Discussion thread approved

You might want to post this here as well to get more info on the road conditions, and the places where you could source the bike from.

Many tourists do buy bikes from one state and sell it off at another state.
Considering this is happening at December, you might want to strecth uptil Goa (the party place of India) It would be easier to get rid of the bike there.

The road signages are present, however considering that the route that you intend to take crosses exposes you to atleast 5 Indian languages, a gps map could help.
You can buy a cheap one for your phone from here

Hi cortomaltese,
Welcome to India and wish you all the best for your trip.
Henry

Corto, try these...

Chennai:
Vicky - +91-9952100400 (rent-a-bike)
Another - +91- 8925480447


Bangalore:
Vijay: +91-9620554441 ([email protected])

Welcome to xBhp & to our country @cortomaltese; enjoy your stay

When you're in the state of Tamilnadu, you don't need to ask for the road conditions as its second best state in terms of growth, economy, infrastructure & highways...rated by UN. So just feel free to explore

Hope you know it left hand side driving, just like UK & Hongkong; GPS is up to you. But if you post your questions here in xBhp or get contact of someone here, you may need very less of GPS. People in TN, KA & KL (State of Tamilnadu, Karnataka & Kerala) are friendly & you don't have much to bother.

Very much; but here're the road conditions...
- Chennai - Puduchery (or Pondicherry) - Trichy - Chennai - Pondichery is like riding on esplanade; from Pondi, you'll need a diversion to Villupuram & then the Super good highway begins & you can ride like an Autobahn; dry highway, but will help you gain time.
- Trichy - Thanjavur - Madurai - Good state highways though two-laned, but still can ride & most importantly enjoy good (but I'd suggest take Pondicherry-Cuddalore-Thanjavur & then go to Trichy followed to Madurai).
- Madurai - Thekkady - From Madurai, all way upto TN border (Theni) roads are good; once you enter KL (Kerala; Periyar near to Kumily or called Thekkady is in Kerala) roads are average to bad
- Thekkady - Varkala - Alapuzha - This is like coming from mid to South & then going back once again to North
- Alapuzha - Kochi - Mysore - Kochi - Mysore is going to be super tough if you intent to complete in a day; because you'll need to ride all way upto entire North of KL & then get into Banduipur reserve forest area (where you cannot ride between 6/9 PM to 6 AM( & then get into Mysore. The roads are pretty rough & bad between the borders
- Once you're halfway to Mysore, then its beautiful highway all way upto Bangalore.

Anyway, here's the map per your route you've planned...



What's your preference...
1. Do you want to stay at one place & explore surroundings?
2. Do you want to visit explore each state's culture?
3. Do you want to ride & enjoy the best roads in all the states?
4. Or do you want a mix of 1, 2 & 3?

Pls make your choice & we can help you make the best possible route. Also how do you intent to travel from Hyderabad to Chennai?

argee,
That's wonderful! Who needs an GPS when guys like you are around.
Henry

really! argee you are very gentle thank you very much for the precious info!

i think a mix of all. the important thing is the security (we're on holiday)

i think by train. do you know if is possible? there is a website for reservation?

exist possibility bike-on-train?

Yes - https://www.irctc.co.in/; but I guess this is open only for Indian nationals/citizen.

Alternatively you can talk to any of your Indian counter partners (or travel agency through which you book your flight tickets) to make reservations for you.

Yes; but you know when the porters who see non Indian nationals ferrying bike through train start demanding more money. So unless you've some Indian friends who can bargain or you've experience, I would advice you staying away from this business. Second important thing is that, would you make a round trip from Hyderabad-Chennai-Kerala & return the bike back to Hyderabad? Remember, this is India where hire & returns can't take place in different cities.

Thanks hensil for your kind words

Edit - Here's a glimpse on Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary - http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/tourer/1...-thekkady.html

Here's some detailed plan; I'm not sticking to the 15 days as I'm covering an overall general places of visit, but, feel free to take or leave few places so that you can cover the rest

Day 1 - Arrive in Chennai; stay in a hotel, take time off for hunting a bike rental, negotiation & may be visit Marina beach. End of day 1 have the bike in hand.

