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These are all routes I used to take when I practiced Toll Avoidance Routing in the pre-Fastag days when toll-booth congestion was a major factor for planning trips. The problem with these routes are you are limited to a 30-40 kmph average speed in Kerala and 50-60 kmph in TN. Small towns like Nenmara are prone to traffic jams that take long time to resolve. So unless it is for the experience I wouldn't suggest these routes to anyone.

Plus joining back at Thoppur doesn't help much; far better to go further along and join back at Krishnagiri or Hosur (or go all the way to Bangalore). The Mecheri-Pennagaram road is a beauty to drive on.

This is fantastic timing - I have never been able to do this (1.5 hours for these ~100 km from Krishnagiri toll till home).

Did this route on Friday. Started at 7:20 am from Bangalore and reached Karungapalli at 9:30 pm. Overall roads are okay and did not have much rain.

Roads are excellent till Madurai after that is two lane and patchy, road passes through small towns with some traffic.

Also found that it is a bad idea to do high range section - Aryankavu in the night. Sharp turns and no street lights, roads also have huge potholes in the middle. Good that I was in my XUV 5OO :)

I’m driving this weekend to coimbatore from Calicut. I usually take
1. Malappuram- Perinthalmanna- cherpulassery/mannarkkad- mundur
2. Kottakal- angadipuram- cherpulassery/
Mannarkkad- mundur
I usually go through this route once in 2 weeks for the past 2 years. This time I’m planning to take an alternate route from mannarkkad to coimbatore via Anaikatti. Any inputs about the road condition, safety during night drives?

Hi, Anyone done Kollam to Thuruchendur recently, pls suggest the best route, at the moment Kollam-Kottarakara-Thenmala-thirunelveli-thiruchendur.

Few years back there was some 40 km of horrible road that i ended up with before reaching thenmala on the way back, had just followed googlemaps, it was a SH but horrible anyone knows what that road could be so that I can avoid it, if its still in that condition as it was in 2018

Isn't the best route to Palghat after crossing Thoota is via Mangode (no need to enter Cherupulassery) -> Kadambazhipuram -> Kongad -> Mundur? Work was under way in this section during the last couple of years, but it is mostly complete now. Of course, the road from Angadipuram (via Jubilee Road) till Anamangad is not in good condition, but can't be avoided.

And, the Mannarkad route was also under construction and is completed in sections - where it is quite wide - but traffic is heavier than the above route, and is slightly longer.

Sorry, I take the route via mangod- kongad- mundur only. In our local place when someone asks about the route option, I usually say either cherpulassery or mannarkkad route. But now a days especially in night, I take NH only because the road are under construction via kongad to angadipuram. But the traffic through this route is less.

I end up driving Palakkad-Calicut at least a dozen times a year, with the most recent being in June 1st week; my preference is:

1. Perinthalmanna-Kongad-Mundur is indeed the shortest route (and not the NH 966), but many local people call it "going via Cherpulassery" even though one doesn't enter Cherpulassery - because the town is only about 1.5 km off this road. This road was in bad shape till a few years back, was repaired nicely after the first or second floods and now it shows a bit of wear and tear but in my opinion there is no need to look for alternatives.

2. The NH route (Perinthalmanna-Mannarkkad-Palakkad) is being redeveloped/widened and that work is proceeding rather slowly. The construction sites look busy but I don't see much progress happening. There will be massive traffic jams near Mannarkkad town so this route is best avoided.

3. But there are times when I join NH 966 at Mannarkkad (Calicut-Arekkode-Wandoor-Pandikkad-Alanallur-Mannarkkad). Then this permanently under-construction road is unavoidable, but I hop onto the minor interior Mannarkkad-Kongad road and skip the worst of the blocks. This road is not very wide and vehicle-friendly, so beware.

Not really recent information, but the last time I took this route I wasn't very impressed with it. The Kerala side was in pretty bad condition.

Hi All,
Need your help here.

