[ampere]

Originally Posted by gajadonga

Karur-Trichy four lane toll except for the last 20 kms towards Trichy is single road but road surface is good.

4-lane? I thought 67 is a wide 2-lane from Karur all the way to Trichy. Can you confirm?

[gajadonga]

Originally Posted by ampere

4-lane? I thought 67 is a wide 2-lane from Karur all the way to Trichy. Can you confirm?

Karur has a bypass towards Trichy which is four laned from Namakkal to Dindigul
Karur bypass.
So its effortless to cross the Karur town either way towards Trichy or towards Dindigul.
The four lane road ends around 21kms before you reach Trichy and it is a single lane but good quality roads.
It took me one hour from Karur bypass to Trichy Chattram bus stand.
Hope this helps

[ampere]

Originally Posted by gajadonga

Karur has a bypass towards Trichy which is four laned from Namakkal to Dindigul
Karur bypass.

Isn't that the regular 4-lamed NH7 and it bypasses Kaurur. And at the end of the bypass (Dindigul side), you have the NH67 exit. What I thought was 80km from this exit to Trichy is a wide 2-lane.

I meant this stretch : Route Link

The four lane road ends around 21kms before you reach Trichy and it is a single lane but good quality roads.
It took me one hour from Karur bypass to Trichy Chattram bus stand.
Hope this helps

Extactly this is what I wanted to know. So from NH7 exit via the bypass the road is 4-lane for almost 50km. Thats great!

[arsudarsan]

Originally Posted by ampere

Isn't that the regular 4-lamed NH7 and it bypasses Kaurur. And at the end of the bypass (Dindigul side), you have the NH67 exit. What I thought was 80km from this exit to Trichy is a wide 2-lane.

I meant this stretch : Route Link



Extactly this is what I wanted to know. So from NH7 exit via the bypass the road is 4-lane for almost 50km. Thats great!

That is not the case, the 4 lane around Karur bye pass lasts for much lesser distance. The road is indeed a wide 2 lane as you had thought. Proper 4 lane lasts for only about 10-15 km.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by Tempelhof

Planning to drive from Bangalore to Trichy next week.

If you are terminating at Trichy or know the way to get out from Chathiram bus stand take the Kulithalai-Karur road.

[Tempelhof]

Last Friday (25th July 2014) went from Bangalore to Trichy in this route: Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Karur - Kulithalai - Jeeyapuram - Trichy. From Karur, once we take a left towards Trichy you have 4-lane roads for about 20 kms, after which it is a 2-lane road with NO median and oncoming traffic pouring into your lane, till Trichy. Not bad, even after considering reckless trucks and buses. After entering Trichy, used GPS+Google Maps to reach my hotel within 15 minutes. Running time from ITPL, Bangalore to Hotel Ramyaas at Trichy was 6 hours.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Tempelhof

Running time from ITPL, Bangalore to Hotel Ramyaas at Trichy was 6 hours.

Thats very good. And I am sure almost one hour or more must have gone to reach Hosur itself!
Once the 6-lane work to Krishnagiri gets comepleted it would be even more smoother. Also; how I wish they found a way to bypass the Hosur city traffic from the highway.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by Tempelhof

Last Friday (25th July 2014) went from Bangalore to Trichy in this route: Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Karur - Kulithalai - Jeeyapuram - Trichy. From Karur, once we take a left towards Trichy you have 4-lane roads for about 20 kms, after which it is a 2-lane road with NO median and oncoming traffic pouring into your lane, till Trichy. Not bad, even after considering reckless trucks and buses. After entering Trichy, used GPS+Google Maps to reach my hotel within 15 minutes. Running time from ITPL, Bangalore to Hotel Ramyaas at Trichy was 6 hours.

What time did you leave Bangalore?. Looks like 6 hrs is pretty good courtesy the Karur-trichy extended 2 lane road.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

What time did you leave Bangalore?. Looks like 6 hrs is pretty good courtesy the Karur-trichy extended 2 lane road.

