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Here is a route(which I have personally taken in the past) that is worth considering, especially in the early mornings and on a weekend:
1) Kochi->Chavakkad->Kuttipuram(2-and-a-half hours)
2) Kuttipuram->Kottakkal->Malappuram->Manjeri(just about 1 hour)
3) Manjeri->Nilambur(just about 30 minutes)
4) Nilambur->Vazhikkkadavu(Adivaaram)->Gudalur->Ooty(2-and-a-half hours)

You should be in Ooty for a late lunch. Except for a short stretch around Kodungallur, (1) has good wide long stretches of NH-17. Even (2) and (3) are good roads, as is the case with all main highways in Malappuram district. And I believe (4) is a better option than the busy Mettupalayam->Coonoor(crossing the town area is a hectic drive)->Ooty route.

As reported by Kala, the bad stretch is in the Gudalur->Gundlupet section if you are going towards Mysore/Bangalore only.

If you are taking this route, please make sure that you take a break (to cool off the engine) either at Nilambur KTDC Tamarind (good restaurant and clean toilets for the whole family) or utmost at Vazhikkkadavu(Adivaaram) before starting to climb the ghat section.

Kuttipuram-Perinthalmanna-Nilambur might be slightly better; with approx same distance but less traffic. Malappuram I believe has a bypass nowadays, but Manjeri would still be a problem.

The Valanchery->Perinthalmanna section on Kuttipuram-Perinthalmanna-Nilambur route is not a good ride.

You don't touch Malappuram town as you would touch NH212(Palakkad-Kozhikode highway) slightly north of the hilly terrains of the town area. That thought leads me to suggest a great option of bye-passing Manjeri town. The option is to drive 10 kms towards Kozhikode till Valluvambram and take a sharp right turn to Kozhikode->Manjeri route. Then 2-3 kms before Manjeri town, you can take a left turn to Manjeri bye-pass road to completely bye-pass Manjeri. Beyond this point, it is a smooth ride all the way, except maybe a junction at Edavanna town.

I am planning to travel to Mangalore from Coimbatore via the below route, Kindly let me know the route conditions and also how long it takes to reach out.

Coimbatore-Palakkad-Calicut-Kasaragod-Mangalore or do we have any other better route than this.

I will be travelling with my family and planning to start around 10 AM from Coimbatore on day of travel.

Depending on where exactly you start from Coimbatore and where exactly you want to go in Mangalore, the following route is also a good option.
1) Coimbatore->Sathyamangalam->Dimbam->Nanjangad->Mysore : This is the standard Kovai->Mysore route and can be covered in 4-and-a-half hours.
2) Mysore->Hunsur->Madikeri->Sullia->Puttur->Bantwal->Mangalore : I know that Mysore->Madikeri(about 2 hours) and Bantwal->Mangalore(about 30-40 minutes) stretches will be good but need to check the Madikeri->Sullia->Puttur->Bantwal(about 2 hours on a good day) route condition with some local expert.

On Kerala route through Palakkad-Kozhikode-Kannur, expect bad stretch around Kerala Border and constant heavy traffic on Kerala roads. But you are on NH47, NH212 and then NH17 all the way through with plenty of options to break at will.

On the route I mentioned above, you have a few ghat section stretches, first ascending at Dimbam and then descending after Madikeri. If you are not familiar with ghat section driving and if you are not familiar in driving through Karnataka roads, this might not turn out to be a good option, especially with family. And since you are starting late around 10 AM from Kovai, you may end up driving stretches beyond Madikeri in dark and as compared to Kerala, the villages/towns are very sparse in this route.

Howerver, people may strongly consider this option in case one have to drive between Coimbatore and Mangalore when there is hartal in Kerala :-)

NH 212 is Calicut-Mysore-Kollegal. The highway you want (Calicut/Ramanattukara-Palakkad) is NH 213.

Actually we had planned to stay at any hotel in Salem but then we rear-ended a Matiz and my car took quite a beating.
It seemed that lady luck was not on our side because we went on the wrong route for about 300 km then hit a dog, the Matiz incident was the final nail inthe coffin. We decided to stop then and there.
Hotel Keys because I had used it 2 months back on my way to Coimbatore.

Oh Yes, you are right !!! ... btw, have you observed the references of CNG road in some places? CNG stands for 'Calicut->Nilambur->Gudalur' only !

Calicut-Gudalur is an interesting pair - connected by two separate state highways (with each having a separate KL SH number and TN SH number).

Drove to Palakkad from Bangalore yesterday morning. Was on the NHs until Chavadi where I took the SH and headed home via Velanthavalam-Chittur route. The railway overbridge construction site at Chavadi is in a mess. Got my car's bumper and underbelly scraped at some of the trenches. Cars have to take it very carefully. Had left at 3:30am, yet managed to cover the 420km only in 7hrs, thanks to an unusually high (and rash) truck traffic between Salem and Perundurai and a traffic jam after Ettimadai. Took some tea/bio-breaks too, the small brightly lit bakery/tea-stalls where we stopped at were family friendly - read clean restrooms (better maintained than those at some of the hotels), above anything.

I reiterate, those headed to Thrissur and beyond, it's better to take Avinashi-Mangalam-Palladam-Pollachi-Vadakkenchery/Alathur route.

Thanks ajithbr, in fact I used to take part of the above route while I go to my native from Bangalore (BLR-Kankapura-Dimbam-Sathy-CBE), so I am aware of KA roads and Dimbam ghat section, the reason why I want to try Kerala roads is majorly due to scenic route which Kerala offers plus I am also bored driving inside KA quite a lot, but again I am little concerned over Kerala roads as well because last time when I drove to Sabarimala from CBE it took almost 10 hrs to cover 350 Kms.

Silversteed, may i insist you take the Pollachi road-Kozhinjampara-Roots factory-NH209 till Karpagam college in your return?

http://goo.gl/maps/xtBkP

I assure you won't have to scrape the chassis at all- only a couple of speed breakers in the 3 or 4 km of link road to NH209.
---

PS: my farmland is close to the aforementioned route!

Thanks a ton. I took the route
Bangalore-Salem-Avinashi-Mangalam-Palladam-Pollachi-Alathur-Pazhayannur-Wadakkanchery-Kunnamkulam-GVR, and it was really great - mostly very good roads and lesser traffic.

On my return I tried GVR-Kunnamkulam-Pazhayannur-Alathur-NH47 - Salem - Blr. NH47 was in real bad state from Alathur until L&T bypass (Coimbatore).
A lot of construction going on and road is full of potholes (and traffic). SO teh above road is much better.

Sreekumar

Yes. Even though its some distance more, but most of all its very peaceful driving all the way even beyond Pollachi. Crossing Pollachi can be a trouble some time. I hope they make a good bypass for the town. In that case it would be even better. But some times, it helps getting into Pollachi; especially refueling both man and the machine! :)

I suppose L&T is still collecting Rs 31 as toll fare for that so called NH47