[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by sanjayk

I am planning to do Hyderabad to Ongole on Wednesday. I zeroed on these routes re-searching team-bhp posts.

1. Hbad - Narketpally - Nalgonda - Piduguralla - Chilakaluriprta - Ongole
2. Hyderabad-Nagarjuna Sagar-Piduguralla-Narasaraopet-Chilakalurpet-Ongole
3. Hyderabad - Nagarjuna Sagar - Macherla - Addanki - Ongole

I am not very keen on the first one, due to heavy traffic. I have been told that 3rd one is pretty bad in some stretches. I will go by the 2nd option, unless someone suggests an alternate.

Suggestions regarding eating options are welcome.

Take the Hyd-Ibrahimpatnam-Sagar-Macherla-Karempudi-Narasaraopet-Chilakaluripet-NH5-Ongole.Roads are good,expect some bad stretches between Macherla & Narasaraopet.Otherwise ok to travel.Karempudi-Addanki is usually bad,so best to avoid Addanki.

Not much of eating options,except the APTDC resort at Sagar.It would fall to your right.

[sanjayk]

@ranjitp1 Thanks for confirming. How much time do you think it takes to reach Ongole?

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Take the Hyd-Ibrahimpatnam-Sagar-Macherla-Karempudi-Narasaraopet-Chilakaluripet-NH5-Ongole.Roads are good,expect some bad stretches between Macherla & Narasaraopet.Otherwise ok to travel.Karempudi-Addanki is usually bad,so best to avoid Addanki.

Not much of eating options,except the APTDC resort at Sagar.It would fall to your right.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by sanjayk

@ranjitp1 Thanks for confirming. How much time do you think it takes to reach Ongole?

Hyderabad to Chilkaluripet should take you around 5-5.5hours.From there on the NH5 to Ongole should take you around 45mins to an hour.Overall budget for a 7hour drive.

Chilakaluripet, Andhra Pradesh to LB Nagar, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh - Google Maps

Originally Posted by sanjayk

I am planning to do Hyderabad to Ongole on Wednesday. I zeroed on these routes re-searching team-bhp posts.
1. Hbad - Narketpally - Nalgonda - Piduguralla - Chilakaluriprta - Ongole
2. Hyderabad-Nagarjuna Sagar-Piduguralla-Narasaraopet-Chilakalurpet-Ongole
3. Hyderabad - Nagarjuna Sagar - Macherla - Addanki - Ongole

I drove in my Linea from Chennai to Hyderabad via Ongole, Chilakaluripeta, Narasaraopeta, Macherla, Nagarjuna Sagar in September 2011 during night. The stretch Chilakaluripeta-Narasaraopeta-Macherla was very bad. My Linea bottom-scraped 4 times.

[gajadonga]

From Hyderabad if you take the Ibrahimpatnam-Sagar-Macherla route upto Macherla the roads are good.
The problem is after Macherla if you take the Karempudi route or the route via Dachepalle-Pidugurala route both are average.
Chilakaluripeta-Narasaraopeta still I consider average roads as J.Ravi has mentioned.
7-8 hrs would be an ideal running time.
Even I have bottom scraped twice in the Macherla-Dachepalle route.

[sanjayk]

Thanks buddy. Will keep that in mind, i plan to start from Hyderabad by 4 AM. Let me see how my WagnoR fares on those roads..

Originally Posted by gajadonga

From Hyderabad if you take the Ibrahimpatnam-Sagar-Macherla route upto Macherla the roads are good.
The problem is after Macherla if you take the Karempudi route or the route via Dachepalle-Pidugurala route both are average.
Chilakaluripeta-Narasaraopeta still I consider average roads as J.Ravi has mentioned.
7-8 hrs would be an ideal running time.
Even I have bottom scraped twice in the Macherla-Dachepalle route.

[Notyetgrey]

Drove to Chennai from Hyderabad on the 25th December and returned on the 1st of January. Took the Hyderabad - Sagar - Macherla - Narasaraopet - Chilkaluripet - NH5 - Chennai route both sides. As reported earlier, roads from Hyderabad to Macherla is great. Macherla to Chilkaluripet is a nightmare. On my way to Chennai, lost my way after Macherla and ended up taking the Piddigurela-Dachepalle route to Narasaraopet. I thought this road was bad (bottom scraped my Vento at least 3 times). On way back, took the Narasaraopet-Muppalla-Karempudi-Macherla route. This stretch was HORRIBLE. Roads between Narasaraopet to Muppala (through Rompicherla) is really bad, ended up bottom scraping at least 7-8 times. And this was during broad daylight!

