[prabingade]

Avi, The trip to Golden Temple is possible in 6 hrs if it is a weekday and may take at least 8 hrs if it is weekend. Let me explain:
1. The traffic is generally high and you can't achieve the speeds of Kurnool to Tirupathi
2. You have to pass through the entire Katpadi and Vellore town which in itself will take 1hr+ to get to Golden Temple
3. In the Temple the parking can be time consuming (especially taking out)
4. I suggest buying the Rs100 ticket as the darshan will be from a closer loop and it would save sometime.

We started from Tirupathi at 5pm and returned by 12:00midnight but had to rush through the temple on a weekend.

[kreddy]

I did Tirupati to Anantapur via Piler,Madanapalli & Kadiri last month. Road is super smooth all the way with broken white line markings in the centre of road. Except for few bad patches near Vayalpad and numerous level crossings I suggest this route.

[rm_arjuna]

Avi, no need to get into town continue on the highway as you get down the flyover , maybe a little ahead by 50 mtrs you will find a sevice lane in the left take the road it will lead to small bylane and you will cross a level crossing .After the rail crossing you will hit a junction , keep straight the winding road will reach a main road next to small round about , take right and keep straight , after 2 odd kms you will find a y junction , take right you are on Nadiyal road , from here one straight stretch till Cuddappa.

if confused as you get down the flyover ask for nadiyal road , anyone will guide u, u will save atleast 30mins by not venturing in town.

After Kurnool there is a small ghat section the roads in nandyal bypass is not good and some stretch between nadiyal to allagada is also bad .


route decided by you is shortest ,however there is four lane work happening and small road with heavy lorry / village traffic . my suggestion would be look at gooty- madanapalle route , it will be fast for your cruze and good roads aswell but a bit longer .

[ksrchowdary]

Originally Posted by mobike008

I am scheduled to drive down to Tirupathi on Nov 4th and return on Nov 6th or 7th.

Decided to take this route which shows the total distance of 557kms on Google maps.

Hyderabad-Kurnool-Nandyal-Kadapa-Rajampet

I took this route on Oct 27th. Lost ~30 mins in Kurnool town looking for the way to Nandyala. After crossing Kurnool there aren't many options for food. Took food break at Kadapa APTDC Harita restaurant and Food was not good. 4-laning work is in progress between Kurnool and Kadapa and road condition is not so good with lot of diversions every few Kms and took 4.5 hrs to cover 200 Kms.

On the return journey took the alternate route via Tadipatri and Gooty.
Kadapa-Erraguntla-Tadipatri-Gooty-Kurnool-Hyderabad
Even though distance is 250 Kms between Kadapa and Kurnoll in this route, I was able to cover this stretch in 3.5 hrs. Road condition is slightly better compared to Nandyala road but there is absolutely no traffic in this route. You can do 300 Kms on NH-7 and take diversion at Gooty towards Tadipatri and kadapa.

Since kreddy indicated that Anatapur to Tirupati road is in good condition, I think going via Anantapur will take shortest time among the 3 routes.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Decided to take this route which shows the total distance of 557kms on Google maps.

Hyderabad-Kurnool-Nandyal-Kadapa-Rajampet

Avi bhai, once again I'll ask you to reconsider. The Gooty/Anantapur routes will be much better. In addition to what kreddy and ksrchowdary have said about these routes, I know quite a few people who work with LIC as development officers and agents (read: lots of travelling) in Rayalaseema region courtesy of my uncle who used to live in Piler. The Gooty/Anantapur routes are always preferable.

Originally Posted by mobike008

1. Any landmark for turning left towards Nandyal? Do I need to go through the Kurnool town or its before the town starts?

Originally Posted by rm_arjuna

Avi, no need to get into town continue on the highway as you get down the flyover , maybe a little ahead by 50 mtrs you will find a sevice lane in the left take the road it will lead to small bylane and you will cross a level crossing .After the rail crossing you will hit a junction , keep straight the winding road will reach a main road next to small round about , take right and keep straight , after 2 odd kms you will find a y junction , take right you are on Nadiyal road , from here one straight stretch till Cuddappa.

if confused as you get down the flyover ask for nadiyal road , anyone will guide u, u will save atleast 30mins by not venturing in town.

After Kurnool there is a small ghat section the roads in nandyal bypass is not good and some stretch between nadiyal to allagada is also bad .

rm_arjuna has it spot-on. Like Venu Sir said, it might need some asking around, but won't slow you down too much. You won't encounter too much of Kurnool town. You'll be kind of skirting it without exactly bypassing it.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Yes it does. I could not get to see Nandyal when I drove to and fro on NH18. I did see a board though stating Nandyal was on the left while going from Kurnool to Kadapa.

