[simplyself]

Originally Posted by SanjeevReddy

Thanks Srimath for your useful information.

All,
Anyone recently took Narkatpally-Addanki route?

Narketpally - Addanli road is doable. Apart from a few diversions, and a few pockets where the work is going on, the road is okay.

[srimath]

@Sanjeev,

You can alternatively try Hyd - Kurnool - Gooty - Tadipatri - Kadapa - Rajampet - Tpty.
This is a decent road except for the occasional streches between Gooty - Kadapa ( less than 10 km in all). However be sure to tank up near Gooty as almost nill facilities between gooty - kadapa

[SanjeevReddy]

I just completed Hyd-Kurnool-Nandyal-Kadapa-Tirupati-Naidupeta-Vijayawada-Hyd trip. Here are the facts.

1.Kurnool-Nandyal is simply horrible. I felt sad to drive my new Jetta on this road.

2. Between Nandyal- Kadapa most of the road is 4 laned but too many diversions will irritate you.

Because of this I took Naidupet-Vijayawada route while return.

Tirpuati to Naidupeta took 1 hour 45 minute though the distance is around 80KM. Traffic is too much associated with speed breakers.

Due to road widening work, you can't drive more than 60KMPH between Chilakaluripeta and Vijayawada.

Surprisngle I didn't find much difference in distance between these two routes. Hardly less than 100KM.

My advise is until any one of below stretch is completely 4 laned don't do Hyd-Tirupati road drive.

1. Kurnool-Kadapa
2.Narakatpally-Addanki
3.Vijayawada-Chilakaluripeta(6 laned)

[SanjeevReddy]

A few photos of my Hyd-Tirupati road trip.

1st photo at Jadcherla,
2 and 3rd Krishna River@Bichupally
4,5 and 6 Alampur(15KM left from Kurnool Toll Plaza)
7 Baba Ramdev hotel@Kurnool Toll Plaza
8 Tirupati

[vito_parry]

Back from Hyderabad - Tirupati Road trip.

Done a Round trip via Hyd- Kurnool - Nandyala - Kadapa - Tirupati - Srikalahasti - Naidupeta - Nellor- Ongole - Piduguralla - Nalgonda - Hyderabad.

Took about 13 Hrs reaching Tirumala which includes 2 1/2 hrs breaks for Breakfast , Lunch & Bio-breaks.

1. Excellent road until Kurnool. - BreakFast at Kurnool Yatri Nivas - Good Breakfast.
2. Bad Stretch between Kurnool - Nandayala.
3. Lot of Diversions between - Nandayala - Kadapa but good roads - Lunch at Kadapa Yatri Nivas (On the HighWay) - Lunch was Ok.
4. Took the Rajampet road to reach Tirupati - Good Road to maintain speeds.

As i was visiting Kalahasti took the Tirupati - Srikalahasti - Naidupeta - Nellor- Ongole - Piduguralla - Nalgonda - Hyderabad while returning.

1. Until Naidupeta the road is good but no dividers.
2. Complete stretch from Naidupeta to Hyderabad is Four Laned. Excellent Road conditions.
3. Trail runs on toll gates are been performed on this stretch. Mostly in about 1 month these will be operative. Took less than 10 hrs to cover the distance and is also of the same distance we travelled while going via Kurnool.
4. While return Lunch was done at BP Petrol Bunk Guhr Daba 20 kms before ongole - Good Food.

Would recommend this route for people travelling to Tirupati from Hyderabad.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by vito_parry

Back from Hyderabad - Tirupati Road trip.

Done a Round trip via Hyd- Kurnool - Nandyala - Kadapa - Tirupati - Srikalahasti - Naidupeta - Nellor- Ongole - Piduguralla - Nalgonda - Hyderabad.

Took about 13 Hrs reaching Tirumala which includes 2 1/2 hrs breaks for Breakfast , Lunch & Bio-breaks.

1. Excellent road until Kurnool. - BreakFast at Kurnool Yatri Nivas - Good Breakfast.
2. Bad Stretch between Kurnool - Nandayala.
3. Lot of Diversions between - Nandayala - Kadapa but good roads - Lunch at Kadapa Yatri Nivas (On the HighWay) - Lunch was Ok.
4. Took the Rajampet road to reach Tirupati - Good Road to maintain speeds.

As i was visiting Kalahasti took the Tirupati - Srikalahasti - Naidupeta - Nellor- Ongole - Piduguralla - Nalgonda - Hyderabad while returning.

