[chembilath]

Originally Posted by ashis89

Welcome to Bhubaneswar!

1. Take the Chittoor - Tirupati route.

3. Yes, there are a few Reliance bunks but haven't tried that. Yesterday, I filled at this IOCL COCO bunk: https://maps.app.goo.gl/tgteyoQUC84r9PPRA

4. Godavari 4th bridge route, to bypass Rajahmundry, is in good shape now. There might some delay at the Kovvur toll plaza but I would still recommend this route (Google suggests this route too as it is shorter).

5. No special care required.

All the best for your trip.

Thank you for the input ashis89

would also really like to know if anyone knows any good stay at Nellore

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by chembilath

Thank you for the input ashis89

would also really like to know if anyone knows any good stay at Nellore

Originally Posted by narayans80

...

Quoting you sir, please add in you have any suggestions for Nellore.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by chembilath

good stay at Nellore

Minerva Grand is an excellent stay. Stayed here during Nivar. It is about 3-4 km inside town. Nellore is a small town, so its manageable.

A5 also has hotel stay I think. Never stayed here though.

If you are willing to push further to Ongole, there's Mourya Inn.

Apart from these, there are plenty of options in Tirupati. Or MGM near Kalahasti arch.

Guess this is enough to choose

[chembilath]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Minerva Grand is an excellent stay. Stayed here during Nivar. It is about 3-4 km inside town. Nellore is a small town, so its manageable.

A5 also has hotel stay I think. Never stayed here though.

If you are willing to push further to Ongole, there's Mourya Inn.

Apart from these, there are plenty of options in Tirupati. Or MGM near Kalahasti arch.

Guess this is enough to choose

I just wanted a word from someone who knew the place So, Minerva Grand it is. Ongole would be a 2hr stretch, also Tirupathi would make my next day drive much longer

Thanks a lot narayans80 and ashis89

[luvurride]

Originally Posted by ashis89

- Naidupeta to Reniguta remains bad and unsafe. Let me elaborate. Most of this stretch is broken roads with a few deep potholes too. The truckers and buses avoid the bad stretches and hence, keep driving on the wrong side of the road or even criss-crossing.

How is the Venkatagiri route if we have to avoid this stretch? I do remember taking it 4 years ago but not sure of the current conditions.

[champ2108]

Originally Posted by chembilath

Thank you for the input ashis89

would also really like to know if anyone knows any good stay at Nellore

In September 2021 while returning from Bhubaneswar I stayed in Kings Court Guest Inn.
This is a neat and tidy place with helpful staff. Is a new place but the only problem is it doesn't have a kitchen. So had to order dinner by Swiggy. Was 9:30pm by the time I reached Nellore, so had to end my night. However they were helpful enough to arrange for morning tea.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by luvurride

How is the Venkatagiri route if we have to avoid this stretch? I do remember taking it 4 years ago but not sure of the current conditions.

Never taken this route so I can't comment. But I did look it up on GMaps now. For a similar distance (1 km shorter) as the Naidupeta route, the Venkatagiri route takes 17 mins extra time. I don't have much hopes on this alternate route.


IMO, stick to Naidupeta route. Overtake or fall behind the vehicle(s) in front of you so you have a clear view of the road conditions ahead and the oncoming traffic. Plan your overtakes.

[chembilath]

This thread helped me prepare well for this route, being my first time travelling from Thrissur - Bhubaneswar

Planned a travel of 3 days, but was able to complete the trip in less than 2 days without much stress.

1st day : Thrissur to Vijayawada ( 1010kms)
Travel Time : 16hrs

Tirupathi - Naidupetta route took some time due to bad roads and the huge crater like potholes, which just pops up suddenly. After that it was just the bridge just before Vijayawada town that took half an hour to cross

2nd Day: Vijayawada to Bhubaneswar ( 780kms )
Travel Time : 14hrs

Drive from Vijayawada to Rajahmundry was slow due to the unpredictable road conditions. Then the infamous Kovvuru toll plaza which took another 10mins and they dint accept fastag, had to give cash. As said by bhpians, the road gets bad from there for some distance and finally Visakhpatnam.
Refilled fuel, had lunch and took off from Vizag town around 1pm and reached Bhubaneswar around 7:30pm

Did not find the roads to be smooth once I entered Odisha, and the constant reminders of the bizarre speed limits of 80kmph made me drive sedately in Bhubaneswar

Thanks a lot fellow bhpians for the well updated thread

[dipdawiz]

Just travelled this route last week; totally it was Bangalore to Kolkata. My trip was divided in 3 days; initially thought that I can do it in two days; but different incidents and then some part of the road, made it a 3 day trip and I am happy that I did not push for it and taken halt as required.

