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Hi,
I am planning to drive down to Kerala ( Trivandrum) by end of Aug.
The route planned is Bangalore -> Hosur - > Salem -> Dindigul - > Rajapalayam - > Thenkashi -> Thenmala -> Punalur -> Trivandrum
(this is shortest route suggested by Google Map )
Anybody travelled in this route recently.
From Dindigal is it better to Go via Madurai and join NH208 instead of taking diversion from Dindigal itself
How's the Thenkashi -> Punalur road after Monsoon

Arun,
I drive on this route (Blore->Salem->Nammakal->Karur->Dindigul-> Madurai By pass -> rajapalayam-> tenkasi-> Shenkotta -> punalur) once every quarter. Last trip was in March. I can tell you one thing, you will enjoy the drive on this route.

Thanks Vinay,

from Dindigal, is it better to take diversion to NH45 and then join NH208 (as suggested by Google )
OR
to continue on NH7 to Madurai bypass till Tirumangalam and take diversion to NH208

found another thread discussing specifically the Bangalore to Punalur (Kerala) route

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post1430042

pls continue the discussion about this specific route in the other thread

I drove down to Thrissur last Wednesday from Chennai.

The route was Chennai - Vellore - Tirupathur - Dharmapuri - Thoppur - Mettur - Andhiyur - Sathyamangalam - Annur - Karumathampatti - Neelambur Byepass - Walayar - Palakkad - Thrissur.

There is nothing to worry about until Walayar from Coimbatore you would find very rare potholes. From Walayar till Aalathur is decent with some occasional potholes but still driveable. From Aalathur to Wadakkencherry needs to be driven carefully as the potholes become more regular and bigger. From Wadakkencherry until Pattikad all the way through Kuthiran Malai the road is in a mess. Mess is an understatement. At times the traffic is held back to allow one one side of the road the situation is quite bad. It is not advisable to drive on this stretch either during rains or during night.

I managed to reach Thrissur following the given below Do's

1. Restrict speed to 60 / 70 kmph irrespective of how good the stretch was or how good it looked for quite some distance away.
2. Maintain a big gap to the vehicle in the front so that it could give you enough time to negotiate the craters without damaging your vehicle.

I did not come back via the same route instead took the route via Athirapally, Vaazchal, Valparai. During my return I took the NH47 upto Chalakudi, the road is work in progress but heaven compared to the one on the other side of Thrissur.

It took me 11 hours on my way to Thrissur and took about 15 hours on the way back. The return was longer by about 80 kms.

I had heard from various sources that the road from Vadakkencherry (Yes it's Vadakkencherry, Wadakkancheri is another place :) )is absolutely horrible. Thanks for the 1st hand info there. Planning to use this route the coming weekend.

Just out of curiosity, why did you take the Andhiyur route? I generally prefer sticking to NH47 via Salem. How's the road in this stretch?

NH 47 via salem is quite decent and now i have shifted to this from Bhavani route. BLR to Palaghat can be done in 6.5 to 7 hours with an early morning start.

Actually I prefer to stay away from those NH47 Byepass Riders, its much less sternous drive without them.

The road conditions are good. The route used by most here is to go via Mettur Bhavani and then onto Perundurai. I go all the way upto Annur via Sathyamangalam and then take the detour to Karumathampatti. This would mean only about 10 odd kms to the Neelambur byepass, so that you dont need to travel through the city to reach Palakkad road.

Peaceful roads all the way upto Annur with very little traffic. Lovely green scenery to enjoy all the way rather than the monotonous barren NH 47 from Perundurai till Avinashi.

I took about 8 hours from Chennai to Coimbatore without exceeding 80 / 90 all the way. This includes a stop for breakfast and going through Dharmapuri town instead of the byepass.

I suggest instead of going via Bhavani you should try going via Mettur - Andhiyur - Sathyamangalam - Annur once you will fall in love with this route.

Can you elaborate mettur-Palakkad route a bit with diversion and stuff.

I would like to avoid Coimbatore city to enter into NH47 for Palakkad.

Here is what I see in Google maps,

Thoppur->Mettur->Anthiyur->Sathyamangalam->NH209->Annur->SH165-> Karumathampatti->NH47

Is this correct?

Thats the route. Take a right after Thoppur towards Mettur, first you would get Mecheri and then Mettur. Just before the Mettur bridge you would find a left marked towards Bhavani, Coimbatore etc. taking this turn would help you in not getting into Mettur town. Continue on that road until you reach Ammapettai where you would have to take a right, going straight would take you to Bhavani, from here on keep following the directions to Sathyamangalam its marked very well. Once you reach Sathyamangalam keep following the directions for Coimbatore, its pretty easy to get onto the Coimbatore road from Sathyamangalam as its the first major highway on the left.


Keep going towards Coimbatore after you cross Sathyamangalam. You would get Puliyambatti first and then Annur.

Once you reach Annur look out for the board which says Avinashi & Tiruppur which is a left turn from the NH 209. Take that turn and after a kilometre or so you would find a right towards Karumathampatti. Take the road and except for a diversion for bridge construction dont take any other diversion keep continuing until you reach NH 47 at Karumathampatti. Take a right here and continue towards Coimbatore as usual and then take the Neelambur byepass once you reach the turnoff for the byepass.

The google maps is perfect to the point with that route from Annur to Karumathampatti, have checked it with my GPS.

I was at Thoppur around 9 in the morning and reached Neelambur byepass at around 12 comfortably without exceeding 80 / 85 in this stretch.

Let me know in case you require any further help.

How is this route for night driving? Is both Neelambur byepass & L&T byepass are same? Via this route, what is the joining point on NH47?

There is nothing to worry about night driving on this road, it would be better in the night because of very little traffic and the small villages & towns also would be quite. Karumathampatti is on NH47 from this point onwards its the same road to Palakkad. L&T byepass and Neelambur byepass are the same.

@srikanth: Thank you so much for those detailed inputs. Will try it this weekend.

This route will help to skip high traffic stretch between Perunthurai & L&T toll. How about road signs/directions? (I always pass CBE between 12-2am)

Have to admit that i have not tried this, but i still prefer the 4 lane road since pedestrian and 2 wheeler traffic is more predictable. Driving till Mettur itself is a pain if you are travelling during peak traffic, which usually is the case for me in the morning (onwards) and evening (return) time. Was religiously taking this when the construction was at peak on salem stretch and when i finally shifted back to NH it suddenly became less strenuous.

Maybe ill try out next time when am at leisure. Thanks