[sahilkhurana]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

The best route would be Hyd-NH7-Dichipally-Nanded-Aurangabad-Dhule-Sendhwa-Pithampura-Ratlam-Mandasur-Neemuch-Nimbahera-Chittor-Bhilwara-Kishangarh-Jaipur bypass-Manesar-Gurgaon.Majority of the sections are 4 laned on this route,post Aurangabad.

I wouldnt suggest the Osmanabad way to aurangabad since the NH9 is in pathetic condition at the moment.If things improve by the time you drive,you can drive via nh9-osmanabad-beed-aurangabad.

http://goo.gl/maps/KV0qj

Hi Ranjit, the route is significantly longer than the one via Nagpur. What patches in Nagpur route are bad or is it just not worth considering at all ?
Also how is the road from Nanded -> Khamgaon -> Indore (i.e. not going to Aurangabad, Dhule etc.)

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by sahilkhurana

Hi Ranjit, the route is significantly longer than the one via Nagpur. What patches in Nagpur route are bad or is it just not worth considering at all ?

MH border after Adilabad to Pandharkawada--Bad
Road around Hinganghat before Nagpur:Terrible
Around Seoni bad.
Jhansi-Gwalior:Bad,alternate would be via Shivpuri to Gwalior.
Crossing Agra city is a bad idea.YEH should be the preferred option.

Originally Posted by sahilkhurana

Also how is the road from Nanded -> Khamgaon -> Indore (i.e. not going to Aurangabad, Dhule etc.)

No info on the road conditions between Nanded and Indore.

IMO,the best route at the moment is Hyd-Dichipally-Nizamabad-Bhokar-Nanded-Parbhani-Jalna BP-Aurangabad-Daulatabad-Ellora-Kannad-Chalisgaon-Dhule-Sendhwa BP-Dhamnod BP-Lebad BP-Ratlam BP-Neemuch-Nimbahera-Chittor-Nasirabad BP-Kishangarh-Jaipur BP-Gurgaon.

There might be jams at Kannad ghat but nothing to worry majorly.

http://goo.gl/maps/Fyq9i

[foodie]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

MH border after Adilabad to Pandharkawada--Bad
=============
There might be jams at Kannad ghat but nothing to worry majorly.

http://goo.gl/maps/Fyq9i

Thanks Ranjitp1 for this route suggestion. I am planning my route after reading through this thread for my own trip home (moving back to Gurgaon from Hyderabad). One question - I had traveled the Aurangabad - Nanded - Hyd route July of last year and it was terrible - Mars Rover would have been more at home than my poor Passat. Has anybody travelled this route since then and can provide an update?

Btw - this will my longest road trip in India, and I will be doing it with two dogs in the back!

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by foodie

Thanks Ranjitp1 for this route suggestion. I am planning my route after reading through this thread for my own trip home (moving back to Gurgaon from Hyderabad). One question - I had traveled the Aurangabad - Nanded - Hyd route July of last year and it was terrible - Mars Rover would have been more at home than my poor Passat. Has anybody travelled this route since then and can provide an update?

Btw - this will my longest road trip in India, and I will be doing it with two dogs in the back!

Well not much of an option there,the other way is to go to Aurangabad via NH9-Naldurg-Osmanabad-Tuljapur-Aurangabad.The NH9 is in bad condition and as for the Aurangabad-Nanded sector,the road has been done up and is not in as bad a condition as it was earlier.Many people have done this route to Delhi and beyond in the recent past and have all reported it to be good.Dont exactly superfast roads,but decent state highway.

D1:You can easily do Hyd-Aurangabad,provided the dogs can take in that kind of distances at one go.

D2:Aurangabad-Chittor

D3:Chittor-Gurgaon

[priyotech]

Just completed a Chandigarh - Hyderabad drive on this route. The following is what I experienced:

Chandigarh - Delhi (Great)
Delhi - Agra - Gwalior (The only issues I faced were while trying to negotiate unruly traffic inside Agra city)
Gwalior - Shivpuri - Jhasi - Sagar (A couple of diversions and around 10 kilometers of under construction road)
Sagar - Nagpur (Good roads all throughout)
Nagpur - Hyderabad (Around 20 kilometers of really bad roads)

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by priyotech

Just completed a Chandigarh - Hyderabad drive on this route. The following is what I experienced:

Chandigarh - Delhi (Great)
Delhi - Agra - Gwalior (The only issues I faced were while trying to negotiate unruly traffic inside Agra city)
Gwalior - Shivpuri - Jhasi - Sagar (A couple of diversions and around 10 kilometers of under construction road)
Sagar - Nagpur (Good roads all throughout)
Nagpur - Hyderabad (Around 20 kilometers of really bad roads)

Could you please mention your drive times as well for the benefit of others who might want to take the same route.

[priyotech]

April 6th : Chandigarh - New Delhi (10:30 AM - 4:00 PM two 30min breaks) -- Stopover at relative's place
Avoided travelling during election time. Waited for 10th.
April 11th: New Delhi - Gwalior (7:30 AM - 2:00 PM one 30 min break) -- One day break at my brothers place.
April 13th: Gwalior - Shivpuri - Jhasi - Sagar (8:30 AM - 3:00 PM one 30 min break)
April 14th: Sagar - Nagpur (7:00 AM - 3:00 PM one 30 min break)
April 15th: Nagpur - Hyderabad (7:30 AM - 4:00 PM two 30 min breaks)

Folks may club these stretches but given that I was travelling alone and wanted a leisurely pace, hence I took my time.

Cheers.

Originally Posted by priyotech

Just completed a Chandigarh - Hyderabad drive on this route.

