[Unavowed_X9]

The only major bottlenecks wil be Vijayawada and Vizag. However...its better to drive straight through at odd times.

[nibedk]

Originally Posted by Unavowed_X9

The only major bottlenecks wil be Vijayawada and Vizag. However...its better to drive straight through at odd times.

Thanks mate. I will be crossing Vijayawada early in the morning and Vizag late in the afternoon so I can take any bypasses if it saves time. Any idea there or should I just follow the maps?

Have you travelled these roads recently?

What are the food joints/restaurants along the way?

[SPEEDY_RACER]

Originally Posted by nibedk

Thanks mate. I will be crossing Vijayawada early in the morning and Vizag late in the afternoon so I can take any bypasses if it saves time. Any idea there or should I just follow the maps?

Have you travelled these roads recently?

What are the food joints/restaurants along the way?

Crossing Vijayawada at early morning is for sure a bottle neck especially the benz circle which would be jam packed with Lorries and Tourist buses.

If you are just following NH then unfortunately there would be no deviation or bypasses, and Vizag should not be a bottle neck but for sure slow moving traffic.

about food joints there are good restaurants in Vijayawada(from benz circle hardly 1 km) but you would be seeing several food joints available between Vijayawada and Vizag.

I usualy take the route from Banglore -> Guntur -> Chirala -> Machilipatnam -> Tadepalligudem -> Rajmundry -> Kakinada

I am going to do these stretch in about a weeks time.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by nibedk

Hi Team,

We are planning to drive this time directly to Bhubaneswar without night halt. We have earlier done more than 1 K kms before so are pretty confident about that we should be able to do it this time as well.

I will be travelling with family. My wife drives as well and our close to 5 year old daughter is pretty used to long distance car drives.

May I caution you that your plan sounds too ambitious. The distance via Naidupet is around 1430 kms, and Google estimates the driving time to be around 23 hours! Even if you manage to drive fast, the time will not be less than 21 hours! And it might be taxing for the small kid.

Assuming you leave at 4 am, you can estimate passing Vizag at 6 pm, not Berhampur. Vizag to Bhubaneswar will be around 6 hours of non-stop driving.

Depending on your alertness level, you may break for the night at Srikakulam or Berhampur/ Gopalpur.

[nibedk]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

May I caution you that your plan sounds too ambitious. The distance via Naidupet is around 1430 kms, and Google estimates the driving time to be around 23 hours! Even if you manage to drive fast, the time will not be less than 21 hours! And it might be taxing for the small kid.

Assuming you leave at 4 am, you can estimate passing Vizag at 6 pm, not Berhampur. Vizag to Bhubaneswar will be around 6 hours of non-stop driving.

Depending on your alertness level, you may break for the night at Srikakulam or Berhampur/ Gopalpur.

Vnabhi, HYD-BBSR distance from my home in HYD to my wife's place in BBSR is 1054 kms with an estimated time of less than 17 hours. Last time we did Vijayawada to BBSR starting around 6:30 AM and reached by 9:00 PM in the evening. HYD-Vijayawada we had done leisurely the previous day starting around 4:00 PM in the afternoon and reaching Vijayawada around 8:30 PM. All the drives were pretty leisurely. So I guess if we can start by 3-4 AM early morning we should be able to make it BBSR by 9:00 PM. Worst case would be to break the journey at Berhampur.

Why would I touch Naidupeta? Its still farther down south from Hyderabad.

Let me know your thoughts on where we are disconnected.

We recently did HYD-Kodaikanal trip which was close to 1.1 K in a day 4 months back. HYD-BBSR NH5 was pretty good 2 years back and I am hoping it would better this time round hence the confidence. The best part is there are pretty major cities and towns along NH5 so we can break the journey in case of any emergency.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by nibedk

Vnabhi, HYD-BBSR distance from my home in HYD to my wife's place in BBSR is 1054 kms with an estimated time of less than 17 hours.

Why would I touch Naidupeta? Its still farther down south from Hyderabad.

Let me know your thoughts on where we are disconnected.

My apologies. I was misled with the thread title that reads as Bangalore as the starting point. Speedy_Racer also mentioned Bangalore as the starting point for him. Looks like I'm still not used to the phone app!

Hyderabd to BBSR is doable. Takes around 10 hours to Vizag and another 6.5 from there.

[drive_factor]

Originally Posted by nibedk

...We are planning to drive this time directly to Bhubaneswar without night halt. .

You can do it with some effort. Budget 18 ~ 20 hrs approx depending upon what Vijaywada has in store for you that day.

Originally Posted by nibedk

[*]Bypass for major cities if any (last time I followed Google maps). This is to save as much time as possible.

Vijaywada
As of January 2016 there was no easy bypass. It seems cops decide which day which bypass is good to go. While going from BBSR to HYD we had to take a route that went via a tunnel. During the return leg we had to take a “Bypass” for the Bypass of the day which went along a railway siding and involved a steep drive up a short hairpin to join the designated bypass. Your GPS will keep directing you one way while the cops will keep forcing you the opposite way. Budget 45 minutes atleast to cross Vijaywada unscathed.

Vizag
As suggested by all its best to stick to NH5

Rajahmundhry
To me the detour via the fourth bridge over Godawari didn't seem worth leaving the excellent NH5. Time factor is same.

Originally Posted by nibedk

Best food joints for breakfast, lunch and snacks.

