Coimbatore to Kodai help needed

Stuart Greif

I understand Coimbatore has 3 bus stands. I will be entering the city from Ooty. Is the bus stand I arrive at the same as the one I would use to take a bus to Kodai?

Stuart

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EOS

hi!

I am also sailing in the same boat..
Planning to go to Ooty in september last week with my 4 year old daughter. Will reach coimbatore at 5:30 in the morning by kerala express. My querry is similar to what asked by Stuart.
From which bus stand i get the bus to Ooty and how far is the bus stand from railway station..?

Also what is the frequency of buses from coimbatore to Ooty in the morning.

Thanks

EOS

subabu2002

for stuart,

in coimbatore,there are 5 bus stands.

3 out of 5 in the same circle(gandhipuram bus stand)(just walkable).one for local buses(town buses),and another one for the places like ooty,erode,tiruppur,mettupalay am,sathy etc.and another one for TN govt luxury buses to chennai and other long distances.

1 from singanallur bus stand for the places like trichy,madurai,karur etc.

and another one from ukkadam bus stand for pollachi,udumalpet,palani,koda ikkanal and kerala.

not sure,but i assumed there were 2 buses to kodaikkanal from coimbatore ukkadam bus stand.one from 7.30 am or 8.30am and another at 11.55 am. but i am not sure that this buses will arrive gandhipuram bus stand or not.anyway just enquire at the time of your reach at gandhipuram bus stand.

from gandhipuram to ukkadam bus stand is just 2-3 kms.you can easily take auto from gandhipuram bus stand for 50-60 rupees.


for EOS,

you must need to go to gandhipuram bus stand.

from railway station to gandhipuram bus stand is just 1-2 km travelling.you can take buses from rly station or auto to bus stand.

from 3.30 am,every 1/2 hr. you can get frequent buses to ooty.but may be rush in all buses.

-suresh babu.

Stuart Greif

What I really need to know is whether there is a bus or minibus between Ooty and Kodai and details about it.

Stuart

EOS

Thanks Suresh for the info.

My first plan is to catch the mountain railway from mettupalayam at 7:10 in the morning. My train Kerala express reaches coimbatore at 5:30 in the morning. Assuming that its on time will i be able to catch the 7:10 train..??
How far is Mettupalayam from coimbatore ? On the train map it shows about 36 km. How much by road and how much time to reach by taxi..??
If i am not able to catch the train then i will go by bus..

Thanks

EOS

kumaran

Hi , To Stuart - Yes there is a bus service of government bus from Ooty to Kodaikanal and it does not touch coimbatore town. I am not sure about the timings but guess they have four services in a day .

To EOS - I remember that they used to have a STC bus outside the station for Mettupalayam connecting passengers from this train. Even if it is still operational it might be difficult to catch the hill train . The running time between coimbatore to Mettupalayam bus station is approximately 1 hour for buses and ofcourse one has to take a rikshaw to the station in mettupalayam. I doubt if you can make it to the train .

eggman64

I'm planning a trip to Kodai and decided to get there via Coimbatore. The Coimbatore Express arrives at 6.30 am.

I'd be grateful if someone could let me know-
a) what time the earliest bus to Kodai leaves?
b) how far the bus stand for that bus is from the station?
c) what the approximate Rickshaw fare would be to get there?

Thanks!
Cheers

pmvelu

From coimbatore, there may be very few buses directly to Kodaikanal (As Coimbatore is seen as a base for exploring ooty) and Dindugal / Kodai Road / Vathlagundu (Being the base for visiting Kodai).

A)From coimbatore, you could reach Kodai via 2 routes

1) Coimbatore - Palani (Buses are too frequent) followed by another bus from palani to Kodaikanal ( This route has less frequency(When we went it's atleast a bus once in 2 hours) and usually heavily crowded too and the route is also so steep roads are poor and also considered to be risky and infact this Ghat road is closed after 6pm.
But this way you could save 70 kms or so compared to the seond route atleast oneway (Around 175 kms)


2) Second & more famous route is :Coimbatore- Palani- Dindugal (Buses are too frequent) and from didugal you could get a bus directly to Kodai (Which runs Via Vathlagundu) --- Frequency is 1/2 an hour to 45 minutes once. This route is more famous and scenic and I think atleast upto 8 pm or so you have buses.

B)You need to go to Gandhipuram bus stand to board a bus to the places what I mentioned above and from Coimbatore Junction, just come out and you could see a bus stop and from here you have Numerous buses to the bus stand and considering the time you are reaching CBE, City buses will be empty only.

c)Not sure on Auto Fare but could assume around 20 rs.
Hope this helps
Velu

eggman64

Whew! Thanks for all the details. Much appreciated. I guess we'll use the Didugal route. Just hope our number drops down the waitlist; not fond of travelling unreserved.
Thanks again

pmvelu

I am not sure which route you are taking to coimbatore & If you haven't booked your tickets, Try out booking "Kodaikanal Road(Yes this is a railway station name ) " OR dindugal (Train numbers 1043 & 6339) which is the shortest and more straight route from Mumbai .

Cheers
Velu

eggman64

Ticketsare unfortunately, booked via Coimbatore. I wish I'd found this site a fortnight ago. Damn!
I'd like an idea of the bus fares (the cheapest ones) between
1. Coimbatore - Palani
2. Palani - Kodai
3. Coimbatore - Dindugal
4. Dindugal - Kodai

I hope this is not asking too much. Thanks in advance.

pmvelu

Sorry I don't have a straight answer for that question but for a travel of 55kms it's 17 Rupees (So Around 30 paise / km) --> This is for normal (Non-Deluxe) bus in Plains and for Palani-Kodai Or Dindugal - Kodai the per km fare will be around 1.5 times the Plains fare..

Hope this helps.
Velu

kramkiran

Hi 'eggman64',

Did u travel by bus to Kodaikanal from Coimbatore? I am planning to travel in the same route. I will reach Coimbatore at 6:30AM. Can you pls share the details of this travel?

Thx,
Ramkiran

kramkiran

Hi Kumar, Suresh,

I am reaching Coimbatore railway station by 6:30AM and need to go to Kodaikanal.

Which one is better route, Coimbatore - Palani - Kodaikanal or Coimbatore - Dindigul - Kodaikanal? How frequently I get buses?
Which bus stand do I need to go to? For above both travel options, do I need to one bus stand or different bus stand for each one of them?
Thx,
Ramkiran

pmvelu

Hi Ramkiran , Welcome to IM !.

The information I provided above holds good now also.

You could catch a bus from Coimbatore Bus stand [ aka Gandhipuram] to dindugal followed by another bus to Kodaikanal , Reason being as I suggested, Bus frequency is relatively less in Palani- Kodaikanal route when compared to dindugal - Kodaikanal route !.

Not sure if your visit to coimbatore is intended OR else from Bangalore you could very well catch the train #6732 [Dep 21:20] and get down at "Kodai Road" railway station [Arr:06:30 am the next day] and board a bus to Kodaikanal [ This is the straight & shortest route from Bangalore to kodaikanal ]!

If you need any info, Please post !

Cheers
Velu