[pkumar]

I am driving to Rajampet (Cuddapah district), this Friday.
I can find two options.

(1) Bangalore - Chittoor - Tirupati - Renigunta - Left turn to Rajampet
(2) Bangalore - Chittoor - Rayachoti - Rakampet

As far as i know chittoor to Renigunta is good and fast state highway. How is the road condition from there on to Rajampet?
Also, alternatively, how is the road tarmac from Chittoor to Rayachoti and then to Rajampet?

Since the distance on the both routes are almost same, i would be deciding based on the speed that the road supports. Also, since i would be starting at around 2am morning, safety (troublemakers) would be a concern. Also Renigunta to Rajampet passes through a forest are. Is that a concern?

Please advise on these 2 aspects.

Thanks,
Prasoon

[kreddy]

Originally Posted by pkumar

I am driving to Rajampet (Cuddapah district), this Friday.
I can find two options.

(1) Bangalore - Chittoor - Tirupati - Renigunta - Left turn to Rajampet
(2) Bangalore - Chittoor - Rayachoti - Rakampet

As far as i know chittoor to Renigunta is good and fast state highway. How is the road condition from there on to Rajampet?
Also, alternatively, how is the road tarmac from Chittoor to Rayachoti and then to Rajampet?

Since the distance on the both routes are almost same, i would be deciding based on the speed that the road supports. Also, since i would be starting at around 2am morning, safety (troublemakers) would be a concern.

Please advise on these 2 aspects.

Thanks,
Prasoon

Prasoon,

To reach Rayachoti, direct route would be Bangalore-Chintamani-Madanapalli-Rayachoti.

Road condition is excellent except for about 15km between Chintamani & Madanapalli. You can bypass Chintamani now and road between Madanapalli & Rayachoti is bit desolate but excellent land scapes. I have travelled upto Cuddapah in this road in a Indica and was very pleasant. If you are travelling by night or alone avoid this road.

[pkumar]

Thanks kreddy.
But since i would be travelling at night, as you said the route to rayachoti you mention will not be advisable.

Guys, AP guys, please put down your suggestions on my query.

[vnabhi]

See krschowdary's post (#38) on the following link:-
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...-2008-a-3.html

He says the roads are pretty good between Renigunta and Cuddapah via Rajampet. If you start at 2 am, I think you should be passing the forest stretch after daybreak, so no worries.

[knp]

pls don't go thru' Rayachoty. The road is very bad from Chintamani to Madanapalle, and then, from Madanapalle to Rayachoty. even from rayachoty to Rajampet, it's the full ghat section and the road is very narrow..I would double recommend you to avoid this via rayachoty road.
renugunta to rajamepet via kodur is really good..i really love some strectches as the road will be covered full trees on the both the sides.

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[pkumar]

Thanks for the info guys.
One more thing. I would be probably starting at 11pm rather than 2am. So that means it would be a full night drive.
With this, does the concern of driving in the forest area between renigunta and rajampet come back or it should be still fine?

I hear that night buses between tirupati and hyderabad use this route.

[lcrusader]

Guys,

I am driving from Bangalore to Cuddapah this Saturday and came across this thread. I have taken the Bangalore - Chittoor - Rayachoti - Cuddapah route a number of times and would like to try the madanapalli route for once. There are two ways to reach madanapalli: via Chintamani and via palamner. Which route are you guys talking about? The chintamani route is not an NH.

Is the road unsafe for daytime driving as well?

Thanks
Ravi

[kreddy]

Originally Posted by lcrusader

Guys,

I am driving from Bangalore to Cuddapah this Saturday and came across this thread. I have taken the Bangalore - Chittoor - Rayachoti - Cuddapah route a number of times and would like to try the madanapalli route for once. There are two ways to reach madanapalli: via Chintamani and via palamner. Which route are you guys talking about? The chintamani route is not an NH.

Is the road unsafe for daytime driving as well?

Thanks
Ravi

Ravi,

Chintamani route is shorter. About 15km between Chinthamani & Madanapalli is very bad. Also road between Madanapalli & Rayachoti is very desolate with hardly any traffic & people. It's a single road but very smooth & nice landscapes.

I did Proddatur to Bangalore on this stretch in a indica last December and was quite comfortable.