Breakfast = 7 Food court, Suryapet
Lunch/snacks = Good dhaba's all along
Dinner = Good eateries in Berhampur bypass if you can manage your speed. Or the seafood joints just off the NH in Rambha.

Originally Posted by nibedk

We will be starting between 3-4 AM early in the morning so that we enter Orissa before evening. If we can touch Berhampur around 6 PM it would be nice. We would like to stick to NH as much as possible unless and until the other options really save time and are safe.

I think around 8pm you should be touching OR border.

Originally Posted by nibedk

HYD-BBSR route has usually been safe. Anything that we need to take care of regarding safety or has anything changes recently?

Apart from the usual traffic related hazard, no other safety issue we could spot. Just be very careful when approaching intersections in the NH. State busses and lorries seem to just drive thro them without glancing either side.

Originally Posted by nibedk

Worst case would be to stay back in Berhampur if it gets late due to traffic conditions or any unforeseen circumstances.

If you manage to reach BAM then it will be worthwhile to consider driving on to BBSR.

To pace your drive you should target HYD to Rajahmundry under 9 hours and Rajahmundry to BBSR under 10 hours.

[redcruiser]

Hello Guys,
I am planning a trip to Bhubaneswar towards the end of October.
As most of the offices in Blr have 31st Oct (Monday) and 1st Nov(Tuesday) as holidays.
So I was contemplating to start the journey on the preceding Friday and come back after 2 weeks.
Is anyone here interested, so that we can go as a convoy.Will be my first long trip though.


-Gourav Panda.

[PMK-MoJo]

Hi Guys,

How is the Road condition now between Bangalore and VIzag?
Hope still some diversions on chennai Highway NH16.
Are the Fastags Operational on this route? 2 months back 2or3 toll plazas are operational with Fastag, hope there are more now.

[mashmash]

Originally Posted by PMK-MoJo

Hi Guys,

How is the Road condition now between Bangalore and VIzag?
Hope still some diversions on chennai Highway NH16.
Are the Fastags Operational on this route? 2 months back 2or3 toll plazas are operational with Fastag, hope there are more now.

When are you planning to do the trip? I am starting on Saturday at around 8pm from Bangalore. Will be going via Hyderabad.

Originally Posted by drive_factor

Vijaywada
As of January 2016 there was no easy bypass. It seems cops decide which day which bypass is good to go. While going from BBSR to HYD we had to take a route that went via a tunnel. During the return leg we had to take a “Bypass” for the Bypass of the day which went along a railway siding and involved a steep drive up a short hairpin to join the designated bypass. Your GPS will keep directing you one way while the cops will keep forcing you the opposite way. Budget 45 minutes atleast to cross Vijaywada unscathed.

Vijayawada has been a mess for a couple of years now. Have done Bangalore - Vizag thrice and every time I have had to take a different route to cross this city. Planning to cross this place early hours this time.

MaSh

[ksrchowdary]

Originally Posted by mashmash

Will be going via Hyderabad.


Vijayawada has been a mess for a couple of years now. Have done Bangalore - Vizag thrice and every time I have had to take a different route to cross this city. Planning to cross this place early hours this time.

MaSh

Since you are going via Hyderabad, you can use the recently opened Inner Ring Road (marked as IRR in Google Maps) to by pass Vijayawada. It will take 25-30 mins at the most to reach Vizag highway.
https://goo.gl/maps/wakjfZbfUMA2

[mashmash]

Originally Posted by ksrchowdary

Since you are going via Hyderabad, you can use the recently opened Inner Ring Road (marked as IRR in Google Maps) to by pass Vijayawada. It will take 25-30 mins at the most to reach Vizag highway.
https://goo.gl/maps/wakjfZbfUMA2

Oh wow, this sounds excellent. Have you traveled by this road recently? DO they have visible boards showing the way? I could be crossing this town maybe around dawn.

MaSh

[ksrchowdary]

Originally Posted by mashmash

Have you traveled by this road recently? DO they have visible boards showing the way? I could be crossing this town maybe around dawn.
MaSh

Traveled during first week of August while coming from Eluru to Hyderabad and remember seeing boards at few places mostly in Telugu. Few videos are available in YouTube (search text:'Vijayawada Inner Ring Road-') showing the road.

Since you will be crossing Vijayawada around dawn, you can even go through the city.

[PMK-MoJo]

Originally Posted by mashmash

When are you planning to do the trip? I am starting on Saturday at around 8pm from Bangalore. Will be going via Hyderabad.

I already travelled Via Tirupati on end of July, will be travelling the same route during Vijayadasami vacation time.
Most of the Toll are enabled with Fast Tag in this route except one or two.
Hope by now all are functional.
Roads are quiet better, except the single Road till Tirupati-Kadapa junction.
Chennai-Vijaywada Highway is good with few diversions.

Between Vijayawada and Eluru will see more Traffic after that its nominal and Roads also becomes better.

In return I came by Hyderabad as i need to visit some relatives there.

[RollingWheels]

Hi all - please share any updates you might have on the relaying of Golden Quadrilateral between Balasore and Kharagpur. Last I took this route in Jan 2015, it was in bad shape and was under construction with lots of diversions. Any update on whether it has been opened on both sides?
Also do share any updates on whether the recent monsoons have damaged any part of NH 5 from Nellore, AP to Vizag, AP. Most sections around Rajahmundry were uneven with minor potholes. Also last time on this route, 6 laning was under progress in most parts. Do share inputs on whether that has been completed.
Planning another trip around December, and wanted to take a call basis the road conditions.
Cheers,
RollingWheels