[vasoo]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

I did that route last week. If you leave at around 4 am you can be in Shornur in about 5 hours if you push it, less if you have no traffic on the route and are able to sustain good expressway speeds. 4.5 hours of driving time is doable - 1.15 hrs to Salem, 1.30 hrs to CBE, 45 mins - 1 hr to Walayar, 45m - 1 hr to Shornur. Its way better than starting in the evening when you are most likely to hit all the predictable road-blocks.

The CBE-Walayar section is still madness though - once you enter KL @ Walayar you hit great roads - quite surprising because they started work on that section well after the Avinashi-Walayar section which is still not fully complete, and features that ludicrous L&T undivided toll road in between with 8 poorly-manned gates.

Are you sure about these timings ? Bangalore > Salem is 200 kms and it is150 kms from Salem to CBE. I cant think of doing that in less than 3 hours unless you have some kind of privileged road and a sports car to drive. The fastest I have done between Palakkad and Bangalore (~400 kms) is 4 hrs 45 mins with a 5 AM start from Palakkad and a short break for breakfast. It is usually slower in the opposite direction due to higher traffic density near Kerala border. Btw, Bangalore to Salem in 1 hr 15 minutes is impossible.

[narayanang76]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

Thanks Narayanang for sharing the link. Thats very encouraging . My final destination is Vavanoor on Pattambi Guruvayur road. From Shoranur I am familiar with the route.

From Hosur did you go via Krishnagiri or Rayakottai to Dharmapuri? Any suggestions on good restaurant for diner break? Any idea about Omalur-Sankari road to byepass Salem?

Sandy, From Hosur, straight towards Soolagiri, Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri via Salem is the route I take normally. I havent tried the deviations via omalur or Mettur recently. Have done it sometime back.

I suggest if you are not sure and starting by 4 PM from Bangalore, may stick to the NH.

And it is a close one indeed, Peringode via Vavanoor we visit very often my uncle live there, there is my mother's ancestral home.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by vasoo

Are you sure about these timings ? Bangalore > Salem is 200 kms and it is150 kms from Salem to CBE. I cant think of doing that in less than 3 hours unless you have some kind of privileged road and a sports car to drive. The fastest I have done between Palakkad and Bangalore (~400 kms) is 4 hrs 45 mins with a 5 AM start from Palakkad and a short break for breakfast. It is usually slower in the opposite direction due to higher traffic density near Kerala border. Btw, Bangalore to Salem in 1 hr 15 minutes is impossible.

Am pretty sure. Left Shoolagiri Sri Krishna at 7 am after starting near Attibele, got to Saravana Bhavan on the roadside after Salem (the one that comes up after some Educational institutions, just before a toll gate) at about 8.30. 1.15 hrs from there to the L&T bypass. From there to Walayar is a rough estimation, but Walayar to Shornur was definitely less than an hour.

No reason why I should overstate the timings - what is in it for me to do so? At no point in the journey was I doing ridiculous speeds - I was able to keep a steady good pace as traffic was quite minimal, and most importantly because I didn't get stuck at Hosur, Salem or in the Avinashi-CBE stretch. DISCLAIMER: My post was indicative and not meant to encourage or condone risky driving. One does not have to do crazy speeds - all it takes is good driving at a steady pace as the roads are now good enough for you to maintain a good average. Anticipation, speed modulation and minimal braking will help you maintain a good average, which is more useful than occasional top-speeds.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Am pretty sure. Left Shoolagiri Sri Krishna at 7 am after starting near Attibele, got to Saravana Bhavan on the roadside after Salem (the one that comes up after some Educational institutions, just before a toll gate) at about 8.30. 1.15 hrs from there to the L&T bypass. From there to Walayar is a rough estimation, but Walayar to Shornur was definitely less than an hour.

Shoolagiri A2B or CCD would be easily about 50 minutes to an hour from Silk Board at an average speed (which includes traffic on the state border). The reference to 200km which people refer to is I think is much before Attibele. Hence the difference. From Shoolagiri yes, its quite fast. You are on the highway and you can hit top speeds right away.

