[hyd_traveller]

Originally Posted by Demonhead

How late are eateries typically open?

You can stop at Hotel Green Park within the city at Greenlands in Begumpet area which is on the route to your destination. Here you eat "Midnight Biryani" which starts at midnight and goes on till 2:30 or so. It is very famous for its biryani and you will find rave reviews about it by the mod "Mobike008" on one of the threads.

Food is available round the clock at all the 4 and 5 stars hotels in their coffee shops. There are many of them on your route.

Since Ramzan starts tomorrow, for the next one month, late night food availability will not be an issue at all here.

Originally Posted by Bigzero

I hope this thread doesnt become a place where people keep commenting on how quickly they have done this stretch - 6 hours may be doable as many people have mentioned, but I would advise people to mentally plan for at least 8 hours to cover this stretch.

I know people right here on this forum who have done it in 4 odd hours. 6 to 6.5 hours driving time is reasonable for calculation and add to that the breaks and fuel stops, it will come to 7 to 8 hours total travel time for people like you and me.

[venki.bala]

Originally Posted by NoMind

Pictures of speeds are not clear but anyways I don't think I will be doing this again, being that it's against the speed rules and forum rules.

It's not safe either.

Another big problem is morons who drink in the dhabas and think that road is their house. Last week when i was travelling to kurnool, there were 3 people in a bike who were travelling on the wrong side of the road straight on to oncoming traffic. when i slowed shouted at them they were shouting back i should travel on the left hand side of the road and not the right hand side.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Demonhead

We are now even contemplating leaving late afternoon tomorrow, say 3 to 4pm - in that case how late can we get dinner around Marredpally? (I am assuming there isnt any great eatery on the way..) How late are eateries typically open? Thank you in advance for your help..

If you leave around 3-4 from your location(not sure where it is),but budget for a 7hour drive from BLR airport to Hyd airport.That is the safe speed one must budget on this highway.Anything lesser than this and IMHO,it is flirting with danger as wrong side traffic is very very high on the highway and after dark,visibility is a problem and so are the millions of other problems.

From Hyd airport to Marredpally after 11 in the night should not take you more than an hour.You wouldnt find any eateries on your route except for the star hotels like Hyd_Traveller has already mentioned.You would find eateries only in the Old city area(Charminar and vicinity,which is not on your route).Yes like Hyd_Traveller mentioned,since Ramadan is starting tomorrow,you would find Haleem stalls all over the place from tomorrow if you are a non-vegetarian.

Originally Posted by hyd_traveller

I know people right here on this forum who have done it in 4 odd hours. 6 to 6.5 hours driving time is reasonable for calculation and add to that the breaks and fuel stops, it will come to 7 to 8 hours total travel time for people like you and me.

I drive BLR-HYD like I drive Sainikpuri-Begumpet (in terms of frequency) and frankly all these 5-6hrs IMHO is very very risky and driving at a great rate of peril to others on the road.To attain a 6hr drive for 600kms,one must constantly average a 100kph.To get that kind of an average,one must drive large stretches/long time intervals at 140-160Kph so as to attain the 100kph average and 140-160kph speeds even on a MPEW(Mumbai pune expressway or a MGEW-Baroda Expressway are just insane speeds).In my opinion an airport to airport drive time of 7hours is the safest.An 8.5hr to 9hr drive is what should ideally budget from start point in Hyd/BLR to end point in BLR/HYD.(+- 60 to 90mins)

Drives would be a lot safer if we were all to bear in mind that it is not always our control on our wheel which matters,it is also on how much control the other guy has over his wheel/or how quick a small boy runs across/or how soon a buffalo has a change of heart and decides to change her direction of path and etc etc.Also at the end of the day,we must all bear in mind that its just a machine with nuts and bolts and tyres of rubber that is running on the road!!! I dont usually comment on speed discussions on the forum as they are purely personal in nature,but the speeds on this particular thread are getting insanely maddening and I just did not want first timers to be benchmarking a 6hr as a normal time for this stretch! so this is just my two cents-no offence meant or taken Drive-Safe-to- Live-to-Drive.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

...
... Drive-Safe-to- Live-to-Drive.

Very well said Ranjit - complete agree!! HYD-BNG stretch on NH7 is one of the BEST highways in the country as of now, let us not make it one of the RISKIEST!

[NoMind]

i agree with ranjitp1 and others that it is not safe to be driving those 130+ speeds on this highway. i encountered many tractors , private transport three wheelers, and other sundry(animals , humans et al) coming on to the road..

Imagine loosing focus for a second, that is all it takes to get into a mess, which anyone can do without.

best is to drive safe, you live longer that way !

@ranjitp1 Do you by any chance live in Sainikpuri ? I live near Neredmet X roads !

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by NoMind

@ranjitp1 Do you by any chance live in Sainikpuri ? I live near Neredmet X roads !

yes,am at defence colony.If you see a white ford figo with TBHp stickers that should be me.where do you stay?lets bump into each other some time.

