[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

Any latest updates on this route ? Any bad stretches , detours, etc - especially near Orissa ?

Since Hosur Rd is a lot more accessible for me than crossing over the city to take the Chittoor route - would it make more sense to go via Vellore-Chennai where it's 4-lane all the way ?

Do they still charge the "road tax" in Orissa ?

Roads in Odisha are mostly very good and well maintained. The bypass on Rambha is half completed so it might be a better idea to drive through Rambha town. The bypass in Balugaon is opened up though only one portion is complete. Advisable to drive carefully through it as it is made of concrete and has construction material and undulations in places. Rest of NH5 is in very good condition. You might face some traffic at Bhubaneswar and Cuttack during peak traffic hours which can slow you down a bit but nothing significant. After Cuttack its a dream run again on NH5 till NH60. Once you are on NH60 all you need to be careful is of the slightly broken tarred where there are underpasses or it has bridges. The rest of NH60 is concrete and you can zip through pretty quickly.

Once you come up to the OR-WB border at Jaleswar chances are you can get stuck in the huge truck jam. Instead you can enter Jaleswar town directly where the bypass starts and then rejoin the main highway thereby avoiding any chances of getting stuck at the truck jam or getting stopped for the illegal road tax.

[deb_majumdar]

Dear BHPians,

I am going to take my Getz from Bangalore to Kolkata and I am going to drive. I do not want to push myself and try a two day trip, rather I am happy to do it in three days, with two proper night halts, and mostly driving during the day. What would be a reasonable plan? With my Cruze I could go faster, but I know the Getz cannot do high speeds so seamlessly (neither do I want to drive at high speeds), so I want to plan a bit conservatively.

Day 1: Bangalore -> Tirupati -> Ongole (leaving Bangalore at about noon, or slightly earlier)
Day 2: Ongole -> Bhubaneshwar
Day 3: Bhubaneshwar -> Kolkata (arriving Kolkata for lunch)

I know the Bhubaneshwar -> Kolkata stretch well. Will Ongole -> Bhubaneshwar in one day be too much? Should I try to reach Vijaywada on the first day? Is the Bangalore -> Kolar -> Chittoor -> Ongole the most reasonable route or should I try some other alternative? The rest of the road is a part of the golden quadrilateral, so there is no confusion anyway.

Looking forward to your inputs.

[JoseVijay]

Originally Posted by deb_majumdar

Dear BHPians,

I am going to take my Getz from Bangalore to Kolkata and I am going to drive. I do not want to push myself and try a two day trip, rather I am happy to do it in three days, with two proper night halts, and mostly driving during the day. What would be a reasonable plan? With my Cruze I could go faster, but I know the Getz cannot do high speeds so seamlessly (neither do I want to drive at high speeds), so I want to plan a bit conservatively.

Day 1: Bangalore -> Tirupati -> Ongole (leaving Bangalore at about noon, or slightly earlier)
Day 2: Ongole -> Bhubaneshwar
Day 3: Bhubaneshwar -> Kolkata (arriving Kolkata for lunch)

I know the Bhubaneshwar -> Kolkata stretch well. Will Ongole -> Bhubaneshwar in one day be too much? Should I try to reach Vijaywada on the first day? Is the Bangalore -> Kolar -> Chittoor -> Ongole the most reasonable route or should I try some other alternative? The rest of the road is a part of the golden quadrilateral, so there is no confusion anyway.

Looking forward to your inputs.

My suggestion as below:

Route 1

Day 1: Bangalore > Tirupati > Ongole > Guntur (605Kms, about 10 Hrs)
Day 2: Guntur > Vijayawada > Rajahmundry > Vishakapatnam > Bhubhaneshwar (850 Kms, 12 to 14hrs)
Day 3: Bhubhaneshwar to Kolkata (440Kms, 7 to 9 hrs)

On day 1 instead of Ongole you can push yourself upto Guntur (90Kms & from Ongole) as Ongole to Bhubhaneshwar (925kms) on day 2 would be too much IMO.

Route 2

You can try the other route via Hyderabad. Though the distance is slightly longer than route 1, you will have a stress free driving on 4 lane roads till Vijayawada.

Day 1: Bangalore > Anantapur > Kurnool > ORR, Hyderabad > Turn towards Vijayawada highway near L.B Nagar > Suryapet > Vijayawada (850 Kms, 10 to 12 Hrs)
Day 2: Vijayawada > Rajahmundry > Vishakapatnam > Bhubhaneshwar (780 kms, 11 to 13hrs)
Day 3: Bhubhaneshwar to Kolkata (440Kms, 7 to 9 hrs)

[sandyrajsingh]

Originally Posted by deb_majumdar

Dear BHPians,

I am going to take my Getz from Bangalore to Kolkata and I am going to drive. I do not want to push myself and try a two day trip, rather I am happy to do it in three days, with two proper night halts, and mostly driving during the day. What would be a reasonable plan? With my Cruze I could go faster, but I know the Getz cannot do high speeds so seamlessly (neither do I want to drive at high speeds), so I want to plan a bit conservatively.