Day 2 - Have BFast in Chennai & start from Chennai around 9:00 AM towards Mahabalipuram; enroute visit Dakshin Chitra (or if interested Croc + Snake park) & visit Mahabalipuram cultural heritage; have lunch at Radisson hotel Mahabalipuram & leave towards Pondicherry by evening. Dinner at Pondicherry

Day 3 - Visit Aurobindo Ashram (if interested; its more of exotic piece), beach, try some French & Portugese cuisine, visit some old French & Portugese colony & call it a day

Day 4 - Have early or enroute BFast & leave towards Chidambaram; don't miss the Pichchavaram Mangroove forest at Chidambaram; have lunch & visit the Chidambaram Natarajar temple for the architecture that stands for over several centuries (hire a guide if possible & negotiate hard); end of the day stay close or reach to Point Calimere. I've marked as Vedaranyam in the map that's the closest big town to Point Calimere. If you're able to make till there (just 130 odd Kms from Chidambaram) you're good.

Day 5 - Ride from Point Calimere to Rameshwaram; not sure if you'll be able to make to Danushkodi, but, if you can, its one of an experience though. Visit Rameshwaram temple & just call it a day.

Day 6 - Ride from Rameshwaram towards Kanyakumari to the bottom most tip of India where you can witness the Sunrise & Sunset at one place. Objective is to reach Kanyakumari before evening to witness Sunset.

Day 7 - Witness the Sunrise, have BFast & leave towards Trivandrum; stay at Trivandrum, not sure if they allow you inside Padmanabhapuram temple, but worth a visit. Also go to Veli village & Varkala beach. But if you make to Varkala beach, don't stay at Trivandrum. Visit Varkala beach & stay somewhere close to the beach (there're quite few hotels)

Day 8 - Ride from Varkala towards Alappuzha; if you want Ayurvedic massage or a boat ride (its one of a different kind of experience with freshly caught fish etc) this is the perfect place to spend holidays. Lets say you spend 2 days here.

Day 10 - Ride from Alapppuzha to Kochi or you may want to extend further. From here there're multiple options. I'd suggest you understand the above itinerary before we proceed further. Here's the map - Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to Kochi, Kerala, India - Google Maps

From Kochi, the below are possible options; 4th is my personal favourite, but, you'll have to cut short few days from the above 1-10 days. The above 1-10 days are very very light rides involving not more than 300-400 & some even 150 Kms a day which are more than doable.

1. Kochi-Coimbatore-Ooty-Mysore-Bangalore-Chennai (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India - Google Maps)
2. Kochi-Munnar-Kodaikanal-Madurai-Trichy-Chennai (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India - Google Maps)
3. Kochi-Thrissur-Vadakkenchery-(enroute to Nelliyampathi)Pollachi-Coimbatore-Salem-Krishnagiri-Chennai (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India - Google Maps)
4. Kochi-Wayanad-Sulthan Bathery-Mysore-Bangalore-Chennai (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India - Google Maps)

I'd suggest go through the maps, zoom to places & check if you're interested doing those places & come back with questions if they're really worth of visit & then we'll take it from there.

Vow! argee. I'm saving this itinerary for my future trip. Maybe next year. Thanks.
Henry

argee you can work as a tour guide in south India for foreigners.
thank you very much

this is a problem..i must take and take off in Chennai at this point.
from Hyderabad is too far i think.

we are in the mission near Vijawada;
option 1 we can take the train to Chennai and here rent a bike. at return take a airplane Chennai -Dheli
option 2 come back in Hyderabad and rent the motorbike here. then begin the trip..return Hyderabad - Dheli

confusion on my head
ahahahahah
thank you very much guys for your support

Well...God has shown me other ways to make my livelihood & I don't intent to misuse nor have greed to earn in other means...for now This is a free community service

+1; also I see another option for you. If you do not get a bike for reasonable price in Chennai, you can hire one from Pondicherry. So you'll have to take a bus to Pondicherry (which is like a piece of cake), hire & start riding; when you complete your trip in Chennai, ride back to Pondi & complete site seeing at Pondi, return the bike & take a bus back to Chennai.

I'll grab the attention of guys from Pondicherry (PY) who might chip in to provide you some rental rates of motorcycles in PY. The reason I'm suggesting rental from there is because there're hell a lot of motorcycles available for rental compared to Chennai.

Well...700-750 Kms isn't that far on good roads

You mean Delhi?

Pls pursue the suggestion I provided above.

BTW - Did you have time to go through the map I provided? What do you think?

