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Bengaluru to Trichy drive: Best route option & travel observations

16th January 2023, 10:50 by Rahul Nagaraj

Just 4 km short of the right turn into Trichy, one can capture some scenic views of the Kaveri River.

BHPian JacksonStorm originally posted this:

Route 1: Usual route viz. Bangalore - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Namakkal - Thottiyam - Musiri - Gunaseelam - Srirangam/Trichy
Route 2: Bangalore - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Namakkal - Thottiyam - Kulithalai - Trichy
Route 3: Bangalore - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Namakkal - Karur- Kulithalai - -Trichy/Srirangam
4 lane NH road till karur. From Karur to chathiram bus stand is still NH but without any divider; an extra 30-45 km plus toll
Route 4: Bangalore - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem -Namakkal - Kannanur - Pagalavadi - Nochiyam - Trichy

BHPian vigsom recently replied to his post with this:

I decided to drive this sector for the first time. Having experienced Salem to Trichy route 1 in TNSTC at the end of Nov-2021 and certifying it as horrible, decided to try route 3 for the peace of mind part. Here are my observations on the entire Bengaluru to Trichy sector for the benefit of readers:

1. South Bengaluru to Krishnagiri: Departed base at 0630hrs and used NICE Road to merge with Hosur Road. Sections of NICE Road are single-carriageways and slow-moving trucks can be a headache but navigated this without too much fuss. Reached Krishnagiri toll in approx 1hr 50mins.

2. Krishnagiri to Salem: Below average experience with zig-zag crossings aplenty, a hefty 120-buck toll at Thoppur Toll Plaza, and road rumblers on the Thoppur down gradient to reward us for the toll paid. The only positive experience was that vehicle speeds were much more controlled on the infamous down gradient. In this video:

00:29, you can see an impatient Volvo driver that I happily allowed to get ahead of me
00:40 only one loudspeaker was blaring "Go Slow" unlike the many I heard in end-2020.
02:26 the dreaded bridge where several vehicles were mowed down in a ghastly accident in 2020

The 30 minutes upstream of Salem to about 10 mins out of Salem is filled with mad traffic, two-wheeler riders, and the like.

3. Salem to Karur: Outstanding experience, and worth the extra distance traversed. My only stop on this drive was A2B. The food was good and the service was quick. No menu is presented. It is the old system of us asking them what is available and then placing the order. Spoons don't come by default. One needs to ask.

4. Karur to Trichy: both toll plazas are poorly managed plus the sector after the Manavasi toll plaza isn't fit to be called a toll road.

At Manavasi the tag reader didn't read, and the portable scanner also didn't read, post which they entered the vehicle number and then the barrier opened.
At Thiruparathurai, one lane of the two showed the lane open but the cones were there to close the lane off. A lot of confusion later, the lane opened.
Several zig-zag crossings post the first toll plaza, where one encounters the most indisciplined and impatient drivers

Despite these shortcomings, Route 3 is definitely better than the Namakkal - Musiri - Trichy Route. Just 4 km short of the right turn into Trichy, one can capture some scenic views of the Kaveri River.

Distance covered: 394 km

Time taken: 6 hrs 50 mins (Route1 would have taken longer, and would have been a harrowing experience)

Toll paid: Rs 555