[A350XWB]

Originally Posted by arjithin

I plan to start around 3.30AM so that I cross Hosur by 4AM before people from Ecity starts their drive at 4 AM. If the traffic is high (based on what google maps show at that time of start), may take Kollegal - Sathy route to Coimbatore.

On one occasion (read holiday seasons), I started at around 4:45 AM from BG Road and got stuck right from Attibele toll. The next holiday season, tried the 3:00 AM start and it was a breeze, though all toll gates. Will never start after 4:00 AM, if I'm going to my hometown. Realized one more thing; the amount of sleep you'll save between these two timings is negligible and the time gained is too hard to ignore.

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Now as per the new plan I will be leaving Pune on 21st evening by 3pm and take a halt at Kolhapur and proceed the next day all the way to Salem as I intend to pass Bangalore-Hosur post Lunch. Hope this is a good idea.

Expect traffic to increase post 3 pm on 22nd. If you can cross Bangalore by that time, you should be fine.

Take NICE road to bypass Bangalore.

You can also consider Pune - Hiriyur - Mysore - Coimbatore/Nilambur - Palakad, if you dont mind driving on 2 lane roads. (Assuming you are going to Palakad)

Pune to Mysore on day 1(early start) and Mysore to Palakad on day 2. If you can add Day 3 Dec21, then thats even better). See which combination works better for you)

[joe]

Hello guys I am planning a trip from Hyderabad to Cochin on December 25 early morning and spend the night at Salem. Stopover at Anakatti for 2 days on 26 and 27.

Start from Anakatti on 28 early morning and reach Cochin on 28 evening. The route that I have in mind is as follows:

25 December

Hyderabad - Devanahalli - Hoskote - Malur - Bagalur - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem.

26 December

Salem - Avinashi - Coimbatore - Anakatti.

28 December

Anakatti - Coimbatore - Palakkad - Thrissur - Cochin.

Is this the best route or are there better routes?.

Thanks

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by joe

25 December

Hyderabad - Devanahalli - Hoskote - Malur - Bagalur - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem.

Is this the best route or are there better routes?.

Thanks

In general looks fine to me. I am not aware of the Hoskote - Malur road condition, but do not take the Hoskote - Chikkatirupati - Bagalur road by mistake; its all dug up for GAIL pipe work.

28 December

Anakatti - Coimbatore - Palakkad - Thrissur - Cochin.

You can check with locals on the road conditions of Anakatti - Agali - Mannarkad and if good take that road. It is a scenic road.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by joe

25 December

Hyderabad - Devanahalli - Hoskote - Malur - Bagalur - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem.
Thanks

7hours to Devanahalli,1.5 to 2hrs to reach Hosur from Devanhalli,from there another 3hours to Salem.Easily done if you leave early morning from Hyd.We usually leave around 430 and reach Salem around 5pm and stay at Estancia or Park Plaza on the highway itself.

Originally Posted by joe

Anakatti - Coimbatore - Palakkad - Thrissur - Cochin.

Is this the best route or are there better routes?.

Thanks

If you have time and are ok with exploring isolated roads then you can go via Agali-Mannarkad-Mangalamkunnu-Ottapalam-Wadakancheri-Thrissur-Kochi

[Ashwin Morey]

Okay after my Diwali plans went awry, i have restarted my plan to drive from Pune to Cochin.

The fastest route suggested by Google takes approx 22 hrs however it has Bangalore & Hosur in between, so -

Will it be a suicidal decision to pass through Bangalore on the evening of 23rd Dec?

Google map shows some construction work around Hosur. How bad is that?


I plan to halt at Hosur and start my onward journey next day to Cochin. However if either of the above is too bad then should i halt at Tumkuru and leave early the next day i.e. Sunday 24th Dec?

Also in the thread a lot of alternate routes between Bangalore & Salem & Coimbatore were suggested. I tried all possible permutations & combinations but as per Google Maps each of them resulted in journey time of over 23 hrs. whereas the simple route suggested by Google is 22 hrs.

Suggestions please, if at all i need to take any detours around Bangalore or Hosur or Salem or Thrissur or anywhere else?


Many Thanks,
Ashwin

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by Ashwin Morey

Also in the thread a lot of alternate routes between Bangalore & Salem & Coimbatore were suggested. I tried all possible permutations & combinations but as per Google Maps each of them resulted in journey time of over 23 hrs. whereas the simple route suggested by Google is 22 hrs.

