[pranav_mankad]

Hi Folks,

Need your guidance.
I am planning to go to Hampi over coming weekend. Plan is to leave from Marathalli at around 2 pm on Thursday. I will be returning on Sunday - planning to start by around 11 a.m. from Hampi.

Can you guide which route could be best taken for going to Hampi ? I will be staying in Kamalapura. Especially since I will be starting at 2 pm. from Bangalore. I heard that the Bangalore - Hiriyur - Chellekare route has a lot of road construction currently going on and is not recommended for late evening drive. Is that right? How about Ananthpur- Bellary route?

Thanks in advance!

[NPV]

Originally Posted by pranav_mankad

Can you guide which route could be best taken for going to Hampi ? I will be staying in Kamalapura.

Chitradurga-Hospet is the National Highway route that is being widened, not Hiriyur-Challakere.
The construction activities on Hospet route may be painful as you're starting around 2pm and you will be on that stretch beyond 6pm.

At the same time , Hiriyur-Challakere is devoid of facilities, quite desolate and mining trucks will probably give you a hard time.

Given all this, I think Ananthpur-Bellary may be a better option. The road from Bellary takes you directly near the outskirts of Hospet where you need to turn right, go past a railway crossing and proceed to Kamlapur not too far away.

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by pranav_mankad

Hi Folks,

Need your guidance.
I am planning to go to Hampi over coming weekend. Plan is to leave from Marathalli at around 2 pm on Thursday. I will be returning on Sunday - planning to start by around 11 a.m. from Hampi.

Can you guide which route could be best taken for going to Hampi ? I will be staying in Kamalapura. Especially since I will be starting at 2 pm. from Bangalore. I heard that the Bangalore - Hiriyur - Chellekare route has a lot of road construction currently going on and is not recommended for late evening drive. Is that right? How about Ananthpur- Bellary route?

Thanks in advance!

Agreeing with NPV, even i suggest you to take Anantapur-Bellary route. Distance wise this may be 15-20kms more, but road conditions are excellent. I returned from Bellary yesterday, barring couple of small stretches, some road breakers and one narrow bridge near Uravakonda, even the Anantapur-Bellary stretch is in excellent condition.
From what i heard, Chitradurga-Hospet road is really painful to drive now because of the road widening work going on. Lots of deviation and breakers.

[androdev]

Originally Posted by pranav_mankad

Hi Folks,

Need your guidance.
I am planning to go to Hampi over coming weekend. Plan is to leave from Marathalli at around 2 pm on Thursday. I will be returning on Sunday - planning to start by around 11 a.m. from Hampi.

Can you guide which route could be best taken for going to Hampi ? I will be staying in Kamalapura. Especially since I will be starting at 2 pm. from Bangalore. I heard that the Bangalore - Hiriyur - Chellekare route has a lot of road construction currently going on and is not recommended for late evening drive. Is that right? How about Ananthpur- Bellary route?

Thanks in advance!

If I were you and if I am traveling with family, I would halt overnight at either Anatpur or Chitradurga. It won't seriously effect your available time in Hampi. Also you can afford to leave Hampi a bit late because driving at night as you approach Bangalore is relatively safer.

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by kavensri

Agreeing with NPV, even i suggest you to take Anantapur-Bellary route. Distance wise this may be 15-20kms more, but road conditions are excellent. I returned from Bellary yesterday, barring couple of small stretches, some road breakers and one narrow bridge near Uravakonda, even the Anantapur-Bellary stretch is in excellent condition.
From what i heard, Chitradurga-Hospet road is really painful to drive now because of the road widening work going on. Lots of deviation and breakers.

So the recommendation for Bengaluru - Hampi seems to be:
Bengaluru -> Anantpur -> Bellary -> Hampi

Is it recommended to go till Gooty and then go via Guntakal and then touch Bellary? or is the deviation from Anantpur towards Bellary (via Uruvakonda) also good?

Also from Bellary there are two routes that Google Maps shows towards Hampi - which is the better of the two? And how are the roads between Bellary-Hampi?

Route 01:
Ballari -> Kudathini ->Toranagallu -> Kamalapur -> Hampi
or

Route 02:
Ballari -> Kudathini -> Daroji -> Ramasagar -> Bukkasagara ->Kamalapur -> Hampi

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

So the recommendation for Bengaluru - Hampi seems to be:
Bengaluru -> Anantpur -> Bellary -> Hampi

Is it recommended to go till Gooty and then go via Guntakal and then touch Bellary? or is the deviation from Anantpur towards Bellary (via Uruvakonda) also good?

You don't need to go till Gooty. You take the deviation from Anantapur and go via Uruvakonda.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

So the recommendation for Bengaluru - Hampi seems to be:
Bengaluru -> Anantpur -> Bellary -> Hampi

If the idea is just to head to Hampi during day time, you can stick to Hiriyur-Challakere-Bellary option as well. Not much of traffic till Bellary along the beautiful wide 2-lane road running for 150km.

Originally Posted by kavensri

You don't need to go till Gooty. You take the deviation from Anantapur and go via Uruvakonda.

