[srimath]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

Could somebody give an update on the latest road condition of the stretch Tirupati-Rajampet-Kadapa? I wish to try that route shortly.

Tirupati - Rajampeta - Kadapa is a decent 2 lane road with occasional rough patches. However there are many speed breakers before and after every village on the route. TPT - Koduru and Rajampeta - Kadapa are very scenic with the later having a mini ghat section.

[9tMax]

Planning to visit Tirupati on coming Monday, 23rd March.
Will be staying at Tirupati (not in Tirumala) for one or two nights.
Can anyone suggest some good hotel options with decent room and parking facility in a peaceful environment. Would prefer the hotel to be away from too much crowd and noise.
Googling suggests Fortune Select Grand Ridge to be one such option - any feedback from anybody ?
Also is it advisable to go with advance booking or there are sufficient alternate options available to check out and then decide on the spot.
Thanks.

[srimath]

Originally Posted by 9tMax

Planning to visit Tirupati on coming Monday, 23rd March.
Will be staying at Tirupati (not in Tirumala) for one or two nights.
Can anyone suggest some good hotel options with decent room and parking facility in a peaceful environment. Would prefer the hotel to be away from too much crowd and noise.
Googling suggests Fortune Select Grand Ridge to be one such option - any feedback from anybody ?
Also is it advisable to go with advance booking or there are sufficient alternate options available to check out and then decide on the spot.
Thanks.

Along with Fortune Select Grand Ridge, you can also try Fortune Kences, Bhimas Residency, Bhimas Paradise or Hotel Bliss. All these are very near to the Tirupati Bus Stand and have good rooms and lots of parking.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by srimath

Along with Fortune Select Grand Ridge, you can also try Fortune Kences, Bhimas Residency, Bhimas Paradise or Hotel Bliss. All these are very near to the Tirupati Bus Stand and have good rooms and lots of parking.

+1

Bhimas and Fortune are the good ones. Point to note there are more than one Bhimas. The one I would sugggest is the one closer to bus stand. Its also closer to Fortune. (Location)

[hyd_traveller]

Originally Posted by ampere

+1

Bhimas and Fortune are the good ones. Point to note there are more than one Bhimas. The one I would sugggest is the one closer to bus stand. Its also closer to Fortune. (Location)

There are 2 Fortunes. Kences is opposite the bus stand.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by hyd_traveller

There are 2 Fortunes. Kences is opposite the bus stand.

Did not realize there are two of them. I always remember seeing Kences! Thanks for bringing that out.

[poised2drive]

Bliss , of late, has not been up to the standards. So avoid if possible. I'd suggest Fortune Kences opposite bus stand.

And for food [ if interested] , try Andhra Spice [ got branches - one near bus stand and other opposite Municipal Office]. Having studied at Tirupati, I can vouch for that.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by poised2drive

And for food [ if interested] , try Andhra Spice [ got branches - one near bus stand and other opposite Municipal Office]. Having studied at Tirupati, I can vouch for that.

The other I remember is Mayura. Again close to bus stand. It used to the usual procedure for us. Mostly finish darshan before 12 (We were lucky enough I guess). Come down; eat at Mayura and then hop on to a Bangalore bound Volvo.

[poised2drive]

Originally Posted by ampere

The other I remember is Mayura. Again close to bus stand. It used to the usual procedure for us. Mostly finish darshan before 12 (We were lucky enough I guess). Come down; eat at Mayura and then hop on to a Bangalore bound Volvo.

Yeah, the one and only 'Mayura' , quite famous for its' vegan meals . Also do I remember an instance where it was almost opposite of your situation.

We reached tpt at noon , around 1:30 , decided to climb the hills on foot and to prepare for such a task , we had a humongous delicious lunch at Mayura , which turned out to be a horrible decision.
We sent the car atop to Tirumala and we started on our foot at around 3 . The 1st 30 - 45 minutes went well with the 'initial enthusiasm' and with the time passing by, everyone realized how excruciatingly tough the uphill climb became with the 'food stuffed tummies' . Since I was in my early teens, I maintained my pace along with an other cousin and it took us almost 4 hours to reach the top .

I guess the nature took pity on us and the clouds drizzled some cool showers in the evening to bring down the soaring mercury.
And that was my first and the last time going to tirumala on foot.

And by the way, Andhra Spice is famous for its Non-veg food[ and ice creams] , though I know most of us wouldn't dare to have nv on the Tirumala trip. But I suppose, you can have some after you complement the Tirumala visit with the darshan of 'Shiva' at the nearby Srikalahasthi [ where the legend tells us that the ardent devotee, Kannappa, fed the Lord with meat' - a good reason for food lovers who could use this ]

[ampere]

Originally Posted by poised2drive

Yeah, the one and only 'Mayura' , quite famous for its' vegan meals . Also do I remember an instance where it was almost opposite of your situation.

