[PRADEEP KUMAR]

Folks,
Did chennai-hyd this morning.
3.30 am- besant nagar- ongole- 7.30am- chilukuluripet 8.45 am- narsaraopet- 9.20am - macharla- 10.340am- sagar- 11.0 am- kamineni hospital- 1.10 pm. secunderabad- 1.55 pm.

Distance -687.40 km. Route was good ,rare speed breaker on narsaraopet- macharla route.
From the narsaraopet side entered the nalgonda road and branched off to the macharla route. the distance on that route said 221 km to hyd and i ended up doing almost 35 odd km extra.
I have a question to regular travelers on this route- is the piduguralla - addanki section the worst? if so then we can turn off at the narsaropet route from this route to avoid the bad roads instead of doing 35 kms extra.
Pls advice to enable plan my return on friday.

tnx

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by PRADEEP KUMAR

Folks,
Did chennai-hyd this morning.
3.30 am- besant nagar- ongole- 7.30am- chilukuluripet 8.45 am- narsaraopet- 9.20am - macharla- 10.340am- sagar- 11.0 am- kamineni hospital- 1.10 pm. secunderabad- 1.55 pm.

Distance -687.40 km. Route was good ,rare speed breaker on narsaraopet- macharla route.
From the narsaraopet side entered the nalgonda road and branched off to the macharla route. the distance on that route said 221 km to hyd and i ended up doing almost 35 odd km extra.
I have a question to regular travelers on this route- is the piduguralla - addanki section the worst? if so then we can turn off at the narsaropet route from this route to avoid the bad roads instead of doing 35 kms extra.
Pls advice to enable plan my return on friday.
tnx

It looks like the route you've taken is better than coming via Addanki, though a bit longer. bblost said that route via Addanki is in bad shape now, so using your route may be wise, though a tad longer.
As regards your extra miles, I wonder which route you took via Narsaraopet---was it via Vipparla and Karempudi? If so, thanks for your inputs---that road was reportedly very bad a year or two ago. Perhaps there is a road from Karempudi to Piduguralla that is shorter by 35 kms, but I think you've taken a wise decision of going via Macherla---this way you did not hit the lousy traffic on NH9 at Narketpalli.

[PRADEEP KUMAR]

Thanks folks for all your inputs, returned on the same route, return was faster by almost 20 minutes, no breaks in between except for .......I would recommend this route in its present condition, minimal traffic and NH 5 is a beauty.
rgds

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by PRADEEP KUMAR

Thanks folks for all your inputs, returned on the same route, return was faster by almost 20 minutes, no breaks in between except for .......I would recommend this route in its present condition, minimal traffic and NH 5 is a beauty.
rgds

Great---can you please post the exact route? We are specially interested on the route between Narsaraopet and Macherla.Where did you branch off from the Nalgonda route? What was the total distance and driving time? Any bad stretches?

[PRADEEP KUMAR]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Great---can you please post the exact route? We are specially interested on the route between Narsaraopet and Macherla.Where did you branch off from the Nalgonda route? What was the total distance and driving time? Any bad stretches?

At chilukuluripet, turn off into narsaraopet road -23 kms- thru town take the road to piduguralla -after 15 kms - this road touches the addanki- nalgonda road- turn right into it- after 5 kms- turn left into macharla road,no sign board for macharla route,had to ask for it,(here you see a road sign 221 kms to hyd on nalgonda road)- 45 kms- macharla (via karempudi)- thru town 2 kms- take right into sagar road- 22kms -sagar- then 140 kms -hyd via ibrahimpattinam.
left scbad at 12.30 after buying paradise briyani and carried some bakers inn hot dogs(as family loves them),LB NAGAR turn into sagar road at 1.10 pm, tanked up at HP ibrahimpattinam- stopped road side finished the hot dogs- sagar- 3 pm-23 kms- macherla-3.25pm,tea break 5 mts, narsaraopet- 4.40pm-except for a very brief section and a couple of speed breakers-smooth stretch- 5.15 pm chilkluripet-ongole- 6-00pm- enroue stopped for buying mangoes(10 mts)- nellore-8.15 pm- g.poondi- 9.10pm- besant nagar- 10.30 pm.
i stayed at hotel baseraa -secbad. from there to besant nagar -my residence- exactly 691 kms.
tnx