Hensil - Enjoy

Had some spare time since I over worked last night

Day 1 - Arrive in Chennai; stay in a hotel, take time off for hunting a bike rental, negotiation & may be visit Marina beach. End of day 1 have the bike in hand.

Day 2 - Have BFast in Chennai & start from Chennai around 9:00 AM towards Mahabalipuram; enroute visit Dakshin Chitra (or if interested Croc + Snake park) & visit Mahabalipuram cultural heritage; have an early lunch at Radisson hotel Mahabalipuram & leave towards Pondicherry; enroute visit Aurobindo Ashram & then get into Pondicherry (it isn't that far & is perfectly doabl) & have dinner at Pondicherry.

Day 3 - Start with beach, try some French & Portugese cuisine, visit some old French & Portugese colony; have lunch or have lunch enroute & leave towards Chidambaram; have dinner at Chidambaram.

Day 4 - Try the Pichchavaram Mangroove forest at Chidambaram, if possible & isn't time consuming; if you skip, its good, just visit the Chidambaram Natarajar temple in the morning as early like say 7:00 AM for the architecture that stands for over several centuries (hire a guide if possible & negotiate hard), have BFast & keep moving towards Velankanni/Tanjore. Have lunch enroute or carry some food from Chidambaram to have it enroute. This will be a little tough day as you'll have to cover over 600 Kms. If you don't wish to stress, then there're two options for a ride of about 100 Kms
4a. Ride from Chidambaram to Tanjore (for temples & architecture)
4b. Ride from Chidambaram to Velankanni Church
You could do both the places before noon if you start by even 9:30 AM from Chidambaram.
After this, you can call it a day by riding towards Madurai. If you leave by 2:00 PM after lunch, you can reach Madurai by say 6:00-7:00 PM for dinner.

Day 5 - Ride from Madurai towards Kanyakumari to the bottom most tip of India where you can witness the Sunrise & Sunset at one place. But if you ride from Madurai, remember you'll have to start your day as early as 2:00 AM in the morning so that you can see the Sunrise atleast by 6:00 AM. Its a good 250 Kms ride from Madurai to Kanyakumari & the roads are excellent. Witness the Sunrise, have BFast & leave towards Trivandrum; not sure if they allow you inside Padmanabhapuram temple, but worth a visit. Also go to Veli village & Varkala beach. But if you make to Varkala beach, don't stay at Trivandrum. Visit Varkala beach & stay somewhere close to the beach (there're quite few hotels) & call it a day. Excluding Madurai-Kanyakumari ride, you'll only have to do about 150 Kms. So let me know if day 5 is hard for you & we can rework

Day 6 - Ride from Varkala towards Alappuzha; if you want Ayurvedic massage or a boat ride (its one of a different kind of experience with freshly caught fish etc) this is the perfect place to spend holidays. Lets say you spend a day here.

Day 8 - Ride from Alapuzha to Kochi to Coimbatore; though about 300 Kms, its perfectly more than doable in a day. Have BFast at Alapuzha, lunch at Thrissur & dinner at CBE

Day 9 - Ride through Coimbatore-Ooty (Queen of hills)-Mudumalai National Park-Bandipur National Park-Gundulpet & stay at Gundlupet

Day 10 - Ride through Gundlupet - Mysore & stay at Mysore for a day

Day 11 - Ride through Mysore - Bangalore & try making to Chennai; its about 650+ Kms, but its certainly doable.
11b. Other option is to spend another half a day at Mysore for local visits & then reach Bangalore for dinner

Day 12 - Ride from Bangalore to Chennai

Day 13 - Call this day for buffer; you can probably use up this day somewhere to compensate for day 5

Day 14 - Keep this day for local site seeing around Chennai, try local cuisine OR use this day to return your bike to Pondicherry if you've hired from there

Day 15 - Leave Chennai towards Delhi

Here's the route map...
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India - Google Maps

Welcome again to India and xBhp

I recommend a GPS which should also sort your intra-city commutes along with the highway riding.

Yes you can ride registered a motorcycle into any of the cities in India with any permit or any such issues

And yes Aargee has pretty much laid out the entire route and road-conditions for you

Also, if you can intimate us the date of arrival into Bangalore, xBhpains can guide you in and out of the city

Have a great South-Indian Roadtrip, do share your experiences & pics post the trip

Thanks Aargee, very informative and helpful