[ampere]

Originally Posted by ravib

Both the routes join at Trichy Toll gate.

Thanks for the correction Ravi and sorry for that slip.

@gigism

Please note both routes will lead you to the toll gate. But as Ravi said Musiri sees much higher bus and truck traffic.

[gigism]

Thanks ampere, Ravi!!

So I will take the Route:
Bangalore->Salem->Namakkal->Thiruaiyur->Tanjore->Mannargudi->Thiruthiraipoondi->Nagapattanam->Velankanni

I will update you on my experience.

Thanks a lot for the quick response and suggestions

Regards
Mathew

[nitrous]

Hi fellas

I'm traveling to Yercaud tomorrow at around 11ish from Velankanni.

Gmaps has two route options. Faster by 30 minutes acc. to Gmaps is Velankanni-Nagapattinam-Kumbakonam-Virudachalam-Attur-Yercaud.

The other option is:
Velankanni-Thiruthiraipoondi-Mannargudi-Thanjavur-Tiruchi-Namakkal-Salem-Yercaud.

Which would you suggest for good roads and faster average speeds and safety as well?
I don't mind toll tickets.
Please reply asap as I'm starting in 12 hours.

Thanks a ton in advance

[NPV]

Originally Posted by nitrous

The other option is:
Velankanni-Thiruthiraipoondi-Mannargudi-Thanjavur-Tiruchi-Namakkal-Salem-Yercaud.

Which would you suggest for good roads and faster average speeds and safety as well?

I would suggest you take the Thanjavur-Trichy-Namakkal-Salem-Yercaud route since it will be faster and has better roads.

I think this route should be fine - look at this thread for recent updates - here

[nitrous]

^^ I took the same. Except for the Thanjavur-Trichy leg, Roads were narrow, twisty,through villages and hamlets, quite slow albeit without potholes. I reckon there's not much choice in this route.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by nitrous

^^ I took the same. Except for the Thanjavur-Trichy leg, Roads were narrow, twisty,through villages and hamlets, quite slow albeit without potholes. I reckon there's not much choice in this route.

So which was the route you finally took?

Do you take the Tiruvarur-Kumbakonam-Ulundurpet option?

Tanjore-Trichy is a good option, but you will take quite some time crossing Trichy. Plus you land-up on the Musiri stretch throwing you up against the sand trucks. To avoid you should go via the Thuraiyur. All in all compared to that, Ulundurpet makes it much more easier. Kumbakobam is also easy. Thirvarur SH leads you to Kumbakonam bypass.

But yes either way, you need to know, where all to exit by using a GPS. Its not straight forward.

[Freon911]

Hi Folks,

Any recent updates on the route from BLR to Velankanni? Planning trip on Dec 23rd from BLR and I am concerned on the road condition or if any stretch of this route is closed due to impact of cyclone Wardah, esp closer to the east coast. (Trichy to Nagapatinam)

[KartikBN]

Originally Posted by Freon911

Hi Folks,

Any recent updates on the route from BLR to Velankanni? Planning trip on Dec 23rd from BLR and I am concerned on the road condition or if any stretch of this route is closed due to impact of cyclone Wardah, esp closer to the east coast. (Trichy to Nagapatinam)

Hey Freon,

Did you get to travel to Velankanni from BLR? If so please share your views on the road and the route you traveled in. We've planned to be there during the 7-8 Jan weekend!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by KartikBN

Did you get to travel to Velankanni from BLR? If so please share your views on the road and the route you traveled in. We've planned to be there during the 7-8 Jan weekend!

Banagalore-Krishnagiri-Salem-Thalaivasal-Veppur-Vridhachalam bypass - Chidambaram bypass - Sirkazhi - Karaikal - Velankanni.


Good roads all the way. Route Link

[Freon911]

Originally Posted by KartikBN

Hey Freon,

Did you get to travel to Velankanni from BLR?

Yes - onward journey i took advice of google and ended up taking salem - namakal- musri route. This was a mistake as the musri - trichy section (where you drive parallel to dried up Cauvery) is not good. From Trichy its on ward to Nagapatinam via Thanjavur. Trichy to Thanjavur is good 4 lane toll road, but from Thanjavur to Thiruvarur and to Nagapatinam is also patchy with road work going on in many sections. Unfortunately I was not able to capture the exact places of road work. I was focused on reaching Velankanni before dark.

Return from Velankani, we came via thiruthuraipoondi - Manargudi - Thanjavur - trichy. This is slightly longer but lot better than Thiruvarur route

One piece of advice - save offline google maps and I found its better to use offline navigation.

Ampere has given another route option above, in fact one of the hotel employees there also suggested me this route. But I was not sure about route conditions and hence decided to stick to the known route.

[Judemayne]

Dear All,

Sorry if i am digressing from the Subject matter of this thread but after visiting Velankanni will be proceeding to Rameswaran with Google route showing via Manamelkudi-Aithyutu. Please advice the best route.

Regards

Jude

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Judemayne

Sorry if i am digressing from the Subject matter of this thread but after visiting Velankanni will be proceeding to Rameswaran with Google route showing via Manamelkudi-Aithyutu. Please advice the best route.

I think thats the same. Its regular ECR all the way till Ramnad. It goes via Thondi, Devipatnam etc.

[tharian]

Thought of penning down the route I took from Velankanni to Bangalore last weekend.

Since we had to visit Tranquebar on the return and also due to the last 50kms or so roads undergoing construction on the Thanjavur route, I decided to follow Google maps which took me via Kumbakonam and Virudhachalam, both bypassed, for the return.

This route has good roads all the way with all types of roads from small village roads to dual carriage expressways.
My favourite stretch was from Virudhacalam bypass to the Salem-Kallakurichi highway. Traffic was less and it was an arrow straight well paved single carriage road tree lined almost all the way.

A good option if one wants to take a relaxed trip and enjoy the scenery rather than the high speed drive on the Trichy route.

[JohnnyBoss]

Planning a Velankanni visit clubbing several other places!

1. From Velankanni to Tanjavur, is the route via Mannargudi still the best option?

2. What is the best route to Poondi Basilica from Tanjavur? Gmaps shows 3 routes viz
(a) regular Trichy route and turn right at Sengipatty
(b) via Pillaiyarnatham, Chitrakudi and Budalur
(c) via Thiruvaiyaru, Sathanur

I prefer interior routes if roads are good. Which one I should take?

3. From Trichy to Pollachi, which route I should take, via Karur, Dharapuram or Dindigul, Palani? Only consideration is good roads.

Thanks in advance.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by JohnnyBoss

Planning a Velankanni visit clubbing several other places!

1. From Velankanni to Tanjavur, is the route via Mannargudi still the best option?

2. What is the best route to Poondi Basilica from Tanjavur? Gmaps shows 3 routes viz
(a) regular Trichy route and turn right at Sengipatty
(b) via Pillaiyarnatham, Chitrakudi and Budalur
(c) via Thiruvaiyaru, Sathanur

I prefer interior routes if roads are good. Which one I should take?

3. From Trichy to Pollachi, which route I should take, via Karur, Dharapuram or Dindigul, Palani? Only consideration is good roads.

Thanks in advance.

I don't have latest road condition status, but here is my thought.

For #1 - I suggest to stick to NH67 and continue via Thiruvarur, Nidamangalam which is straightforward. Road conditions should be decent if not great, though bus traffic will be still there.

For #2 - Best is to go via Thiruvaiyar to reach Poondi Basilica.

Both Velankanni and Poondi Basilica are really great pilgrimage places. Have a good trip

Ampere will tell us best of the best route

-Ravi