[mooza]

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

Chittoor bypass is horror story,

Is it better to drive through Chittoor instead of taking the bypass ?

I am planning to drive sometime mid Feb, mostly on a Wednesday / Thursday. Hope the crowds at the temple are lesser on a weekday

[sriturl]

Originally Posted by mooza

Is it better to drive through Chittoor instead of taking the bypass ?

I am planning to drive sometime mid Feb, mostly on a Wednesday / Thursday. Hope the crowds at the temple are lesser on a weekday

I personally would suggest that. Do not try to enter the town during 10-11AM or at the evening 5PM kind of time. Being a district HQ and the govt offices being in the main road, those peak times tend to be high traffic times. Else you can drive through pretty easily at the same or lesser time than by-pass saving yourself some pot hole massage

Mid feb normally seem to be a better time (off season) I have been seeing in some news channels that time taken for darshan is 2 hrs(seen on TV9 telugu)

[mooza]

Originally Posted by sriturl

Else you can drive through pretty easily at the same or lesser time than by-pass saving yourself some pot hole massage
Mid feb normally seem to be a better time (off season)

Thanks for the feedback. Since I will be leaving from at 12.30 pm from , Bangalore (Indiranagar), I should clear the Chittoor stretch by around 4.30 pm, I guess.

[manupriyam]

Guys,

How's the weather there in Tirumala? Do we need to carry sweaters? Also I am seeing travel sites rating Kalyan Residency as 4/5 and its cheap as well? Anyone has stayed there before?

Cheers

Manu

[Newpunter]

Originally Posted by manupriyam

Guys,
How's the weather there in Tirumala? Do we need to carry sweaters?
Manu

I was in Tirumala a few weeks back and it was cold but nothing too bad. If you are going out in the night, you would definitely need sweaters though.

[SuperSlick]

I just returned from Tirupati this Monday and the weather there is just fine during the day. In the night it does get a little cold and chilly. Do carry some warm clothes if you are planning a visit anytime in Februrary.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by manupriyam

Guys,

How's the weather there in Tirumala? Do we need to carry sweaters? Also I am seeing travel sites rating Kalyan Residency as 4/5 and its cheap as well? Anyone has stayed there before?

Cheers

Manu

Yes, i have stayed in kalyan residency in 2009.
Its a decent hotel though the bathrooms may not be that great for the price we pay. I won't say its too bad, but just that it can be far better compared to other similar hotels.

Also, the lane in which the hotel is located is not good. People are using it as public convenience in both the ends of that lane, so its not neat at all. Also, its not advisable for women to go alone, especially after dusk.

-Ravi

[spadix]

Originally Posted by ampere

@Prasad, Yes the option via Madanapalle seems to be very good, but for break options.

The information I have is *very* old (2005) but back then the Madanapalle route was back-breaking. There were too many potholes. It's good to see this route has improved now.

You won't need to break much, if at all. Blr to Tirupati was around 6 hrs in a Maruti 800 (via Chittoor) in the 2008/2009 time frame. Have breakfast at home early, and just have lunch at Hotel Mayura in Tirupati. Then climb up the ghat in the afternoon.

I always preferred the Chittoor route. The bypass was no great shakes but got the job done. Strike that. Actually it was a lot of great shakes. Of course I see Ashish's post now saying that it's gotten worse.

Regards,
spadix

[ampere]

As I told before, though its got worse, but the Chitoor by-pass also works for me as it has Bans the hotel. Thats an ideal for a break with decent hotel and more importantly clean toilets.


Having said that I also noticed a Coffee Day at Chandragiri.

[subbarp]

Chitoor bypass is fine, travelled end January - you just have to endure about 10 minutes of drive after the left turn, go slow and you will be fine. Its good after that + they removed the toll as well
Hotel Bans is the best you may find in that area.

