[ampere]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Long back we used to go Chennai - Salem - Coimbatore - Pollachi - Udumalpet - Munnar. Used to take ages in the old Fiat or Amby. But a lovely drive in terms of scenic beauty.

Udumalpet-Munnar is still a scenic drive. In fact one leg of the journey can still be done this way. Also saves from monotony of driving the same route.

[qAnand]

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

Chennai - Trichy - Dindigul - Theni - Munnar is the shortest.

But, Udumalpet - Munnar is more scenic

I checked in google map, the shortest appears to be Chennai - Trichy - Madurai - Theni - Munnar. Though the difference is very less (just 7km), i think it makes more sense to take the Madurai route, because of the 4 lane road.

Regards,
qARS

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by qAnand

I checked in google map, the shortest appears to be Chennai - Trichy - Madurai - Theni - Munnar. Though the difference is very less (just 7km), i think it makes more sense to take the Madurai route, because of the 4 lane road.

Regards,
qARS

No. You may need to review it again. The shortest is indeed Chennai-Trichy-Dindigul-Theni-Munnar which is 577 Kms. The distance for Chennai-Trichy-Madurai-Theni-Munnar is 606 Kms. Trichy-Dindigul road should not be bad, I hear that the 4 laning is almost complete.

But, again, if I were to go to Munnar from Chennai, I would take Chennai-Vellore-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Mettur-Bhavani-Udumalpet-Munnar. The distance is 620 Kms. Still, I will prefer this route because of the sceneries.

Now, the decision is yours

[misguidedmisile]

Thanks for helping me select the route guys!

Can you also please suggest a good place to halt for Breakfast and lunch on my way to Munnar?

I plan to leave from Chennai no later than 3AM. The route as pointed out by rameshnanada would be- Chennai-Trichy-Dindigul-Theni-Munnar.

Thanks Team!

[Archish]

Originally Posted by misguidedmisile

Thanks for helping me select the route guys!

Can you also please suggest a good place to halt for Breakfast and lunch on my way to Munnar?

I plan to leave from Chennai no later than 3AM. The route as pointed out by rameshnanada would be- Chennai-Trichy-Dindigul-Theni-Munnar.

Thanks Team!

If you plan to start at 3 am, then you would be ideally having your breakfast at Trichy at around 7.30 am.

Try Hotel Ananda, simple south indian breakfast. Ananda is on the Trichy byepass road, just before you take the turn to Dindigal Road. Dont try to push to Dindigal, as Dindigal byepass is just being constructed there no good hotels on the byepass, just 'Lorry Hotels'. You have to enter Dindugal for breakfast and it would waste Time.

If you have a heavy breakfast, I guess you can reach Munnar for Lunch.

[raju2512]

Another route that could be tried is Chennai - Trichy - Dindugal - Palani - Udumalipet - Munnar. Dindugal to Udumalaipet will be around 90 - 100 km and the roads are very good

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by raju2512

Another route that could be tried is Chennai - Trichy - Dindugal - Palani - Udumalipet - Munnar. Dindugal to Udumalaipet will be around 90 - 100 km and the roads are very good

This is indeed another good option provided if the route between Dindigul and Udumalpet is good. I may try this route sometime. The total distance works out at 602 Kms.

[Surprise]

Thekkady can also be included in this route. Thekkady to Munnar is a delight to drive

[misguidedmisile]

Thanks guys!

^^Yep, Munnar-Thekkady by road is on the cards as well. Iam staying 2 nights at Munnar & the 3rd one at Thekkady. Will post pics & hopefully my 1st Travelogue when i return.

[qAnand]

I am planning to drive to Munnar on 21st. As suggested by some of the members, I'll be doing Chennai - Trichy - Dindigul - Bodinayakkanur - Munnar
route.
When I googled maps for Trichy - Dindigul stretch, it suggests NH45B route which comes to 130km, but if I modified the route in the map to NH45 which comes to 98 km.

Please suggest which one to use? Not sure why google is suggesting a longer distance route.

Can anyone suggest which route to use, the one which google suggests or the other one?



Thanks
qARS

[ampere]

Originally Posted by qAnand

I am planning to drive to Munnar on 21st. As suggested by some of the members, I'll be doing Chennai - Trichy - Dindigul - Bodinayakkanur - Munnar
route.
When I googled maps for Trichy - Dindigul stretch, it suggests NH45B route which comes to 130km, but if I modified the route in the map to NH45 which comes to 98 km.

Please suggest which one to use? Not sure why google is suggesting a longer distance route.

Can anyone suggest which route to use, the one which google suggests or the other one?



Thanks
qARS

Better to do Trichy-Madurai-Theni rather than Trichy-Dindigul-Theni.

There still are diversions on the Trichy-Dindigul section of NH45. 4L is not complete yet. Trichy-Madurai is fully done. Madurai by-pass is also in place. You do only 25km more compared to the Dindigul stretch.

But at least you drive all the way till Madurai without any hassle.

[qAnand]

Thank you.
What about Madurai - Theni Stretch? How is the road condition, is it four laned too?


Regards,
qARS

[ampere]

Originally Posted by qAnand

Thank you.
What about Madurai - Theni Stretch? How is the road condition, is it four laned too?


Regards,
qARS

NH49 from Madurai is 2L till Munnar and beyond (all the way til Ernakulam). (Madurai-Theni-Bodi-Munnar-Adimali-Kothamangalam-Muvattupuza-Ernakulam)
I think it is decent (Though I am not aware of any recent updates). But then this 2L would very similar to what you would have done from Dindigul-Theni.

[narayans80]

Amp, Anand,

The Trichy-Dindigul stretch is pretty good too. Only issue it has compared to the Madurai route is bypassing Trichy (actually am looking if there exists any way to bypass Trichy and enter NH45 to Dindigul)

[ampere]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Amp, Anand,
The Trichy-Dindigul stretch is pretty good too. Only issue it has compared to the Madurai route is bypassing Trichy (actually am looking if there exists any way to bypass Trichy and enter NH45 to Dindigul)

@Narayan, I was told that road is smooth, but 4L is not over. As a result there are quite some diversions. Hence I suggested Madurai. If this status has changed, then my info was old. (Sorry for that confusion).

And I remember HVK mentioning by-passes at Trichy is also complete.
HVK, can you please confirm? (I am not sure).