Day 1: Bangalore -> Tirupati -> Ongole (leaving Bangalore at about noon, or slightly earlier)
Day 2: Ongole -> Bhubaneshwar
Day 3: Bhubaneshwar -> Kolkata (arriving Kolkata for lunch)

I know the Bhubaneshwar -> Kolkata stretch well. Will Ongole -> Bhubaneshwar in one day be too much? Should I try to reach Vijaywada on the first day? Is the Bangalore -> Kolar -> Chittoor -> Ongole the most reasonable route or should I try some other alternative? The rest of the road is a part of the golden quadrilateral, so there is no confusion anyway.

Looking forward to your inputs.

Hi Deb

Did you undertake this journey? If so, could you please share your experience as (route, road conditions, acco and food en route)I'm also planning to drive on this route next week - from Bangalore to Kolkata to Jamshedpur.

Do share if possible.

Regards
Sandy

[XR4Ti]

I am planning to do a Bangalore-Kolkata drive again in a couple of weeks time. My first drive was 3 years ago. I had a few questions for anyone who has done this route recently:

What are the current road and traffic conditions of the Guntur-Vijaywada stretch? I expect to reach Guntur bypass just after noon.

What's the best way of getting past Bhubaneswar city? I expect to be approaching Bhubaneswar (from South) in the afternoon. How much time can I expect to spend crossing Bhubaneswar and Cuttak?

I take it that crossing the Orissa-AP border is a non-issue any time of the day?
And the WB-OR border is still a mess. What's the best way to cross it? Go on the wrong side of the road or go through Jaleswar town? I expect to pass this area in the early evening.

[lancer_rit]

Was wondering about road conditions from Bangalore to Puri currently due to rains? What would be a realistic driving time in a sedan? Thanks.

[rajatmakar]

I will be travelling from Bangalore to Kolkata during Christmas time. The tentative plan is as follows :-

Day-1 1700 hrs start : Bangalore to Tirupati, Stay at Hotel Bliss, will pre-book
Day-2 0500 hrs start : Tirupati to Bhubaneswar, Hotel yet to finalise
Day-3 0600 hrs start : Bhubaneswar to Kolkata

Car : Swift Petrol

I am looking for inputs on the feasibility of the plan, road conditions / deviations, recommended hotels etc.

Bangalore to Tirupati : We intend to take the Chintamani/Madanapalle route to avoid evening traffic. I am well familiar with it.

Also considering the option to drive overnight on Day-1 and halt for the night on Day-2 by evening 6 PM. I am familiar with 16-18 hours of driving at a stretch for 1100+ kms. But the route beyond Tirpati is new to me. So, I wanted to reality check.

TIA,
Rajat

[JoseVijay]

Originally Posted by rajatmakar

I will be travelling from Bangalore to Kolkata during Christmas time. The tentative plan is as follows :-

Day-1 1700 hrs start : Bangalore to Tirupati, Stay at Hotel Bliss, will pre-book
Day-2 0500 hrs start : Tirupati to Bhubaneswar, Hotel yet to finalise
Day-3 0600 hrs start : Bhubaneswar to Kolkata

Car : Swift Petrol

I am looking for inputs on the feasibility of the plan, road conditions / deviations, recommended hotels etc.

Bangalore to Tirupati : We intend to take the Chintamani/Madanapalle route to avoid evening traffic. I am well familiar with it.

Also considering the option to drive overnight on Day-1 and halt for the night on Day-2 by evening 6 PM. I am familiar with 16-18 hours of driving at a stretch for 1100+ kms. But the route beyond Tirpati is new to me. So, I wanted to reality check.

TIA,
Rajat

Don't you think day 2 is very hectic? Any reason for you to start at 5 p.m? I would suggest you to do this trip in two days than three. Start early morning from Bangalore and reach Vizag for night halt. The next day, you can easily do Vizag to Kolkata.

[rajatmakar]

Originally Posted by JoseVijay

Don't you think day 2 is very hectic? Any reason for you to start at 5 p.m? I would suggest you to do this trip in two days than three. Start early morning from Bangalore and reach Vizag for night halt. The next day, you can easily do Vizag to Kolkata.

