The distance from Bangalore to Kanyakumari is around 650 Kms. Thanks to the four-laning project by the Government of India, the road connecting Bangalore to Nagercoil is too good, and it will be a wonderful experience to drive. But the drivers should be extra cautious about the following dangers.
1. Beware of truck drivers, I don’t know why, but all the truck drivers will be driving only on the Right hand side of the road, no matter how slowly they drive. There is no point in waiting for them to provide way to overtake, and you should break the rule and overtake from the left.
2. The National Highway Authority of India is trying to maintain the road dividers by planting some trees and lawns. The local villagers are finding it a good opportunity to gazing their livestock’s in those dividers. You should be very careful as the cows and buffalos may turn to the road at any time, and response time available may be very minimal.
3. You can expect a lot of bi-cycles and motor bikes coming in the opposite direction, which normally is a one-way road. Sometimes you can expect even a truck coming in opposite direction.
4. There are few stretches in which the four-laning is yet to be completed, in those stretches you may have to take a diversion. Don’t expect prominent sign-boards for the taking diversion. By the time you travel 100Kms, you will get yourself educated on where to take diversion.
5. Most of the stretch of the road is newly laid. And because of that, you may not find much of gas stations on the way. So, please keep an eye on your fuel gauge. The same thing is applicable for Puncture shops and refreshments.
6. Keep some cash with you. For every 50 to 100 Kilometers, you will have a toll plaza, where you have to pay from Rs.25 to Rs.60. And also, many of the gas stations do not accept cards.
7. Plan your breaks: being a newly laid road, you do not find much of restaurants on the way. And also, many of the towns are bypassed. Plan your timings in such a way that you are breaking at Salem, Karur and Tirunelveli where the highway is nearer to the towns.
Restaurants on the way:
There are very few options for road travelers on the way from Bangalore to Kanyakumari. I am just trying to list down the options which I have already tried out. There may be some more, which I am not aware of.
Hosur (35Kms): Hosur has few restaurants on the way. Few of the vegetarian restaurants are on the left hand side of the over bridge. To reach those restaurants, you have to take the left road instead of climbing the over bridge.
Kaamat(45Kms): There is a Kaamat restaurant, situated around 10-15 Kms away from Hosur on the Left Hand side. This restaurant is behind the Reliance Petrol Pump in their old A1-Shop building.
Sulagiri: There are two motels near Sulagiri.
Krishna-Inn(60Kms): The first is Krishna-Inn, which has a good restaurant and a Coffee Day in the same building on the left side of the road. This restaurant is attached to an Indian Oil Petrol pump.
A2B(70Kms) If you travel another 10kms or so, on the Left Hand side you will find Adayar Ananda Bhavan or Ghar Dhabha, attached to Bharat Petroleum outlet.
Krishnagiri (85Kms): There is no good restaurant in the main road. You may not even see the Krishsnagiri town, as you will be going over two flyovers. If you really want to take some food, then you have to take the left road just after the Toll Plaza which leads to Krishnagiri town. You may find few vegetarian restaurants.
Dharmapuri Toll Plaza (130Kms): Just before the Dharmapuri Toll Plaza, there is an Adayar Ananda Bhavan, on the right hand side of the road. You need to take an U-Turn, if you want to visit this restaurant.
Salem (200Kms): It is a big town, and the bypass road is very nearer to the city. Not much of good restaurants on the bypass road.
Karur (290Kms): Same as Salem. It is better to go inside the town (Take a left turn at Karur-Erode junction) to find some good restaurant.
Dindugul (360 Kms): The entire stretch from Karur to Dindigul will not have any good restaurants. And you may not find good restaurants in the high way also. But if you have time and patience, please travel inside the Dindigul town, where you can find few good restaurants, which serve excellent briyanis. Velu Briyani and Thalappakkatti briyani are the most famous briyani houses you can try. Dindigul being a very old town, you have to travel through very narrow and congested streets. But it is worth.
Kodaikanal Road (385 Kms): Recently, NHAI has completed the bypass road for this town also. Kodai road has very few restaurants which serves quality food. But you will get some good fruits on the road side shops. To enter into Kodai road, you need to take a left, just after the toll plaza.
But if you avoid Kodai road and travel further, you can find some good restaurant on the left hand side by the name Highway-Inn. I have been there only once, and the food and facilities were very good.
Note: Probably Kodai road is the last place where you can get some good food until you reach Tirunelveli. Since Madurai, Tirumangalam, Virudunagar, Sattur and Kovilpatti are all bypassed, it may be very difficult to find any restaurant on the way. There is only one moderate motel next to Sattur. But you cannot expect much from this restaurant.
Tirunelveli (560 Kms): There is a bypass which is under construction, and once this bypass is completed, we may not be going via Tirunelveli at all. But at this point of time, since we are going through Tirunelveli town, you have few options. You will find two or three good restaurants.
Kavalkinaru (620 Kms): A small place where the Indian Space Research Organization is located. You may find few moderate quality restaurants. Next to this village, the road will be divided into two. The left side road leads directly to Kanyakumari and the right also goes to Kanyakumari, but via Nagercoil. If you choose the Nagercoil road, then you may have to travel additional 20Kms to reach Kanyakumari.
Distance Chart
Planned Start Time |
6:00 |
Approximate Distance and Travel Time
|
|||
Start |
End |
Travel |
Distance |
Cumulative Distance |
Time |
Bangalore |
Attibelle |
1:00 |
25 |
25.0 |
7:00 |
Attibelle |
Krishnagiri Toll Gate |
1:00 |
56 |
81.0 |
8:00 |
Krishnagiri Toll Gate |
Dharmapuri Tollgate |
0:40 |
49 |
130.0 |
8:40 |
Dharmapuri Tollgate |
Salem Namakkal Jn |
1:10 |
68 |
198.0 |
9:50 |
Salem Namakkal Jn |
Namakkal |
0:45 |
51 |
249 |
10:35 |
Namakkal |
Karur-(Erode Jn) |
0:35 |
41 |
290 |
11:10 |
Karur-(Erode Jn) |
Dindugul |
1:00 |
72 |
362 |
12:10 |
Dindugul |
Kodaikanal Road |
0:20 |
22 |
385 |
12:30 |
Kodaikanal Road |
Thirumangalam |
0:35 |
43 |
428 |
13:05 |
Thirumangalam |
Kovilpatti |
1:05 |
77 |
505 |
14:10 |
Kovilpatti |
Kayattar |
0:25 |
28 |
534 |
14:35 |
Kayattar |
Tirunelveli |
0:30 |
28 |
563 |
15:05 |
Tirunelveli |
Nanguneri |
0:25 |
29 |
592 |
15:30 |
Nanguneri |
Valliyoor |
0:13 |
15 |
607 |
15:43 |
Valliyoor |
Kavalkinaru |
0:13 |
13 |
620 |
15:56 |
Kavalkinaru |
Kanyakumari |
0:30 |
24 |
644 |
16:26 |
Total |
|
10:26 |
|
644.2 |
16:26 |