[VindyWheels]

Hi,

Did Kochi-Bangalore again today. Started at 5:15am from Kadavanthara took the Pollachi-Palladom-Avinashi route. Reached EC toll by 2:30pm. Pleasant drive except for Kuthiraan.

Cheers

Vindy

[narayanang76]

Did Bangalore to shoranur yesterday. Started from Whitefield by 4 PM and reached shoranur by 1130 night. 7 and half hour including dinner break at saravana bhavan Salem.

Took regular route Whitefield - chikka Tirupati - bagalur - Hosur - Salem - avinashi - walayar - palakkad - shoranur.

Was expecting reduced vehicle movements owing to nationwide strike on Apr 30, but it turned out to be otherwise. Crossing Salem town took more time than usual.

[Ashokkp]

People,

Finally did the Mumbai(Kalyan)-Palakkad route. Stats in brief :

Start journey - Kalyan, 0600hrs on the 6th of May, with my kid and wife.

Checked-in for the night at the Hans Hotel in Hubli at 1800hrs on the same day.

Started at 0900hrs from the Hans on 7th and reached Palakkad at 2300hrs on the same day.

Route- Kalyan-Pune-Hubli-Tumkur-Salem-Coimbatore-Palakkad.

Distance - 1404kms
Car - Octavia 1.9TDI

Lost more than an hour negotiating Salem town traffic as I missed a turn to bye-pass Salem town.

The best roads were between Chitradurga and Tumkur apart from the Mumbai-Pune expressway. The stretch between Hosur and Salem is also excellent.

The not-so-good stretches were Pune-Kolhapur(lot of diversions on account of road widening).

The worst stretch is the L&T road (Coimbatore bye-pass) right upto Valayar on the Kerala-TN state line.

Regards
Ashok

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by Ashokkp

Finally did the Mumbai(Kalyan)-Palakkad route. Stats in brief :
Route- Kalyan-Pune-Hubli-Tumkur-Salem-Coimbatore-Palakkad.

Thanks for the stats.

Lost more than an hour negotiating Salem town traffic as I missed a turn to bye-pass Salem town.

At Salem, the turn-off towards Bangalore, while coming from CBE side is also very easy to miss - even regulars sometimes end up missing this, and enter the town. This is an approximate location: https://goo.gl/maps/UaQA0
And it comes up about 50km after Excel Engineering college (easy to spot, the big Excel hoarding on the right side of the highway is hard to miss)

The worst stretch is the L&T road (Coimbatore bye-pass) right upto Valayar on the Kerala-TN state line.

It's been this way for ages!

[NPV]

Originally Posted by silversteed

At Salem, the turn-off towards Bangalore, while coming from CBE side is also very easy to miss - even regulars sometimes end up missing this, and enter the town.

If one misses this, the road will just end up merging towards the south side of NH7 towards Namakkal but I think there is another bridge that comes up immediately where one can go on service road and make a U-turn below the bridge to get back on the Bangalore direction ?

*This junction is basically the end/beginning of NH 47 at Salem and merges onto NH 7 with one ramp going South and the other going North

[mithunkb]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Am pretty sure. Left Shoolagiri Sri Krishna at 7 am after starting near Attibele, got to Saravana Bhavan on the roadside after Salem (the one that comes up after some Educational institutions, just before a toll gate) at about 8.30. 1.15 hrs from there to the L&T bypass. From there to Walayar is a rough estimation, but Walayar to Shornur was definitely less than an hour.

No reason why I should overstate the timings - what is in it for me to do so? At no point in the journey was I doing ridiculous speeds - I was able to keep a steady good pace as traffic was quite minimal, and most importantly because I didn't get stuck at Hosur, Salem or in the Avinashi-CBE stretch. DISCLAIMER: My post was indicative and not meant to encourage or condone risky driving. One does not have to do crazy speeds - all it takes is good driving at a steady pace as the roads are now good enough for you to maintain a good average. Anticipation, speed modulation and minimal braking will help you maintain a good average, which is more useful than occasional top-speeds.