Day-1 is a working day, hence starting at 5 PM. The need is to reach by noon of Day-3. Hence, this deviation from the standard 2 day plan.

Any pointers for good hotels in bhubaneswar/cuttack ?

Regards,
Rajat

[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by rajatmakar

I will be travelling from Bangalore to Kolkata during Christmas time. The tentative plan is as follows :-

Day-1 1700 hrs start : Bangalore to Tirupati, Stay at Hotel Bliss, will pre-book
Day-2 0500 hrs start : Tirupati to Bhubaneswar, Hotel yet to finalise
Day-3 0600 hrs start : Bhubaneswar to Kolkata

Car : Swift Petrol

I am looking for inputs on the feasibility of the plan, road conditions / deviations, recommended hotels etc.

Bangalore to Tirupati : We intend to take the Chintamani/Madanapalle route to avoid evening traffic. I am well familiar with it.

Also considering the option to drive overnight on Day-1 and halt for the night on Day-2 by evening 6 PM. I am familiar with 16-18 hours of driving at a stretch for 1100+ kms. But the route beyond Tirpati is new to me. So, I wanted to reality check.

TIA,
Rajat

I did the entire Bangalore to Kolkata drive in 2 days with a night halt in Vizag in Dec 2011 when GQ was not complete in Orissa. It was actually quite a comfortable drive. I never exceeded 110 kph as my Honda Brio was a week old and still running in. Started at 4am in Bangalore, was in Vizag at 8pm. The next day started at 7:30am in vizag and reached Calcutta at 9pm. This was inspite of losing 2 hrs to a jam after Icchapuram.

Your plan feels perfectly doable.

[JoseVijay]

Originally Posted by rajatmakar

Also considering the option to drive overnight on Day-1 and halt for the night on Day-2 by evening 6 PM. I am familiar with 16-18 hours of driving at a stretch for 1100+ kms. But the route beyond Tirpati is new to me. So, I wanted to reality check.

TIA,
Rajat

I think I missed this point in my last post. Since you have the option to drive overnight on Day 1, I would suggest you to push upto Nellore. It is just 2 to 3 hours from Tirupathi. From Nellore you can take the GQ without any fuss.

Originally Posted by rajatmakar

Day-1 is a working day, hence starting at 5 PM. The need is to reach by noon of Day-3. Hence, this deviation from the standard 2 day plan.

Regards,
Rajat

BTW, are you going to drive solo?

[rajatmakar]

Originally Posted by JoseVijay

....
BTW, are you going to drive solo?

Thanks. I will be driving with my family. I am the sole driver.

In Tirupati, Hotel Bliss is the standard place we stay. This time, our stay will be for 5-6 hours only incase we halt at Tirupati on Day-1. The lowest category room in Hotel Bliss will work out ~ RS 2500/- .
I am looking at cheaper alternatives with clean room/toilet and secure parking. Any ideas?

Also in Bhubaneswar, I plan to stay ina hotel on NH-5. from google, I found some options like Hotel Bari International & Saraswat Retreat. Any idea or feedback about these hotels?

regards,
Rajat

[bonobashi]

You made me feel like doing this trip all over again, after 29 years.

[bonobashi]

Originally Posted by deb_majumdar

Dear BHPians,

I am going to take my Getz from Bangalore to Kolkata and I am going to drive. I do not want to push myself and try a two day trip, rather I am happy to do it in three days, with two proper night halts, and mostly driving during the day. What would be a reasonable plan? With my Cruze I could go faster, but I know the Getz cannot do high speeds so seamlessly (neither do I want to drive at high speeds), so I want to plan a bit conservatively.

Day 1: Bangalore -> Tirupati -> Ongole (leaving Bangalore at about noon, or slightly earlier)
Day 2: Ongole -> Bhubaneshwar
Day 3: Bhubaneshwar -> Kolkata (arriving Kolkata for lunch)

I know the Bhubaneshwar -> Kolkata stretch well. Will Ongole -> Bhubaneshwar in one day be too much? Should I try to reach Vijaywada on the first day? Is the Bangalore -> Kolar -> Chittoor -> Ongole the most reasonable route or should I try some other alternative? The rest of the road is a part of the golden quadrilateral, so there is no confusion anyway.

Looking forward to your inputs.

So what did you finally do? The middle stretch - Ongole to Bhubaneswar - sounds unwieldy, a bit too long, unnecessarily long. It could have done with a break at Vizag. But what did you actually do?

[D4D]

Originally Posted by rajatmakar

I am looking for inputs on the feasibility of the plan

I would recommend you to check other TLs. I think this plan maybe tight. Consider driving it in 4 days.

Example: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...e-kolkata.html