[kutts]

I have a trip coming up in the first week of June from Trivandrum to Coimbatore.

I seem to have two options
1. Trivandrum -> Cochin -> Palakkad -> Coimbatore
2. Trivandrum -> Nagercoil -> Madurai -> Palani -> Coimbatore

I plan to leave on Saturday early morning, so as to reach Coimbatore by early evening.

Option 1 is shortest. But the NH is mostly 2 lane and it would be 11am by the time I would have reached Thrissur. And a feedback I got was that the traffic would be pretty heavy at the time from Thrissur till Coimbatore, which would force me to take longer time. So estimated total travel time could be 9 hrs in total.

Option 2 is longer by 100km. The stretch from Trivandrum till Nagercoil would be slow, but assured that the pedal would be on the floor all the way till Dindigul. But I have no idea on the road condition from Dindigul -> Palani -> Coimbatore. Travel time would could still be around 9 hrs due to the additional distance - not sure.

Request fellow BHPians thoughts on the better option or if there are any alternatives. My drive is a Polo TDI and would have wifey and our 2.5 yr old kid along.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by kutts

I seem to have two options
1. Trivandrum -> Cochin -> Palakkad -> Coimbatore
2. Trivandrum -> Nagercoil -> Madurai -> Palani -> Coimbatore

Option one would be :
Trivandrum -> Cochin -> Trichur-Shoranur-Palakkad -> Coimbatore


Second option should be :
Trivandrum -> Nagercoil -> Madurai -> Dindigul- Odanchatram-Dharapuram-Palladam-Sulur-Coimbatore

In spite of the fact that the roads are brilliant in the second option, you are doing at least 120km more (as per my calculations from Google). Not sure if its worth it. Maybe regulars on NH47 can explain the situation better.

[vindrider2626]

Last week i travelled from tvm to coimbatore and mind you it is one hell of a road .The traffic is hopeless and the only option left for you is a very early start say around 3 so that you can get past kochi by 6.30-7 in the morning.If you start around 6 then you will be stuck everywhere.the other option is too lengthy i feel.

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by kutts

I have a trip coming up in the first week of June from Trivandrum to Coimbatore.

I seem to have two options
1. Trivandrum -> Cochin -> Palakkad -> Coimbatore
2. Trivandrum -> Nagercoil -> Madurai -> Palani -> Coimbatore

You have one more option - Via MC road. Not sure whether this will be faster than option 1.
Distance will be almost same as option 1. Option 2 should not even be considered.

Budget for around 8 hours of travel time if you start by around 5:00 AM in the morning.

[kutts]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

You have one more option - Via MC road. Not sure whether this will be faster than option 1.

Have considered MC as an option till Allepey. Had tried MC till Angamaly once, but then the winding roads along Muvatupuzha - Perumbavoor negated the benefit of less traffic.

[devansn]

The second option is too long. So stick with the first option itself.

I am a regular traveler from Kottayam to Coimbatore. At least from Kottayam, the best route is:
Kottayam -> Chottanikkara -> Seaport-Airport Road -> Kalamasseri -> Angamali -> Thrissur -> Kulappulli -> Ottappalam -> Palakkad -> Walayar -> Coimbatore.

[coolclouds]

Night drive or start early morning is the only option to save time on Kerala roads.

If you are able to start at 4 am, you can reach Vyttila by 7-8am and Trichur toll by 9am max. Plan for any break only after Angamaly.

You can try Trichur-Shornur-Palakkad but expect traffic in and around Trichur town. Trichur - Kuthiran - Palakkad also doable comfortably during day time.

[Sankar]

Looking at the current road conditions we have in Kerala Imho the best route to Coimbatore from Trivandrum is through Nagercoil and NH7. We did a Coimbatore trip this weekend, we started at 5am from Trivandrum and reached Kovai at around 1300. The drive was totally stress free. Even the state highways in TN are in good shape.

One thing to watch out on NH7 is for stupid idiots coming at you on the fastest lane!! We had two instances -
1) Two moped guys in a staggered formation riding towards us on the fastest lane
2) An Omni filled with school kids driving towards us on the fastest lane on a bridge!! This was because of a police check point set up on the southbound lanes of the expressway and this guy wanted to avoid it.

[arun_josie]

Which would be the better route for a Nagercoil - Coimbatore drive considering the road conditions/traffic?

Nagercoil - Madurai - Dindigul - Oddanchatram - Dharapuram - Coimbatore (around 441 Kms)
Nagercoil - Madurai - Dindigul - Palani - Pollachi - Coimbatore (around 460 Kms)
Nagercoil - Madurai - Dindigul - Karur - Kangayam - Coimbatore (around 500 Kms)

[Gannu_1]

We do Palakkad - Madurai often and take the second option i.e. via Palani. Palani town can be bypassed by taking the road around the hill which is usually empty but is longer.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Which would be the better route for a Nagercoil - Coimbatore drive considering the road conditions/traffic?

Nagercoil - Madurai - Dindigul - Oddanchatram - Dharapuram - Coimbatore (around 441 Kms)
Nagercoil - Madurai - Dindigul - Palani - Pollachi - Coimbatore (around 460 Kms)
Nagercoil - Madurai - Dindigul - Karur - Kangayam - Coimbatore (around 500 Kms)

Option one is ideal. Dharapuram-Palladam-CBE. Dharapuram has a clean bypass too. Good roads all the way. Palladam-Sulur-CBE will have traffic. Rest is a cakewalk!

