Bangalore-Hyderabad road trip

[anainar]

Hi,

I am planning to take a road trip from Bangalore to Hyderabad this week. Checked the maps and figured out it might take anywhere from 9 hours to 12 hours. I will be driving alone my Corolla, ( yeah, call me crazy, but I am ). My plan is start by early evening, drive as much as possible to reach Kurnool, stay overnight there, and continue driving the next day so that I reach Hyderabad by afternoon.

Has any one done that trip? I searched the forum and could not find any news on that road. That road is supposed to be part of NH7. Is that 4 laned?

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Nainar

[akroy]

Originally Posted by anainar

Hi,

I am planning to take a road trip from Bangalore to Hyderabad this week. Checked the maps and figured out it might take anywhere from 9 hours to 12 hours. I will be driving alone my Corolla, ( yeah, call me crazy, but I am ). My plan is start by early evening, drive as much as possible to reach Kurnool, stay overnight there, and continue driving the next day so that I reach Hyderabad by afternoon.

Has any one done that trip? I searched the forum and could not find any news on that road. That road is supposed to be part of NH7. Is that 4 laned?

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Nainar

Why crazy ! If we think you are crazy then we all are crazy, infact you will find crazier people in this forum

Bangalore - Hyderabad is nothing for a car (and you have a Corolla) and it will take hardly 7-8 hours of driving if you start from Bangalore at 4AM. Why do you want to halt in Kurnool? You can do it at a go. Start early morning.

The route is NH7: Bangalore - Chikballapur - Bagepalli - Penukonda - Anantapur - Gooty - Kurnool - Jadcherla - Hyderabad

There is an A1 Plaza at Gooty where you can have your breakfast..

Road is 2 laned throughout (except near Bangalore and Hyd) and good for a day drive...

Enjoy
Abhi

[vnabhi]

There are many travelogues reg this route. I read somewhere today that someone started at 4 am and reached Hyd for lunch.
Please investigate this forum, esp travelogues

[hvkumar]

Even a leisurely drive should not take you more than 10 hours if you are drive around 100 kmph.

Distances are as follows:

Bangalore, Hebbal Flyover, 0 kms
Yelahanka, 7
DEvanahalli, 22
Chickballa[pur, 22
Bagepalli, 42
Penukonda, 46
Anantapur, 71
Gooty, 50
Dhone, 38
Kurnool, 59
Hyderabad, 214
totalling 571 kms

[rocksterraghu]

I would like to add that 4-laning work of the highway is in progress, so please be careful. I would not recommend night driving as there are a lot of trucks and buses during the night on the narrow road currently.

Have a safe trip! Cheers!

[rjstyles69]

Abhi I was just gonna quote this

Checked the maps and figured out it might take anywhere from 9 hours to 12 hours. I will be driving alone my Corolla, ( yeah, call me crazy, but I am ).

and say maybe you should read akroy's travelogue to Calcutta .

[anainar]

Thanks a lot fellas! Quiet heartening to know so many helping hands available. My only worry is the two lane thingy. I drove to Chennai recently and could do that in less than six hours door to door with two stops because of the four lane and divided highway and the monsoon rain. It was eternal bliss to drive in that road. I have to be there in Hyderabad by morning and that is why want to start in the evening and halt at Kurnool, if I reach there by 11:00 PM or so. Will search Travelgoues as well.

Thanks again guys.

[sammyboy]

anainar , its a nice drive and wont take u so long ..i did it in 7 hrs 15 min in my ikon 1.3

[ravi@64bhp]

Hi Anainar,

Have done two times this route recently in my WagonR and it took me 11 hours with some breaks. It is extremely dangerous to drive in the night as there is road widening work going on and there lot of truck activity, and one more the Volvo buses.

I have encountered the following things enroute:

The road between Ananthapur and Karnool is really good and you can finish this distance very fast. Road between Hyderabad and karnool is a bit dangerous, needs to be very careful.

I have observed lot of stones of varied sizes on the road which caused my car's left front rim bend and disalignment. Had to align at Ananthapuram.

You will find all of a sudden big potholes in the middle of the road, becareful.

You can take your breakfast/lunch at Reliance A1 Plaza near gooty; you can find two of them.

No need for you to stay at Karnool. You can aaraaam se complete the trip in 10 hours. Start early 4am and you will reach Hyderabad by 2 o clock.

[junkishya]

I was able to cover the distance in 9 hours in my Palio.

Couple of points :

1) If you are new to driving at night, don't overspeed unnecessarily. Maintain 90-100 and that should be good enough to cover the distance in 10 hours.

2) Make sure that you have really good headlights bulbs .. may be Philips Rally bulbs that will ensure U get a clear vision despite of the oncoming traffic.

3) Start from Bangalore / Hyderabad atleast by 9:00pm ahead of the Volvos ... They drive like crazy people ..

4) If you feel sleepy stop and sleep for sometime rather than dozing off on the steering wheel ... This has happened to me twice .. once while driving from Hyd to Blore and while driving from Hyd to Mumbai.

Drive Safe ... It makes sense to stay alive ...

[akroy]

Originally Posted by anainar

Thanks a lot fellas! Quiet heartening to know so many helping hands available. My only worry is the two lane thingy. I drove to Chennai recently and could do that in less than six hours door to door with two stops because of the four lane and divided highway and the monsoon rain. It was eternal bliss to drive in that road. I have to be there in Hyderabad by morning and that is why want to start in the evening and halt at Kurnool, if I reach there by 11:00 PM or so. Will search Travelgoues as well.

Thanks again guys.

In that case, you can halt at IOC Motel in Kurnool and proceed towards hyderabad the next day.
Even better would be if you can start at noon from Bangalore and reach Hyd by midnight?

Abhi

[himanshugoswami]

I did this trip in the month of June. I too drove solo from bangalore to Hyd- one word of advise- Do not drive on this highway at night. I left bangalore at 4 AM and between after yelahanka, when the road becomes single lane, it was pretty harrowing for the next 100 odd kms because that was the time all teh Volvos and trucks were streaming into bangalore.

the road surface is very good throughout, the only problem being that the highway is being widened to 4 lanes and hence there is a lot of construction activity happening.

one word of advise- after about 50kms from Anantpur, there is a Reliance one outlet. Stop there for a meal and to answer natures call because for almost 150 kms after that, the land is absolutely barren with not even a tree in sight and there is no place you can stop for a nature break- Just one practical tip, that i learned the hard way

travelling time whould not be more than 10 hours and if you are really upto it, you can do this in 8 hours if you time it well.

all the best and welcome to Hyd!

[vnabhi]

Plan for 10 hours of driving time---doing it faster is risky, esp at night. Please don't get swayed by heroic tales of guys who did it in 7 or 8 hours--they must have done it in broad daylight when the roads were in good condition, and in cars that are steady when driven fast.

[junkishya]

I Agree with vnabhi ... 10 hours is a good lap time ... If you are in Crunch of time .. take the flight ..

Not sure what you will do with the saved 1 hour if you have it in 9 hours !!

And Remember, if you want to drive in the night, keep the Philips Rally bulbs ready .. They have amazing light ..



Regards,
Kishor

Drive Safe, it makes sense staying alive ..

[spider77]

hey thanx everyone here fr the info, iam leaving fr hyd. on saturday morning by around 5:30 in the morning .