Thanks a lot for the informative and detailed update on this route, priyotech. Kindly enlighten me of the completion of the bypasses for Gwalior, Sagar, Narsimhapur and Lakhnadon. I find that these bypasses are completed as per Google/MMI maps. During my 2011 September drive, they were all under various stages of construction. I think, driving through Jhansi is still inevitable. Kindly confirm as I am toying with the idea of driving in my XUV500 on this route to Leh in this September.

[priyotech]

I entered Gwalior since I had to meet up with my brother. Not sure if you can catch the Shivpuri route without entering the city. Maybe the direct road to Jhansi is also complete. Some fellow bhpian needs to enlighten us on this.

I saw a bypass towards Sagar while entering Jhasi from Shivpuri. But I did not take it since I wanted a meal as I couldn't spot decent eatery between Gwalior and Jhansi.

Sagar, Lalitpur and Lakhnadon can all be bypassed. I willfully entered Sagar for a night stay.

[Partha80]

I have been travelling quite a bit in the last few days from Coimbatore towards Lucknow, since most of the travel has been along the route being discussed, hence though I could pitch in.
The road condition from Adilabad to Nagpur is generally good except two stretches where the road is almost nonexistent, takes a toll on the Steed & rider.

Also there are no places enroute for a break between Hyd & Nagpur.
Nagpur to Betul, the road condition is awesome, you zip on one of the best stretches of NH 7.
Betul onwards is all by God's grace & your will power.
Will post details as I travel further on this axis tomorrow.

[Partha80]

Hi folks, just completed a road journey from Coimbatore to Lucknow, via Secunderabad, Nagpur, Bhopal, Jhansi. The update on the road condition is
a. Betul - Bhopal. The road AH43/NH 69 is drive able within speed limits of 60 kmph, some patches are bad but decent patchwork has been done. Ahead of Itarsi, Hosangabad, you might encounter road blocks with numerous trucks waiting to unload wheat at the godowns, be prepared. Betul -Bhopal will take 5-6 hrs of steady driving.
B. Bhopal - Jhansi. Along NH 69A was decent driving with speeds upto 80 plus Kmph, however the road repair is on near Sanchi, so a few difficult stretches can be encountered upto Vidisha. After Vidisha the road to Sagar is good. Sagar onwards AH 43 can be joined and the drive is awesome, with cruising speeds upto 100 plus kmph till 10 Kms short of Jhansi. The Babina bypass is almost complete so you bypass Babina & land 01 kms from Jhansi, which is good news.
C. Jhansi - Lucknow. This stretch of almost 270 odd Kms has deteroriated big time, big ruts on the highway, numerous potholes are a big threat, watch out. Safe driving speeds can be 60-80kmph.

[gajadonga]

Originally Posted by Partha80

C. Jhansi - Lucknow. This stretch of almost 270 odd Kms has deteroriated big time, big ruts on the highway, numerous potholes are a big threat, watch out. Safe driving speeds can be 60-80kmph.

This stretch is supposed to be East-West corridor is four laned I suppose.
Is it not a tolled road

[rowhun]

Hello all!

I need to drive my car from Hyderabad to Delhi. It's a Hyundai i20 Asta Crdi. My wife and I plan to leave on the 16th of August. It will be just the two of us with luggage. The driving will be shared in a 70:30 ratio with me doing most of the driving.

We are looking at completing the journey in 3 days, i.e. 16th, to 18th.
If anyone has done this trip lately, it would be great to get some pointers. I have read the entire thread but I am still confused.

After doing a preliminary search on Google Maps, I deduced I could do Hyderabad-Nagpur-Gwalior-Delhi. But after going through this thread I presume that this is not the optimal route though it is the shortest.

Can someone help me out with the optimal route, and what cities I can stop at for the night? Road conditions, vishesh tippaniyan, all welcome!

Will post the latest update once I complete the journey myself!
Looking forward to the opinions of the wise!
Thanks!

[neerajsharma48]

Hi,

I had done this last year. Do not take the route which includes Gwalior- Jhansi; The choice of routes should depend upon the places you would like to stop at.

The broad choice is whether to drive via Nagpur or choose a route via Indore and Chittorgah and get on to the G Q route coming to Delhi from Mumbai.

The sectors which you must avoid are Jhansi - Gwalior, Hyderabad - Sholapur and to an extent, Stretches on Nagpur to Jhansi.

If you choose the route via Nagpur, I would suggest that you route from Nagpur to Jhansi via Chhindwara and from Jhansi to Gwalior via Shivpuri. I was in a XUV 500 and the ruts which pass of for National Highways on NS corridor were a challenge. The other option is Nagpur Gwalior via Bhopal which is longer.

In case you choose the route via Indore Chittorgarh, the roads are much better but the distance is much longer.

Since I am from the Air Force, I had chosen Babina and Nadpur as stopovers on the Delhi - Hyderabad leg and had gone on to Chennai & Bangalore and returned via Mumbai.

Please do not try Gwalior Jhansi Direct- In a i20 you may get stuck or byeak an axle. The same is the story for Narsinghpur - Seoni stretch on the Jhansi - Nagpur stretch.

If you want to enjoy the drive add a day to the transit time and choose good places to stop.

I drove from Chennai to Delhi via Addanki>Piduguralla>Hyderabad>Nagpur>Lakhnadon>Sag ar>Jhansi>Gwalior>Agra>YE on 5/6/7/8 Sep 2014 with a stay at Sagar. The only stretch that was bad in the whole route was the one before Nagpur [Pandharkawada] for about 30 km. The crater-like moon surface remained even after 3 years when I drove on this stretch last. The drive from Jhansi to Gwalior was okay and managable with 2 completed lanes on either side alternatively with good diversions.