+1

This is the Nandyal "bypass" and was in really bad shape when I did it ~10 months ago (as well as when Dad did it some ~9 months ago). But the bad stretch is only a couple of hundred metres along, and if a fully loaded Civic was able to cross it without scraping its bottom, I will consider it safe overall.

The speed-breakers on the Kadapa - Rajampet stretch are similar. They are monstrous but if the said fully-loaded Civic (4 pax + full boot) could clear them with ease, there is no issue. There was the odd pothole that could catch you out suddenly. I hope those have been filled now.

And whatever you do, do *not* take Kadapa - Rayachoti - Piler - Tirupati if you turn off NH7 at Kurnool towards Nandyal - Kadapa. Take the Kadapa - Rajampet - Renigunta route only. You won't even hit Kadapa town.

The turn-off towards Tirupati at Renigunta (crossing the railway track) off the Kadapa - Rajampet - Renigunta road is narrow and easy to miss in the dark, but should not pose a problem during the day.

Enjoy your drive! I remember thinking it wasn't worth doing TTD by car after choosing the Nandyal route while going and then coming back via NH5 + NH9 after attending to some stuff at Tenali and Bhimavaram. I hope your experience will be better!

Regards,
spadix

[mobike008]

Thank you all for your detailed inputs, much appreciated.

What I can decipher is that the shorter route via. Cuddapah is not necessarily the faster route due to 4-laning work happening.

As I will be travelling with my mom and maasi and have all the time in the world so plan to just "Cruze" and not drive fast

Let me try this. Take one-route while going and other while coming back, it will be a good experience to see both parts of the world

Route 1 : Hyderabad-Kurnool-Cuddapah-Rajampet-Renigunta-Tirupathi (560kms)

Route 2 : Tirupathi-Madenappali-Madiri-Anantpur-Gooty-Kurnool-Hyderabad (640kms)

Now the decision to be taken is should Route # 1 should be used while going or while coming back to Hyderabad. What you'all think?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Route 2 : Tirupathi-Madenappali-Madiri-Anantpur-Gooty-Kurnool-Hyderabad (640kms)

I remember folks (I think it was HVK) saying facilties on NH205 (Pileru-Madanapalle-Kadiri-Ananthpur section) is
not all the great. Since we are talking about 220 odd km, do carry water and food for the elders.

[ksrchowdary]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Let me try this. Take one-route while going and other while coming back, it will be a good experience to see both parts of the world

Route 1 : Hyderabad-Kurnool-Cuddapah-Rajampet-Renigunta-Tirupathi (560kms)

Route 2 : Tirupathi-Madenappali-Madiri-Anantpur-Gooty-Kurnool-Hyderabad (640kms)

Now the decision to be taken is should Route # 1 should be used while going or while coming back to Hyderabad. What you'all think?

You can take Route 1 while going as it might be familiar to you. There was a fly-over construction going on inside Renigunta town and road was blocked. Once you reach the junction outside Renigunta go straight onto Tirupati bypass instead of taking right into Renigunta town and enter at a later point towards Tirupati.

While going to Sripuram, you can consider visiting Kanipakam Vinayaka temple, which is a 15 KM detour.

If coming back to Tirupati is not mandatory after visiting Sreepuram, you can consider return journey as Chittoor-Madenappali-Kadiri-Anantpur-Gooty-Kurnool-Hyderabad (630kms).

As ampere suggested, please stock up food and water as facilities are very poor once we cross Kurnool.

[vnabhi]

@mobike---can we have an update on how route 1 was? And as it appears you took a long time to reach Tirupati, was it on account of the roads are did you stop at many places?

[simplyself]

There is another route - Hyderabad - Nalgonda - Piduguralla - Addanki - Ongole - Nellore - Naidupeta - Srikalahasti - Tirupathi (Alipiri). It is about 600 kilometres. Plus 18 kilometres from Alipiri to Tirumala.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by simplyself

There is another route - Hyderabad - Nalgonda - Piduguralla - Addanki - Ongole - Nellore - Naidupeta - Srikalahasti - Tirupathi (Alipiri). It is about 600 kilometres. Plus 18 kilometres from Alipiri to Tirumala.

What is the condition of the Nalgonda-Ongole road now?

[simplyself]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

What is the condition of the Nalgonda-Ongole road now?

Narketpally - Addanki stretch is good in some parts, bad in many parts and worst in quite a few parts. It took me about 4 hours to do 150 kilometres when I went to Tirupathi on Oct, 17.