May I know which car you are driving ? You are averaging above 100kmph on both the sections which is quite difficult (for me) unless you are doing speeds of scary 3 digit speeds. In all my evening starts it has taken 2.5 to 3 hrs from Bangalore(Marathahalli ) to the A2B in Salem

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by mithunkb

May I know which car you are driving ? You are averaging above 100kmph on both the sections which is quite difficult (for me) unless you are doing speeds of scary 3 digit speeds. In all my evening starts it has taken 2.5 to 3 hrs from Bangalore(Marathahalli ) to the A2B in Salem

Penultimate one on signature. I started at 6 am from Sarjapura, the drive via Attibele to Shoolagiri took very little time - there was absolutely no traffic or Hosur Holdup at that time of the day.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by NPV

If one misses this, the road will just end up merging towards the south side of NH7 towards Namakkal but I think there is another bridge that comes up immediately where one can go on service road and make a U-turn below the bridge to get back on the Bangalore direction ?

*This junction is basically the end/beginning of NH 47 at Salem and merges onto NH 7 with one ramp going South and the other going North

If somebody miss the Bangalore turn and continue straight, they will end up in Bangalore-Madurai highway. Proceed on Madurai direction (default) and take a U turn at next circle. This will not go inside Salem town, though its longer by some 2 kms.

[josebi]

Planning to take a road trip from Bangalore to Kochi on 23rd Dec morning. Expecting heavy vehicle movement towards Kerala due to the vacation/season, and the toll gates on the way are expected to be choked. Any alternative routes to try?
I have taken all the below alternative routes on various occasions. The roads were good, but eats up lot of time being bi-directional lane and in the towns/junctions.
Any inputs on the road condition in the below or suggestion?

Bangalore - Hosur - Palacodu - Dharmapuri - Thoppur - Mettur - Bhavani - Avinashi - CBE - Palakkadu - COK
or
Bangalore - Kanakapura - Malavalli - Kollegal - Chamrajnagar - Gundlepet - Gudalur - Nilambur - Perinthalmanna - Shornur - TCR - COK
or
Bangalore - Kanakapura - Malavalli - Kollegal - Chamrajnagar - Sathyamangalam - Annur - CBE - Palakkadu - COK

[NPV]

Originally Posted by josebi

Any inputs on the road condition in the below or suggestion?

Bangalore - Hosur - Palacodu - Dharmapuri - Thoppur - Mettur - Bhavani - Avinashi - CBE - Palakkadu - COK
or
Bangalore - Kanakapura - Malavalli - Kollegal - Chamrajnagar - Gundlepet - Gudalur - Nilambur - Perinthalmanna - Shornur - TCR - COK
or
Bangalore - Kanakapura - Malavalli - Kollegal - Chamrajnagar - Sathyamangalam - Annur - CBE - Palakkadu - COK

I would choose the last one via Annur, but instead of going towards Coimbatore, continue on the same road (go below the NH47 bridge) via Mangalam-Palladam-Pollachi. Then take Pollachi-Kollengode-Vadakkencherry. From there it is NH 47 to Kochi via Mannuthy.

Another option is to start between 3 & 4am and take the 4 lane NH 7 + 47 combination upto Avinashi bypass, then same as above via Mangalam-Palladam.

Originally Posted by josebi

Bangalore - Kanakapura - Malavalli - Kollegal - Chamrajnagar - Sathyamangalam - Annur - CBE - Palakkadu - COK

There is one more alternative: Kollegala-Hasanur SH>NH 209>Dhimbam>Sathyamangalam>Coimbatore without going through Chamarajanagar.

Recently, I drove on this route. The roads through the forests of KA and TN were good with very little traffic but, without any road-side facilities. Click here for details.