1. Until Naidupeta the road is good but no dividers.
2. Complete stretch from Naidupeta to Hyderabad is Four Laned. Excellent Road conditions.
3. Trail runs on toll gates are been performed on this stretch. Mostly in about 1 month these will be operative. Took less than 10 hrs to cover the distance and is also of the same distance we travelled while going via Kurnool.
4. While return Lunch was done at BP Petrol Bunk Guhr Daba 20 kms before ongole - Good Food.

Would recommend this route for people travelling to Tirupati from Hyderabad.

It would have helped if you'd also posted distances, though they are roughly the same.

10 hours for the return journey looks good when compared to 11 while going, excluding the breaks. But was the 10-hour return journey with our without the lunch break?

This apart, is there any decent breakfast joint for people leaving Hyderabad early morning?

[racer_ash]

^^ If you are going via the Nalgonda route then, you have couple of options after Chityala town which you would reach roughly after 1.5 hrs if you start from the heart of the city. But the problem is both these come to your right. One is hotel Vivera and the other is Hotel Kanakadurga (IIRC). I have also seen some new ones cropping up at the left side during my last drive but seems they were not open for business yet.

[vito_parry]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

It would have helped if you'd also posted distances, though they are roughly the same.

10 hours for the return journey looks good when compared to 11 while going, excluding the breaks. But was the 10-hour return journey with our without the lunch break?

This apart, is there any decent breakfast joint for people leaving Hyderabad early morning?

Abt 90 Kms Kalahasti - Nellore via naidupeta - roughly 2 hrs

Abt 130 Kms Nellore - Ongole Via Kavali - 2 hrs 45 mins Including 30 Mins Lunch

Abt 360 Kms - Ongole - Hyd - Alwal Via Piduguralla - LB Nagar - 5hrs. Can make good Progress on this road... Excellent Road until RFC. From this point we will slow down due to traffic.

Getting Break Fast might be challenging...Have not seen anything decent on the Highway yet...seen some being built...but not sure if these are eateries May be have to go into the towns of Nalgonda or Miryalaguda...

[spannerhyd]

Last week, I completed a Hyderabad-Tirupati trip and took the Guntur-Chennai highway road after having taken information from the Hyderabad-Chennai road conditions thread - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...itions-35.html

Posting back latest information on this route, here are the facts –
The road conditions are generally good except for some unfinished patches on the Narketpally-Addanki stretch.
There are three toll gates on this path after crossing the Vijayawada toll. These are at Madugupally, Thummalacheruvu and at Elchuru. Total toll paid on this road – 65+53+47+51 = 216
The route is usually known as the Narketpally-Medarametla road and Medarametla is the place where this road joins the Guntur-Chennai highway (NH5). To get on to this stretch after leaving Hyderabad, one has to get off the Vijayawada express way at Narketpally and turn right.

The distance, as measured, from Secunderabad station is around 300 kms and one can cover it in about 5 hours cruising under a comfortable safe limit of 90 kmph. I maintained this limit as I was driving a relatively new Ritz diesel with 4 people and my kid on board.
This route avoids most of the towns except at Miryalaguda, Piduguralla and Addanki, so the options for eateries are very less. It is advisable to carry food in this travel.
The next part is the Guntur-Chennai highway from Medarametla to Nayudupeta. This is roughly about 225 kms with flyovers being constructed at all intersections. Despite this fact the roads are wide enough with properly marked diversions which make it a relatively easy stretch. But one thing to look out for is the speed breakers at each diversion. It is quite easy to miss them which cause an inconvenience to the vehicle and the passengers.

There are 4 toll gates at Tangutur, Musunur and two at Nellore known as Budhanam toll plazas. Total toll paid is 70+45+35+25 = 175.
One has to get off at Nayudupeta and turn right towards Srikalahasti – Renigunta road and turn left finally to get on to it.
This road is called the Srikalahasti bypass road which extends about 75kms before reaching tirupati. The roads are relatively narrow in comparison to the main highway and overtaking can be a problem with the continuous village traffic and speed breakers.
This entire stretch from Medarametla to Tirupati can be comfortably covered in under 6 hours.

I was able to reach Tirupati by 5:00 PM after having started at 6:00 AM in the morning with short breaks for easing out and for food.

The total toll paid for the stretch is 216+175 = 391 and I found it to be worth for the kind of road conditions offered despite the minor bad patches.
My vehicle returned an average fuel consumption of 24 kms to the liter when measured in the tankful method.