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Nagercoil - Madurai - Dindigul - Oddanchatram - Dharapuram - Coimbatore (around 441 Kms)

Go with this option. Pollachi route is ruled out. Alternatively you can reach Dharapuram exiting NH7 at Aravakurichi as well. This will add more distance though.

[theroadrunner]

Hi Fellow Team Bhp'ers.
This is my first post since joining the group. I must first thank and appreciatethe administrators and the members for making team bhp such a great site. Though I have been a regular visitor to the site since 2008 and joined in 2013-14, it has taken a long time to post something worthwhile on this forum.

Please bear with me as this is a bit long reply on the subject. A short history: I work in IT and been posted to Chennai while my family is in Trivandrum. Kiddo's vacations began on 24th May 2015 and I rushed down to be with her for her annual day on the same date. Being just 3 and half years, I did not want to disappoint her. Now came the dilemma of what to do during her vacations. Wifey and I both work in TVM and Chennai respectively and my Mom too is working. Luckily, she could take a week off and there germinated the idea of a road trip to Coimbatore that has been pending for 2-3 years.

Now, I am just recovering from a Slip disc problem and have considerably beefed up, all thanks to the Steroids I have been taking. I was a little apprehensive upfront as I had to forgo my posting in Johannesburg last year and also sacrifice driving the Alfa Romeo Guilietta and land home in a wheel chair . Coming back, the decision was made to do the trip. Just that the route was not decided. I turned to our forum and got a link to this article. I spoke to couple more friends and they all suggested that the road till about Palakkad is fine and from there it will be a nightmare. So, I decided to go with this option.

The Road Runner, as I call my Black Santro Xing GLS, was prepped up by having a new Panasonic basic speakers for the front (the old ones had blown out) Air filter checked, oil, battery water topped up and nitrogen filled up. Tanked up at company owned HP petrol bunk. The entourage consisted of my wifey, kiddo and mom. Stocked up on the liquids and snacks and was ready to leave.

D-Day on Sunday the 24-May-2015. Started from home at 4:19 AM. The estimate was 395 Km. The proposed route was Kowdiar(Trivandrum)-Kesavadasapuram-Quilon-Allapey-Chertala-Kochi-Aluva Highway-Trissur Bypass-Mannuthi-Palakkad Bypass-Walayar- Coimbatore.

Having had the advantage of starting early, we breezed through Quilon and had our first stop at Chertala for a quick breakfast. That done, we crossed Palarivattom, Cochin by 8:00 AM. I should have taken the Kakkanad - Kalamaserry road, but didnt want mom to say we have to stop at my uncle's place. Just wanted to travel fast before the traffic caught up on us. So, we passed through the junction, taking a right towards LuLu mall junction and sped our way through to Aluva. Mind you, the Metro work has totally messed up the roads here. Once out of Aluva, the roads widen up considerably and allow you to accelerate without hesitation.

The glitch in this section is the presence of traffic lights intermittently. We managed to cross all these with minimal traffic. The highway speed limit in Kerala is 80 kmph and I am sorry to say that I crossed the limit by a good 20 kmph most of the time. The roads were good and Santro held its stead on 100. A little over it, vibrations tick in and the buttery, overly sensitive Steering wheel also kicks in. So, held her steady on 100 till we reached Palakkad byepass.

We had asked my granny to forget cooking as I thought the drive will take a little more 9 hours. But, the way we could make progress, we could actually make it in time for lunch. So, once we crossed Palakkad and entered the single roads ghat section, I pulled over to tell granny to keep the food (pure vegetarian) piping hot. Must say my kiddo too helped in maintaining the speed. She was very accomodative and knew that no amount of crying will allow her to sit in the front passenger seat along with her mommy. So, thanks to Skanda Shasti Kavacham, for which she has an innate liking and Daler Mehandi, we started the ghat section. Here, the roads become tricky as it is single lane and everyone seems to be in a hurry. Still, could keep up decent pace until we crossed into Tamil Nadu.

For a change, the Roads in Kerala seemed super cool!! The road from Palakkad to Coimbatore is being made and you can see cars in the wrong direction screaming at you. Definitely needs you to be very attentive. The section from Walayar to Coimbatore is bad. There is a toll booth being constructed, but was free to cross now.

Felt nice to be back in proper tarmac after crossing into the road that leads to Ukkadam. A small entry fee of Rs.10/- and then we could head in to metupalayam road where my granny resides.

In the end, it was a very good ride, given the state of narrow roads that Kerala is famous for.

Some Stats:
Door to Door: 392 Km
Start Time: 4:19 AM
Breaks: Approximately 1 hour
Destination Time: 01:30 PM
Travel Time: 9 hours including break.
Total Toll, one way, excluding Walayar : (Rs.65+15+10 =90) Yes!! Thats it!!

On the return trip, it got a bit tricky as we did the same route, but had to cross into Tamil Nadu after Trivandrum - to a place called Kuzhithurai, near Marthandam. I could have done the Coimbatore- Madurai- Nagercoil route, but didnt want mom to feel bad that she couldnt visit her uncle's place in Cochin. TVM- Kuzhithurai was a nightmare as the road widening work has been started from Trivandrum to Kaliakavilai. Good point is, the temp roads are quite well laid and the road from Pravachambalam till Kuzhithurai is butter smooth. Riders driving into Trivadrum from Nagercoil will have a better road in 6-8 months time.

Posting a few pics from the return trip.