[logan0387]

Thank you. The trip will be a week long, and it’s the road trip that I am looking forward to?

[sriturl]

Originally Posted by logan0387

Hi guys…planning a road trip. Trivandrum to Srikalahasti to Hyderabad to Bangalore and then back to Trivandrum. Looking forward to suggestions regarding route and things to be looked into. Thanks in advance.

Are you looking for a specific time to reach Kalahasti ? Or any other preferences in terms of stay ?
Are you open to reverse the route if required ?

I would suggest early start and take Kanyakumari-Blr route if Kaahasti is the first stop. You can select a stop over at Blr if you want more fancy options, or there are other good places enroute depending on how long you want to drive etc.
TVM-Kanyakumari, dont know latest situation, but this can slow down. I think this is still better than driving through KL and Coimbatore.

Kalahasti-Hyd -> From Kalahasti, head to Nayudupeta, Ongole, before Guntur, take the Nalgonda route to Hyd.

Hyd-Blr-Kanyakumari(Nagercoil)-TVM for return possibly.

[adisan]

Originally Posted by 1985Darkkid85

Also, can someone elucidate the significance of the 684 crore fly-over?
Does it help travelers going to Tirumala from Bangalore?

Just like the Electronics City flyover, it is meant to de-congest traffic by segregating vehicles that are passing through the area en route to their eventual destination versus vehicles that have their destination within the area.

From Bangalore:
If directly going to Alipiri/ Tirumala, one just needs to follow the road signage or Google Maps to reach with minimal entry into Tirupati city.
If going to some place within Tirupati, it will depend on whether there is an exit ramp from the flyover near to the destination. We can trust Google Maps to show the best route in that case.

By the way, the flyover is still work-in-progress.

[efgritesh]

Hi Friends,

This will be my first time to Tirupati hence i am looking recommendations on accommodation from experts who are familier, can someone advise what are my option considering following -

- Parents flying in to Tirupati airport on Sunday19th Dec.
- Have Darshan slot for Monday 20th Dec @8.00 PM.
- Need to Leave for Madurai on Tuesday 21st Dec, first thing in the morning.

I was thinking to book something near Tirupati airport for 19th and avail TDD accommodation for 20th night at Tirumala, not sure if this will be the best thing to do considering aged parents and my unfamiliartiy with area.

[mazda4life]

Hi Team,

I will be driving to Tirupati on the 1st Dec from Jayanagar, Bangalore and returning back the next day. We saw there was a red alert issued for Tirumala on 1st Dec, wanted to check any recent travelers if there has been any landslips / disruptions recently. I will be taking the standard Bangalore-Hoskote-Mulabagal-Chittor By-pass- Tirupati route. Information would be much appreciated.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by mazda4life

Hi Team,

I will be driving to Tirupati on the 1st Dec from Jayanagar, Bangalore and returning back the next day. We saw there was a red alert issued for Tirumala on 1st Dec, wanted to check any recent travelers if there has been any landslips / disruptions recently. I will be taking the standard Bangalore-Hoskote-Mulabagal-Chittor By-pass- Tirupati route. Information would be much appreciated.

I guess this will be a very late update for you, sorry abou that but anyhow - just saw in news that landslides are there in ghat roads and thus traffic from Tirupati to Tirumala is stopped today.

-Ravi

[mazda4life]

Yes , reached Tirumala couple of mins back. They have made arrangements to allow traffic on the road that is used to descend and they are allowing in batches. We reached the Alipiri vehicle Q at 3 PM and our batch was let on without security check at 3:35 PM. It’s a convoy of sorts to climb the hill. Took the ring road to reach Uttaradhi matha where we are staying and saw the queue to descend which had stretched for at least 3 kms. We plan to leave early tomorrow morning and proceed to Tirchanoor and then to Bangalore.

[adisan]

Originally Posted by mazda4life

They have made arrangements to allow traffic on the road that is used to descend and they are allowing in batches.

Is it again raining heavily over there? Or is the damage to the up ghat road an after-effect of the prior downpours? The damage looks really bad in the news reports.

[mazda4life]

It’s not raining, but had to cross couple of open bridges nearing Alipiri where the river was overflowing unto the road. Honestly took a leap of faith as there was a red alert around this area but reached safe and dry. Looking forward to the darshan now at 10:00 PM.

