[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

I was planning to take Ulundurpet / Tindivanam/Arcot/Chitoor/Bangalore but want to avoid it beacuse of Telangana agitations.

Does Ulundurpet / Tindivanam/Arcot/Bangalore go via Andhra? If not, I would take that route. Is it via Vellore (Bangalore Chennai GQ)?

Thanks.

Originally Posted by ampere

It goes via AP at Chitoor/Palamaner region. Not worth it I would say.

So the only option is return via Salem?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

So the only option is return via Salem?

I would say thats the best option as of now. Also do see the Bangalore traffic thread. going via Varthur is a pain. So may be good to use 207.

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by ravib

On the Ulundurpet-Salem highway, i would like to caution one important thing. The road is not 100% 4L. Though the road conditions are excellent, it is a mix of 4L and occasional 2L stretches for good number of kms. So you will end up seeing 4L ending then & there and vehicles coming in opposite direction all of sudden. So don't drive with the mindset thinking you have 2 lanes in your own side/direction to overtake comfortably. Bit of risk is there, if your are not observing the reduction in lanes keenly with the speed you normally drive. (Read 100+ kmph)
Work was going on at few places and I hope they make this stretch completely 4L.
-Ravi

On Sunday last (11th Aug) I was coming on this very same road (NH 79) from Chidambaram. At one stretch where it is clearly 4-lane, I suddenly saw a barricade; had to apply brakes and switch over to the other (oncoming) traffic lane; only a few yards away I realized that the local villagers have blocked a small portion of the National Highway and were celebrating a local Mariyamman festival by putting up a pandal / shamiyana on the highway

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by ampere

I would say thats the best option as of now. Also do see the Bangalore traffic thread. going via Varthur is a pain. So may be good to use 207.

I have decided to take the NH 207 for the return but am confused about the route to take for the onward journey. Varthur -attibele route is 15 KMS shorter than silboard route for me. Should I take it? I will be starting at 5:15 AM but am worried about safety and the Varthur bridge issue.

Not sure about NH 207 route as I am not familiar with it and don't want to miss the way early in the morning.

Thanks.

[netarchie]

Traveled via hosur - salem - virduchalam - jayakondam - kumbakonam on 17 aug.
Roads are fine ..except for small patches in between virduchalam and kumbakonam..its about 120 kms I think.
Roads had many pot holes with high traffic. It took me about 8 hours from hosur to kumbakonam. Reached hosur around 1 pm and kumbakonam by 9 pm.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

I have decided to take the NH 207 for the return but am confused about the route to take for the onward journey. Varthur -attibele route is 15 KMS shorter than silboard route for me. Should I take it? I will be starting at 5:15 AM but am worried about safety and the Varthur bridge issue.

Not sure about NH 207 route as I am not familiar with it and don't want to miss the way early in the morning.

Thanks.

Sorry I saw this quite late. The way to take this route :

- At Hope Farm junction dont turn towards Varthur. Continue straight, till you hit a Y junction. Take right and continue on NH207 all the way till Hosur.
- Sign Guages are mentioned.

I think by the time you see this, you must have already come back !

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by ampere

Sorry I saw this quite late. The way to take this route :

- At Hope Farm junction dont turn towards Varthur. Continue straight, till you hit a Y junction. Take right and continue on NH207 all the way till Hosur.
- Sign Guages are mentioned.

I think by the time you see this, you must have already come back !

I had a nice trip. Will open a separate thread for the same.

While going, I took Whitefield- Varthur -Sarjapur - Bagalur -Hosur route. Started at 5:15 AM and reached Hosur at 6:00 AM. 41 Kms - 45 mins.

While coming back, came via Chikka Tiruppathi - Hope Farm route. This was longer by 10 KMS. The drive is very nice though.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

While coming back, came via Chikka Tiruppathi - Hope Farm route. This was longer by 10 KMS. The drive is very nice though.

Great Pramod. Thats what I was trying to mention. Hopefarm to NH207 and there on to Hosur would go via Chikka Tirupathi/Sarjapur bypass. Yes its a very soothing drive indeed with green fields on both sides.

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by netarchie

Traveled via hosur - salem - virduchalam - jayakondam - kumbakonam on 17 aug.

Used a similar route on 9th August. Started from ITPL at 0530. Reached Vaidheeswaran Koil at 1300. With two stops on the way.

Route: Hosur - Krishnagiri - Salem - Attur - V-Koot Road - Virudhachalam - Sethiathope - Bhuvanagiri - Chidambaram - Seerkaazhi - Vaidheeswaran Koil. Minor patches between Virudhachalam and Bhuvanagiri. Look out for LARGE number of trucks parked between V-Koot Road and Virudhachalam.

On the way back, started from Chidambaram at 0840 and reached ITPL at 1440. With three stops on the way.

[naveenroy]

Hello everyone. A colleague of mine is planning the a trip covering the following places during the Christmas holidays.

Day 1 - Bangalore to Thanjavur
Day 2 - Thanjavur to Velankanni and back to Thanjavur for the night
Day 3 - Thanjavur to Kanyakumari
Day 4 - Visit places around Kanyakumari
Day 5 - Visit places around Kanyakumari
Day 6 - Kanyakumari to Karur/Dindigul
Day 7 - Karur/Dindigul to Bangalore

He is taking short drives since he has 2 small kids. Is the following route the best route Bangalore - Tanjavur - Velankanni - Thanjavur - Kanyakumari - Bangalore. How are the road conditions? I am certain of the Thanjavur Kanyakumari and Kanyakumari Bangalore road conditions but its been some time since I went from Bangalore to Thanjavur. I haven't done Thanjavur Kanyakumari either.