How do you rate the NH7 option against NH4? Any comments? I always thought NH4 was better and roads till Bellary are fantastic via Hiriyur.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by ampere

How do you rate the NH7 option against NH4? Any comments?

Not specific to reaching Hampi but between NH4 and NH7, it is definitely a tough one to pick .

From my own recent experience of driving to Kurnool and then to Mumbai on subsequent weekend, I found NH4 more relaxing as Tumkur-Chitradurga is 6 lane. Secondly, this one is more straight while NH7 is 4 lane and has bit of curves here and there, more than unusual culverts compared to NH4.

Facilities wise, NH4 and NH7 at least till the first 200 Kms are similar. What Dabaspet-Tumkur offers for NH4 is what Devanahhalli would offer for NH7 and beyond this both routes have hardly anything worth till the next 150 kms.

So the choice I believe here should strictly be between how good the rest of the 2 lane roads are and how peaceful to drive?

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by ampere

If the idea is just to head to Hampi during day time, you can stick to Hiriyur-Challakere-Bellary option as well. Not much of traffic till Bellary along the beautiful wide 2-lane road running for 150km.


How do you rate the NH7 option against NH4? Any comments? I always thought NH4 was better and roads till Bellary are fantastic via Hiriyur.

it's now NH48 and NH44.
All these years I was always using NH48 to visit Bellary or Hampi via Hiriyur and Challakere
Had visited Hospet/Hampi on Nov 25th weekend and for the first time used the NH44 Option via Anantapur and Uravakunda.
I'd say it is a better option. Absolutely empty and straight 4 lane roads till Anantapur. After that too, good tarmac all the way. Traffic also is far less

Edit:
After I posted, Saw the reply of paragsachania. I think both the posts makes his clear that it's a tough pick

[ampere]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

From my own recent experience of driving to Kurnool and then to Mumbai on subsequent weekend, I found NH4 more relaxing as Tumkur-Chitradurga is 6 lane. Secondly, this one is more straight while NH7 is 4 lane and has bit of curves here and there, more than unusual culverts compared to NH4.

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Had visited Hospet/Hampi on Nov 25th weekend and for the first time used the NH44 Option via Anantapur and Uravakunda.
I'd say it is a better option. Absolutely empty and straight 4 lane roads till Anantapur. After that too, good tarmac all the way. Traffic also is far less

Well differnt views! My only concern was Ananthpur-Bellary. One being good roads and the other being safety/security.

it's now NH48 and NH44.

That is some thing very difficult to get used to!

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

it's now NH48 and NH44.

I would say, old habits die hard. Somehow, most of us I have known are still comfortable with NH4 and NH7 than this new nomenclature. In fact NH48 reminds me of BLR-MLR only and nothing else.

Now if only someone else would say that NH4 is also AH47 .

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by ampere

That is some thing very difficult to get used to!

Originally Posted by paragsachania

I would say, old habits die hard. Somehow, most of us I have known are still comfortable with NH4 and NH7 than this new nomenclature. In fact NH48 reminds me of BLR-MLR only and nothing else.

Change is the only constant. As soon as I think of Sakleshpur, NH48 is the number I get in my head. but later I change it consiously while I write/speak. In doing so I confuse people too
This is similar to Bombay, Madras as against Mumbai, Chennai

Now if only someone else would say that NH4 is also AH47 .

and NH7 is AH43

Not using AH43/47 is ok because both NH and AH numbers are active/valid at the same time and can be used alternatively.
But NH48 has been assigned to Pune road now as against Mangalore road that we are "used to".


As far a s the topic is concerned, give me some time. I'll upload some photos of the Uravakunda route later in the day so that it'll be useful for people

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by ampere

How do you rate the NH7 option against NH4? Any comments? I always thought NH4 was better and roads till Bellary are fantastic via Hiriyur.

I have driven extensively on NH4 (till Hubballi) and NH7 (till Veldurthi) since last 10 years or so. Even to Ballari, i have driven on both the routes. And based on the my experience, I prefer NH7 than NH4 for couple of reasons. Agree that NH4 is 6-lane, but now a days it is too crowded with lots of trucks. And then after Hiriyur, again the traffic density is too high when i have to compare the stretch between Anantapur-Bellary. Then we have long queues in the tolls on NH4, which gets really worse while returning (depending upon the time).
So, considering all the facts, I started using NH7 to drive to Bellary in the recent times. Just last week (Nov 25-26) I have used that route and in case you are going to drive in the day time, i don't see any security/safety issues. I never drive after 9pm, so i cannot comment whether that route is safe after that time.
I hope I have answered all your queries

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

As far as the topic is concerned, give me some time. I'll upload some photos of the Uravakunda route later in the day so that it'll be useful for people

for most part of it, the road from Anantapur to Bellary is like this.





This was during our return. Onward was an over night drive where we hardly stopped

[NPV]

Originally Posted by ampere

My only concern was Ananthpur-Bellary. One being good roads and the other being safety/security.

I was thinking that if one is going to Bellary, Hiryur-Bellary is ruled out if doing a late evening/night drive in which case Anantpur-Bellary was a good option.
For daytime drives, I think both are viable options and its mostly one's comfort and convenience (and old habits/familiarity! )

Have there been any reports of security/safety issues on this route ?