[1985Darkkid85]

Hi,

Planning to leave to Tirumala on Sunday dawn 9am as i have confirmed room/Special entry darshan for Monday dawn 11.15 am.
I plan to reach Tirupati foothills around 3.45pm on Sunday evening for redeeming my accommodation.

is it safe to travel considering the bad swathes of rain?

Any t-bhp-ian heading out to Tirupati during this weekend, would not mind some familiar face considering my maiden travels to this location.

Rama

[adisan]

The road through Chandragiri to Alipiri has one open bridge. Water flows under the bridge as of now but any major rains could cause overflow on to the road. the bridge has no railings and could be risky.

There is also a small section of broken road. If the road gets flooded the crater might not be easily visible, again a risk.

[karanp23]

We went on a trip to Tirupati this week. We left Bangalore (Bilekahalli, Bannerghata Road) at about 7:30 am. We drove through Koramangla, Indira Nagar to join NH4 at Swami Vivekananda Metro Station.

It was an easy drive with moderate traffic up to the Toll Booth at Hosakote. I think most of the traffic was due to employees going to work near Hoskote. Once, we crossed Hoskote, it was a smooth drive.

We did not want to stop by at regular places on the highway for breakfast instead we drove into Mulbagal town and had the original Mulbagal Dosa at Prasad Hotel. It is a small shack but has been there for more than four decades. Here is the link to their location https://goo.gl/maps/4MeCK9Z8DCLxJDnY9. We were able to reach here by 9:10 am and it was busy during that time though. It was a worthy stop, as the Dosa was great and something unique.




The detour did not take away too much time and we were able to start driving by 9:45 am after breakfast. They also had a Toilet that helped us save time in bio break.

The road conditions beyond Mulbagal were even better with complete concrete roads and pretty straight. As mentioned earlier in this thread, the left turn from NH4 to take on the bye-pass for Chitoor and further on was even better. It's a complete 6-lane main carriageway and helped avoid all traffic and we were able to reach the parking spot at Alipiri gate at 12:05 pm.

We parked the car at the recognized spot at Alipiri (Google link https://goo.gl/maps/Rhiep2TRKKvFEFJp7). We parked our car and climbed on foot. The car was stationed overnight and it was found absolutely intact when we came back after 24 hours. This is a very safe place and free of cost.

We started driving the following day by 12:15 pm, went to Tiruchanoor. We went through the regular route and due to the construction of elevated roads, it took almost 30 minutes to reach the temple. After a quick darshan using a special ticket and lunch, we started driving towards Bangalore by 2:15 pm.

We wanted to have coffee and found Maiyaas had just opened. It is located just after Woodys and right opposite McDonalds. Here is the link https://goo.gl/maps/xnHJMF2cJbkX2835A and had their signature coffee. They have clean toilets in the complex.
The break was for about 30 minutes and left at 4:50 pm. Reached Bilekhalli around 6:45 Pm.

Wonderful Road conditions all the way.



Please book in advance for any Darshan that you may want to choose at Tirupati otherwise, they do not allow pilgrims to travel up to Tirumala.

[adisan]

Originally Posted by adisan

By the way, the flyover is still work-in-progress.

The flyover has been partially opened for traffic. News report in Hans India.

[srvm]

Went to Tirupati/Tirumala after a gap of 2.5 years.
Started from C V Raman Nagar, Bangalore around 5.30am and reached Govindraja Swamy Temple by 10am. Journey time of 4.5 hours including 45 minutes breakfast break at Nandi Food Plaza near Bangarupalayam. This is a new record for me. I have never traveled this quickly to Tirupati and I'm a sedate driver strictly doing 80-100 kmph speeds.

I have done Bangalore-Chittoor-Chennai many times in the last 2 years, so I was familiar with the road status up to Chittoor. Chittoor-Tirupati is a bliss now with 3 lanes on each side and a separate 2-lane service road on each side. It saves a lot of travel time and also has few new & decent eateries.

The flyover in Tirupati is partially open for traffic. I was able to go from APSRTC bus stand to Kapilatheertham in a matter of minutes through this flyover. It is also open in the opposite direction - down ramp lets you merge with traffic below near Madhavam / Srinivasam Pilgrim Complex while coming from Kapilatheertham.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by srvm

Went to Tirupati/Tirumala after a gap of 2.5 years.
Started from C V Raman Nagar, Bangalore around 5.30am and reached Govindraja Swamy Temple by 10am.

Very happy to hear you had finally got appointment from the lord to see him after 2.5 years
How was the darshan experience and timings?

Glad to know the flyover is finally open for public. it should help a lot.

-Ravi