hampi to pondicherry?

joeirish

We're hoping to travel from Hampi to Pondicherry, having already travelled from Bangalore to Hampi. Any suggestions as to how we might do this without returning to Bangalore, and interesting places to stop along the way (overnight or otherwise), much appreciated. Or, if there is no alternative to a return to Bangalore, an interesting route from there.

We might plan to take two or three days for this journey. We're looking for beautiful landscapes, wildlife, birdlife, that kind of thing (having had a fill of temples for now ).

capt_mahajan

Assuming train (no idea about train connectivity, do check at erail.in or the indian railways website, Guntakal Chennai is connected by four trains, I checked):

1) Although you would have to go back through Bangalore, I would think of Mysore. Head East from there for Pondicherry.

or


2)Hampi-Guntakal (bus, couple of hours)- Chennai (train, halt at Chennai)-Mammalapuram- Pondicherry
(this would be my preference)

__________________
.
Outside the machine

n kumar

hi,
you can travel from hampi-hubli-mysore-coorg-mysore-chennai(via banglore in train)-pondi.

joeirish

Thanks capt_mahajan. I'm also wondering if I can get from Mysore to Pondicherry without going through Chennai? Is there a bus or can you tell me which website I should check for this?

capt_mahajan

Dunno, sorry. Its about 450 km. Don't think there are any direct buses, I just checked ixigo.com and redbus.in

No direct trains either, all through Chennai.

You could, of course, get off at CHennai, go directly to Mammalapuram (not that far) and take a break there before Pondicherry.

joeirish

Hello again captain

Can you advise how I find out about bus times. Is there a good website?

I have identified a train from Hubli to Mysore. There is also a train from Hospet to Hubli (about 4 hours) but maybe a bus would be a good alternative for this leg of the journey in case of train delays etc.

Thanks again.

gaurav1441

Check ksrtc.in and redbus.in for buse schedules and reservations.

capt_mahajan

also redbus.in

joeirish

Thanks for all the helpful replies. One further point though. How on time are trains in India?

We are now thinking after our Hampi visit of getting a train from Hospet to Hubli and then a connection from Hubli to Mysore (1035), which departs at 21.45. The first leg to Hubli offers two trains. Number 272 arrives at 21.00 and number 311SW (what does the SW mean?) arrives at 20.15. The second leg departs at 21.45. Have I read the timetable correctly (I realise that it does not cover the precise dates of our travel yet but I am assuming that train times will not change too much in the intervening period) and which of the two trains would you recommend?

Thanks

gaurav1441

Trains are usually On-Time. 311SW is a passenger train which will not offer you luxury to book a berth in advance. You can book your journey comfortably through the other train.