[srvm]

Originally Posted by tharian

Can someone who had traveled recently mention the toll charges in total for both ways?
....

Rs.810 from Bangalore to Hyderabad ORR (excluding Devanahalli toll plaza, since I joined the NH at Nandi Upachar from Bangalore STRR).

[lifeinpune]

I am planning to drive tomorrow morning to Ramoji Film City starting from Electronic City. Will be accompanied by famiky. Need inputs on food joints and thing to watch out for in the journey. Will be starting after daylight breaks.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by lifeinpune

I am planning to drive tomorrow morning to Ramoji Film City starting from Electronic City. Will be accompanied by famiky. Need inputs on food joints and thing to watch out for in the journey. Will be starting after daylight breaks.

A lot of food joints have come up on this route. One is spoilt for choice.

For breakfast or lunch or dinner you can choose from:
Cube Stop at Chikkaballapur
Cube Stop 30 kms before Anantapur
Hyderabad Chefs Anantapur
Pista House Anantapur
Food Pyramid at Kurnool

and several others.

[bhandary]

Planning for a Friday evening 4pm drive from Bangalore (Whitefield) to Hyderabad with a night halt at Kurnool and then a morning dash to Hyderabad (Hitec city).

Any recommendations for a decent hotel for night stay with family at Kurnool?

[ssjr0498]

With the current road conditions, if you exit Blr by 4pm, you'd reach Hyderabad by 11pm! Still want to halt at Kurnool?

[bhandary]

Originally Posted by ssjr0498

With the current road conditions, if you exit Blr by 4pm, you'd reach Hyderabad by 11pm! Still want to halt at Kurnool?

Halt was planned based on the search result on Google map which shows the travel time as 9.30 hrs.

If a 7hrs drive is doable with one break and with a speed of less than 100km/hr, I would travel without the halt at Kurnool.

Thank you for the inputs.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by bhandary

Planning for a Friday evening 4pm drive from Bangalore (Whitefield) to Hyderabad with a night halt at Kurnool and then a morning dash to Hyderabad (Hitec city).

Any recommendations for a decent hotel for night stay with family at Kurnool?

Check out Hotel DVR Mansion. It is situated within the city, about 2km detour from the highway. With the right traffic conditions and keeping speeds below 100, Kurnool is a 6-6.5 hr drive. Another 3-3.5 hours to Hyderabad destination.

[shifu]

Originally Posted by bhandary

Halt was planned based on the search result on Google map which shows the travel time as 9.30 hrs.

If a 7hrs drive is doable with one break and with a speed of less than 100km/hr, I would travel without the halt at Kurnool.

Thank you for the inputs.

If you start at 4pm from Whitefield, my guess is that you'll be at KIAL around ~5:30pm. From KIAL to RGIA it should take about ~6-7hrs, depending on the break time for dinner. Hitech City is another 1 hr from RGIA. So pls plan accordingly.

At Kurnool, Hotel Suraj Grand is right on the highway. It was good enough for a overnight halt previously. But not sure of current conditions.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/upe1VanhQ13puXSW9

[androdev]

Originally Posted by ashis89

Check out Hotel DVR Mansion.

Kurnool doesn't have many good options, DVR is the best available option. Use 7702377036 (can whatsapp also) if the number listed on google maps doesn't work.

With a 4pm start from Whitefield, you are certainly looking at ~1AM arrival if you are a sedate driver. So it depends on your appetite for such a late night drive.

What I normally do is make a decision to halt when I am nearing Kurnool, call the DVR hotel and book the room if I decide to halt or keep driving otherwise.

I have switched to public transportation these days. The amount of toll, fuel cost and possible overnight hotel stay costs, etc. are not worth the joyless drive . Only Anantapur to Kurnool has some good sections to drive, rest of the route is pretty average including city traffic at both ends of the drive. If you check IRCTC portal 4 hrs before departure (as soon as chart is prepared), you will be able buy tickets for Kachiguda or Rajdhani trains. Bus and flight are other options.

[bblost]

Originally Posted by bhandary

Planning for a Friday evening 4pm drive from Bangalore (Whitefield) to Hyderabad with a night halt at Kurnool and then a morning dash to Hyderabad (Hitec city).

Any recommendations for a decent hotel for night stay with family at Kurnool?

The roads from Hi-Tech city to Kurnool are really good.
I would suggest a relaxed break in Kurnool and drive to Hyderabad itself.

Its just about 3 to 3.5 hours away.

But please take a decision based only and only on your comfort levels.

[tharian]

I drove last week to Hyderabad (Hi-Tech City) and returned the next day. It was my first drive beyond Gooty although I had ridden up to Dhone many years ago. Things have changed and traffic had increased quote a bit as well. I felt Blore-Hyd needs to be a six lane for the amount of traffic at some sections.
I noticed 90% trucks kept to the right lane which was okay until they start overtaking each other which was happening a lot.
Both up and down drives took 9 hours each with couple of breaks.

The best part of the trip was that I was able to keep a consistent speed most of the duration which gave me a good diesel efficiency and the sad part is the toll cost which was around 850 each way. (Including the Hyd Ring road and the Blore airport road tolls). There were some deviations which was didn't take up much time.

Thanks to few posts, I was able to stop at Food Pyramid on the way for lunch and at Pista House, Kurnool on the return, both of them which had decent food.
The return was at 10:30 am in peak traffic from Hi-Tech city, but once I cleared ring road, it was not bad although there was good amount of trucks and cars upto Kurnool after which it cleared out and it was a relaxed drive upto Chikkaballapur. Thankfully I was able to near Devanahalli when it got completely dark and there was not much congestion at Hebbal either which made me reach home before time.

I wouldn't suggest night driving on this road mainly because of the two lanes and heavy vehicles traffic and the high beam nuisance. Rather leave early and reach the destination early which is not tiring either.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by tharian

I wouldn't suggest night driving on this road mainly because of the two lanes and heavy vehicles traffic and the high beam nuisance. Rather leave early and reach the destination early which is not tiring either.

Whenever possible, I prefer driving at night on this route because of the same reason. After 7-8PM, the local traffic reduces significantly and only the long distance travellers give you company. Drive is more relaxed. Same goes for early morning starts.

Most of the times, I try starting from Bangalore by 5-6AM and reach Lingampally by 1-2PM, with one breakfast break. On the return leg, I start around 2-3PM from Lingampally and reach Bellandur by 12-1AM with dinner break at Anantapur and some tea break in between. Has helped avoid Bangalore traffic on either of the legs.

Works well only if one is comfortable driving at night.

[MobileThunder]

I am usually a sedate day driver and avoid night driving. However a late start a couple of weeks ago (2:30pm from Awal, Secunderabad) forced me to drive late. The traffic till Kurnool was maddening, and we exited Kurnool at 6:30 pm. The traffic thinned considerably, and and we could reach Electronic City, by 12:30am. The late start definitely helped avoid the in-famous Bangalore traffic.

[gops619]

Figured now through Cred garage that got a speeding ticket at Jinkalla Palli from one of my previous trips. Wanted to alert the route users on same.

[gops619]

Update: Thondapalli flyover works are complete. Flyover is open, used it last Sunday. A big pain point for commuters for last 2 years now eased. Didn't see much progress at Divitpally RoB works compared to 3 months prior.