trichy to chennai

Hi there..
I am planning a short stay in india early next year with plans to fly into trichy, travel by train/bus to chennai, get a plane to dehli and eventually make my way up through varnasi enroute to kathmandu, nepal.

I was wondering how long a train/bus would take from trichy to chennai and would this train/bus trip give me a good opportunity to see the more "rural" side of india?

I would just like to see some sites that are "off the beaten track" so to speak.. not necessarily stay there or spend time there...

budget is practically unlimited so money is not an issue.

Trichy is 475 Kms from Chennai. By road or by train it takes 6-7 hours (Depending on the traffic)

I dont think that you will see the rural side if you take NH-45 (National Highway from Trichy to Chennai).

Try taking a day running train from trichy to chennai so that you can enjoy a little bit of rural side becasue the train route does goes through a patch of rural areas.

As Prasad said, you wont have any views of the rural areas by road. Even by train, the route is not very picturesque and I dont think you would have a great view !

Highhoper, there is plenty to see between Trichy and Chennai but you would have to change multiple buses for that, or hire a taxi with driver. The route we took last year was most picturesque, steeped in history, traversing rural areas of the Cauvery delta, and in a word - fabulous. See here for ideas:
If it is Thursday, it must be Gangaikondacholapuram!

With photos in the photo section or text+pics at http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...re/7/tpod.html

The distance between Chennai to Trichy is 330 kms (approx) by both road and train.

By car you can cover the distance in 4.5 to 5 hrs and buses take 6 hrs. There are plenty of buses (both AC and non AC) throughout the day and night

There convenient day and night trains also. Check the railway website for details.

But the route is mostly dry and thinly populated.

If you are planning early next year, then the more pictursque train route from Trichy to Chennai via Thanjavur, Mayiladuthurai will be open. This passes through the delta region and you can see a lot of rural India and if you are travelling in January, you can see harvesting along the track side fields