[crossroads]

Originally Posted by cyberwhizs

thanks crossroads,amp. One question though what is 4L?

Based on the posts here there seem to be three routes, including the one suggested by crossroads
1. Tada - kalahasti - tirupati. By the way does TADA stand for something. is it in the vicinity of sricity (googlemaps doesnt identify it as tada )
2. NH 205 - Tiruvallur - tiruthani - puttur - trirupati
3. The route less traversed Periya palayam - uttukottai - puttur - tirupati

Seems like either 1 or 2 can serve my needs.

From AP road/entry tax perspective there seems to be huge amount of wanton confusion. Any ideas, want to try and avoid getting fleeced.

I have taken all the three routes and I feel the first one is better. TADA is the name of a town. After you reach TADA, you need to get off the highway and take a left towards Kalahasthi. Alternatively you can go till Naidupet and take a left towards Kalahasthi (Well marked directions).

I will be traveling to Tirupati this weekend and will update the road conditions.

[cyberwhizs]

Thanks raju2512,amp & crossroads.
crossroads: do post your updates. I will plan to there in the middle of next week.

[cyberwhizs]

Just an update.
1. chennai - Tada - kalahasti - tirupati route is the better route to drive. Exited chennai through through poonamallee road and then joined red hills road. Roads are pretty good. Six laning is in progress on NH 5. There are a few small diversions. There is almost no decent place where you can take a break till kalahasthi. One can maintain a decent speeds on all sections i.e. chennai - tada, tada - kalahasthi and tada - tirupati.

2. While coming back, took the tirupati-puttur-tiruthani-tiruvallur route i.e. NH 205. The roads are paved but there is a lot of patch work which makes it a little rough even for a Innova to negotiate. Can only maintain an average speed of 40 kmph. The route has a numerous restaurants where one can take a break. The journey back was far more tiring.

The tada route may be slightly longer by around 25 odd Km but it is definitely the better road to drive on.

There is a A.P. entry road tax which is collected before tirupati (for yellow plates). The check post is on the Kalahasti - Tirupati section on the right hand side. The official receipt is issued for Rs 1510 + Rs 200 but the transacted amount seems to be around Rs 2200/- . The road tax / entry permit is valid for a 8 days.

There are travel operators who provide innova services at Rs 6,500/- for chennai-tirupati-chennai with a max of 400-425 Km. The 6,500/- includes the road tax and entry permit. It does not include regular highway toll and parking charges. I came across one toll booth on NH5, one toll booth for Tirupati - Tirumala (Rs 50/-). While returning through NH-205 did not fork out any money on toll.

Hope this helps!

[ampere]

Did you find any places to break on the way back? (Tiruttani?)
Though the 4L is good just as you said, no place to stop till Kalahasti, if one is coming from Chennai.

Though I have never driven on that section (always took train; Saptagiri and reached Tirupati in 4 hours flat!),
I have met many folks, who took the the Tiruttani route.

[cyberwhizs]

Yes, facilities are sparse on the tada route unless you enter one of the small towns enroute. It takes around 2:45 minutes to reach Kalahasti. There is a sarvana bhuvan at Kalahasti.

Most people travelling from chennai to tirupati seem to take the tiruttani route. So do the buses from chennai to tirupati. It is also the shorter route if you are not keen about kalahasti. I did see a bunch of neon signs on the way back from tirupati. Stopped for a break at hotel vima. It was in the vicinity of tiruttani, most probably after tiruttani but i am not a 100% sure. The interstate buses also stop there. It is a typical highway pit stop, bare nothing elaborate. If you are travelling with senior citizens avoid the tiruttani route, the bouncy road journey is very tiring. We left tirumala at 5:30 pm, reached T.Nagar at around 10 pm. 4:45 minutes door to door.

[sanyog26]

Hi Everyone ! This will be my first post, so apologies if I inadvertently break any rules.
In this post, I shall be covering my roadtrip from Chennai to Tirupati and back.

End of May-
My mom (in Delhi) expresses her desire to visit Tirupati, especially since I am posted in Chennai these days and can arrange the travel. I immediately book her air tickets from Delhi to Chennai and also special darshan tickets for 22.06.2018 from the counter at Lord Venkateshwara Temple located on Venkata Narayana Street, T. Nagar, Chennai.

A fortnight later, my dad also expresses his desire to visit Tirupati but isn’t sure if he will be able to make it, due to work commitments. Nevertheless, I immediately booked his air tickets and enquired about special darshan tickets for 22.06.2018, but find them to be sold out by then. After some search in the locality, I chance upon one agent who promises me darshan ticket of my choice date despite TTD themselves refusing to do so. So I pay the agent Rs. 500/- for a Rs. 300/- ticket and fortunately within 2 days he mails me my dad's darshan ticket for Lord Venkateshwara Temple, Tirupati.

21.06.2018 Thursday (Late evening)-
My parents fly in to Chennai, where I am currently posted, from Delhi, our hometown.

22.06.2018 Friday-
6am: I take the delivery of our ZoomCar for the day, a Maruti Suzuki Swift LDi. Return to my flat from Zoomcar's garage in Kodambakkam only to find that I'm struggling to insert the key in the ignition. Somehow, I manage to insert the key therein and return to ZoomCar’s garage barely a km away from my flat in T. Nagar, Chennai and request for a replacement, which they refuse saying they don’t have any spare car. They apprise me that the earlier customer lost the keys and I'm probably the first dew customers driving with a duplicate key, hence the issue. The representative at ZoomCar teaches me a trick or two on how to perfectly insert the key in the ignition, and there I am, I get the technique after a few attempts. So, I return to my flat with the same car, but after learning how to insert a duplicate key in the ignition (Lol &#128513



8:15am: We leave from my flat in T. Nagar, Chennai for Tirupati. We leave the city limits from Poonamallee and start our journey on NH48.

Following is the route.


[Screenshot of google maps route]

We stop at Sangeetha Veg Restaurant for breakfast just after turning right for Tirupati near Thirumazhisai (if we go straight, we reach Sriperumbudur/Kanchipuram).



Post breakfast, we begin our journey to Tirupati and reach the Police Complex, Tirupati by 12:30pm. I park the car there and thereafter have darshan at the famed Lord Venkateshwara Temple, Tirupati. We were fortunate to have our darshan within an hour (generally it takes 2-3 hours after gaining entry in the temple with a Rs. 300/- special darshan ticket).

Post darshan, we start our drive down and reach ISKCON, Tirumala/Tirupati. We have darshan at ISKCON Tirupati followed by lunch at their kitchen restaurant.







Thereafter, we leave for Chennai and reach Chennai by 9pm and I return the Swift at ZoomCar's garage ay Kodambakkam, Chennai.

We retire for the day as next 3 days might be tiring for us since we were covering Trichy, Madurai & Rameshwaram in another ZoomCar, the Ford Figo TDCi. That story, in another post..