I am planning to drive from Hyderabad to Trivandrum and I would like your advice on the best route to take.

Google maps told me this: Hyd -> Chennai -> Trichy -> Madurai -> Thenkasi -> Trivandrum.

Can anyone confirm if this route is good now considering all the rains in the last two weeks?

Also, I intend staying for a night in some hotel during the journey. Any suggestions for stay ahead of Chennai will be appreciated.

Travelwriter

Any particular reason to drive via Chennai?
I think you can take Hyd - Bangalore - Salem - Madurai - Trivandrum.
Again depends on where in Trivandrum you can plan Madurai - Nagarcoil - Trivandrum rather than taking Tenkasi route in the mansoon.
All the way roads are good
For taking break you can consider Salem.
Crossing Bangalore will be tricky depends on your timing.

No specific reason. I have driven to Chennai and Trichy earlier and hence knew the route. That was the only consideration. I am open to the route you suggested, though.

I have to be at the Technopark in Trivandrum.

Travelwriter

Technopark's in the north of Trivandrum so perhaps the Tenkasi route makes more sense.

Maybe the Chennai route is marginally longer than the Bangalore route but I suspect clearing Bangalore might be a lot more time consuming than clearing Chennai. So if you are not adventurous stick to the route you are familiar with.

Not really.

HYD-BLR-Madurai- Nagercoil - Trivandrum is the best option

The Madurai - Thenkasi - Trivandrum is 2 way road all the way and its a pain, in my opinion (though its a very scenic route)

As has bee suggested - break at Selam and start in the morning you can be in trivandrum in 7-8 hours depending on what time you start from Selam

Best Regards & Drive Safe

OK the one time I drove Kanyakumari-Nagercoil-Trivandrum it was a harrowing experience. Was speaking from that one-off.

Have wanted to update this thread on the road conditions in Coimbatore Palakkad stretch after the rain battering it has been seeing.

Towards Kerala: L&T Bypass after the recent road work is decent. The stretch beyond Madukkarai till Walayar is not in the best shape. The last 4 Km before Walayar is pothole ridden like City roads these days. Anyone with low ground clearance cars be careful. The roads from Walayar till Palakkad Medical college seem to be in decent nick except for some edges where paved main road meets unpaved service roads. In those areas alone, The height difference in asphalt is a few inches thick.

Towards Tamilnadu: I think there was plan to relayer this before the rains. They scraped off asphalt randomly in the entire stretch till the Toll and then it rained. So they left the scraped off surface as it is. Not much of a hassle but could affect braking distances especially in the rains.

Safe driving folks. Not recommending riding in this rains though. I get soggy like hell on a daily basis these days.

Completed a Bangalore-Tirur-Ernakulam-Trivandrum-Bangalore trip last week.

Bangalore-Tirur : Started at around 4:30 AM. Huge block at Thoppur ghat as a truck had overturned. Uneventful otherwise and reached Tirur by 3 pm after one breakfast halt and another purchase halt.

Tirur-Ernakulam : I prefer taking the Kuttipuram road to Thrissur and joining NH544 at Paliyakara. Lots of road works in Thrissur and likely to get delayed as well with rains.

Ernakulam-TVM : My first time on this route. Only wish is that the NH 66 could have been wider!! Started around 3:30 PM and reached Sreekariyam, TVM at around 9:30 PM with a 45 minute dinner break.

Kovalam-Bangalore : Took Kovalam-Poovar-Nagercoil-Tirunelveli-Madurai-Salem-Bangalore route. Google took us through a really narrow internal road to touch Vizhinjam Poovar Road. I am sure there should be a better option available. Got spooked by the speed cams installed between Tirunelveli and Madurai. While local vehicles etc were speeding, I decided to set cruise control at 95kmph to avoid any possible challans. Subsequently, the restaurant owner at Madurai informed that the cams are not yet operational. Members who are regular travellers on this route may kindly update the true scenario.
Started from Kovalam at 4:30 AM and reached Sarjapura outskirts at around 5:30 pm.