+1

6 hours is a very good time considering the additional kms covered. But yea, the exit and entry time matters.

-Ravi

[nfsfreak]

Originally Posted by ampere

Also; how I wish they found a way to bypass the Hosur city traffic from the highway.

Should be marginally better once they complete all the bridges that are under construction.

The main pain area is the signals (the intersections inside the town) and the RTO checkpost (towards Bangalore). The lorries used to block all the lanes or zigzagging and it's really a pain to cross those sections especially during normal hours.

I normally take 5-5.5 hours from Bangalore to Trichy (route: Bangalore-Salem-Musiri-Kulithalai-Trichy) and around 6 hours for Trichy-Bangalore

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

What time did you leave Bangalore?. Looks like 6 hrs is pretty good courtesy the Karur-trichy extended 2 lane road.

I left ITPL, Bangalore at 0545 AM and reached my hotel in Trichy at about 1230 PM with about three stopovers totalling more than 45 minutes.

[Waxeloquent]

WE drove down to Pondicherry from Bangalore Bellandur via Haralur Road, Vallore, Arcot, Cheyyar, Vandavasi, Tindivanam... Missed the bye pass at Arcot; did not add too much travel time because of that. With 20 minutes break at A2B Soolagiri, we were still at Hotel Surguru by 12.45pm having left Bangalore at 6.15am. Hosur was a breeze after the flyover/bridge in front of Leyland 1. Patches of road between Cheyyar and Vandavasi is sandpaperish.

From Pondy visited Pichavaram and drove down to Nagapattinam. The road is pretty good except stretches between cuddalore to chidambaram are narrow and the State buses come clipping. Took the Kumbakonam-Nagapattinam road to reach Mangala Heritage Home at Tirupugalur. Anyone trying to experience rural living in Tamilnadu should try this; see Tripadvisor for more details.

The road from this place to Thiruvarur is just 20 km but winding all the way. But the road condition is good.

Today planning to drive down to Vedaranyam/Kilakkarai to get a glimpse of Calimere point wildlife sanctuary and visit Velankanni and Sikkal en route.

Any idea about the road condition between Nagapattinam and Trichy? Plan to take that to reach Karur to proceed to Coimbatore. Is there a bye pass for Trichy so that we do not get stuck in that traffic?

Thanks and cheers

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Waxeloquent

WE drove down to Pondicherry from Bangalore Bellandur via Haralur Road, Vallore, Arcot, Cheyyar, Vandavasi, Tindivanam... Missed the bye pass at Arcot; did not add too much travel time because of that. With 20 minutes break at A2B Soolagiri, we were still at Hotel Surguru by 12.45pm having left Bangalore at 6.15am. Hosur was a breeze after the flyover/bridge in front of Leyland 1. Patches of road between Cheyyar and Vandavasi is sandpaperish.

Looks like you avoided the ID weekend. That was a good forethought. Else it would have been maddening out there.

From Pondy visited Pichavaram and drove down to Nagapattinam. The road is pretty good except stretches between cuddalore to chidambaram are narrow and the State buses come clipping. Took the Kumbakonam-Nagapattinam road to reach Mangala Heritage Home at Tirupugalur. Anyone trying to experience rural living in Tamilnadu should try this; see Tripadvisor for more details.

Had heard about this. But did not know in detail. Do write more about it.

The road from this place to Thiruvarur is just 20 km but winding all the way. But the road condition is good.

Did you take the Mayavaram-Peralam-Thirvarur ? If yes, then true, its been relaid and its a dream to drive. Its rough and broken around Peralam railway station. But otherwise very good.

Today planning to drive down to Vedaranyam/Kilakkarai to get a glimpse of Calimere point wildlife sanctuary and visit Velankanni and Sikkal en route.

Have been thinking about visiting for quite some time. Is there a good stay nearby? Would be good to know.

