[sbraj]

Originally Posted by csentil

I would strongly recommend driving on GQ from Bangalore till Vellore and then go via Katpadi - Chitoor. You can easily do Bangalore - Vellore in less than 3 hrs if you start early. Vellore - Katpadi has heavy traffic depending on the time of day. Katpadi - Chitoor is ok. I had a post on this route some pages back. Please check.

Palmaner - Krishnagiri - Kuppam is also awesome. Beautiful stretch with very less traffic.. Couple of small ghat sections and some small villages/towns.

There is another route via Gudiyattam that connects to somewhere on the NH4. Have to try that out next time. Just after Ambur and right at the Pachakuppam railway bridge on the GQ you will find the road to Gudiyattam. From Gudiyattam the road hits NH4 somewhere near Palmaner. This could be the shortest route but not so tried out route.

csentil,
If I summarize, options are:
1) BLR-Kolar-Palmaner-Chittoor-Tirupati
2) BLR-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Kuppam-Palmaner-Chittoor-Tirupati
3) BLR-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Gudiyattam-Palmaner-Chittoor-Tirupati
4) BLR-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Katpadi-Chittoor-Tirupati

How would you compare the above options, distance and time wise?

[ampere]

Google Maps shows one route through the NH219. Senthil, Is this the one are you referring to ? (The one not through Katpadi). The 219 seems to connect NH46/NH7 to NH4. This seems to be a very good route. About 70KM longer.

[shankar.balan]

Here is Mr HVK's route suggestion made to me when I went some time ago:

Excellent Route - very clear and easy to follow.

"Bangalore K R Puram 0-Kolar 40 kms-Mulbagal 27-Palmaner 42-Chitoor 40-Chandragiri 60-Tirupati Alipiri 13-Tirumala 18, totalling 240 kms."

Have a good Darshan there!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Here is Mr HVK's route suggestion made to me when I went some time ago:

Excellent Route - very clear and easy to follow.

"Bangalore K R Puram 0-Kolar 40 kms-Mulbagal 27-Palmaner 42-Chitoor 40-Chandragiri 60-Tirupati Alipiri 13-Tirumala 18, totalling 240 kms."

Have a good Darshan there!

Folks were lamenting that quite some portion of this route is dug up. So alternative route may be worth. Thats is why this question.

[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Here is Mr HVK's route suggestion made to me when I went some time ago:

Excellent Route - very clear and easy to follow.

"Bangalore K R Puram 0-Kolar 40 kms-Mulbagal 27-Palmaner 42-Chitoor 40-Chandragiri 60-Tirupati Alipiri 13-Tirumala 18, totalling 240 kms."

Have a good Darshan there!

This is the regular route to Tirupathi from Bangalore

Originally Posted by ampere

Google Maps shows one route through the NH219. Senthil, Is this the one are you referring to ? (The one not through Katpadi). The 219 seems to connect NH46/NH7 to NH4. This seems to be a very good route. About 70KM longer.

The one you are referring is via Kuppam, you take the turn off on your left from NH46 a couple of kms after the Tamil Nadu Tourism hotel in Krishnagiri (well after turning towards Chennai from the NH7/NH46 Jn.)

Originally Posted by sbraj

csentil,
If I summarize, options are:
1) BLR-Kolar-Palmaner-Chittoor-Tirupati
2) BLR-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Kuppam-Palmaner-Chittoor-Tirupati
3) BLR-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Gudiyattam-Palmaner-Chittoor-Tirupati
4) BLR-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Katpadi-Chittoor-Tirupati

How would you compare the above options, distance and time wise?

You don't need to go to Palamaner from Gudiyatham. There is a road which directly connects to Chittoor, it joins NH4 (Chittoor byepass when you come from Chennai to Bangalore) at a point which is about couple of kms from the turn off to Tirupathi.

If you are coming from Ambur you have to take a left right near the Pachakuppam bridge for Guidyatham. In case you miss that you can always take a left at Pallikonda Jn. (before the toll). Am not sure about the road conditions though, the distance from Ambur to Chittoor should be about 70 kms.

[devrajman]

I would not recommend traveling in night via kolar roads. They are nightmares with dazzling lights and unmarked roads and mad APSRTC volvo buses!

Please have min 2 sets of 90/100W lights

[pkumar]

My view is, if you are not willing to take the usual Kolar route, the only option which should be considered is Vellore-Chittor. The other options would be much longer in time and distance.

[ampere]

Instead of going all the way till Vellore, it would be good to branch off at Krishnagiri and go via Kuppam and then join NH4 before Chitoor.
Even this road is a National Highway and road seems to be good.

[sdp1975]

Originally Posted by ampere

Instead of going all the way till Vellore, it would be good to branch off at Krishnagiri and go via Kuppam and then join NH4 before Chitoor.
Even this road is a National Highway and road seems to be good.

