[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by FalconRed

I'm traveling from Hyderabad to Kerala and wanted to know if there is anyway I can Bypass Banglore.

I'm planning to start morning 5am and with multiple breaks expecting to reach devanahalli around 4 pm.
Taking a night break in Hosur.

Is Taking NH44 towards Hosur is the best option or is there any way I can skip banglore and reach hosur?

As I'm traveling for the first time via this route 8m not well aware of the road and want to avoid narrow unmarked roads.

I havent been regular on TBHP off-late so missed this thread.Not sure if you have completed your journey,if not,then this is the way to bypass Bangalore City and connect straight to the highway at Hosur.

Devanahalli-Hoskote-Malur-Bagalur-Hosur (save on a bit of tolls as well)

https://goo.gl/maps/1b7UqbGQmGN4VjvBA

The best way to drive to Kerala from Hyderabad when not on a non-stop drive is to break day 1 at Salem onwards,with a 5am departure from Shamshabad,you should ideally be at Salem by 5pm.If your end destination is towards the south of Kerala then you might be tempted to stretch it to Dindigul which has a few good hotels.

If the destination is towards Thrissur ,Kochi etc,then Salem is ideal.With an early breakfast,you could be home for a late lunch

I have been trying to keep this link updated with all the eateries,like i said have been a little irregular off-late.

https://goo.gl/zKhoZH

[professor.march]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

When i travelled to BLR from HYD in July, there was a diversion at Kurnool city, where a new flyover was being constructed. I had to take the service road for nearly 1.5 kms.

Has this been completed?

Yes. The flyover is completed. It's mostly uninterrupted now except for a signal after/near to DMart (i think!). Apart from this, there were a couple of diversions near gooty and dhone that are also completed now.

There were a couple of diversions yesterday. One was on the tungabhadra river bridge where the left side of the bridge was closed (traveling from BLR) and both sides used the right bridge. And one more near Boothpur before jadcherla (this has been going on for more than 6 months)

[bht]

I need to drive to Hyderabad coming week end from Bangalore and need to be at Banjara hills @ 9-930am at max. can some one please advise what would be ideal start time from Bangalore and if there are any places open for stops/breaks during night time from the experiences here, GMaps says 10hrs as driving time?

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by bht

I need to drive to Hyderabad coming week end from Bangalore and need to be at Banjara hills @ 9-930am at max. can some one please advise what would be ideal start time from Bangalore and if there are any places open for stops/breaks during night time from the experiences here, GMaps says 10hrs as driving time?

I just did a round trip to Banjara Hills, Hyderabad from Bangalore, on the past long weekend.

While going there, there was some traffic but not too bad, and it took me about 7 hours from South Bangalore to Banjara Hills, after an early morning start at 5:15am. While returning, the traffic was very heavy and I got stuck at a few jams, and took a lot more time. So it all depends on the traffic.

For arriving there at 9am, I think you would have to start from Bangalore at about 2am. But again, it will depend on your driving style, number of stops on the way, and the traffic of course.

[bht]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

I just did a round trip to Banjara Hills, Hyderabad from Bangalore, on the past long weekend.

While going there, there was some traffic but not too bad, and it took me about 7 hours from South Bangalore to Banjara Hills, after an early morning start at 5:15am. While returning, the traffic was very heavy and I got stuck at a few jams, and took a lot more time. So it all depends on the traffic.

For arriving there at 9am, I think you would have to start from Bangalore at about 2am. But again, it will depend on your driving style, number of stops on the way, and the traffic of course.

Thank you. So 11pm seems realistic, keeping couple of hours extra for any contingencies or any powernaps if needed.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by bht

I need to drive to Hyderabad coming week end from Bangalore and need to be at Banjara hills @ 9-930am at max. can some one please advise what would be ideal start time from Bangalore and if there are any places open for stops/breaks during night time from the experiences here, GMaps says 10hrs as driving time?

With a 3:00 am start from Bangalore Airport toll underneath the trumpet interchange, we entered Hyderabad ring road at 9:20am a week before. This was with a break time of around 50 minutes.

Our cruising speeds were mostly between 110-120 all the times while we may have been even more slower till Kurnool due to badly marked or unmarked speedbreakers.

[bht]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

With a 3:00 am start from Bangalore Airport toll underneath the trumpet interchange, we entered Hyderabad ring road at 9:20am a week before. This was with a break time of around 50 minutes.

Our cruising speeds were mostly between 110-120 all the times while we may have been even more slower till Kurnool due to badly marked or unmarked speedbreakers.

Thanks Parag, hope there are no speed guns during night hours

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by bht

Thanks Parag, hope there are no speed guns during night hours

During the day, for sure, especially between Jadcherla and ORR entry .

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by IUNKWN

I did a Hyd-Blr run on 18th August, took about 9 hours with 1 hour break at hampi blue moon resort. The drive was tiring, the highway has lost its charm, trucks driving in both lanes and blocking the road not letting other vehicles overtake for long, bikes and autos driving on wrong sides of the road coming from opposite direction all of a sudden and the worst was self made gaps in median with bikes hiding in bushes looking for right time to jump in order to cross the road.

