[csateesh]

Originally Posted by binand

the toll receipt says Chennasamudram

But I didn't understand which toll booth you are counting at Poonamalle.

@binand - Checked the receipts and it is indeed chennasamudram :-)

[DRIV3R]

Did Chennai Bangalore yesterday through Chitoor-Palamaner-Mulbagal-Kolar route.

Total toll was 45+30 INR.

The two toll gates at BLR-Tirupati highway did a dry run and did not collect any toll.

The roads were great within Andhra, smooth and no potholes. TN stretch was just ok with ocassional potholes and KA stretch was very bad around Mulbagal.

After Mulbagal, roads were awesome, sparse traffic, neatly laid out. I covered the stretch of around 119kms pretty quickly.

I would choose this route anyday. But, if you are driving with family or driving alone, should avoid the night as most of the stretch is deserted.

[binand]

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Did Chennai Bangalore yesterday through Chitoor-Palamaner-Mulbagal-Kolar route.

The two toll gates at BLR-Tirupati highway did a dry run and did not collect any toll.

I was a regular on this route, till the Telengana agitations started - I stopped based on advice in this forum, in fact. Those two toll gates have been doing this "dry run" for at least a couple of years now (my first trip on this route was in Nov '11).

It is Bangalore-Chennai highway (NH 4), though. To get to Tirupati, you turn onto NH 18 at Chittoor and then NH 205 at Pileru (I have done Chennai-Hyderabad a couple of times via NH 4 > NH 18 > NH 7, so am familiar with the route).

[DRIV3R]

Originally Posted by binand

I was a regular on this route, till the Telengana agitations started - I stopped based on advice in this forum, in fact. Those two toll gates have been doing this "dry run" for at least a couple of years now (my first trip on this route was in Nov '11).

It is Bangalore-Chennai highway (NH 4), though. To get to Tirupati, you turn onto NH 18 at Chittoor and then NH 205 at Pileru (I have done Chennai-Hyderabad a couple of times via NH 4 > NH 18 > NH 7, so am familiar with the route).

I stand corrected, the dash cam app in my phone which saves GPS data as subtitles showed it as Bangalore Tirupati highway. So I took it for granted, this is the first time I tried this route.

[luvurride]

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Did Chennai Bangalore yesterday through Chitoor-Palamaner-Mulbagal-Kolar route.

I would choose this route anyday. But, if you are driving with family or driving alone, should avoid the night as most of the stretch is deserted.

Actually the last few times I did this route(the most recent being in Nov'13), I started from Chennai around 7pm and reached Whitefield at 12pm. So I do not think it is unsafe. In fact, on my recommendation, a friend of mine, started at 11pm from Chennai and did it overnight with his family onbaord! So, other than the occasional Telangana issues, there is no problem with this route during nights. But it is difficult for someone who is not comfortable driving in nights on 2 lanes.

[BackInTheFold]

I just returned from a Bangalore - Chennai round trip spanning about 5 days (to and fro). I stuck with the Hosur - Vellore route. Nothing new to report except to reiterate how much I detest crossing Hosur and navigating the stretch from Ranipet -> Chennai. Average time in both directions was about 5.5 - 6 hours door-door (Frazer Town - R.A. Puram) with a 45 min - 1 hour break for food.

We went on a hunt for a decent restaurant in Vellore on the way back and had to navigate a brief 1-way stretch to reach Hotel Saravana Bhavan. The clean restrooms and decent food somewhat made up for the detour. Any recommendations for good places to eat between Vellore and the A2B past Krishnagiri? I'd prefer joints that are fairly close to the highway. Of course, if the food is outstanding and the restroom facilities are good, I'd be happy to drive a couple of km's. Thoughts?

[Gokrish]

Originally Posted by BackInTheFold

I just returned from a Bangalore - Chennai round trip spanning about 5 days (to and fro). I stuck with the Hosur - Vellore route. Nothing new to report except to reiterate how much I detest crossing Hosur and navigating the stretch from Ranipet -> Chennai. Average time in both directions was about 5.5 - 6 hours door-door (Frazer Town - R.A. Puram) with a 45 min - 1 hour break for food.