NH219 is in good shape. Although a 2-laner, there's hardly any traffic on it and you can maintain speeds of 70-80. There a a few small towns in between. It goes through forests ( not as dense as Nagarhole ) and there are some winding ghat sections close to Krishnagiri. A pleasant drive overall for about 100 km on NH 219.

Do *not* take this route after dark, it may not be entirely safe.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

NH219 is in good shape. Although a 2-laner, there's hardly any traffic on it and you can maintain speeds of 70-80. There a a few small towns in between. It goes through forests ( not as dense as Nagarhole ) and there are some winding ghat sections close to Krishnagiri. A pleasant drive overall for about 100 km on NH 219.

Wow! That is good to note. But for the 70Km extra drive, this looks like a better route to drive.

[csentil]

1) BLR-Kolar-Palmaner-Chittoor-Tirupati

Shortest route. Heavy road work till Kolar. 4 laning in progress till Mulbagal. Expected time of completion not known. Should be avoided especially if travelling in the night.

2) BLR-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Kuppam-Palmaner-Chittoor-Tirupati

Best alternative route if travelling in daytime. Nothing wrong with night time, just that it gets lonely and there are sections with absolutely no traffic at all. 65-70kms extra. Beautiful drive between Krishnagiri to Palmaner.

3) BLR-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Gudiyattam-Palmaner-Chittoor-Tirupati

I haven't seen anyone do this route. I don't go to Tirupathi often so I haven't tried it out. As someone pointed out, the road from Gudiyattam goes close to Chitoor. Its 4 lane from Bangalore to Ambur till the junction at Pachakuppam gate. This allows you to traverse a longer distance faster.

4) BLR-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Katpadi-Chittoor-Tirupati

Ideal route especially for night time driving. Its 4 lane right until Vellore.
Only drawback is the Vellore - Katpadi sector during the daytime. Narrow congested roads. Katpadi - Chittoor road was not in that good a condition sometime back.

[ampere]

Senthil,

While looking at the maps I saw one more route, which looks much shorter and interesting. Attached is the snapshot:



The summary is that one has to go to Bagalur beyond Sarjapur from ORR. Once at Bagalur continue to Malur along the State highway and there onwards to Bangarpet. From Bangarpet you can hit Venkatagirikota which is on NH219 and then onwards continue to Palamaner.

This is just my R&D . The roots looks good, but not sure of the road conditions. I have read on the forum about people coming from Kolar on the NH4 using the Malur route to bypass Bangalore (via Baglur/Hosur).

Has anyone tried this section? At least it cuts a huge distance of not going via Krishnagiri and also avoiding Kolar.

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by ampere

Senthil,

While looking at the maps I saw one more route, which looks much shorter and interesting. Attached is the snapshot:

The summary is that one has to go to Bagalur beyond Sarjapur from ORR. Once at Bagalur continue to Malur along the State highway and there onwards to Bangarpet. From Bangarpet you can hit Venkatagirikota which is on NH219 and then onwards continue to Palamaner.

This is just my R&D . The roots looks good, but not sure of the road conditions. I have read on the forum about people coming from Kolar on the NH4 using the Malur route to bypass Bangalore (via Baglur/Hosur).

Has anyone tried this section? At least it cuts a huge distance of not going via Krishnagiri and also avoiding Kolar.

ampere, I doubt whether the road condition will be good here. I had driven from via Bangarapet to Kotilingeswara temple. Bumpy surface, with lots of patch work. And two lane with no dividers, and lots of rural traffic.

I don't think NH4 condition is that bad to warrant such a drastic detour.
If no other routes work, NH4 anyway is a decent option. Only, watch out for private buses and lorries driven by maniacs. And the diversions.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by sbraj

ampere, I doubt whether the road condition will be good here. I had driven from via Bangarapet to Kotilingeswara temple. Bumpy surface, with lots of patch work. And two lane with no dividers, and lots of rural traffic.

I don't think NH4 condition is that bad to warrant such a drastic detour.
If no other routes work, NH4 anyway is a decent option. Only, watch out for private buses and lorries driven by maniacs. And the diversions.

Raj,

This was purely a Google maps research and nothing else ! I expected roads to be really bad anyway. Just was thinking if there can be an outside chance as there is a TN state highway involved !

[kavu75]

Tomorrow morning i am planning to drive to Tirumala from Bangalore. All my previous trips i had taken the route via Alipiri Gate.

But from the google map i got the following route. It shows the road to Tirumala via Srinivasa Mangapuram Tirumala Road, with out taking Alipiri Gate.
Anyone has taken this route recently? How is the road condition and ghat section drive?

Bengaluru, Karnataka to Tirumala, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh - Google Maps