[ssengo]

Hi all,
I am planning trip to Shirdi (Chennai-Mantralayam-Shirdi) with family during Pooja holidays in September'17 and i will be the only driver all the way.

The route we have in mind is:

Chennai-Mantralayam
Start from home on 26th Sep around 3am - Tiruvallur - Tiruttani - Renigunta - Kadapa - Nandyal - Mantralayam (reach around 2pm) - 567 kms

Mantralayam-Shirdi
Start from Mantralayam on 27th Sep around 5am - Raichur - Solapur - Ahmednagar - Shirdi (reach around 7pm) - 648 kms

I would request fellow team members who have travelled in this route to share their valuable suggestions in terms of best highway roads, Good/Bad stretch in this route, Pit-stops, Fuel station, Food joints, Vehicle details to carry etc.

Note: I am not familiar with Hindi/Telegu language and only know English & Tamil. Will i be able to manage during the entire journey?

Please share your ideas which will be of great help during the travel.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by ssengo

Chennai-Mantralayam
Start from home on 26th Sep around 3am - Tiruvallur - Tiruttani - Renigunta - Kadapa - Nandyal - Mantralayam (reach around 2pm) - 567 kms

I don't see the need to go till Nandyal.

I personally did Madras-Renigunta-Rajampeta-Kadapa-Tadipatri-Gooty-Yemmiganur-Mantralayam.

Madras-Kadapa took 6 hours. Can take 1/2-1 hr less given your start timings.

Kadapa-Tadipatri-Gooty took 3.5 hrs-ish. This is 2-laned, is a bit lonely and next to nil facilities between Kadapa and Gooty.

Gooty-Mantralayam another 2 hrs or so.

Based on current feedback, I'd suggest either of the 2 routes:

a. Madras-Chittoor-Palamaner-Madanapalle-Kadiri-Anantapur-NH7-Veldurthi-Kodumur-Yemmiganur-Mantralayam.

b. Madras-Tiruttani-Kadapa-Tadipatri-Gooty-NH7-Veldurthi-Kodumur-Yemmiganur-Mantralayam.

Marked/Unmarked speedbreakers will be omnipresent in AP. Expect them

The roundabout, but higher speed road suggestion would be Madras-Chittoor-Kolar-Vijayapura-Devanahalli-Veldurthi-Kodumur-Yemmiganur-Mantralayam.

Mantralayam-Shirdi
Start from Mantralayam on 27th Sep around 5am - Raichur - Solapur - Ahmednagar - Shirdi (reach around 7pm) - 648 kms

What I'd suggest is reach Kurnool on the same day you are visiting Mantralayam. And do Kurnool-Hyderabad ORR-Parigi-Sedam-Gulbarga-Aland-Akkalkot-Solapur-Tembhurni-Karmala-Nagar-Shirdi.

There also exists Bhutpur-Mahbubnagar-Gandeed that joins the Hyderabad-Gulbarga route at Kodangal. But I am not sure of current conditions.

Another alternate is Mantralayam-Adoni-Alur-Guntakal-Bellary-Hospet-Bijapur-Solapur. And from Solapur follow the Tembhurni route as above. Here Alur-Bellary direct route is a strict no-go, its one of the disastrous roads I even drove on and hence I suggested Alur-Guntakal. Quality of NH63 is a huge question mark. When I last drove, Guntakal-Bellary-Toranagallu was a terrible and took a long time to cover. Toranagallu-Hospet was manageable.

As much as possible I'd minimize the miles on day 2. Either side has some average or bad roads. Average speeds WILL be lower, I'd budget time at an average of 40 km/h (some sections even less, especially on the latter).

If you have a day 0, I'd suggest doing about 300 km that evening.

[ssengo]

Thanks Narayan, great explanation on the query. This will help me plan for the best route suggested by you. Let me complete the trip and share the experience.

[ssengo]

I have an alternate plan of doing Chennai-Shirdi (via) Bangalore-Tumkur-Hubbali-Kolhapur-Satara-Ahmednagar-Shirdi all the way through NH covering a distance of 1370kms.

By taking this route, i have planned to start from Chennai around 3am and reach Hubli around 6pm and halt for the night.

Can someone recommend a decent place closer to the highway to stay for the night. I don’t intend to stay in the town and get struck in city traffic. Next day, I will be starting from Hubli and reach Shirdi the same day.

Appreciate if someone shares the following details as this is my first trip up north and need your inputs to make this trip successful.

- All Toll fares between Bangalore Nice Road to Satara, MH
- Good and Bad stretch in this route
- Food joints
- Decent accommodation in Hubli for a family of 5.

[narayans80]

That is the prime route to Shirdi, the complicated route is because you wanted to visit Mantralayam. Please go through this, this and this. Topics including bypassing Pune have been discussed in detail in the above links.

[ssengo]

I have dropped the Mantralayam plan as I will later club it with Puttaparthi trip. I was in fact worried about the rains in AP and present road conditions.

Thanks for sharing additional pointers which will be of great help planning travel.

Appreciate your help.

[NPV]

^Also, look at the Bangalore-Shirdi thread - here

At Hubli, I think Clark's Inn is a good option, there are other recommendations as well, see the Bangalore-Pune-Mumbai route and eateries thread that @narayans80 has mentioned in his post above.