[mayankjha1806]

2 days back when i did Hyderabad Bangalore drive there was a strange problem that i saw, i have never seen this in the multiple times that i have gone on this route.

Somewhere in the AP side, near the toll booth, there were couple of cops with a Jeep standing checking papers of all vehicles. I had original RC book and as soon as the SI saw it has asked me to go. One white Octavia was stopped (there was a family inside) as it seemed he did not have originals.

On speeds, on a 2x2 highway anything above 100 is an unsafe speed (max 120), this time i was lucky to get completely empty roads, hence made it in quick time. Agree with @ranjitp1 fully.

[NoMind]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

yes,am at defence colony.If you see a white ford figo with TBHp stickers that should be me.where do you stay?lets bump into each other some time.

Hey,

I live @ Mathuranagar colony, when I'm in hyderabad. I live and work in bangalore now.

Let's try bangalore , if you can manage it. I'm close to JP Nagar here.

[Demonhead]

Hey Ranjit and others - thank you so much for your valuable time and inputs. Your directions to get to Marredpally was spot on and unbelievably useful - we left at 5pm on fri evening and drove into what was the worst rains in hyd yet! It was impossible to reach out to anyone for directions at 2am with the flooded roads!

Anyway saturday lunch at paradise, evening at imax and halim at night was a great experience and the drive back from sun leaving at noon and reaching by 9pm was a very relaxed drive.

I agree with all the speeding comments here - my skoda yeti feels absolutely rock solid on long drives and seems to beg for more at 140km/hr speeds but a few instances of panic breaking (mad motorcyclist suddenly appearing on the wrong side, people crossing and sheep/ cows suddenly shifting etc) made me remember the advice and keep my foot off the pedal. Add to this a sight of a brand new white audi A4 totalled (amongst a few more by the way side) made up my mind!!

One more point - food on the way was a nightmare. Luckily we packed sandwiches both ways. Lastly there are so many nice spots along the highway to pull off n have a bite or a break that i cant see the point of going gung ho to set some speed record!! I love driving off any highway and discovering lovely new spots which seems to be the whole point of a long drive. My 14000 kms in my 6mth old yeti is filled with such beautiful memories of undiscovered spots along many highways which has been the whole point of driving out in my opinion..

[gajadonga]

Last weekend I had driven from Banglore -Hyderabad.
Noted huge speed breakers while driving from Banglore.

Starting point of Chikaballapur bypass.

Bagepalli bypass has two speed breakers.Got hit badly in one of them.

Anathpur bypass after the second flyover.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Somewhere in the AP side, near the toll booth, there were couple of cops with a Jeep standing checking papers of all vehicles. I had original RC book and as soon as the SI saw it has asked me to go. One white Octavia was stopped (there was a family inside) as it seemed he did not have originals.

As a rule, you are expected to carry all original documents (RC, insurance, driving license, and even emission certificate) all the time, especially if you are in a state other than where the vehicle is registered.

[sandeep3in]

Friends , can some one please suggest a Good hotel in Hyderabad .

My friends family is traveling from Bangalore to Hyderabad and would like to book and stay at a hotel which would give them easy accessibility to the Bangalore highway

[absynthguzzler]

Originally Posted by sandeep3in

Friends , can some one please suggest a Good hotel in Hyderabad .

My friends family is traveling from Bangalore to Hyderabad and would like to book and stay at a hotel which would give them easy accessibility to the Bangalore highway

Try out First Transit in Shamshabad. Good food as well. If you'll would like to come into town and its longer than 1night stay

Area wise -
1)choose Hitech City/ Gachiboli since its just off the ring road connecting Bangalore highway.
2) if within the city , then choose Banjara hills which is 2kms off Elevated Expressway connecting Bangalore highway.

Hotel suggestions can only be given after knowing your budget

[ramanak]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Drive-Safe-to- Live-to-Drive.

Very well said Ranjitp1.I had 3 close very scary incidents all within 30 minutes near Kurnool on my way to Bhilai on the BLR-HYD stretch though I was driving my Civic well within Limits.However much enticing the roads may be in this Section of NH7, 80-90 KMPH is the safe upper limit I would say.

[anoop.mathew]

I am planning to drive to Hyderabad this week from Bangalore. Planned itinerary is as follows.

Leave Electronic City at 5am,
Pass by Devanahalli at 6am (will pack Breakfast)
Stop at Kurnool (Holiday Inn) around 10am
Leave Kurnool at 10:45am
Reach Gachibowli (ORR) at 2pm

I think this is a safe speed and appropriate plan for the drive. Please provide feedback.

Are there any Shell petrol bunks (either in Bangalore or on the way to Hyderabad)?

Also, since I am driving a Santro, will need to refuel on the way. Are there any good BP/Shell petrol bunks near Kurnool?