We drove down by our Swift from Bangalore to Kodai. Everyone advised us against the drive saying that it will be a very long journey (not less than 12 hrs) and would leave us tired and exhausted.
Against all odds; we decided to take a chance...guess what we were in for a surprise. The complete drive from Bangalore to Kodai took us just 7 hrs including the 3-4 minor breaks for gas filling etal(the road was good and we were lucky not to get stuck-up in any truck traffic!!). 8 laning of the NH-7 highway is almost complete sans a few places in between. We managed to get an average speed of 60kmph.
I will strongly recommend visiting it during the off-season when it is less crowded and prices for everything (from accomodation to boating, sight-seeing) is down by half. My rating for Kodai will be much much higher than that for Ooty, Munnar. It’s still untouched, less commercialized and pristine.
The route we followed was:
Bangalore 0
Hosur 40
Krishnagiri 42
Dharmapuri 48
Thoppur 28
Salem 36
Namakkal 48
Karur 50
Dindigul 68
Vathlakundu/ 43
Batlakundu
Kodaikanal 61
Our advice would be to start by around 6:30; starting before this would not benefit much as you will be caught up in the early morning trucks traffic.
Road till Krishnagiri is awesome. After Krishnagiri work is in progress for the widening of NH-7; your average speed may come down a bit because of diversion and 2 laning at a few places.
For Hogennakkal Falls one needs to take a right diversion from Dharmapuri. It’s another great place; best to visit in the early morning hours during the slightly less hot months when the flow of water is more (we visited this place in Feb and really enjoyed the coral ride).
From Dharmapuri to Salem, one may face a bad truck traffic; most of them heading towards the Salem steel plant (we faced very bad traffic on this route during our visit to Munnar; but were really luck this time!!).
For Yercaud one needs to take a left turn from the first circle in Salem (it’s around 29 kms from there) ; haven’t been there but have heard it’s another great weekend get-away.
Go approx 8 kms straight from this circle and then take a right turn from that circle towards Erode (you will cross 2-3 more circles on the way, be careful not to take a right turn from there).
Approx 40kms from Salem, you will hit the by-pass for Namakkal town; take that road and head towards Karur. Again for Karur, take the by-pass and head towards Dindigul.
14kms from Dindigul take a right turn; this is where you leave NH-7 and join NH-45 and head toawards Vathkakundu/Batlakundu. Even this road is very good. From Vathlakundu onwards you leave NH-45.
Hill climb is around 48kms, very scenic. Do stop at the Falls View on the way.
There are other same distance routes also to head towards Kodai; one of them is viaPalani, another one is via Mudumulai. Have heard good review about these two routes also.
In Kodai we stayed at Holiday Hill Country (a little off from the main city, around 4-5kms away, near Sterling Resort). I would really recommend this place to one and all. The package cost @3800/day included accomodation, breakfast and dinner for two people. The entertainment room had TT, Billiards, Carrom, few other board games and a small library. We played a lot of Badminton. They have a bon-fire also on weekends which was good fun. A small room has been converted into a mini-theatre where they run movies in the evening (though not the most recent ones!!).
All in all the hotel keeps you fully occupied and entertained, you need to figure out how to use it best. Some of the rooms have been leased to Club Mahindra also. This comes under RCI list.
We could not get the last day accomodation here and hence had to shift to another place: Villa Resort. This is located bang next to Coakers walk, the view here is magnificient and gives a birds view of the complete valley. The rooms though are not very great (price ranging from 1000 to 3000). We stayed in the Deluxe cottage and paid 2800 for it; would not recommend the Deluxe Cottage to anyone, it just wasn’t worth the money.
Best attraction in Kodai is the Lake. We enjoyed cycling and the shikara boat ride :)
There is a small trek (around 4kms) to Dolphin nose; would really recommend it. The view from there is breathtaking.
Other places worth a visit are Coakers walk, Devil’s Kitchen aka Guna Caves, Pillar Rock, Pine Hills, Berijam Lake & Byrant Park. Clouds covering Kodai add to the mesmerizing beauty.
Kodai is famous for the Kurinji flowers which blossom once in 12 years; the next is in 2018, you can plan your holidays accordingly :)