Harmony travels Udupi-Thrissur review

We traveled to Guruvayur in Kerala from Udupi on Harmony travels. This post shares our review.

While we were planning a visit to Guruvayur, it was too late to book a train ticket, so we had to look for bus option. I explored different operators- 

• KSRTC (Karnataka) didn't have any sleeper service between Udupi and Thrissur
• KSRTC (Kerala) also didn't have any sleeper service between Udupi & Thrissur
• Sheraton Tours & travel was a good option, but they wouldn't open bookings 1 month in advance
• UBC was a bit expensive
• Then we spotted Harmony Travel Lines

We chose Harmony travel lines for below reason

• Their ticket price was slightly cheaper
• The bus had onboard toilet
• Could book sooner than 1 month in advance
• They had both sleeper and sitting option. 

Ticket booking experience:

• Booked directly on harmony travels website as it was ultimately a bit cheaper compared to redbus.in
• Got proper confirmation on email & Whatsapp with all details, which was good.

Onward journey experience:

Bus was in good condition, well maintained 

Each seat gets a branded water bottle, sleeper beds get a blanket, pillow, power outlet

 

Onboard toilet is sealed from inside- so no smell comes to cabin even if you are sitting right next to it. Toilet access is from driver cabin- a bit of two step process to access, compared to KSRTC's flybus toilets, but this keeps it smell free within cabin I guess. Toilet is for urinals only. No flush mechanism, has a jet spray and a mini sink- serves the purpose on long journeys.

 

We were dropped off promptly on time at 4 AM. 

Things that didn't go well: 

• For dinner, Harmony travel stops at a non-veg restaurant, no veg restaurants nearby. They should stop at a location which has a veg hotel and a non veg hotel- I guess most of their customers are non vegetarians, hence they didn't care about veg hotel
• For sitting seats, recline was faulty.
• Bus arrived in Udupi some 10 minutes late.
• Live tracker was not available

Return journey: 

Return journey was 20-25% expensive for us, as they hiked prices within few days after we booked onward journey. (Not sure if it was because war broke out or they had already decided to keep return price high)- looks like return trip is always priced a bit higher. Not sure if it is because of Karnataka's interstate vehicle fee for Kerala registered vehicles.

11.15 PM pick up time in Thrissur was a bit late- we would have preferred an earlier departure that reaches Udupi sooner, but we didn't have much options. Most buses start from Kochi by 7 or 8 PM and reach Thrissur by 10-11 PM. Other options are to take sitting buses or train.

 

Return journey was uneventful. The pickup points are all by the roadside, there is no proper place to sit. We entered a hotel had to spend some money buying juice etc just to kill time till the bus arrived. Tracker was working fine during return journey and it arrived almost on time. We boarded and slept, woke up in the morning to reach Udupi ontime. 

https://www.harmonybus.in/ is their official website.  Booking on redbus will cost a few rupees more.

Overall good experience. Harmony travels can try to stop at veg restaurants.

Similar: Why I prefer KSRTC * Udupi Goa bus-train-flight * KSRTC Ambari Utsav * Ganesh Travels vs KSRTC *