I totally agree! Unlike driving to Kochi, this drive was boring and irritating. Only place to make up time was after Anantpur. Got a ticket courtesy of Kodandapurs finest. Note that at Raikal, the police stop and check for pending violations

Stopped at Blue Moon and then somewhere else after Pyramid which looked pretty run down

[vnabhi]

Question on the route to Sarjapur Social from Hebbal. We need to drive to our daughter's place from Hyderabad. Wanted to check from BLR folks here on what route should I take from Hebbal---should I take the ring road via Manyata Tech Park, Tin Factory and Marathahalli, or should i take the old route via Raj Bhavan, Brigade Road and Silk Board?

I am not aware of the latest road conditions, hence any inputs will be very helpful. We plan to start at 5 AM from Necklace Road area in Hyderabad.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

....take the ring road via Manyata Tech Park, Tin Factory and Marathahalli,

We plan to start at 5 AM from Necklace Road area in Hyderabad.

You would be entering Bangalore city in the afternoon (post 1pm) probably. You can take the ring road as the traffic would be less until 4PM. Roads are good along this stretch although the ongoing metro work does create bottle necks in a few spots.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by ashis89

You would be entering Bangalore city in the afternoon (post 1pm) probably. You can take the ring road as the traffic would be less until 4PM. Roads are good along this stretch although the ongoing metro work does create bottle necks in a few spots.

Thank you, followed your advice and reached my daughter's flat near Carmelaram station at 1 pm, having left Hyderabad at 4:20 AM. Though I did not cross 100 till dawn, I checked and found no speeding tickets.

I agree that the drive has become longer in duration and has lost the excitement it once had, mainly due to the below reasons:-

--Speed guns on the way---luckily I escaped those. Cover of darkness might have helped.

--Too many speedbreakers between Kurnool and Penukonda. These spring up at almost every major town's bypass. Earlier we saw these only near Dhone, Anantapur and Gutturu, apart from the ones at Chikbellapur and Devanahalli. Now they have doubled or nearly trebled.

--Phenomenol increase in two-wheeler traffic near Anantapur---30 kms before to 30 kms after that town. This makes it difficult to overtake a slow-moving truck that is hogging the right lane.

--Road surface at a few places between Dhone and Anantapur has deteriorated.

--At nearly 3 or 4 places between Jadcherla and Peunkonda, the opposite road was closed,and cones were placed in the middle of our side to accommodate opposite direction traffic. These stretches were for 2 kms each. A slow-moving truck in front of you will slow you down for the entire stretch.

--Hebbal to Belandur ring road has become a lot narrower due to the metro construction. Tin factory coninutes to be a headache, where the 1 km distance takes nearly 15 minutes.

What has improved however is that i could spot several mobile vans offering hot idly-wada-dosa for breakfast. I found nearly a dozen of these between Kurnool and Anantapur. Also found some good breakfast joints just after crossing Anantapur.

Long back, we could cover Hyd airport to Blr airport in 5 to 5.5 hours. Now it took me 6.5 hours for that.

Another setback I found was the hotel Blue Moon at Kasepalli was closed. Not sure why.

Hope this helps those who are looking for recent updates.

[Altrozed]

How do you all spot the speed guns ? Are they stationary and mounted on a pole like seen In Middle East ? Or they are set up in a Sumo or Innova with rear doors open ?
Any leverage /grace above the speed of 80kmkh is permitted?

[shankar.balan]

I am planning a drive to Hyderabad this long weekend.
Leaving Friday early morning and returning Sunday.
Plan is to leave at 0430 from HSR and drive straight.
Need decent breakfast and washroom options en route. Also a light lunch option will be good.
Will be staying around Banjara Hills and will do a little loafing inside Hyderabad.
Will plan to leave for Bangalore on Sunday after breakfast. Lunch en route. Want to be back in Bangalore by mid to late afternoon.
What is the driving time I need to plan for?
Relatively sedate driving. 90-110kmph. Mahindra Thar. Me as driver and 2 passengers with light luggage.

Would appreciate any help including an optimum route map from experts.

[Mustang_Boss]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Need decent breakfast and washroom options en route. Also a light lunch option will be good.

Want to be back in Bangalore by mid to late afternoon.

What is the driving time I need to plan for?

I used to travel via the new Airport route as i used to stay in whitefield. You could take the highway from Hebbal if it shorter for you.

Food options:
following are my preferred choices because of their simplistic nature.
1) KFC's and McDonalds are at the Karnataka Border. Around 90 Kms from Whitefield, along with Shell Gas station on your right. (On the way to Hyderabad.)
2) KFC's & McDonalds are available the moment you enter Anantapur. which would be almost 200 Kms from Bangalore.
3) Many restaurants in Anantapur, but you have to drive slowly & take the shoulder road to reach many. Decent choices here.
4)The moment you enter Kurnool, you will find "Hyderabad Chefs", "Mr Idly" and some other reputed shops, which are good. (350 Kms from Bangalore)
5) Food Pyramid at around 450 Kms from Bangalore is very good. A bit Renowned for its food quality.

All above places have good washrooms and offer good quality food. The last one is very good.

Time: You are looking at ~10.5 hours of driving, with ~2 breaks. Expect some decent traffic in the form of two wheelers around PenuKonda, (Kia Factory), and Anantapur where your speed does come down for ~50-70 Kms.

Note:
- Expect some unexpected and surprising hugee speed breakers in the middle of the road in Andhra pradesh.
- There are minimal to no gas stations in Andhra pradesh, so, get your Tank filled before the above said "shell Gas Station" mentioned above.