Day 1: Bangalore - Rajahmundry - 825km (plan was Bangalore to Visakhapatnam)
- started at 4:30am, crossed Tirupati within 3 and half hour. Very nice road till there apart from some sudden unmarked tall speed breakers - watch out for those.
- Had breakfast in some restaurant in Tirupati
- From Tirupati managed bad road till NH 16 and heavy traffic till Nellore
- Free flowing traffic and very good road from Nellore till Vijayawada
- got an unrepairable flat tyre before Vijayawada, still thought to push to Vizag as we crossed Vijayawada by 2pm. Had lunch in Vijayawada KFC.
- but later found it would be late evening for sure to reach Vizag and did not want to take risk of another flat without a backup for 300+ KM in the later half of a day; Also due to traffic time to reach was stretching. Hence booked the hotel in Rajahmundry (just an hour before reaching Rajahmundry).
- Plan was to book a hotel in Vizag at 4. Just for info we already called 2-3 hotels in both Rajahmundry and Vizag in morning and enquired about availability and decided accordingly.
- around 40km of road from Vijayawada is bad - in a way that lots of diversions, single lane etc. After that it's good till you reach Kovvuru toll; then bad road till Rajahmundry
- Stayed in La Hospin, clean rooms; little on costlier side based on overall facilities and management. In weekend 3300/- including all gst and discount from MMT and breakfast.
- Restaurant happily packed us veg sandwiches, wafers and extra water bottle as we left hotel early at 7am before restaurant opens.


Day 2: Rajahmundry to Bhubaneshwar - 635km
- Started at 7am; Road from Rajahmundry till Visakhapatnam was decent, no major pothole or no diversion as such.
- Reached Vizag at 10:30am; replaced the damaged tyre; had lunch and left around 1:30pm; reached hotel in Bhubaneshwar at 8pm.
- road till Odisha border is excellent.
- After you cross Bramhapur, its a mess; diversion in every 10 minutes; some are very bad - both road and traffic.
- As in another thread this discussion going on - faced quite a lot of issue of cattle on the road. However due to the road condition I was always in sedate mode the whole time inside of Odisha
- Stayed in Ginger Bhubaneshwar; MMT black got it for me for 3000 including breakfast. Breakfast spread is really good. Room though clean, not specious but manageable; you need a multiplug to charge all your gadgets as you get only one plug point. It came on search at top, booked it without giving much thought; there may be other good hotel cheaper.


Day 3: Bhubaneshwar - Kolkata - 460km
- After lavish breakfast, started around 10am as distance was very less.
- Till West Bengal border it is same sad story, diversion every 10 minutes, cattle etc.
- Had lunch just after Balasore -a restaurant called Handishala - decent Odia/Bengali thali available. Sweet curd and rasagollas are really really good there.
- Just before you enter West Bengal toll road with proper lanes and dividers starts; and this road quality stays till you about to enter Kolkata. There is only one diversion in this stretch. Cattle issue is there in West Bengal rural area's also; but felt it is in lesser extent. However this stretch of highway has lots of intersection roads; so you have to slow down for traffic crossing the highway.
- Reached home at 6:30pm