How is the stretch from Srirangam to Thanjavur and to Velankanni?

What is the best route from Thanjavur to Kanyakumari?

Also accomodation - since it is Christmas season, Velankanni will be overcrowded. Hence he has chosen to stay in Thanjavur. Any good places to stay there?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

How is the stretch from Srirangam to Thanjavur and to Velankanni?

Trichy-Tanjore : 4-lane
Tanjore-Velankanni : Don't take the regular NH67. Go via Mannargudi-Thiruthuraipondi-Nagore.

What is the best route from Thanjavur to Kanyakumari?

One route : and only one.
Tanjore-Trichy-Madurai-Tirunelveli-KK This is end to end 4-lane.

Also accomodation - since it is Christmas season, Velankanni will be overcrowded. Hence he has chosen to stay in Thanjavur. Any good places to stay there?

Many here recommend Gnanam. But see trip advisor. There are many in there.

[ak916]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Also accomodation - since it is Christmas season, Velankanni will be overcrowded. Hence he has chosen to stay in Thanjavur. Any good places to stay there?

We stayed at Gnanam a couple of weeks ago. It was quite good for the money. Plus point being it is about 1 km away from the big temple and the same distance from the Marata Palace. Food wasnt bad either. Parking is open to sky but inside the compound with security.

[ravib]

Back from Bangalore-Kumbakonam-Bangalore trip.

Took Bangalore-Hosur-Salem-Attur-Vridhachalam-Jayankondam-Kumbakonam
route and same in return journey too.
Started on friday early morning 4:45 from C.V.Raman Nagar home and Reached Kumbakonam at 10:30 am including 40 minutes break for breakfast and petrol refilling at Thoppur A2B.

Detailed Road conditions update as on 1st Dec 2013:

Bangalore-Hosur => Nothing new to talk about. Been discussed in multiple threads. Enough said !
Hosur-Krishnagiri => New bridges were opened in 6L road and is much better now in both directions. No need to go under all the flyovers except for 1 flyover IIRC.
Krishnagiri-Salem-Attur-Thalaivasal => Excellent 4L road all throughout.

After exiting NH68 4L road towards Vridhachalam (after 5 kms from Thalaivasal), 2L road conditions are good/okay till Veppur Koot Road (aka V.Koot road) Junction where NH45 (Chennai-Trichy Highway) intersects.

Veppur Koot road - Vridhachalam => Very rough and patchy roads (no potholes), but still can maintain 70-80 kmph speed.
Vridhachalam-Andimadam-Jayankonadam => Decent/good roads.
Inside Jayankondam Road conditions are too bad. Lot of potholes.
Jayankondam to T.Palur => Okay/decent roads.
T.Palur to Madhanathur Bridge => Horrible. Too many potholes and can't drive more than 30-40 kmph.
Madhanathur-Kumbakonam => Very good

Inspite of few sections of bad roads, one can reach Kumbakonam from Bangalore in about ~6 hours time in this route, and still better compared to Trichy/Tanjore route in terms of distance and road conditions.

-Ravi

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by ravib

Back from Bangalore-Kumbakonam-Bangalore trip.

Inspite of few sections of bad roads, one can reach Kumbakonam from Bangalore in about ~6 hours time in this route, and still better compared to Trichy/Tanjore route in terms of distance and road conditions.

-Ravi

Thanks. This would be very useful when I go to Mayiladuthurai in December.

[praveenp]

Traveled to Kumbakonam on Saturday (11th) and this is the route I took.

Bangalore-> Krishnagiri-> Salem-> Attur-> Thingaloor (one of the navagraha temples)-> Kumbakonam

Bangalore to Attur stretch is quite good except for the known ongoing work on Hosur road. Intermittent stretches between Attur and Thingaloor had some rough patches but could maintain speeds between 60 and 70 kmph. Same holds true till Kumbakonam as well.

Note: We left Bangalore around 7.45 Am on Saturday and by the time we crossed electronics city, there were long queues at tolls. Hence it is good to start early.

Near Attur (Attur-Perambalur road), there is a restaurant called Rama's cafe. You can stop here for bio break.

Stayed at Hotel Raya Mahal (Gandhi Adigal Salai) in Kumbakonam. You can have breakfast at hotel Krishna, which is next to hotel Vinayaga. It's similar to darshini type hotels you find in Bangalore. Idlys here taste really good.

While coming back decided to go via Tirukoilur, which has the brindavana (sacred resting place) of Raghuttama Tirtharu, a 14th century pontiff. Hence took the below route:

Kumbakonam-> Tirukoilur-> Thiruvannamalai-> Tirupattur-> Krishnagiri-> Hosur-> Bangalore

Road between Kumbakonam and Tirukoilur is really bad. It took us close to 3.10 hours to cover a distance of 140 kms. Even from Tirukoilur to Tirupattur it was quite bad. Had developed neck pain by the time I reached Tirupattur. After Tirupattur it was a smooth drive.

At Tirupattur there is a link road. Take this road to avoid town traffic.