[mooza]

Originally Posted by subbarp

Chitoor bypass is fine, travelled end January - you just have to endure about 10 minutes of drive after the left turn, go slow and you will be fine. Its good after that + they removed the toll as well
Hotel Bans is the best you may find in that area.

@subbarp, thanks for the info. Since I would reach Chittoor around 4.30 pm, maybe I could halt at the Bans resort overnight (for the kids to have a break and enjoy the evening there) and then leave at around 6 in the morning from Chittoor for the 10 am darshan slot

[Newpunter]

Originally Posted by mooza

@subbarp, thanks for the info. Since I would reach Chittoor around 4.30 pm, maybe I could halt at the Bans resort overnight (for the kids to have a break and enjoy the evening there) and then leave at around 6 in the morning from Chittoor for the 10 am darshan slot

That's a good idea. Bans is a very good hotel to stay. Also, when i visited this road 2 weeks back, there was some patch work going on at places on the Bypass road. However, the road is really bad near the beginning of the bypass. It gets better after that and is not that bad .

[sureshurs]

One would save time by taking Chitoor Bypass. The bad patch is for a couple of kilometers and it gets better (though it is an uneven laying of road). The journey through Chitoor town can be painful considering the traffic and railway gate.

[ravib]

Just did a trip to Tirupati and returned couple of hours back.

Read @shenoytech's post #190 , so wanted to try it. He is very correct. Roads are in excellent condition.

Took Bangalore - Hoskote - Chintamani - Madanapalle - Piler - Tirupati while going to Tirupati. Filled petrol in Shell, Old Madras Road at 8:15 am and left
Bangalore - 8:30 am
Madanapalle - ~10:30 am
Tirupati Central Bus Stand - 1:15 pm.

Took about 5 hours including breaks for about 15 to 20 mts .
Route from Hoskote-Chintamani update: Most of the part is good, except that there is a section called H-Cross from there till chintamani, few kilometers are bad.

Otherwise, as long as this road contidion is good, I would strongly recommend this route to tirupati, just because it is not a tiring drive, compared to chitoor route. Almost no traffic or very minimal traffic. Trucks don't use this route (99%) and very few buses go in this route. So makes life easy.

For those who take early breakfast and reach Tirupati for lunch. As others mentioned, there are no good hotels are available en route, so those who don't care for the breaks, this is the best route to tirupati to do in day time. Not a suggested option for night drives though.

-------------------
In return journey, took the usual Tirupati-Chitoor-Mulbagal-Hoskote-Bangalore. Took about 4.5 hours in total including two short breaks.

Tirupati - 2:45 pm
Chitoor - approx 4:15 pm
Bangalore, C.V. Raman Nagar - 7:20 pm.

Originally Posted by subbarp

Chitoor bypass is fine, travelled end January - you just have to endure about 10 minutes of drive after the left turn, go slow and you will be fine. Its good after that + they removed the toll as well
Hotel Bans is the best you may find in that area.

@subbarp is very correct. The chitoor bypass road is not in good shape for few stretches and pot holes are there, but all you would lose is just about 10 to 15 mts, but other wise, its NOT a no-no road. I don't know how good or bad is to take via chitoor town, as i have not tried it.

-Ravi

[mooza]

Returned last night after my trip to Tirupati.

Did the drive via Kolar / Mulbagal / Chittoor (via Chittoor bypass).

The roads are good almost throughout this route, barring some 4 laning related diversions on the Bangalore Mulbagal stretch (traffic both ways get combined into a singe lane, at some stretches).

Yes, the Chittoor bypass is a bit bumpy, but manageable.

Had tea at Hotel Bans on Chittoor bypass on the onward journey, whereas on the return jpurney we found a CCD just at the end of the bypass.

Our stay at Hotel Bliss in Tirupati the previous night was quite comfortable. The food there is a bit pricey, though.

Thanks to all BHPians for their inputs

Did the Rs. 50 Sudarshan bookings / payments online on the ttd website. Certainly saves a lot of hassles !