Any idea about the road condition between Nagapattinam and Trichy? Plan to take that to reach Karur to proceed to Coimbatore. Is there a bye pass for Trichy so that we do not get stuck in that traffic?
Thanks and cheers

Note on NH67:
- Brilliant all the way from Nagapatnam to Tanjore
- Nagapatna-Nedamanagalam: Quite many section are on bunds and winding. Hence take care. There is a railway crossing too.
- Biggest pain is crossing Nedamangalam and its two railway crossings (if you get caught there). There is no bypass.
- Beyond that its quite good. Once you hit Tanjore bypass, you hit the expressway. Its 4-lane all the way to Trichy.

Trichy Bypass to Karur: None:

Best option: See this route link : Link


A : Start of Tanjore Bypass
C: Point you cut GST (NH45). Turn on to GST towards Chennai
D: Point you exit GST towards Srirangam.
E/F/G: Lead roads to Karur.

[Waxeloquent]

Ampere thanks!

Yes, deliberately planned to miss ID crowd which we managed till today when visiting Velankanni and of course Vedaranyam temple rush for the last Friday of Tamil month Aadi. No did not figure that out in calculations.

The roads between Nagapattinam- Nagore - Sikkal - Velankanni - vedranyam -Managala heritage Home, Tirupugalaur was nice surface, winding, not too heavily congested. The up and down trip of 140 Kms, about 5 1/2 hours including visiting shrines.

Had to drop Cape Calimere sanctuary, being out of season; Nov-Dec is advised for sighting deer and wild ass the main attraction; yes some birds as well. Also, it is very hot and sweaty these parts of Tamil Nadu.

Yes we took the route you had mentioned to Tiruvarur; there was a downpour which flooded the shrine but the evening floral decoration of presiding deity Thagaraja was fantastic.The winding road was a pleasure to drive if one drives carefully.

Given the total distance between Cape Calimer and Nagapttinam, one could choose to stay in Nagapattinam and cover these places.

The cell phone coverage is not great; Aircel and Reliance have better coverage the local people say. Unfortunately people from Bangalore mostly have Voda or Airtel both of which I found very poor.

Cheers

[Waxeloquent]

Well, did more road trips in Nagapattinam district of Tamilnadu and travelled to Coimbatore. A review of the roads and sidelights of some places:

Thirupugalur (Mangala Heritage Home)-Nagore-Sikkal-Velankanni-Vedaranyam-Thirupugalur
The roads are good but narrow and winding. Yes there are patches where you will need to slow
down to 30s, otw you can maintain a steady 60, 70km speed.

Both Nagore and Velankanni have deteriorated from cleanliness view points. Your Faith has to carry you through! Sad but that's stark reality. As an aside, watch your wallet in Nagore! The
Parking at Velankanni is pathetic and free.

Read somewhere about interior roads from Nagapattinam to Coimbatore via Mannargudi to avoid issues around Needamangalam. Thought why not give it a try? So left Thirupugalur Mangala Heritage Home around 7.15am; hit Thiruvarur using the good winding roads, 20km in about 25 minutes. From there the road to Mannargudi and then to Thanjavur Bye Pass road was a revelation. Except 1 bridge/culvert under construction and a couple of patches the road was good. There was just one railway level crossing. The traffic was low to moderate.

The Thanjavur bye pass was very good and I thought I successfully avoided driving thro' Trichy
To head to Karur and Coimbatore. Got confused at Chatram bus stand, took a left turn in stead of right which would have out me on to Karur Coimbatore road :(

Anyway, that was sorted out and the road to Karur Palladam, Kangeyam, Sulur, Coimbatore
National High Way is just 2 lane, filled with only sand trucks. The 3 1/2 hour drive was not enjoyable. If there is an option to move to Salem Coimbatore highway somewhere after Karur, even if it adds say 20, 30 kms, it would be highly preferred.

Cheers