Hyderabad - Aurangabad - Best route? Road conditions?

[devnull]

Hi,
I am planning to do a 4 day weekend trip to Aurangabad from Hyderabad during Christmas time. I plan to cover Ajanta and Ellora in the 2 days in between. Now, what I need to know are the following :-

1. Feasibility - Firstly, is it a good time to go there? Also, would 4 days (2 days driving, 2 days sight seeing) be enough?
2. Also, are the road conditions good enough? (I'll be traveling with my wife and in-laws. So don't want to tax them with bad roads)
3. The best route - I have never been that side and don't know the roads well. From what I could gather, I have to take the Patancheru-Zahirabad-Homnabad-Umarga-Naldurg Fort-Tuljapur-Osmanabad-NH211 route. But would like your suggestions here.
4. How long will the drive be considering the distance and road conditions at a normal cruising pace (80-90 kmph)?

Looking forward to your suggestions.

Thanks,
Rahul

[hvkumar]

You can also take an alternative route via Nizamabad, Nanded.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

as kumar sir suggested, you can take nizamabad-nanded route.
though this route is somewhat shorter, it is problematic at some stretches specially in between nizamabad and biloli in nanded district.
people from aurangabad prefer osmanabad-omerga route.
i think, you should go for omeraga road and five day trip.
two days for travel, one day for aurangabad city, one day for daultabad fort-ellora-ghrishneshwar temple, one day for ajanta.

[ramkya1]

Rahul,

As Ashish sugested, 5 days would be OK.

Attching my trip log of south trip and on the way back from Hyderabad to Aurangabad. You'd notice on 16-6-08, I have taken the Omerga-Naldurg route, the logs will give you conditions of road. I think a day trip is very very possible, I reached at 3 PM, driving relatively slow and leasurely.

Please book well in advance, the rates would be up already and carry the print outs of booking vouchers with you.

Happy Traveling,

--Ramky
=======

[vnabhi]

I'm not sure of the Osmanabad route, but we did the trip 6 years back in 4 days, 2 days for driving to and fro, and the remaining 2 for Ajanta, Ellora, Daulatabad and local Taj Mahal. Ajanta took a whole day.
We went via Homnabad and Solapur, turned right at Temburni off the Mumabai highway, went to Ahmednagar and Shirdi (around 640 kms).We started from Hyd at 530 am and reached Shirdi by 4 pm, after having lunch at Ahmednagar. We also saw the tank museum there.
Completed darshan by 440 pm and proceeded to Aurangabad from there, and reached at 730 pm.
On the return,we took the Parbani-Nanded-Basar-Nizamabad route. The roads were ok on this route, except a few places of bad roads, but manageable. There was sparse traffic on this route till Basar.

[sridhga]

I did Hyderabad to Ahmedabad in the first week of November. I started in Hyderabad (Mehdipatnam) at 9-00am took the ring road that connects to BHEL and from there to Nizamabad, Naldurg Tuljapur, Aurangabad. NH-9 is good within AP. It was being repaired in Karnataka strech after the rains at that time. Now I guess it should be good. Maharastra part is extremely bad. However, Maharastra state roads are good. Right from the diversion to Tuljapur, the roads are extremely good. The last 20 km before Aurangabad is bad and is potholed. I reached Aurangabad by 8-00 pm including a stop at Tulja Bhavani temple for two hours.

Have a safe journey.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by sridhga

from there to Nizamabad, Naldurg Tuljapur, Aurangabad.

do you mean zahirabad?
nizamabad is not on this route via omerga.

[sridhga]

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

do you mean zahirabad?
nizamabad is not on this route via omerga.

You are right. It was my mistake. It was Zaheerabad. Thanks for pointing out.

[manukale]

I have stayed at Aurangabad for over 10 years& recently shifted to Mumbai. I have done this route: Hyd-Sec-Dichpalli-Nzm'bad-Bhokar-Nanded-Jalna (by-pass)-Aurangabad. It took me some 10hrs. (when leisurely driven & having 1 hr. dinner at Dichpalli on NH 7; from here Nizamabad is some 15 km odd towards the left).

I think you can plan like this: (AVOID MONDAY & TUESDAY, as on Monday wither Ellora caves OR Ajanta caves are cloed AND on Tuesday vice versa).

Note:
1) Aurangabad is also referred as IXU in airlines & hotel lingo
2) Not aware of the Osmanabad - hyderabad road condition.But the Osmanabad - IXU road is good, though no scenary at all.
3) the above road condition was good, though no scenary either. Between Jalna & IXU, 4 laning is in progress.
4) ideal season would be upto Feb.After that the heat begins.
5) Prior hotel bookings are required for moderate hotels. (Do negotiate for the discounts.)

Can give try to Hotel Embassy - Vivekanand College Compound, Nirala Bazar Road, Aurangabad - Tel.:0240 2363167. Fr. Office Executive is Raju (Andhra'it).

Day 1:

leave Hyd at 7 am. Reach IXU by 6 pm (Max).
Rest.

Day 2: Can plan for the Ellora trip.

Say at 7 am left the hotel: First visit slept Maruti (Khultabad-25 odd km from IXU) 7:30 am- Grhishneshwar temple (Ellora further 5 kms) rchd by 8:00 am - return journey (started at 8:45 am): Ellora Caves (need to come back 1 km from the temple) (say till 12:oo noon; open till 5 pm) - Daulatabad fort (open till sunset) it will take you 30 min.journey & then some 1 hr for sight-seeing (from here IXU is some 11 kms).

