[VindyWheels]

Hi Mayank, cloudvalley looks great. If you are looking at a complete escape from crowd have a look at the estate bunglows of KDHP in my tlog. During this time of the year estate bunglows are the best place to stay. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ays-bliss.html

Rgds
VW

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Nice TL, would be doing similar trip sometime soon with Thakeddy included in the Itinerary. Could you share the hotel numbers and the link to the hotel you stayed, looks cool on the photographs.

[Fordmanchau]

Hi NPV, a very Neat Pictorial presentation with immense Value.lol!
Sorry for the poor humour, to be frank, a very well written travelogue and thank you for the nice pictures.
Munnar has been on my radar for long, hope that I can cover both Kodai and Munnar by this year end.
Post more photos please.
For strange reasons, have seen so many travelogues on Kodai, Ooty and Munnar, but still never got bored of seeing the pics again and again.

[MohsinRoadster]

Originally Posted by Fordmanchau

For strange reasons, have seen so many travelogues on Kodai, Ooty and Munnar, but still never got bored of seeing the pics again and again.

Absolutely. Every new thread has a new experience to share, new places to show and has its own perspective.

[wasif]

Dear NPV.

Thanks for putting up this great thread.

I need some help and advice. We are visiting India in Aug and are very keen on doing a trip to Munnar.

The plan is to start from Bangalore (HAL III Stage like you, just opp the chinmaya Temple) and drive to Munnar, spend three nights ther and drive back.

I have the following questions and would appreciate your feedback on them.

1. What is the actual driving distance from Bangalore to Munnar, the distance and the time it takes. Is it possible to start from Bangalore early morning and reach Munnar late afternoon.

2. Which is the best / shortest or fastest route to take.

3. What is the condition of the roads.

4. I am looking at Blackberry Hills Resort or Mountain Club Resort, any info / feedback on these two places.

5. How was your stay at Clouds Valley, would you recommend this place for a family stay, there are two very energetic boys aged 13 and 8 with us.

6. What are the main interesting things to see in Munnar. We are hoping it will be raining ( we crave the rains coming from UAE )

I will be hiring a self drive car in Bangalore, can you recommend any companies that have well maintained cars.

Two years ago I had hired a Swift from Avis in Bangalore and done the Ooty drive but the car was crappy so any info on good deals in self drive will be appreciated.

Looking forward to your reply.

[NPV]

Hello @wasif - glad to help anytime (some of this information is available in my first post).
1. Driving distance Bangalore-Munnar is approx. 550Km (I did 2 different routes both ways - Bangalore-Coimbatore-Munnar staying overnight at Coimbatore and then Munnar-Bangalore on the return).

2. Best/fastest route would be:
Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Namakkal - Karur - Dindigul - Theni - Bodinaykanur - Munnar
I did this route (reverse direction) on my way back from Munnar to Bangalore
Other good routes are:
Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Bhavani - Perundurai - Tirupur - Palladam - Udumalaippettai - Chinnar - Maraiyoor - Munnar

Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Bhavani - Kangayam - Dharapuram - Udumalaippettai - Maraiyoor - Munnar

See this thread for more information on route info/road conditions:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...-route-15.html

3. All 3 routes above have good roads (you can see hvk's reply on above thread). The Bangalore-Dindigual route is on NH7 and awesome. Beyond that also roads upto Bodinayakanur were newly asphalted when I traveled so I don't expect too much deterioration. The last stretch in to Munnar may be affected due to monsoons but that should be manageable.
However, it's good to again check latest road conditions before you travel to avoid nasty surprises

4. I have never stayed at these hotels/resorts. I'm sure others on tbhp must have more information from their experiences.

5. Clouds Valley was really nice and we liked it. My advice would be - decide based on how you intend to spend time there. If you want to go around shopping and sightseeing, be close to the town like Clouds Valley.
If you want to be away from crowds and in a secluded/estate kind of environment go for Tall Trees, KDHP bungalows, etc. KTDC Tea County is also a great place and not far from town.

6. Places to see - Mattupetty Dam, Kundale Dam, Echo Point, Eravikulam Park, Tea Museum, Top Station

I have never rented a car in Bangalore, but know some friends/colleagues who have rented from Avis and Hertz, guess they're good.
Other members can pitch in here.

Hope this helps, do let me know if you need any other information.
-NPV

[wasif]

Thanks for the inputs NPV, much appreciated.

As per your experience i think I will take the route No 2 that you have suggested.

Would you think it will be doable in around 7 to 8 hours with minimal stopping ?

Any interesting sigts to see on route No 2 ?

[NPV]

Originally Posted by wasif

Thanks for the inputs NPV, much appreciated.

As per your experience i think I will take the route No 2 that you have suggested.

Would you think it will be doable in around 7 to 8 hours with minimal stopping ?

Any interesting sigts to see on route No 2 ?

This should be doable in about 9 hours with break of about an hour or so provided you leave bangalore early, before 6 am.
Not much really to see on NH7 route itself (unless you take deviations of course!), but the drive up the hills after Theni upto Munnar is awesome.

Better scenic route is this one -> Palladam - Udumalaippettai - Chinnar - Maraiyoor - Munnar
Lots of greenery and windmills upto Udumalaipettai and then the drive through the forest

That's why I took the advice of folks here and did both routes (took Coimbatore - Udumalaipet - Chinnar - Maraiyoor - Munnar)

[wasif]

How come there are so many permutations and combinations availabe on this route and all of them average around the same distance ?

Google maps is showing this route as teh fastest with 476 Km and its going thru that Indra Gandhi national Park , any comments on this route

Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Bhavani - Kangayam - Dharapuram - Udumalaippettai - Maraiyoor - Munnar

[ranjitp1]

Nice Travelogue,and crisp details.Thanks for sharing.

Something that I noticed,not sure if its my eyes playing games,but all your photographs have a greenish tinge to it,are these pictures scanned from a print?

[NPV]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Something that I noticed,not sure if its my eyes playing games,but all your photographs have a greenish tinge to it,are these pictures scanned from a print?

Never noticed it but will definitely take a look at the lens today.
These pictures were transferred directly from the digital camera's memory card to PC and haven't done anything more than reducing the picture size.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by wasif

Google maps is showing this route as teh fastest with 476 Km and its going thru that Indra Gandhi national Park , any comments on this route

Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Bhavani - Kangayam - Dharapuram - Udumalaippettai - Maraiyoor - Munnar

Sorry, I missed seeing this post earlier.

The route that I mentioned as fastest between Bangalore-Munnar is via NH7 from Bangalore to Dindigul. Though Blr-Munnar distance on this route is about 550 km, because of superb road conditions on NH7 you can do it in 9 hrs including a break of 1 hr or so (as I did on my return journey).

On the route you mentioned here, you will get off NH7 at Salem and then it's smaller roads upto Munnar so I will let other folks comment on the time aspect on this route, but definitely a scenic one.
In fact if you avoid Salem and take Dharmapuri - Mettur - Bhavani - etc you will save another 30 Km or so but the key to remember is lesser distance does not necessarily mean lesser time/faster drive

[wasif]

Thanks again.

The plan is to use your faster route suggession on the way to Munnar and come back using the scenic route.

You guys have been a great help !

[ampere]

Here is a post, I had composed earlier on the Bangalore-Munnar thread related to timings.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2356802