[ssengo]

Originally Posted by NPV

^Also, look at the Bangalore-Shirdi thread - here

At Hubli, I think Clark's Inn is a good option, there are other recommendations as well, see the Bangalore-Pune-Mumbai route and eateries thread that @narayans80 has mentioned in his post above.

Thanks NPV, I googled and found that Clark's Inn is located a bit interior from the highway but will check it out.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by ssengo

Thanks NPV, I googled and found that Clark's Inn is located a bit interior from the highway but will check it out.

For your start time you can easily target Belgaum (90 km from Hubli). Sankam Residency is more easily accessible from NH4 than any hotel in Hubli.

Last time I stayed in Hubli I circled around an hour to find the place we booked

[ssengo]

Originally Posted by narayans80

For your start time you can easily target Belgaum (90 km from Hubli). Sankam Residency is more easily accessible from NH4 than any hotel in Hubli.

Last time I stayed in Hubli I circled around an hour to find the place we booked

Sankam Residency seems to be a nice choice close to the highway. Thanks for sharing

[Thyag]

Hi All,

We have done a similar run (Chennai to Shirdi) in 2019 december but with 5 more relatives in Innova Crysta, it was a 24 hours continuous driving (me & uncle took turns). While going we went through Hyderabad and while returning it was through Bangalore.

At present we are planning a family (Me, Wife & 10 year old son) trip from chennai to shirdi in another 10 days, We have never done more than 600 kilometers in a single day, also I will be the only person who will be driving so we will take a halt in between.

So Kindly advise which route will be better, where can we halt, etc;. Anybody who has taken a trip recently please advise and Your suggestions will be much helpful in our planning for the trip .

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by Thyag

Kindly advise which route will be better

We do Mantralayam, Shirdi every year. But would never combine in a single trip. Biggest challenge would be good roads out of Mantralayam towards Shirdi.

For Mantralayam, the best has been Madras-Nellore-Badvel-Mydukur-Kurnool bypass-Aspari-Adoni bypass-Yemmiganur-Mantralayam.

It is a bit of detour, but this gives you the best roads and less traffic.

For Madras-Shirdi, you can choose between Madras-Ongole-Hyderabad-Solapur-Aurangabad-Shirdi or Madras-Bangalore-Hospet-Solapur-Aurangabad-Shirdi.

For Mantralayam-Shirdi, you can either retrace to Kurnool and do Kurnool-Hyderabad-Solapur-Aurangabad or Raichur-Gadwal and remaining is same as above. The latter will have loads of speed breakers on Raichur-Gadwal section. The short route is Raichur-Gulbarga-Solapur, Raichur-Gulbarga is so-so and Gulbarga-Solapur has road widening going on.

For Madras-Mantralayam, it is better to do in one sitting. Mantralayam-Shirdi you can possibly look at Osmanabad or Beed. For Shirdi-Madras, Hospet is the ideal mid point.

[Thyag]

Originally Posted by narayans80

We do Mantralayam, Shirdi every year. But would never combine in a single trip. Biggest challenge would be good roads out of Mantralayam towards Shirdi.

For Mantralayam, the best has been Madras-Nellore-Badvel-Mydukur-Kurnool bypass-Aspari-Adoni bypass-Yemmiganur-Mantralayam.

It is a bit of detour, but this gives you the best roads and less traffic.

For Madras-Shirdi, you can choose between Madras-Ongole-Hyderabad-Solapur-Aurangabad-Shirdi or Madras-Bangalore-Hospet-Solapur-Aurangabad-Shirdi.

For Mantralayam-Shirdi, you can either retrace to Kurnool and do Kurnool-Hyderabad-Solapur-Aurangabad or Raichur-Gadwal and remaining is same as above. The latter will have loads of speed breakers on Raichur-Gadwal section. The short route is Raichur-Gulbarga-Solapur, Raichur-Gulbarga is so-so and Gulbarga-Solapur has road widening going on.

For Madras-Mantralayam, it is better to do in one sitting. Mantralayam-Shirdi you can possibly look at Osmanabad or Beed. For Shirdi-Madras, Hospet is the ideal mid point.

Thanks for the update, much appreciated. I am going to skip mantralayam this time, will go to shirdi and planning to take Madras-Ongole-Hyderabad-Solapur-Aurangabad-Shirdi as you mentioned. I have to look for night stay outside Hyderabad now .

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by Thyag

I have to look for night stay outside Hyderabad now .

I was looking at Park Lane in Zaheerabad and Punjabi Dhami in Basavakalyan as budget stays enroute for my drive in June. I was leaning towards the latter, since it would enable me reaching Shirdi by 3 pm thereabouts on day 2.

[Thyag]

Originally Posted by narayans80

I was looking at Park Lane in Zaheerabad and Punjabi Dhami in Basavakalyan as budget stays enroute for my drive in June. I was leaning towards the latter, since it would enable me reaching Shirdi by 3 pm thereabouts on day 2.

Special thanks to narayans80 and Dr.Rajeshwar who guided me in the shirdi trip, we had a safe trip

I will post some details in the coming week so people who are taking the route will have some latest information before travelling .