While return back I had a welcome sight of thick clouds just before Hyderabad (more in the pictures)

Here is a list of places and distances that I prepared to keep track -

Home 0
LBNagar 15
Gundrampalli 64
Chityala 79
Narketpalli 88
Cherlapalli 100
A.Duppalapalle 114
Tipparthi 123
kukkadam 134
Vemulapally 139
Miryalaguda 147
Kondrapole 159
Damarcherla 167
Dachepalle 185
Piduguralla 208
Nekirekallu 221
Vipperla 230
Gudipadu
Rompicherla
Puttavaripalem
Elchuru 257
Kopperpadu 273
Chinakothapalle
Gopalpuram
Addanki 288
Medarmetla 299
Thimmanapalem
Vellampalli
Yedugundlapadu 318
Tanguturu
Singarayakonda
Ulavapadu
Elurupadu 363
Adavirajupalem
Gowravaram 409
Tellagunta
Ulavapalla
Kammapalem 436
Kovur
Buja Buja Nellore
Kakutur 468
Venkatachalam
Anupallipadu
Bandepalle
Manubolu 487
AudisankaraEngg. Coll
Budanam
Pandluru
Yerramsettipalem 518
Nayudupeta 522
Chigurupadu
Chavali
Jeellapatur
Seetharampet 565
Renigunta
Tirupati

Here are some pictures taken during the onward and return journey. Although being an avid photographer, I neither carried the photo gear nor I had the time. All of these pictures were shot from the car using a Sony WX50 point and shoot.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by spannerhyd

Last week, I completed a Hyderabad-Tirupati trip and took the Guntur-Chennai highway road after having taken

Thanks for that crisp report.Really helpful for Hyd-Tirupati travellers.I believe NH5 Nayudpeta route continues to be the better route as opposed to the NH7-Kadapa route?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Thanks for that crisp report.Really helpful for Hyd-Tirupati travellers.I believe NH5 Nayudpeta route continues to be the better route as opposed to the NH7-Kadapa route?

Isn't the NH5 a roundabout option? And I am also surprised that NHAI has done nothing to NH18 (Kurnool-Cudappa-Chitoor). Seems to an important arterial road. But no plans to upgrade.

[spannerhyd]

Yeah, the Naydupeta route continues to be a better option as it passes through the busy stretch of the Guntur-Chennai which is usually well maintained.

I initially thought of exploring the Cuddapah route in return, but refrained from doing so

The other option of taking NH7 until Anantapur is not worth the extra distance.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by ampere

Isn't the NH5 a roundabout option? And I am also surprised that NHAI has done nothing to NH18 (Kurnool-Cudappa-Chitoor). Seems to an important arterial road. But no plans to upgrade.

Its not roundabout,its just a difference of some 40 odd kms (extra via the NAM Expressway-NH5-Tirupati) and you are compensated with some great 4 laned roads all the way till Nayudupeta.

The NH18 via Kadapa is/was undergoing widening but its slow progress from what I hear.

[srimath]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Its not roundabout,its just a difference of some 40 odd kms (extra via the NAM Expressway-NH5-Tirupati) and you are compensated with some great 4 laned roads all the way till Nayudupeta.

The NH18 via Kadapa is/was undergoing widening but its slow progress from what I hear.

Kurnool - Panyam - Nandyal is the pain in the route. Nandyal - Kadapa is 95% complete.

[FlashMustang]

Dear Team BHPians,
Thank you for all your valuable inputs on this thread. They were very helpful.
Based on the information available on this thread, I intend to take the following route to Tirupati from Hyderabad on the 15th of August:
Gachibowli ORR -> Narketpally -> Addanki -> Medarametla -> Naidupeta -> Srikalahasti -> Tirupati
I'll be travelling with my parents (aged 67 and 59).
I intend to start by around 5:00 am on Aug 15 and reach Tirupati by evening/night.
We intend to reserve the next day for the darshan at Tirupati, and if time permits, visit SriKalahasti too.
I'm planning to start back from Tirupati on the 17th of August by 5:00 am and reach Hyderabad by evening/night.
Any inputs from fellow BHPians would be helpful about the following:

1. 15th being Independence day, should I expect a lot of traffic on the road? Any inputs about latest road conditions or local conditions along the way (celebrations, diversions, etc. to expect) would be helpful. If I should take an alternate route to avoid any hassles, please suggest that.
2. Again, this being a long weekend, would there be too much rush at Tirupati for the darshan and will we be able to complete the darshan on 16th? We have planned to take the Seegra Darshan tickets upon reaching Tirupati (as advised by the TTD call center).

Thanks in advance and look forward to all your inputs.