[ampere]

Originally Posted by racer_ash

Our previous journeys were through the Great Indian Railways or flying. The former was very inconvenient in terms of timings and the latter was pretty costly for 5 people. With a road trip, we can have combine convenience and economy. We plan to break the journey in Bangalore though.

If you have no major work in Bangalore, I would suggest go past Bangalore and take a break at Hosur. Works much better because getting out is also quite easier. And you can drive to Hosur directly bypassing Bangalore too.

[racer_ash]

^^ Actually, If I were alone, I could go on till Palakkad. But since my 80 yr old grandma and my 1yr old kid will also accompany me, I think it would be better to break the journey. Also I have relatives somewhere near Sarjapur (IIRC) so I think I wont have to take a long detour from the route suggested.

[KL07]

Originally Posted by racer_ash

Thanks for the update. Your Our family have been contemplating a road trip to my ancestral town of Palakkad from Hyderabad from quite a long time. But we were never sure of the road conditions beyond Bangalore till Palakkad. Your post has come as an inspiration to undertake the road trip.

Our previous journeys were through the Great Indian Railways or flying. The former was very inconvenient in terms of timings and the latter was pretty costly for 5 people. With a road trip, we can have combine convenience and economy. We plan to break the journey in Bangalore though.

Hi,

The road conditions from Hyderabad all the way till Avinashi are excellent. You will have to be a little cautious after Avinashi as there are a lot of diversions and also humps on flyovers. Avinashi-Palakkad, road condtions are average as there are diversions, poor patches in between and also the unexpected humps.

Also, stick to the highway when you are driving the Dharmapuri-Salem stretch as there is a signboard a little before Salem ( on a left bending curve) which signals a right turn towards Palakkad (which I think is a longer route, other members may clarify). My advise would be to ignore the sign board and proceed straight.

Enjoy

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by racer_ash

I have relatives somewhere near Sarjapur (IIRC) so I think I wont have to take a long detour from the route suggested.

You can take this route to bypass Bangalore in case you wish to visit your folks in/around Sarjapura

Originally Posted by KL07

stick to the highway when you are driving the Dharmapuri-Salem stretch as there is a signboard a little before Salem ( on a left bending curve) which signals a right turn towards Palakkad (which I think is a longer route, other members may clarify). My advise would be to ignore the sign board and proceed straight.

You will get this diversion just after you come down Thoppur ghats - it goes via Mettur and will join NH47 at Bhavani. Only gain is that you avoid the pain associated with crossing Salem - but for that, I'd recommend that you stick to NH7

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by racer_ash

^^ Actually, If I were alone, I could go on till Palakkad. But since my 80 yr old grandma and my 1yr old kid will also accompany me, I think it would be better to break the journey. Also I have relatives somewhere near Sarjapur (IIRC) so I think I wont have to take a long detour from the route suggested.

Easiest do HYD-BLR on day 1 and do BLR-Palakkad on day 2 via Blr-Salem-Perundurai-Kangayam-Palladam-Pollachi-Palakkad.The highway between Avinashi and Palakkad is not exactly in the best of shapes and is best avoided.I take this route regularly on our drives from Hyd to Thrissur.Wherein Palakkad would you be headed to?

Originally Posted by KL07

Hi,



Also, stick to the highway when you are driving the Dharmapuri-Salem stretch as there is a signboard a little before Salem ( on a left bending curve) which signals a right turn towards Palakkad (which I think is a longer route, other members may clarify). My advise would be to ignore the sign board and proceed straight.

Enjoy

The signboard is at Thoppur after the Thoppur ghat.The right is the route you take to avoid Salem and directly connect to the NH47 at Bhavani.The route runs via Mettur Dam.This route however is best avoided as it is a state highway and badly maintained and adds up extra time as opposed to driving via Salem.

[mobike008]

Drove to Kodiakanal on Dec 25th via. Bangalore Bypass. Will share updates only till Bangalore here

Dec 25th : Started at 5am from home and crossed Devanhalli at 10:00am towards Kodaikanal. Brilliant roads as usual and since i had a bad experience of the cops at Devanhalli. I really slowed down to 60kmph ( which is extremely hard to drive on those roads ) till i crossed the cops to take the bypass towards Hosur

Dec 30th : Started from Hotel in Brigade Road, Bangalore at 3:00pm, fuelled enroute and was at home in Himayathnagar at exactly 9:00pm. We stopped only once for tea at Kurnool at 6:15pm for about 15 mins or so.

Traffic till Kurnool is sparse but, Kurnool to Hyderabad the traffic picks up and slows you down considerably

[vikred]

We had a round trip to Coorg [from Hyd] a couple of days back, and here are the toll fee
Hyderabad-Bangalore stretch: (total: Rs.520/-)

• jadcherla 54
• Thondapalli 56
• pullur 70
• amakatadu 85
• kasepalli 80
• marur 90
• bagepalli 65
• devanahalli 20

Bangalore-Channarayapatna

• tumkur road 20
• nelamangala 38
• Belur Cross 38
• Devihalli 35

Of all the stretches, the Devanahalli-Hebbal stretch felt awesome!

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by vikred

We had a round trip to Coorg [from Hyd] a couple of days back...


Of all the stretches, the Devanahalli-Hebbal stretch felt awesome!

Is that stretch on a flyover now? I remember earlier that there was a speed limit of 80 kmph on that stretch, and there were many intersections.

