5 days trip from Bangalore to Madurai, Rameswaram, Chettinad and Thanjavur (Tanjore)

Our travel landscape has definitely changed in the year 2021. It was a year of road trips and workcation. As we avoided public transport and crowds as much as possible. So, we took a 5 days road trip to Ooty, exploring destiny farmstay and the mesmerising beauty of emerald lake as well as a part of this trip. Which was followed by another major road trip to Gokarna and Goa. Wherein we also worked from Goa for couple of weeks. Then we traveled to MP all the way from Bangalore, exploring MP for 3 complete weeks. And also working from there for couple of weeks.

Finally as the end of the year arrived, we itched for another road trip. The circuit we planned this time was the famous Bangalore – Madurai – Rameswaram corridor and the offbeat Chettinad and Thanjavur as well. Thus materialised our 5 days trip from Bangalore to Madurai Rameswaram, Chettinad and Thanjavur. And in this post here, we are going to summarise it all for you!

Basically we drove from Bangalore to Madurai and then Rameswaram, which is a famous route. But instead of returning back the same route, we decided to take another route from Rameswaram. This one via Chettinad region and Thanjavur to explore these regions as well.

Route taken on our 5 days trip from Bangalore to Madurai Rameswaram Chettinad and Thanjavur (Tanjore)

Distance covered : ~1500km

Duration : 5 days

Summary of the itinerary :

Bangalore -> Madurai -> Rameswaram -> Karaikudi (Chettinad) -> Thanjavur -> Bangalore

 

Day 1 : Bangalore – Madurai

Drive from Bangalore to Madurai on NH44

As always on our road trips, we stared early from Bangalore to beat the city traffic. Around 6:00am, we were all ready to start off. And soon we hit the NH44 ( Bangalore – Hosur – Krishnagiri – Selam – Dindigul – Madurai) route.

Initially there was a lot of mist and fog on the roads and visibility was really low around hosur. We stopped at Krishnagiri for breakfast near Macd. We have been stopping on this complex earlier also for breakfast. On our previous trips to Pondicherry and two road trips to Kodaikanal. But, we were delighted to see even more food outlets have come up here in recent times, increasing the choice of options. There is a decent restroom and a fuel station as well on the same premises. And to top it all, it has a huge parking lot.

Good that we stopped here early on, around 7:30am. There was no rush here at this hour. We quickly settled down outside the South Indian food outlet, in open air. And ordered masala dosas for all of us. By the time we finished our breakfast, it had got pretty crowded. If you intend to stop here on your trip via Hosur – Krishnagiri, after crossing Hosur, just put Macd on the map. It will guide you to it. You can also come here just for breakfast and a long drive from Bangalore.

From here, we also got our lunch packed from Macd because on previous occassions, particularly on our road trip to Kodaikanal, we had observed a lack of good food outlets after Salem. But to our delight, this time, we found ample of food outlets have opened up on either side on this stretch of NH44. And the traffic on this route has also increased many fold. Any which ways, the natural beauty of this route remains untouched. A few snaps to tell you what I mean :

 

 

Thirumalai Nayakar Palace, Madurai

We drove straight on NH44 all the way to Madurai. And reached the town around 2:30pm. Good that we had our lunch packed. Before going to hotel, we decided to explore the Thirumalai Nayakar Palace in Madurai. It was a bit tricky to park our vehicle as the entry to the palace is a one way lane full of parked vehicles. I wish they provision for a parking lot. Anyways, we found a spot and parked there. And then quickly explored the Palace. Here’s my detailed write up about the palace :

Thirumalai Nayakar Palace, Madurai

Our hotel in Madurai

From the palace, we proceeded to our hotel, J C Residency. Checked-in around 4:00pm. It was around 4km from the Palace. Then we had some snacks, got fresh. And decided to do a temple hopping in Madurai but the local way. So, we hired autorickshaws from in front of our hotel and proceeded to the first and the most important temple – Meenakshi Amman Temple.

Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai

We reached the first major attraction on our 5 days trip from Bangalore to Madurai Rameswaram, Chettinad and Thanjavur – The Meenakshi Amman Temple. Madurai. It was crowded. And took us around an hour to visit here. If you have time in hand, we will suggest visiting in the early morning hours. As the temple, and actually, most other temples in this area, open by 6:00am in the morning. And then close between 12:00pm – 4:00pm. Here’s a detailed post on the temple including the timings, and other rules.

Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai – Things to know before you go

Temple hopping in Madurai

From Meenakshi Amman Temple, we planned a temple hopping around some other famous temples of Madurai. It is rightly called the temple town of India. Since, it has some very old and very beautiful temples. Some of these include Koodal Azhagar Temple, Alagar Koli, Thirupparankundram Murugan Temple, Mariamman Teppakulam, Immayilum Nanmai Temple and ISCON Madurai.

here’s a detailed post on temple hopping in Madurai

Visiting the famous temples of Madurai

After this we returned back to our hotel, had dinner and slept off.

Related read : Things to do in Madurai in one day

Day 2: Madurai – Rameswaram

Post breakfast, around 9:30am, we started on the next leg of our 5 days trip from Bangalore to Madurai Rameswaram, Chettinad and Thanjavur. A drive from Madurai to Rameswaram. The road condition is excellent. It took around 3 hours to reach Rameswaram – mostly drove through national highways along the way. Around 12:30pm, we reached Pamban bridge. We couldn’t help but stop here for a glimpse of the beautiful ocean both sides. The wind was harsh but the scene was mesmerising.

Our hotel , Daiwik Hotel, was just 10 minutes drive from Pamban Bridge on the Madurai main road. We checked-in here around 1:30pm, had lunch and then headed out for Dhanushkodi. Alas, the weather was not in our favour. It started raining heavily as we approached the Dhanushkodi stretch. The visibility was too low. So, we dropped the idea of driving further and returned back. Perhaps Dhanushkodi was not on the cards for us this time.

We changed, got fresh and went to visit Ramalingeshwara Temple Rameshwaram.

Along with Ramalingeshwara Temple, some other places to visit in Rameswaram include the Lakshmana Temple, Agniteertham, Vibhishan Temple, Viloondi Teertham, Jada Teertham. All these are located close by and can be easily covered in half a day. However, if you have some more time at hand, you can visit some beaches other than Dhanushkodi as well.

Our detailed posts on Rameswaram (soon to come)

Places to see in Rameswaram in a day

Ramalingeshwara Temple Rameswaram

After finishing our trip to different places in Rameswaram, we returned to our hotel in time for dinner. And then called it a day.

Day 3: Rameswaram – Karaikudi (Chettinad)

Today, post breakfast, we started for Karaikudi. On the way, after crossing Pamban bridge, we stopped at a public park besides the beach for a while to soak in the scenic beauty.

From here, we proceeded to Karaikudi, the capital of the offbeat Chettinad Region of Tamil Nadu. The route was mostly through NH36 and then through some state highways. It was very scenic countryside road with minimal traffic. Flocked by green fields and crystal clear ponds on both sides. Time and again, we couldn’t help but stop for snaps. And the sky was overcast, making the road trip even more enjoyable.

Finally we reached Karaikudi in Chettinad by 1:30pm. We wanted to book a heritage hotel in Chettinad but couldn’t get one. So, we booked an inn – Mehar Inn Hotel. Which was small but well appointed for basic needs. We were glad to have booked here because we didn’t find any crowd at this hotel. However, it’s restaurant had very limited lunch meal option, which was predominantly non vegetarian.So, we stepped out, and right around the corner, we found a nice bakery which baked fresh pizza, burger, fries and a cake (as it was my birthday)!!. We packed everything and came back to our hotel and had a hearty lunch.

Post lunch, we proceeded to the Chettinad Heritage Town and explored the old mansions here. The Chettinad house architecture is really unique in entire India. Here’s our detailed posts for you to explore the Chettinad region completely :

A complete guide to Chettinad Tourism – Karaikudi and Around

Athangudi Palace

Mansion Hopping in Chettinad

 

 

Day 4: Karaikudi – Thanjavur

On the fourth day of our 5 days trip from Bangalore to Madurai Rameswaram, Chettinad and Thanjavur, we started from Karaikudi post breakfast for Thanjavur. The distance is not much, and the road is also excellent. However, it was raining along the way which slowed us down a bit. Finally, we reached our hotel, Hotel Sangam Thanjavur – by 1:00pm. After a swift check-in, we ordered our lunch. And then post lunch, we proceeded to explore the Thanjavur Palace and the Brihadeeshwara Temple, the beauty and majesty of both these places simply blew me up. Here’s a couple of detailed posts on both the places :

