[ampere]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

4AM : Start from sarjapur road bangalore
~ 7AM : breakfast at some decent veg restaurant around salem (preferably after exiting salem)

Park Plaza or Grand Estancia at Salem. Past Salem there is not much. Or A2B/Raja Bhojanam at Dharmapuri.

~1030 AM : be on the madurai bypass (airport vicinity); this is what I understood about how to do this -> take samayanallur right fork -> take left just before tirumangalam town -> pass by madurai airport -> take a right where this bypass hits a big junction (left is into town) to join NH49 (2 lane) towards rameswaram.

Look for SIPCOT at Thirumangalam and get on to Ring Road.

~2PM : check into some hotel in rameswaram and have lunch+rest
2 rounds of temple visit one in the evening (6-7 PM) and one early next morning (4-5 AM) - one of them with "11 wells snanam"

Hotel Daiwik is the place. http://www.daiwikhotels.com

I see you mention Daiwik being out of budget. Do consider. Its worth it. Because the rest are just not that worth compared to what you pay here. Perl seems to a good place (not heard about it though). Check for parking.

~10AM : start towards bangalore post breakfast, follow mirror image of above route
~130 PM : have lunch on some good veg restaurant on highway itself, around madurai
9PM : back in bangalore after negotiating weekend return toll booth rush.

Visit Dhanushkodi in the morning. Start for Madurai by 11. Extend by another day and stay at Madurai. Visit the temple that evening and drive back the next day.

[sswaroop]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

4AM : Start from sarjapur road bangalore
~ 7AM : breakfast at some decent veg restaurant around salem (preferably after exiting salem)
~1030 AM : be on the madurai bypass (airport vicinity); this is what I understood about how to do this -> take samayanallur right fork -> take left just before tirumangalam town -> pass by madurai airport -> take a right where this bypass hits a big junction (left is into town) to join NH49 (2 lane) towards rameswaram.

1) is the above plan doable in terms of timings ?
2) please suggest a good breakfast location around salem (preferably after exiting salem city )
3) are there any tolls while I am on the madurai bypass ? is signage for rameswaram present on this bypass ?

The times look quite doable. On my recent trip, reached our hotel on Madurai Byepass road in 6.5 hours including a break of about 45 mins in the A2B restaurant after Hosur. Cruising speed was about 110-120 kmph. You can have breakfast in the A2B near Thoppur. Its not so close as you'd like, may be some others can pitch in for restaurants near Salem.

Since you are not going into Madurai City and taking the bypass route you suggested, you should reach easily by 1030 am. Don't know if it has any tolls in the bypass, but I remember paying a toll just outside of Madurai, so I doubt it. But even if a toll is there, it is definitely worth it than going through Madurai City's AH43. Driving through the city is like driving through bylanes of Avenue Road and Chickpet here in Bangalore.


I think the wells snanam is starts closing around 730 PM and starts early in the mornings. We had stayed at Hotel Sri Saravana which is right next to the temple itself. But since there wasn't any movement of traffic allowed, I had parked our Fiesta in the Govt parking which is about half a km away from the temple. There are a bunch of restaurants on the roads surrounding the temple so it isn't a problem for food there.

We had seen a BPCL Ghar outlet around Samayanllur fork so you can stop for lunch there I guess.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by ampere

Visit Dhanushkodi in the morning.

I actually suggest the other way around. Visit Dhanushkodi previous evening and do the 22-well ritual and temple visit in the morning.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

4) suggest some good hotels in rameswaram - priority order is :
- good parking ( I dont want to take out my car for temple visit)
- cleanliness
(i dont mind venturing out to local veg hotels for breakfast lunch etc)
daivik is out of my budget, but found out about "pearl residency" and "vinayaka" - both seem to be decent - anybody has stayed here before ?

Try Queen Palace at Rameshwaram, it's on the highway itself on left side, very well located. You can park your car at the hotel and take an autorickshaw ride for visit to Temple and other "Theerthams"/places to visit.
For the visit to Dhanushkodi, engage a Jeep, the Jeep stand is very close to Queen Palace.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by narayans80

I actually suggest the other way around. Visit Dhanushkodi previous evening and do the 22-well ritual and temple visit in the morning.

I would second narayan. Its great feel to see Dhanushkodi in the evening and if possible,, try to see the sunset.

Visiting the temple and taking bath in 22-wells + sea is good in the morning, but remember in the mornings there will be more crowd doing the same.

-Ravi

[ampere]

Yes it makes sense to have a morning darshan at the temple and evening visit to Dhanushkodi. But please make sure, you hire jeep from Rameshwaram. Its much easier that way.

[dass]

Planning a Bangalore-Madurai-Kanyakumari-Rameshwaram-Bangalore Trip

Has anyone done this stretch recently? My family and another family are planning on this trip during December and would appreciate if someone can provide the recent updates pertaining to,
1. The best route to take and the time taken.
2. Places to stay
3. Places to see during the stay.
The plan is for 5 days +/- 1 day. We have two kids ~3years of age traveling with us, so good eating options en route are kind of a must. We will most probably travel in two cars, as we find that comfortable for the kids.

Also, is that the right order to visit these places? If not, please suggest the order as well.

Thanks!!