This stretch starts 84 kilometres from Hyderabad where it turns right from Narkatpally from NH 9 and joins NH 5 after Addanki. Ofcourse, work is underway - the road is being expanded into a 4 laned one. One can expect a completed 4-lane road in a year's time.

Major towns on this road are Nalgonda - Miryalaguda - Dachepally - Piduguralla - Addanki. 10 odd kilometres after Addanki, near Mederametla this road joins NH 5.

As and when the road is completed (by that time the Malkapur (40 km from Hyderabad) - Narketpally stretch would have been completed), one can have a superb 4 - lane stretch from Hyderabad to Naidupet from where Tirupathi is 75 kilomtres.

Hyderabad to Narketpally (NH 9) - 84 kilometres.
Narketpally - Addanki - 210 kilometres
Addanki - Naidupet (NH 5) - 225 kilometres
Naidupet - Tirupathi - 75 kilometres

[spadix]

Originally Posted by ampere

I remember folks (I think it was HVK) saying facilties on NH205 (Pileru-Madanapalle-Kadiri-Ananthpur section) is
not all the great. Since we are talking about 220 odd km, do carry water and food for the elders.

You could stock up on packed food in Piler and Madanapalle etc. Even the smaller villages en route offer good traditional snacking (tender coconut, fruits and other seasonal stuff). Always best to have at least 10 litres of water spare at any time, though.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

@mobike---can we have an update on how route 1 was? And as it appears you took a long time to reach Tirupati, was it on account of the roads are did you stop at many places?

I remember it took us 10 hrs (0615 to 1630) from Srinagar Colony to Tirupati town via the Kurnool - Nandyal - Kadapa - Rajampet route last year. 4-laning construction work hadn't yet started. We hardly hit 3 digit speeds after Kurnool. The key is to ensure minimum breaks as I don't think this route is amenable to sustained high-speed driving. We only stopped for bio/fuel breaks. F&B was "online" courtesy of the hampers packed from home!

Originally Posted by simplyself

There is another route - Hyderabad - Nalgonda - Piduguralla - Addanki - Ongole - Nellore - Naidupeta - Srikalahasti - Tirupathi (Alipiri).

As and when the road is completed (by that time the Malkapur (40 km from Hyderabad) - Narketpally stretch would have been completed), one can have a superb 4 - lane stretch from Hyderabad to Naidupet from where Tirupathi is 75 kilomtres.

That's good to hear! Tirupati - Nayudupeta - Guntur/VJA is a breeze due to the NH5 and SHs radiating out from Tirupati. NH9 will forever be a pain. I don't think 4-laning is enough. It should be a 6-lane. Until such time, any alternate routes connecting NHs 9 and 5 bypassing VJA will be really useful.

Avi and a few other folks had gone to Bapatla earlier this year and they had probably taken this route on their onward journey. It was reportedly very bad for the sedans in the group.

Regards,
spadix

[simplyself]

Originally Posted by spadix

That's good to hear! Tirupati - Nayudupeta - Guntur/VJA is a breeze due to the NH5 and SHs radiating out from Tirupati. NH9 will forever be a pain. I don't think 4-laning is enough. It should be a 6-lane. Until such time, any alternate routes connecting NHs 9 and 5 bypassing VJA will be really useful.

Avi and a few other folks had gone to Bapatla earlier this year and they had probably taken this route on their onward journey. It was reportedly very bad for the sedans in the group.

Regards,
spadix

One need not go till Vijayawada. You branch out to the right at Narketpally (84 kilometres from Hyderabad) on to Narkatpally - Addanki road. After Piduguralla, go right on the fork to Addanki. Taking left is to go to Sattenapally and Guntur. Narkatpally - Addanki stretch is 210 kilometres, with four laning in progress.

Road is passable, with some bad sections. It is a temporary conditions and within six months to a year, it will be a very good drive indeed as the work is in full swing.

It is true that four - laning the NH 9 is barely adequate for its traffic. It is actually a six - lane road - the land acquisition is for 6 lanes but due to the funds crunch and the precarious traffic condition, it is being widened to 4 - lanes. It is better to have a 4 - lane than the two - lane one with bumper to bumper traffic on NH.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by simplyself

One need not go till Vijayawada. You branch out to the right at Narketpally (84 kilometres from Hyderabad) on to Narkatpally - Addanki road. After Piduguralla, go right on a fork. Taking left is for Sattenapally and Guntur. Narkatpally - Addanki stretch is 210 kilometres, with four laning in progress.

Better idea to turn off NH5 at Chilakaluripet and go via Narasaropet to Piduguralla? Any idea what is the condition of that road?