Our usual method for BLR-Tirupathi used to be:

- Take a night Volvo from Bangalore at 10:30/11 PM on a Friday Night
- Arrive at the base of the hill by 3:30 AM
- Start Climbing to be there on top by 7AM
- Get into the queue by 8/9AM after freshening up
- Get out at 12. (Some how by luck at least 4-5 times this has happened to me!)
- Take the bus down
- Go to Mayura (or Bhimas) by 1PM.
- Eat like a glutton
- Take the Volvo back by 3PM to be in Bangalore by 8/9PM

Those were the times, when I did not know how to drive!

Originally Posted by srimath

Tirupati - Rajampeta - Kadapa is a decent 2 lane road with occasional rough patches.

Thanks, srimath. I rode on this route and returned to Chennai via Rayachoti/Chittoor on 17/18 March 2015. Both the SH and NH were superb. I enjoyed the scenic beauty, riding by the side of many moving trains! The details are here.

[9tMax]

Finished the Tirupati circuit, as per the route below:

Went via NAM Expressway - Ongole - Naidupeta - Srikalahasti - Tirupati and came back via Tpty - Madanapalle - Horsley Hills - Anantapur - Kurnool - Hyd.

Road condition in the Naidupet - Srikalahasti - Tirupati stretch was below my expectation, but not bad. Being a VIP road I had expected it to be in a much better shape.

Tirupati - Madanapalle - Horsley Hills by the Chennai - Anantapur NH-205 was much better. Surface condition in the entire route was pretty good, and specially the Bhakrapeta ghat section was fabulous. The entire route appears to have been widened since our last visit to Horsley Hills in 2011. Only at a small stretch of few kms near Anantapur the road widening work is going on at present.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by 9tMax

Finished the Tirupati circuit, as per the route below:

Went via NAM Expressway - Ongole - Naidupeta - Srikalahasti - Tirupati and came back via Tpty - Madanapalle - Horsley Hills - Anantapur - Kurnool - Hyd.

Road condition in the Naidupet - Srikalahasti - Tirupati stretch was below my expectation, but not bad. Being a VIP road I had expected it to be in a much better shape.

Tirupati - Madanapalle - Horsley Hills by the Chennai - Anantapur NH-205 was much better. Surface condition in the entire route was pretty good, and specially the Bhakrapeta ghat section was fabulous. The entire route appears to have been widened since our last visit to Horsley Hills in 2011. Only at a small stretch of few kms near Anantapur the road widening work is going on at present.

Was the return journey via Madanapalle longer? And what was the driving time on either route?

[9tMax]

Yes, the Madanapalle route will certainly be longer than the Rayachoti-Kadapa-Nandyal-Kurnool route. But still we chose this route because
1. We wanted to spend one night in Horsley Hills.
2. I was feeling allergic towards the diversions that are mentioned in this thread - between Kurnool and Nandyal. Had a sufficient dose of diversions between Medarmetla and Nellore on NH-5, while going. It was damn irritating.
3. To avoid the Kurnool city traffic in peak evening hours.
4. To enjoy driving on the Anantapur - Kurnool stretch of NH 7, because the Hyderabad - Kurnool stretch has been done endless number of times and has become absolutely boring.

About the driving times - while going, we started at 22:30 from LB Nagar, touched NH-5 at Medarmetla at 04:15, Naidupet at 10:30 and Tirupati at 11:45. Distances were not noted, but found the distances shown by Google maps are fairly accurate. And I never crossed 90 ( take a look at my handle ). There was one tea break during the night drive but after the daylight came out, stopped a number of times for photo shoots. So my timings will be on a higher side.

From Tirupati to Horsley Hills took about 4 hours with plenty of photo session stops and tea breaks as this was the first time we were covering this stretch and i was driving even more slowly to soak in the natural beauty.

While coming back, didn't keep a record this time, as we have done the Horsley Hills - Hyderabad drive a number of times. But approximately, it takes about 10 - 11 hours via Anantapur, with my driving style.

For crossing Anantapur, we took this bypass as suggested by google maps and it was really a breeze crossing the city.

[smsrini]

Hi!

Can anyone please advise the road condition between Tirupati and Hyderabad via Kadapa-->Kurnool ?

Is coming via Nellore-->Ongole-->Suryapet a better option ?

Any options for food/rest rooms on either routes ?

thanks
Srinivas