Since we don't speak Telugu and several of the signs were in Telugu, we depended only on the GPS in my mobile, and hence there is a possibility that I ended up taking side roads rather than the ones quoted earlier in this thread, but we were driving through 4 feet wide roads through villages for major part of the Narasaraopet - Macherla stretch.

Did notice that there is road work happening on the Piddgurella stretch on my way to Chennai, hopefully they would relay the roads too on that entire stretch.

[gajadonga]

Did notice that there is road work happening on the Piddgurella stretch on my way to Chennai, hopefully they would relay the roads too on that entire stretch.

Four laning is being done from Narkatpalle-Pidugurala probably upto Addanki near Ongole.
It may take 2yrs for completion.
Last time I went to Chennai I took the route Kurnool-Devanahalli-Vijaypura-Kolar-Chittor-Ranipet-Chennai.This is close to 150kms more but less stressful.

[bhuvan_prasad]

I am thinking on similar lines. I will by driving down from Hyd-Chennai next week, and am planning to take Hyd-Kurnool-Anantapur-Kadiri-Madanapalle-Chittoor-Chennai route.

I know the Madanapalle - Chennai route is nice, having gone on it last month, and we all know about Hyd-Anantapur

Anantapur-Kadiri-Madanapalle is the only route I do not have any info on. Any pointers will be much appreciated.

This route will be around 80-100kms longer than the usual route via sagar-karempudi-nellore etc, but a nicer, less stressful drive IMHO.

Will be going in a civic so potholes are a strict no-no

Originally Posted by gajadonga

Four laning is being done from Narkatpalle-Pidugurala probably upto Addanki near Ongole.
It may take 2yrs for completion.
Last time I went to Chennai I took the route Kurnool-Devanahalli-Vijaypura-Kolar-Chittor-Ranipet-Chennai.This is close to 150kms more but less stressful.

[himavanth_m]

Originally Posted by Notyetgrey

Drove to Chennai from Hyderabad on the 25th December and returned on the 1st of January. Took the Hyderabad - Sagar - Macherla - Narasaraopet - Chilkaluripet - NH5 - Chennai route both sides. As reported earlier, roads from Hyderabad to Macherla is great. Macherla to Chilkaluripet is a nightmare. On my way to Chennai, lost my way after Macherla and ended up taking the Piddigurela-Dachepalle route to Narasaraopet. I thought this road was bad (bottom scraped my Vento at least 3 times). On way back, took the Narasaraopet-Muppalla-Karempudi-Macherla route. This stretch was HORRIBLE. Roads between Narasaraopet to Muppala (through Rompicherla) is really bad, ended up bottom scraping at least 7-8 times. And this was during broad daylight!

Thankfully I drove in a safari and it did not scrap the bottom

On a serious note, Could you please elaborate on the reason for you to take the Hyd - Marcherla - Chennai route? Was there a special reason like you wanted to visit Nagarjunsagar on the way?. After Marcherla, no matter which road you take all are in really bad condition. And you took the most horrible one of all. These roads were splendid about 10 years back. Infact 10 years back one could touch 100kmph easily on these roads. These roads were smooth but with lot of speedbreakers. How 10 years change the condition of these roads. This just shows a combination the lack of quality while laying the roads as well as lack of proper maintenance.
I remember writing somewhere on Team-BHP itself that these roads looked like some bomb blasts took place on the entire stretch.

Until the Addanki and piduguralla and surrounding roads are relaid, it is advisable to take the route via Ananthapur.

[Notyetgrey]

Originally Posted by himavanth_m

Thankfully I drove in a safari and it did not scrap the bottom

On a serious note, Could you please elaborate on the reason for you to take the Hyd - Marcherla - Chennai route? Was there a special reason like you wanted to visit Nagarjunsagar on the way?.

Well, the only other route that I have taken to Chennai is Narkatpalli->Addanki ->NH5 route, and I hated that route. Was looking for an alternate and since I had recently driven down to Sagar, knew that the road till Sagar was excellent. Several folks seemed to have suggested this route and I fell for it!

[/quote]
After Marcherla, no matter which road you take all are in really bad condition. And you took the most horrible one of all. These roads were splendid about 10 years back. Infact 10 years back one could touch 100kmph easily on these roads. These roads were smooth but with lot of speedbreakers. How 10 years change the condition of these roads. This just shows a combination the lack of quality while laying the roads as well as lack of proper maintenance.
I remember writing somewhere on Team-BHP itself that these roads looked like some bomb blasts took place on the entire stretch.

Until the Addanki and piduguralla and surrounding roads are relaid, it is advisable to take the route via Ananthapur.[/quote]
Amen!

Hopefully the Hyd-Vijaywada six laning is completed in the next year or so. That would be a good alternative too.