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by dass

Planning a Bangalore-Madurai-Kanyakumari-Rameshwaram-Bangalore Trip

Has anyone done this stretch recently? My family and another family are planning on this trip during December and would appreciate if someone can provide the recent updates pertaining to,
1. The best route to take and the time taken.
2. Places to stay
3. Places to see during the stay.
The plan is for 5 days +/- 1 day. We have two kids ~3years of age traveling with us, so good eating options en route are kind of a must. We will most probably travel in two cars, as we find that comfortable for the kids.

Also, is that the right order to visit these places? If not, please suggest the order as well.

Thanks!!

Do plan to visit Suchindram temple near Kanyakumari. In Madurai we have the famous Meenakshi Amman temple, Azaghar temple etc.

The route is pretty straightforward. NH7 all the way from Bangalore to Kanyakumari. Bangalore to Madurai should take you about 7 hrs drive.

[anup7649]

Originally Posted by dass

Planning a Bangalore-Madurai-Kanyakumari-Rameshwaram-Bangalore Trip

Has anyone done this stretch recently? My family and another family are planning on this trip during December and would appreciate if someone can provide the recent updates pertaining to,
1. The best route to take and the time taken.
2. Places to stay
3. Places to see during the stay.
Also, is that the right order to visit these places? If not, please suggest the order as well.

Thanks!!

My parents did a 4 days trip last week to Madurai and rameswaram and below is the info.
1. Bangalore to Madurai will take you abt 6-7 hours with break.
2. Places to stay - Annamalai hotel in Madurai is good. Try that.
3. Places to see - check this link.
http://goindia.about.com/od/tamilnad...s-To-Visit.htm
http://www.ixigo.com/places-to-visit...ram-lp-1097287

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by dass

Planning a Bangalore-Madurai-Kanyakumari-Rameshwaram-Bangalore Trip

Has anyone done this stretch recently? My family and another family are planning on this trip during December and would appreciate if someone can provide the recent updates pertaining to,
1. The best route to take and the time taken.
2. Places to stay
3. Places to see during the stay.
The plan is for 5 days +/- 1 day. We have two kids ~3years of age traveling with us, so good eating options en route are kind of a must. We will most probably travel in two cars, as we find that comfortable for the kids.

Also, is that the right order to visit these places? If not, please suggest the order as well.

Thanks!!

I had done a Bangalore - Madurai -Rameshwaram - Trivandrum in December 2013. Details here

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...rivandrum.html

I think your order should me Bangalore - Kanyakumari - Rameshwaram - Madurai Bangalore

or

Bangalore - Madurai - Rameshwaram - Kanyakumari - Bangalore.

Reason - Take advantage of the excellent NH7 all the way from Bangalore to Kanyakumari which can be done in 9 hours.

[dass]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

I had done a Bangalore - Madurai -Rameshwaram - Trivandrum in December 2013. Details here
.

Originally Posted by anup7649

My parents did a 4 days trip last week to Madurai and rameswaram and below is the info.
1. Bangalore to Madurai will take you abt 6-7 hours with break.
2. Places to stay - Annamalai hotel in Madurai is good. Try that.
3. Places to see - check this link.
http://goindia.about.com/od/tamilnad...s-To-Visit.htm
http://www.ixigo.com/places-to-visit...ram-lp-1097287

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Do plan to visit Suchindram temple near Kanyakumari. In Madurai we have the famous Meenakshi Amman temple, Azaghar temple etc.

The route is pretty straightforward. NH7 all the way from Bangalore to Kanyakumari. Bangalore to Madurai should take you about 7 hrs drive.

Thank you all, indeed some good suggestions.
Another question that just popped up, would this be the right time to visit these places? I mean, will the crowds be too much of an issue? We are thinking about the week of December 22nd.

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by dass

Thank you all, indeed some good suggestions.
Another question that just popped up, would this be the right time to visit these places? I mean, will the crowds be too much of an issue? We are thinking about the week of December 22nd.

If your intention is pilgrimage, this is not the right time to visit as Madurai and Rameshwaram would be crowded with Sabarimala pilgrims. We travelled at the same time during last year but could not get Darshan at Rameshwaram & Madurai.

Climate wise, this would be the best time to visit.

[dass]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

If your intention is pilgrimage, this is not the right time to visit as Madurai and Rameshwaram would be crowded with Sabarimala pilgrims. We travelled at the same time during last year but could not get Darshan at Rameshwaram & Madurai.

Climate wise, this would be the best time to visit.

Our intention is both, slightly tilted towards the sightseeing part than actually pilgrimage. But since we are going all the way till there, we do not want to skip the temples either.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by dass

Thank you all, indeed some good suggestions.
Another question that just popped up, would this be the right time to visit these places? I mean, will the crowds be too much of an issue? We are thinking about the week of December 22nd.

If visiting temples is of priority, then try to visit the famous Nava tirupati temples in Tirunelveli which is 150 kms from Madurai. These temples are maintained by TVS Motor Company. Wish quite a number of temples are taken over by corporates.

[sswaroop]

Originally Posted by dass

Our intention is both, slightly tilted towards the sightseeing part than actually pilgrimage. But since we are going all the way till there, we do not want to skip the temples either.

Make sure you visit Dhanushkodi from Rameshwaram. We visited for sunrise early in the morning. You can visit for sunset as well. You can hire Jeeps from your hotel itself. Daiwik hotels is supposedly really good.