The Brihadeeshwara Temple , Thanjavur – A UNESCO World Heritage

Exploring the huge Thanjavur Palace Complex

 

If you plan to visit both these places in Thanjavur, first visit the Thanjavur Palace and then the Breehadeeshwara Temple. Since, the palace timings are 9:00am to 5:00pm. While the temple is open from 6:00am to 12:00pm and again from 4:00pm to 8:30pm. So, you can either visit the temple after 5:00pm. Or you can also visit it early next morning when it will be least crowded. I really wanted to visit it the next morning, just like we had visited the Khajuraho temples in the morning. When they were completely devoid of the crowd. But, we also had to start back for Bangalore as early as possible. So, we visited the temple in the evening itself.

Finally we reached our hotel by 6:30pm. Took rest, had dinner and slept off. We needed to start as early as possible the next day on our trip back to home.

Day 5: Thanjavur – Bangalore

Finally came the last day of our 5 days trip from Bangalore to Madurai Rameswaram, Chettinad and Thanjavur .Post breakfast, around 9:00am, we started on our road trip from Thanjavur to Bangalore. The ~78km route on Trichy Namakkal Road was narrow and not at it’s best. So, this stretch ate up around 2 hours of our time. But once we hit NH44 back at Namakkal , we covered the rest of the distance very fast. And reached our home in Bangalore by 6:30pm in the evening, ending the year 2021 with lots of travel memories.

Tips on taking the 5 days trip from Bangalore to Madurai Rameswaram, Chettinad and Thanjavur (Tanjore)

1. Plan to visit the temples in the morning hours. Almost all the major temples are open from 6:00am onwards. Visiting them in the morning is not only comfortable weather wise, but also means less crowd.
2. Some places like the Thanjavur Palace Complex are closed on Sunday and public holidays. Do enquire about their operational time beforehand. Although I have you covered in the above detailed blog posts about the places I myself visited, if there’s any place which you don’t find information on, check on the internet. I found mixed information on internet about a few places so had to research deeper before going.
3. If time permits, I will ask you to add an extra day at Rameswaram, Chettinad and thanjavur to be able to visit all the places of interest comfortable, our trip was little rush-rush.
4. Mostly the routes are in good condition and we followed google maps throughout.
5. It can get difficult to drive through smaller towns with huge traffic like Madurai and Thanjavur. If you are not used to it, it will be good to park your own vehicle in the hotel campus and take a local mode of transport. Auto rickshaw are very frequent in all these towns, you can hire one which can show you all the major places to visit. Don’t forget to bargain. You can also check beforehand with your hotel how much the auto should be charging you, to avoid getting over charged.
6. The best time to take a trip in this region is October to February when it is not too hot. Although it will still be pretty hot during the day. Luckily, for us, a few days were cloudy. So, it was more comfortable.
7. Wear comfortable cotton cloths, easily walkable slip ons and have sunscreen, hats and umbrella handy. Being coastal region, weather changes fast here and it rains all of a sudden.
8. Most of the temples have dress code. Although in many it’s not strictly imposed. However, its good to show respect for the tradition. So, men are advised to wear Kurta // Shirt with Pyjama or Dhoti and women can wear Salwar – Kurti – Duppata or Sarees.
9. Checkout weather forecast before visiting places like Dhanushkodi and also avoid visiting on public holidays when there is a chance of heavy crowd. It can spoil your trip.

Accommodation during our 5 days trip from Bangalore to Madurai, Rameswaram, Chettinad and Thanjavur (Tanjore)

On this trip, we left our work behind. So, we carried minimum luggage. And the only worry we had was the hotel should have an in-campus parking to safely park our vehicles. Thankfully, all the hotels had limited in-campus parking that we availed. Below is link to book the same hotels. Otherwise, through these links, you can also navigate and book other hotels in the same town.

JC Residency Madurai

Daiwik Hotel Rameswaram

Mehar Inn Hotel Karaikudi (Chettinad)

Hotel Sangam Thanjavur

 

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