Google maps doesnt calculate holiday traffic and delays at Toll booths. On a long weekend, there will be delays of 45mts to 1 hr at some toll booths. Consider 2-3 such toll booths and your time is more than the alternative routes (which are mostly 2 lane)

Just above this post are suggestions given to another Pune to KL drive.

I assume there will be similar outbound traffic from Pune as well on 23rd, please consider that too in your planning.
Your plan looks good, but keep Tumkur or Hosur option open until you reach closer to Bangalore.

Will it be a suicidal decision to pass through Bangalore on the evening of 23rd Dec?

Not really, you will be taking NICE road to bypass Bangalore.

Google map shows some construction work around Hosur. How bad is that?

Not very bad unless you are reaching there in peak traffic.

[AshiqueS]

Originally Posted by joe

25 December

Hyderabad - Devanahalli - Hoskote - Malur - Bagalur - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem.

26 December

Salem - Avinashi - Coimbatore - Anakatti.

28 December

Anakatti - Coimbatore - Palakkad - Thrissur - Cochin.

From Hosur till cochin, the route you mentioned above is recommended

[Ashwin Morey]

Originally Posted by arjithin

Google maps doesnt calculate holiday traffic and delays at Toll booths. On a long weekend, there will be delays of 45mts to 1 hr at some toll booths. Consider 2-3 such toll booths and your time is more than the alternative routes (which are mostly 2 lane)

I think Google does show real time update including traffic conditions. But if luck is bad (which it will be) then by the time i reach those points, I would see updated time!

Just above this post are suggestions given to another Pune to KL drive.

Do you mean Pune - Hiriyur - Mysore - Coimbatore/Nilambur - Palakad?
Other than this are there any detours in & around Tumkur to avoid going to Bangalore and then maybe rejoin the Salem-Coimbatore highway since I have heard its pretty nice highway.

Not very bad unless you are reaching there in peak traffic.

When would that be? If i follow the standard route then I would be reaching Hosur by 10PM on Saturday OR if i halt at Tumkur then i guess Hosur would be by 7AM on Sunday.


Thanks for the info so far!

[pramodpk]

I will be driving to Trivandrum on Dec 22nd from Whitefield. Planning to start at 4:30 AM. Any update on the Kavalkinar - Nagercoil - Trivandrum route? Last time I had taken the Ararvaymozhi - Bhoothapandi - Vellarada - Kattakkada route and the drive was peacefule with less traffic. My final destination is Kesavadasapuram. I will be reaching Kaval Kinar by 12:30 - 1:00 PM.

thanks in advance.

[tortoise]

Are there decent food joints on Kanakpura road? By decent, I mean decent food and with neat toilet facilities convenient for ladies. I plan to avoid Mysore road and consider Kanakpura road to travel to Nilambur

-tortoise

[NPV]

Originally Posted by tortoise

Are there decent food joints on Kanakpura road? By decent, I mean decent food and with neat toilet facilities convenient for ladies. I plan to avoid Mysore road and consider Kanakpura road to travel to Nilambur

I've heard about 2 newish places near Kanakapura - Route 31 and Mandarathi Gardenia. See this post (Driving between Bangalore and Mysore) and others on that page.

[sparky@home]

This is for info on trips to south Kerala via MC road, I did a trip today up to Koothatukulam from Trissur, left early by 0600 and was at Koothatukulam by 0930, with a break of around 30/35 minutes for breakfast, traffic was light. I made my return by 1230 from koothatukulam and got heavy traffic from Muvatupuzha till I crossed Angamaly, after which it was moderate. It’s still 5 days to Xmas, so the weekend is going to be hell. Lot of Traffic cops on the road, but not much traffic management. All the best.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by sparky@home

This is for info on trips to south Kerala via MC road, I did a trip today up to Koothatukulam from Trissur, left early by 0600 and was at Koothatukulam by 0930...

Just curious, whats your connection to Koothattukulam ? Thats my home town, although I am out of Kerala since 30 years, visiting only for weddings or such occasions.

All my planning and plotting on BLR-Kerala drive on 22nd has come to a freezing point since last weekend, spoiled by high BP and bad cold. I dont know what went wrong, may be my overindulgence of mutton and lamb in a week long visit to Muscat or lack of sleep or over excited brain !! Being on bed 4 days in a row, I am not going to take a chance this time, so this Xmas will be in or around Bangalore. Thanks to everyone who constantly gave me updates on the routes I mentioned few pages back

[sparky@home]

My dad's place is Thirumarady, so I keep visiting for some occasions. Dread the ride though due to the traffic, which can get real painsome.