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by PRADEEP KUMAR

At chilukuluripet, turn off into narsaraopet road -23 kms- thru town take the road to piduguralla -after 15 kms - this road touches the addanki- nalgonda road- turn right into it- after 5 kms- turn left into macharla road,no sign board for macharla route,had to ask for it,(here you see a road sign 221 kms to hyd on nalgonda road)- 45 kms- macharla (via karempudi)- thru town 2 kms- take right into sagar road- 22kms -sagar- then 140 kms -hyd via ibrahimpattinam.
left scbad at 12.30 after buying paradise briyani and carried some bakers inn hot dogs(as family loves them),LB NAGAR turn into sagar road at 1.10 pm, tanked up at HP ibrahimpattinam- stopped road side finished the hot dogs- sagar- 3 pm-23 kms- macherla-3.25pm,tea break 5 mts, narsaraopet- 4.40pm-except for a very brief section and a couple of speed breakers-smooth stretch- 5.15 pm chilkluripet-ongole- 6-00pm- enroue stopped for buying mangoes(10 mts)- nellore-8.15 pm- g.poondi- 9.10pm- besant nagar- 10.30 pm.
i stayed at hotel baseraa -secbad. from there to besant nagar -my residence- exactly 691 kms.
tnx

Thanks. This seems to be the best route to go to Chennai now, though it is about 60 kms longer than the one via Addanki---at least the road is good, and there are no rim breakers on it.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by ksrchowdary

There is a better route via Rajampet. The route is ~ 550 Kms and will be through NH7 - NH18 - SH12 - NH205.

Hyderabad - Zadcherla - Kurnool (turn left onto NH18) - Panyam - Nandyala - Allagadda - Maidukuru - Cuddapah(turn left onto SH12 approx. 3-4 kms before Cuddapah) - Vontimitta - Rajampet - (Railway)Koduru - Renigunta - Tirupati.

We went through this route in first week of Dec 08. We started at Panjagutta around 8 PM on 5th Dec and reached Titupati by 6AM next morning.

Till Kurnool (210 Kms) the route is pretyy good with 4 laning work going on.
From Kurnool to Cuddapah (196 Kms) road is decent with occasional potholes.
From Cuddapah to Tirupati(140 Kms), its a wide and smooth road with 100 KMPH design speed.

Guys,
Any updates on the route from Hyd to Tirupati via Cuddapah>Rayachoti>Pileru? We plan to travel next Sunday (acco booked at Tirumala from Sun night to Tue early morning). My wife has work on Saturday, so we can't travel that morning.
My pal was suggesting we start on Sun 5 am and visit Talakona on the way, and then check in at Tirumala at around 8 pm. But I think that would be hectic.
Here is my plan:-

1. Leave Saturday night after dinner (my pal is also travelling, so there are 2 experienced drivers, and 2 amateurs). Reach Talakona in the morning. Check in and relax, and visit the falls in the late afternoon.
2. Drive to Tirumala in the late evening (Sunday)
3. Drive down on Mon early morning and let some people walk up. Darshan on Mon eve 6 pm and also Tue 4 am.
4. Drive back to Hyd on Tue morning after darshan on the route via Renigunta>Rajampet>Cuddapah.

This being the alternate plan, I want suggestions on the following:-

• Road condition from Cuddapah to Talakona via Rayachoti and Pileru.
• Distance from Talakona to Tirupati town
• How to book accomodation at Talakona, and do they have a 24-hr check-out time?
• Good places for tanking up and for food.

Thanks in advance

[Dhanasekaran]

Recently, I did Chennai-Hyderabad and following are the route:

Chennai-Ongole-Chilakluripet-Narasaraopet-Macharla-Sagar-Mallepalli-Ibrahimpattinam-Hyd.

Route from Narasaraopet till Macharla is not good and has lot of rim breakers. Night driving to be avoided in this stretch. Rest the full stretch is OK, but you will get tired
totally.

I still recommend this route only:

Chennai-Chittor-Rayachoti-Cuddapah-Kurnool-Hyd

Hyderabad till Kurnool is a 4 lane excellent NH-highway. Route from Kurnool till Chittor is traditional 2 lane, but route is excellent and no traffic.