[vikred]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Is that stretch on a flyover now? I remember earlier that there was a speed limit of 80 kmph on that stretch, and there were many intersections.

There could be around 3-4 flyovers in that ~20kms stretch. But they are so seamless that we don't even notice when they are getting started. The entire stretch is 4+4 lane with adequate lighting, signage and reflectors.

I'm new to Bangalore and a quick Google search just revealed that this expressway was started very recently!

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by vikred

There could be around 3-4 flyovers in that ~20kms stretch. But they are so seamless that we don't even notice when they are getting started. The entire stretch is 4+4 lane with adequate lighting, signage and reflectors.

I'm new to Bangalore and a quick Google search just revealed that this expressway was started very recently!

Fantastic! Nice to know of this. I remember driving through that stretch in June 2012, and spotting many pillars for the flyovers at that time.

So is that horrendous speed limit of 80 kmph gone till Hebbal? There are many guys who did not know about it and got fined by Bangalore cops.

How about the stretch from Hebbal to Mekri Circle? Is it still congested?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Fantastic! Nice to know of this. I remember driving through that stretch in June 2012, and spotting many pillars for the flyovers at that time.

You can now drive from Bangalore Airport to Hebbal end to end. Its now functional. But be aware all the Bangalore airport bound traffic is on this elevated (and soon maybe tolled) road. A small accident can cause quite a jam. I have already seen a couple of them.

[racer_ash]

Hi everyone. I did a Hyderabad to Palakkad run last weekend and want to share some updates on the Hyd-Bang stercth here.

1) Roads are a beauty as usual and it is very easy to maintain 3 digit speeds throughout.
2) There are some speed breakers after Ananthapur. They mostly come after some barricades that are put up on the road and are sometimes hard to notice since you are busy criss crossing the barricades. There are also some speed breakers after RTO checkposts at Anatapur and Gooty.
3) Flyover from Devanahalli to Hebbal is open for traffic and it is a bliss to drive. It took me just over 2 hrs to cover the entire stercth from Devanahalli till BETL toll gate. The only problem is that the markings to the entrance are not clear but if you drive a little slow, you can easily notice them. For the return, I think all airport bound traffic is on this route and so you should have no problems. Even the toll booths are operational.
4) Eating options are improving. Since we had packed food,we did not stop anywhere but I am sure I noticed many hotels that have opened up. I even saw a CCD after Jadcherla.
5) On the way back, just before Shadnagar, there was a huge stone on the fast lane and I went right over it at triple digit speed. The result: A torn side wall. I did the tyre replacement myself as the car was fully loaded and I did not want to risk damage to the alloys. It was the only blemish to an otherwise trouble free drive.
6) Journey time was around 6.5 hrs both ways from Airport to Hebbal.

[nitinralli]

Help needed.

This is the first time i am in south of india driving hence need your advice. I am currently in Hyderabad and planning to visit Bangalore this coming weekend. My plan is to drive down from Hyderabad early Friday morning (around 4am), is this a good time to cover the trip? Also what route should i take and how is the road condition?

Also i would like to return on Sunday and reach Hyderabad before 7pm (for T20 final match ) so what time do you guys think i should leave Bangalore in order to make this happen?

[racer_ash]

Originally Posted by nitinralli

Help needed.

This is the first time i am in south of india driving hence need your advice. I am currently in Hyderabad and planning to visit Bangalore this coming weekend. My plan is to drive down from Hyderabad early Friday morning (around 4am), is this a good time to cover the trip? Also what route should i take and how is the road condition?

Also i would like to return on Sunday and reach Hyderabad before 7pm (for T20 final match ) so what time do you guys think i should leave Bangalore in order to make this happen?

Hi. Hyd-Bang (airport to airport) should not take more than 7 hrs of travel time. Its one of the best stretches in India barring few humps (pls refer my previous post) It would really help if you can post your start and end points.

4am start at Hyderabad (considering Gachibowli start) and you should reach Bangalore (Hebbal) by around 11am. Since it is an early morning start, you would have very less traffic and being summer, you need not worry about fog as well.

For reaching Hyderabad by 7pm (again considering the same start and end points), I would advise you to start no later than 11am. You should reach well in time for your IPL match.

Not many food options barring a CCD and some dhabas. Better to pack your food. You will save lots of time. Please avoid overspeeding. Watch out for animal and human crossings and morons (mostly tractors and 2 wheelers) driving on the wrong side in the fast lane.

[nitinralli]

Originally Posted by racer_ash

Hi. Hyd-Bang (airport to airport) should not take more than 7 hrs of travel time. Its one of the best stretches in India barring few humps (pls refer my previous post) It would really help if you can post your start and end points.

4am start at Hyderabad (considering Gachibowli start) and you should reach Bangalore (Hebbal) by around 11am. Since it is an early morning start, you would have very less traffic and being summer, you need not worry about fog as well.

For reaching Hyderabad by 7pm (again considering the same start and end points), I would advise you to start no later than 11am. You should reach well in time for your IPL match.

Not many food options barring a CCD and some dhabas. Better to pack your food. You will save lots of time. Please avoid overspeeding. Watch out for animal and human crossings and morons (mostly tractors and 2 wheelers) driving on the wrong side in the fast lane.

Thanks a lot.

Well i would be starting from Kukatpally (Malaysian Township) and have to finalize my hotel stay. Most probably near to MG road.

As you said below that you maintained 3 digit numbers on this highway so didnt you face any cops in route for overspeeding? Or you knew where they usually are, if so please let me know as well