By 2 pm, you would be free. Have lunch. Return to IXU local sight-seeing. Can visit the city attractions : PaanChakki; Aurangabad caves (these caves are behind Bibi-ka-Maqbara; need to visit before 5 pm) Bibi-ka-Maqbara (open till 10 pm) same evening.

Day 3: can plan for the Ajanta trip. Ajanta is located 110 km North of Aurangabad.You can start at 7 am. Enroute visit the "View Point" (purely OPTIONAL; some 8 kms to the left before Ajanta village. Come back to the turning point). After Ajanta village, some 5 km ahead, Fardapur T-point issituated. Huge construction work isgoing on. Need to park your vehicle & board the non-polluting busses run by the MSRTC.Both AC & non-ac options available.It takes min.2.30 hrs to see the caves. Better hire a guide whoc will show & explain the paintings to you. The Caves are open till 5 pm & the buses ply upto 5.30 pm. Return to the starting point (where vehicle is parked). Take your vehicle&return to IXU. Rest.

Day 4:can plan the return journey. Start at 7 am reach by 6 pm (max).

Pls inform me the exact dates. Lets see if I could be of any help (subject to my visit before your visit to IXU).


Good hotels to eat: (considering that you are pure veg)

(Thaali system)
1) Thaat Baat, Vivekanand College Compound, Nirala Bazar Road
2) Yadhnya, Near SPencer's, Osmanpura
3) Swad,Near Kranti Chowk, Station Road
4) Bhoj, Opp. Hotel Kartiki, Near Bus Stand
5) Madhu,Manmandir Bus Terminus, Adalat Road

(selective Dish (Punjabi))
1) Smile, Nirala Bazar
2) Kohinoor Plaza (within the same bldg. there are two hotels (a) roof-top & (b) basement; Nirala Bazar
3) Roof Top c/o Hotel Atithi, Near Fly Over, Jalna Road
4) Mela, Osmanpura

Hope this will help you.


Mod's Note: Please post everything at one go rather than making back to back posts.

All consecutive posts merged into one.

[devnull]

Can't thank you all enough for such detailed information. Sorry I could not reply till now as I was caught up in some work and didn't even visit T-BHP . By the looks of it, think I will take the Osmanabad route but still not decided. First thing tomorrow, I need to get the hotel bookings done. My trip is planned between 25-28 of December.

@Manukale - I received your PM and will surely search for those threads. Appreciate your detailed info and eagerness to help. Sure looking forward to meeting you.

[LonelyPlanet]

Originally Posted by manukale

Good hotels to eat: (considering that you are pure veg)

(Thaali system)
1) Thaat Baat, Vivekanand College Compound, Nirala Bazar Road

(selective Dish (Punjabi))
1) Smile, Nirala Bazar

+1
Both recommendations were wonderful

[devnull]

OK, it's been more than a year since I started this thread and the news so far is that I never did that trip! But come this long weekend, I am doing it for sure.

Have planned on a 4 day trip - 2 days driving, 2 days site seeing. This is the route I have planned on except that I plan to divert from Naldurg to Tuljapur directly instead on going via Solapur. So my doubts are:-

1. Any updates on the road conditions on this route? Anything I need to be aware of? Would you suggest any change in this route?

2. Any good eating place(s) you would suggest?

3. Any nice place in the route I should not miss out on?

I would certainly update my findings once I complete the trip.

Thanks all,
Rahul

[devnull]

Just got back from the trip! Finally did it and it was worth it. Will probably write in details about it later, but am just jotting down the key updates for anyone traveling on this stretch for now:-

• Route I took - Hyd - Zaheerabad - Humnabad - Omerga - Naldurg - Tuljapur - Beed - Jalna - Aurangabad (NH9 -> NH211)
• Total distance - 550kms
• Road conditions -
  • 95% is just 2 laned. So careful on the overtaking maneuvers.
  • Roads are well maintained at AP and KA and most of MH except for Beed district where the roads are uneven and pot-holed at some places.
  • Toll fares - Rs. 18 (Patancheru), Rs. 5 (Humnabad), Rs. 15 (between Naldurg and Tuljapur)
  • Good number of good dhabas and petrol pumps spread all through the route.
  • Not very interesting. Just nice countryside views throughout the trip. Naldurg fort definitely stands out as a must-stop-and-click point.
• Things to be careful about -
  • MH policemen - make sure you have all your papers in order. They'll be everywhere stopping all vehicles looking for easy money. Also, they can even ask for "chanda" (donation) money for their cultural programs ("Saar, yeh saal mein ek baar hota hai. Aapki khushi se de do").
  • Once you enter MH, two wheelers will get frequent on the road and they don't move to the side on honking. And they mostly ride in 2s or 3s nicely chatting with each other gesturing with their hands and all and in doing so, they wander towards the center of the road. So you gotta be very careful while overtaking them.
• Aurangabad -
  • Nice easy place with wide, planned roads. Local traffic is as unruly as any city in India. Again, traffic policemen here have their eyes peeled for non MH licence plates. So your papers better be perfect.
  • You can get nice accomodation within 700 bucks if you are on a budget trip. We stayed at Hotel Sahyadri at Jalna Road which was a very good place.
  • Aurangabad is more of a vegetarian's heaven. Lots of pure veg and Jain food eataries there.

Will post more updates as they come back in my mind.

Cheers,
Rahul

[sumannandy]

I will be probably going to Aurangabad from Hyderabad via Parli-Ambajogai. Please suggest road conditions and the best route. Driving in good roads is important. Also, is it doable in one day? and any other attractions on the way?