[varghesepaul]

Hello:

I plan to travel from Chennai to Hyderabad next week.

I need some advice on
1. what is the best route to take?...am traveling with family and have never traveled by road on this route.
2. I plan to leave Chennai around 4pm in the evening and plan to travel 3-4 hours that day before stopping for the nite and starting early the next day. Where should i plan to stop and any recommendations for hotels there?
3. Are there good restaurants/refreshment stops that i should know of?

Thanks
Varghese

[varghesepaul]

Hello:

I plan to travel from Chennai to Hyderabad next week.

I need some advice on
1. what is the best route to take?...am traveling with family and have never traveled by road on this route.
2. I plan to leave Chennai around 4pm in the evening and plan to travel 3-4 hours that day before stopping for the nite and starting early the next day. Where should i plan to stop and any recommendations for hotels there?
3. Are there good restaurants/refreshment stops that i should know of?

Thanks
Varghese

[straightdrive]

Travelled from Chennai to Hyderabad yesterday. Route - NH5 to Chilakaluripet, then Narasaraopet - Pidiguralla - Dachepally - Miriyalguda - Nalgonda - Narkatpalli - Hyderabad.

Distance - 649 km. Time - 13 hours (could have been an hour less if not for bad jams from LB Nagar till Moazzamjahi Market).

There is a good two lane road, though a little narrow, from Chilakaluripet to Narasaraopet (about 20 km). After Narasaraopet, the road is not too good for about 15 km but manageable. It then improves till Pidiguralla (about 35 km from Narasaraopet). A few unmarked but low speedbreakers on the way. Road after Pidiguralla to Dachepally is ok too.

We crossed the Krishna about 35 km after Pidiguralla, just after Dachepally. There is a potholed stretch after that, probably due to the recent rains. It is about 25 km to Miriyalguda after the Krishna bridge.

The road from Miriyalguda till Narkatpalli, where it meets NH9, is reasonably good and very good in patches.

[gajadonga]

I have done this stretch many times.Still the safe bet is Hyd-Narketpalli-Miryalguda-Pidguralla-Addanki-Ongole-Chennai.Traffic upto Narketpalli is heavy after that till Piduguralla is fine.Piduguralla to Addanki 90kms road is ok with potholes occasionally.I tried the other route via Macherla and Nagarjunasagar In fact it does not save time and distance is little more about 20kms the traffic is very less in this route.Finally the road from Piduguralla to Addanki is the only bad stetch.11-12hrs would be a comfortable drive.

[Indian Ranger]

Dear All,

Heard the traffic between Hyderabad and Bangalore is happening in this route. Kindly please advice me on the flood situation since some of my friends along with their families are travelling to Bangalore from hyderabad. They are coming by Alto. What is the best route I can suggest at this point of time. You suggestion will help us a lot. Sorry for talking about Bangalore instead of Chennai, but in the current situation i could only find this thread

thank you my dear friends in advance for all your valuable suggestions as I shall wait.

Luv,

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Indian Ranger

Dear All,

Heard the traffic between Hyderabad and Bangalore is happening in this route. Kindly please advice me on the flood situation since some of my friends along with their families are travelling to Bangalore from hyderabad. They are coming by Alto. What is the best route I can suggest at this point of time. You suggestion will help us a lot. Sorry for talking about Bangalore instead of Chennai, but in the current situation i could only find this thread

thank you my dear friends in advance for all your valuable suggestions as I shall wait.

Luv,

Given an option please ask them to stay put till the weekend.All the routes are pretty much chaotic.

NH7 the Hyd-Blr h/w is expected to open single way by tmrw and all the 4 lanes are expected to open for traffic by Friday.So if the trip is avoidable put it off by a couple of days.

[Dadi Bhote]

Dear All,

Intend to travel to Chennai via Ongole : Can someone who has taken the route recently - after the rains and floods- advise me on the road conditions specially on the NH5 before and after Ongole?

Is road vis Nagarjuna sagar - Macherla, Pidugurlla, Chilakaluripet - intact or has rains and flloding affected it?

Regards

Dadi