Some points to note:
- food halts need to be planned in the whole route as in current scenario as many city gets bypassed by flyovers you do not get to see restaurants much. Most are shady; others you can miss in a hurry. Also carry some snacks, if possible flask of hot water and cup noodles - if everything fails, some hot food would be there.
- Whole of NH 16 inside Odisha is either getting renovated, extended, re-laid or re-routed to straighten up; and the issue is whole work has been taken up at a same time; hence the issue. But I guess in a year or so; they would be wonderful road to drive through.
- like cattle in Odisha/WB, found autos (and bikes in many places) in AP. There are a lot of them in the whole route and they do not care anything in the world - if they are blocking road or suddenly changing lane or someone behind even if it is a truck/Bus.
- Some Stretches in AP and surprisingly also in WB; NH 16 has speed limit of 100kmph for cars. (Is it increased in other NH also? Haven't seen in NH while going towards Pune)
- Total toll has increased 10% from what I heard in other travelogue (around 2200) - its now 2484/-

[Soumyajit9]

Hello Friends,

It's time to return back from Bhubaneswar to Bangalore.
The fun of WFH, Online Classes are coming to an end.
Single driver, travelling with spouse and 8yo kid, hence need some stay advice and recommendations.

Here is my plan, need recommendations on stay.

Day 1 - Berhampur to Vizag - Please recommend a hotel to stay in Vizag, near NH16. Have heard dreadful traffic stories within the city. So prefer to stay outskirts and leave next day early. Wishlist includes a pool and playing area for kid. Was checking Quality Inn and Fairfield, both show as on NH16, but is that the bypass or the NH that passes through the city ? Kindly suggest.

Day 2 - Vizag to Nellore - Please recommend a good hotel again at Nellore. Prefer to stay outskirts near NH16 so as to reach and leave early. Food option is a must as I may reach a bit late in the evening. Hotels within Swiggy/Zomato serviceable area is preferred, just incase the hotel dinner closes.

Day 3 - Nellore to Bangalore leisure drive

Thanks in advance folks !

[bong_voyager]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

Was checking Quality Inn and Fairfield, both show as on NH16, but is that the bypass or the NH that passes through the city ? Kindly suggest.

They are on the NH passing through city. The under construction bypass doesnt have any significant facility

By the way, berhampur to bangalore can be very easily done in 2 days with a night halt at vijayawada. You may want to explore that.

[Soumyajit9]

Originally Posted by bong_voyager

They are on the NH passing through city. The under construction bypass doesnt have any significant facility

Thanks for the info ! That's what I was scared of, entering the city

By the way, berhampur to bangalore can be very easily done in 2 days with a night halt at vijayawada. You may want to explore that.

Yes that was the original plan and I usually do that.
My usual routes are:
BLR - RJY (night halt) - BAM (in-laws) - BBSR
BBSR - BAM (in-laws) - BZA (night halt) - BLR

However this time, wife and kid wanted to stay in a hotel and relax and stretch the drive over 3 days. They were even asking for a 2 days stay at Vizag to explore the city I could only nod my head in agreement and convince them for just 1 half day and night stay

[bong_voyager]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

Thanks for the info ! That's what I was scared of, entering the city

I will suggest you to check novotel bheemli. It is before city limits and next day you can leave early to cross city without traffic. Kid will also enjoy since its right on the beach.

[champ2108]

I will be doing BLR - BBSR coming weekend (2-3 April).
Did the strech August 2021. Last time instead of taking the vishakapatnam bypass went through the city and lost a bunch of time crossing the city. So wanted to know how is the bypass road. Heard that the bypass has huge potholes.
Anyone can update the status of Vishakapatnam bypass road status.

[nibedk]

Originally Posted by champ2108

I will be doing BLR - BBSR coming weekend (2-3 April).
Did the strech August 2021. Last time instead of taking the vishakapatnam bypass went through the city and lost a bunch of time crossing the city. So wanted to know how is the bypass road. Heard that the bypass has huge potholes.
Anyone can update the status of Vishakapatnam bypass road status.

Did this stretch twice last year in 2021 - once in Oct 21 and then again during the year end. Though I have done this stretch multiple times and always take the bypass, during one of these drives I somehow missed taking the diversion at Ankapalle. Even with not so good roads it takes a lot lesser time and less stressful than driving through the city.

If I remember correctly almost 70% of the roads are done now, but the rest 30% is back breaking. I would still take the bypass though. Less stressful and saves time.