We went on a hunt for a decent restaurant in Vellore on the way back and had to navigate a brief 1-way stretch to reach Hotel Saravana Bhavan. The clean restrooms and decent food somewhat made up for the detour. Any recommendations for good places to eat between Vellore and the A2B past Krishnagiri? I'd prefer joints that are fairly close to the highway. Of course, if the food is outstanding and the restroom facilities are good, I'd be happy to drive a couple of km's. Thoughts?

Aryas and deepam hotel just near pallikonda toll but on chennai-krishnagiri side. Good restaurants with clean rest rooms.

[DRIV3R]

Originally Posted by luvurride

Actually the last few times I did this route(the most recent being in Nov'13), I started from Chennai around 7pm and reached Whitefield at 12pm. So I do not think it is unsafe. In fact, on my recommendation, a friend of mine, started at 11pm from Chennai and did it overnight with his family onbaord! So, other than the occasional Telangana issues, there is no problem with this route during nights. But it is difficult for someone who is not comfortable driving in nights on 2 lanes.

Quite true, mate. But I was meaning something like this.

Consider we have a puncture, God forbid.

For most of the stretch, the road is surrounded by trees and there is no place where you can park, to change the tyre. And adding to this, the roads are unlit.

[Jerry macG]

You can try Hotel Sri Grand Krishna (if I remember right) on the vellore bypass. It happens to be on the chennai-krishnagiri side. You will have to travel past for a few meters and take a U-turn into the service lane to enter the hotel.

[DRIV3R]

Did the same route yesterday and they collected toll at Mulbagal.

[binand]

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Did the same route yesterday and they collected toll at Mulbagal.

Rs. 61. Presumably the toll concessionaire also owns a sugar candy factory.

[ajmat]

Drove to chennai yesterday, it took us 2hours on a Sunday morning to clear Hosur. Will the Chittoor road be significantly faster or easier ion the way back?

[binand]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Drove to chennai yesterday, it took us 2hours on a Sunday morning to clear Hosur. Will the Chittoor road be significantly faster or easier ion the way back?

It depends on where in Bangalore you are starting from. I live in Marathahalli so for me, it makes sense to take Varthur Road/Whitefield/Kadugodi and join NH4 just shy of Hoskote. I save a good 30-60 minutes by doing this depending on the time of the day. For a lot of Bangaloreans the quickest approach could be hitting the Old Madras road at the nearest point, but that can be as bad as crossing Hosur.

The Mulbagal-Palamneru-Chittoor-Walajapet section (about 130 km) is single carriageway; you might average only about 60 on this stretch. Many of the towns don't have bypass roads (Palamneru, Walajapet) either.

Overall, in my experience there isn't much of a difference in the door-to-door time taken, the advantage of the NH4 route is the more enjoyable drive. But when travelling with family I tend to stick to the GQ route.

One detour I have tried is Palamneru-Gudiyattam-Pallikonda. Fantastic way to cross the AP-TN border and to cross from NH4 to GQ (though it pushes up the overall distance a bit).

[mpksuhas]

Did Bangalore - Chennai - Bangalore trip over last weekend.
Onward journey was on 20th Dec, started from Bellandur around 03.00 PM, was able to cross silk board without much issues. There was moderate traffic at BETL, Attibele & Krishnagiri toll booths. I guess all three toll booths together some 20 mins was lost.

Stopped at Shoolagiri HP COCO for around 30 minutes. Road work from Krishnagiri till Walajpet toll is mostly done, counted 4 deviations in total and by look of it the same will be completed soon.

The pain is just before and after Hosur. Road work plus broken roads tend to slow you down.
Reached Poonamallae at 08.30 PM, took Koyambedu route to reach Saligramam and got stuck at Koyambedu since it was peak time for all inter city buses to depart. Reached home in Saligramam at 09.30 PM.

Return journey was on Sunday (22 Dec), started from home at 02.30 PM, thankfully toll booths were not that crowded for a Sunday evening. Reached Shoolagiri HP COCO at 06.30 PM. Took a break of around 35 mins and reached Silk board at 08.10 PM.

Road surface on Hosur - Bangalore side is worse than the opposite direction.

[ajmat]

Thanks for your replies, i decided to take the Via Hosur route, I started at 1130 am from Annanagar, including 2 fuel top ups and coffee break, I was at silk board at 430pm and escaped the Bangalore Rush Hour