It all depends on time of journey & company you are having. Avoid this stretch if you are travelling by night or alone. Also ensure you have sufficient fuel, water & snacks available. This stretch between Madanapalli & Rayachoti is about 70 km . Even though it has 2 fuel pumps , petrol was not available at one place. All private & APSRTC buses to Cuddapah from Bangalore traverse on this route.

[pkumar]

This Friday i drove down to Rajampet.
Started at 1:30am in the morning. Till Kolar and lots of deviations every few kms. But overall surface good. From there till Chittor there were few (or no) deviations and two lane road was fun to drive. Just before Chittoor town, there is a Food Express Restaurent (you would keep seeing at boards for Food Express from before 50-60 kms) and then IOC petrol bunk. Turn Left after few 100 mts. The next 10kms bypasses Chittoor from the left side. At the 'T' Junction turn the right turn goes to Chitoor Town and then to Chennai, and the left takes you towards Cuddapah. Took the left tuen here, and then after 10-12 kms Puttalpattu town comes. Here there is a prominent right turn which goes to Tirupati. Took this turn. After 40kms or so you would be bypassing Tirupati. Drive 10-20 kms further to bypass Renigunta. Here two sets of round circles come. If right turn is taken from the second circle, you go towards Naydupet, which hits GQ. If continued straight you are automatically on the road towards Rajampet. Another 70kms from here Rajampet town comes. If you encounter a railway crossing within few kms you know you are on the right road. This road is also of a similar quality as the Chittoor Tirupati road. If you continue straight from Rajampet,you would reach Cuddapah.

[Lucifer68]

When you google the route to Mahabalipuram via, Kanchi and Vellore, the suggestion is Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Ambur - Vellore - Kanchipuram - Chengalpattu - Mahabalipuram. Since this is the holiday period, I was expecting traffic on the highway, so I rerouted to Bengaluru - Kolar - Mulbagal - Palamner - Chitoor - Ranipet - Kanchipuram - Walajabad - Chengalpattu - Mahabalipuram - with this route majority of the distance would be away from the crowded areas.

Notes from Dec 2017 trip

Around 7.15 am about 9 kms after Mulbagal and before we cross over to Andhra border there is a Saravana Bhavan. Perfectly located for a breakfast pit stop. We stopped for breakfast and in 30 mins were ready to drive again. [PS: Reasonably clean toilets, drink hot water or bottled water, just to be safe. I had normal tap water and struggled a few days of throat pain.]

Beyond this hotel, there are very few hotels by the roadside. We began driving around 7.30 am and reached Kanchipuram at 10.40 am. Few observations below;

Saravana Bhavan[9 kms from Mulbagal] to Palamaner. : The first 12 kms from Saravana Bhavan, its a 4 laned highway. From the point the road enters AP till Palamaner, they have started to widen the road since Dec’17 and hence while work is ongoing, its a 2 laned road, with no divider. You will come across lots of lorries in this stretch.

Palamaner to Chitoor bypass : There is a ghat section oN this road, with lots of road humps and monkeys…so need to watch your speed here. In the ghat section, the roads are slightly wider, but once it comes down, its the same 2 laned highway. Till Chitoor the road condition is bad to worse, with few villages on the way.

Chitoor bypass to Nagamangalam : After Chitoor the roads don’t improve at all till Nagamangalam. This is the point wherein we enter TN and the roads change dramatically. Good wide, 2 laned highway, you can enjoy the drive and cover up some distance as well.
Hence the rough roads exist for a distance of approximately 75 kms from the point we enter AP. Plan for at least 2 hrs plus for this stretch.

Nagamangalam to Kanchipuram : Good roads, smooth drives, there are few small hotels on the way, but we did not try any. We passed Ranipet and reached Kanchipuram around 10.40am.

We then began driving towards Mahabalipuram, via Walajabad and Chengalpattu. Decent roads, passes through few towns, but no show stoppers during our trip. One point to note is at Tirukazhukundram, the GPS shows a closed route. We had followed the GPS for a kilometer, when it landed us on a dead end road. Realized later that it was the old route. Now there is a flyover connected about 50 meters further on, which needs to be followed.

From there on to Mahabalipuram is a sweet drive, decent 2 laned highway, not much traffic. We reached our hotel around 15.30 hrs…about 90 minutes from Kanchipuram.
Hope the above details help.