumalai national park and continue to sulthan bathery through gudallur. (looks simple enough on googlemaps )

Advice needed :
1. Is Masinagudi worth a visit from ooty?
2. Is the masinagudi-mudumalai-gudallur route okay or is it a trap by the googlemap pothole bandits?
3. Places to stay in Wayanad - any suggestions are welcome

PS: I'll post a travelogue later (scout's promise)

Thankx

Is you are interested in wildlife, Masinagudi would be good! Go there for sure.
From Masinagudi dont go to Waynad via Gudalur, but via Gudlupet (NH212).
Waynad: The best place is Vythri resorts. Why am I suggesting that? No need to guess!


@BaCkSeAtDrIVeR Thanks for that route! I had no idea about it. (I never drove on NH47 between Trichur and CBE)

[hvkumar]

Yes, Masinagudi is a good idea, however, rainy season may not be a good idea to visit the WLS.

The Masinagudi-Mudumalai 7 kms-Gudalur 17 kms-Sultan Battery 40 kms route is for real! Road is good.

[kala]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Yes, Masinagudi is a good idea, however, rainy season may not be a good idea to visit the WLS.

The Masinagudi-Mudumalai 7 kms-Gudalur 17 kms-Sultan Battery 40 kms route is for real! Road is good.

Drove by Masinagudi on Friday on my way to Ooty and Sunday on the way back. The forest is lovely and green, and we saw quite a few tourists around Theppekkadu on Sunday. Monsoons are no longer a deterrent I guess

And my experience on the two alternate routes to Sultan Bathery from Masinagudi is that you eventually end up taking approximately the same amount of time either way in spite of the route via Gundlupet being longer by 15-20 kms. Mudumalai to Gudalur is an extremely slow drive because they have speedbreakers every 50 meters or so, and Gudalur to Batheri is also not really a fast road. The Gundlupet route has wide roads all throughout (the Bandipur-Gundlupet stretch has been done up now) and you can drive reasonably fast (though it isn't really advisable to go at more than 60 to 70kmph when driving through the forest which is approx. 35-40 kms in that route)

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by karmix

3. Places to stay in Wayanad - any suggestions are welcome

Staying at Wayanad depends on the places you would like to visit there. If sightseeing is secondary, better stay at any resorts, because road connectivity from resorts to main sightseeing areas are generally not good. If sightseeing is priority then stay at hotels in towns near to your place of interest - that way you are better connected to the main road.

Resorts : Vythiri Resorts, Haritagiri, Blue Ginger, Royal Palm are good ones that I can think of
Hotels : Woodlands-Kalpetta, Brahmagiri-Mananthavady are two that I've personal experience of, and are very good

But whatever you do, DO NOT stay at Jungle Resorts and their tree houses - the whole resort is covered in absolute filth (Their website is very good, so dont be fooled)