[bhuvan_prasad]

I did Hyderabad - Chennai on 17th january. Started at 6:10 AM, and reached at 5:10 PM. Total distance was 788 kms. The log is as below.
Liberty cirlce, Hyd - 6:10 AM
Kurnool - 8:17 AM
Gooty - 9:11 AM
Anantapur - 9:40 AM
Kadiri - 11:07 AM
Madanapalle - 12:27 PM
Chittoor - 2 PM
Lunch break at MGM resort, TN - 2:50PM to 3:15PM
Besant Nagar, Chennai - 5:10 PM

Roads till Anantapur were fabulous. Lost some time inside anantapur as we had to get inside the town to get onto the kadiri- Chennai road. Anantapur- Kadiri is a nice road, lot of level crossings, we never got stuck though. Kadiri - Madanapalle is an okayish road, no major potholes. Only issue is at level crossing the roads are pathetic.

Madanapelle-Chittor is again nice and scenic. From walajapet we hit the GQ. its not a smooth surface, lot of potholes, and at high speed you cant really dodge them.

Overall a nice alternative. Quite long, but less traffic and better roads IMHO.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by bhuvan_prasad

I did Hyderabad - Chennai on 17th january. Started at 6:10 AM, and reached at 5:10 PM. Total distance was 788 kms. The log is as below.
Liberty cirlce, Hyd - 6:10 AM
Kurnool - 8:17 AM
Gooty - 9:11 AM
Anantapur - 9:40 AM
Kadiri - 11:07 AM
Madanapalle - 12:27 PM
Chittoor - 2 PM
Lunch break at MGM resort, TN - 2:50PM to 3:15PM
Besant Nagar, Chennai - 5:10 PM

Roads till Anantapur were fabulous. Lost some time inside anantapur as we had to get inside the town to get onto the kadiri- Chennai road. Anantapur- Kadiri is a nice road, lot of level crossings, we never got stuck though. Kadiri - Madanapalle is an okayish road, no major potholes. Only issue is at level crossing the roads are pathetic.

Madanapelle-Chittor is again nice and scenic. From walajapet we hit the GQ. its not a smooth surface, lot of potholes, and at high speed you cant really dodge them.

Overall a nice alternative. Quite long, but less traffic and better roads IMHO.

There is a way to avoid Anantapur town totally.
Continue on NH7 after crossing the Ananthapur BYpass Flyover and go down 9 kms further towards Bangalore till you hit a small junction - unsure if ther eis any marking - and turn left. Go 3 kms and you will reach another cross road where you turn right onto the road to Kadiri (the road straight goes back into Ananthapur city). No problem road, you will be through Anantapur without any time delay.

When you are coming from Kadiri side, this point is some 5 kms before Anantapur town, and exactly 23 kms from Bathalpalli, the big town before Ananthapur.

Let me show you the route on Google Maps.Bangalore-Hyderabad Highway to Bangalore Rd - Google Maps

[bhuvan_prasad]

Thanks for the suggestion. I saw the route online on google maps, but wasn't sure of how good that connecting road was, and how well connected it was to NH7, and so just took the known route.

Will do this next time though.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

There is a way to avoid Anantapur town totally.
Continue on NH7 after crossing the Ananthapur BYpass Flyover and go down 9 kms further towards Bangalore till you hit a small junction - unsure if ther eis any marking - and turn left. Go 3 kms and you will reach another cross road where you turn right onto the road to Kadiri (the road straight goes back into Ananthapur city). No problem road, you will be through Anantapur without any time delay.

When you are coming from Kadiri side, this point is some 5 kms before Anantapur town, and exactly 23 kms from Bathalpalli, the big town before Ananthapur.

Let me show you the route on Google Maps.Bangalore-Hyderabad Highway to Bangalore Rd - Google Maps

[gajadonga]

I was driving back from Vijayawada yesterday to Hyderabad.
From Viyayawada took the route via Guntur-Satenapalli-Piduguralla-Dachepalle-Macherla-N.Sagar-Hyderabad.
The road conditions
Vijayawada-Guntur six laning in progress lot of deviations as I did not want to go into Guntur town
I took the bypass reached EEnadu office on the bypass and from there took the
connecting road to Nallapadu and then to Satenapalli road.
Guntur-Piduguralla good road no potholes lot of traffic.
Piduguralla-Dachepalle-Average road surface is not good as four laning is going on.
Dachepalle-Macherla freshly tarred and good road.
Macherla-Hyderabad is good.
The option of going to Chennai from Hyderabad this route seems to good option
from N.Sagar to Guntur.It took 2.30 hrs from Guntur to N.Sagar.