Bangalore to Kolkata. Require Route Suggestions


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nozzlering

nozzlering

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I am planning a road trip to Kolkata, sometime in mid August.I will be staying at Ranchi for few days before heading towards Kolkata. I love long drives, but have never gone this far earlier. As per google maps, there are quite a few options available.
I am looking for options till Ranchi, as it is the longest stretch. Ranchi to Kolkata is only few hours, and have not considered that here.
  • Bangalore- Hyderabad- Raipur- Ranchi 1944 kms
  • Bangalore -Vellore-Nellore-Vizag-Bhuvaneshwar-Kharagpur-Tata-Ranchi 1951 kms
Years back I have driven on Kharagpur- Tata stretch, and it was like hell. Potholes big enough to engulf a pig. Dont know the condition now.
Also, in both routes, I will be passing Naxal areas. Is it safe, if I pass during daytime? What backup plan would be needed?

My plan is to drive all day, and sleep at nights. We will be 3 adults and 2 kids (I would be the only driver). Our pet dog too would accompany us. So we would be facing challenges in finding hotels/ lodges.
Please let the valuable suggestions flow in.
 
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Gurrala74

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@Nozzle

I think first route is best Bangalore-Hyderabad-Nagpur-Raipur-Ranchi as most of the road is 4 lane as I know till Nagpur and I do not have any idea after that.

The second route is also good but this NH5 is heavy crowded with trucks and other things
 
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amit1km

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I can give some information from Bangalore to Bhubaneswar.
Day 1: you can target to Rajahmundry with minimal break.If you start by 5.00 AM from bangalore you can reach to Rajahmundry by 8.00 PM. For staying you can opt for "Hotel Anand Regency" (no knowledge on other hotel).
If you do some spirited driving then you can touch Vizag also. It all depend on you. But you will be dead tired.
Day 2: If you start by same 5.00 AM, then you can touch Bhubaneswar by 2.00PM.
From Bhubaneswar to Calcutta ,it may take around 6-7 hours since road are really nice now.
Crossing the Vijaywada city will eat a lot of your time.Road are really nice apart from some 70-80 KM road widening is happening before Vijaywada.
 
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nozzlering

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Thanks Gurrala and amit
Yes Roads are good till Nagpur. Real challenge will start after Nagpur. As most of the roads would be single lane. Dont know about the condition of roads.
option 2 is good as well, but as I said, I dont know the condition of road after Bhubaneshwar.
 
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mastiandroid5

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nozzlering said:
I am planning a road trip to Kolkata, sometime in mid August.

  • Bangalore- Hyderabad- Raipur- Ranchi 1944 kms
  • Bangalore -Vellore-Nellore-Vizag-Bhuvaneshwar-Kharagpur-Tata-Ranchi 1951 kms
Click to expand...
I think the second option will be a good one. Since Nellore to Kharagpur road is part of the golden quadrilateral, it must be in good condition. I am not sure about the road from Kharagpur to Ranchi.
 
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amit1km

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nozzlering said:
Thanks Gurrala and amit
Yes Roads are good till Nagpur. Real challenge will start after Nagpur. As most of the roads would be single lane. Dont know about the condition of roads.
option 2 is good as well, but as I said, I dont know the condition of road after Bhubaneshwar.
Click to expand...
After Bhubaneswar till Odisha/WB border the Road is like butter smooth. No idea after Odisha Border.
 
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AR Ram

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Gurrala74 said:
@Nozzle

I think first route is best Bangalore-Hyderabad-Nagpur-Raipur-Ranchi as most of the road is 4 lane as I know till Nagpur and I do not have any idea after that.

The second route is also good but this NH5 is heavy crowded with trucks and other things
Click to expand...
The road from Nagpur to Hyderabad was a mess due to lane expansion, when I traveled on that stretch in February last. Is that completed now?
 
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AR Ram

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Gurrala74 said:
Yes, Ram Sir, It is almost 90% completed now and driving on this road is a great pleasure too[:)]
Click to expand...
That's really great. In fact, I made a mistake of selecting this route when I was driving down from Delhi, during my last trip. Right from Gwalior to Hyderabad the roads were a nightmare. Better to say, there were no roads at certain long stretches.
 
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nozzlering

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Need urgent help/ advise from members. Just now Guralla informed that Bangalore Hyderabad route is not safe now because of the protests. I enquired from KSRTC. They too have suspended there services. And I need to travel. Guralla suggested me other routes which seem good, though a bit longer.
As per my present plan, I had stop overs at Hyderabad and Raipur.
The new Tentative route would be
Bangalore-Chitradurga-Bijapur-Nanded-Nagpur-Raipur-Ranchi.
Can anyone throw some light on the condition of this route. Which city would be safe for aan overnight stay before Nagpur. Is it possible for me to drive all the way to Nagpur (1210 km) in a day?
 
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nozzlering

nozzlering

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OK. so here's a plan ready. Kindly comment.
Day 1
Bangalore-Tumkur-Chitradurga-Bijapur-Nanded 833 kms
Day 2
Nanded-Yavatmal-Bhandara-Raipur 617 kms
Day 3
Raipur-Bilaspur-Kukuri-Gumla-Ranchi 563 kms

I have made arrangements for Day 1 hotel stay. Day 2 hotel stay same as earlier. Will cancel Hyderabad hotel booking. Luckily I got hotels which allow pets.
Eagerly awaiting updates of condition of this route
 
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AR Ram

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nozzlering said:
OK. so here's a plan ready. Kindly comment.
Day 1
Bangalore-Tumkur-Chitradurga-Bijapur-Nanded 833 kms
Day 2
Nanded-Yavatmal-Bhandara-Raipur 617 kms
Day 3
Raipur-Bilaspur-Kukuri-Gumla-Ranchi 563 kms

I have made arrangements for Day 1 hotel stay. Day 2 hotel stay same as earlier. Will cancel Hyderabad hotel booking. Luckily I got hotels which allow pets.
Eagerly awaiting updates of condition of this route
Click to expand...
Drive safe. Avoid night driving especially with families. Though I am not familiar with this route, I feel some of the stretches may be two lane, so be more alert. Check your wiper blades if necessary change it.

Once you come back, share your travel experiences with us

Wish you a Happy Journey.
 
Thread Starter #14
nozzlering

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I successfully completed my journey till Ranchi. Didnt drive further to Kolkata, as not needed. I completed the journey in 3 days. Total distance covered 2240 kms. All went well as planned.
Day 1
I started at 0330 hrs from my residence. Roads were empty. After few kms, I started increasing the speed. Roads in Karnataka in general were very good. Problem started in Maharashtra where roads were not that good; and extremely bad between Solapur and Nanded. And to make things worse, it was raining and people were driving with high beam ON. Total of about 1050 kms. I reached hotel at 2230 hrs, bringing down the average speed to about 55 kmph.
Day 2
The journey was started at 0600 hrs for journey towards. We had to reach Raipur by same night. The roads were good, mostly. In the morning time, I saw people defecating on both side of the road. I was a bit surprised. We took Nagpur bypass and stopped at a family restaurant after crossing Nagpur. After we ordered food, we found that its a bar (from other entrance). Anyways while we had our food, our pet kept watch. [:)] It was raining most of the time while we were in Chhatisgarh. And just before Raipur, it was very bad. Rain with strong winds. Roads were almost empty, and I could barely see. Instead of stopping, I started following a truck. I reached hotel by 2030 hrs. Hotel was good. They welcomed our pet too. We had a nice dinner and a sound sleep. Total distance covered 580 kms.
Day 3
We started at 0430 hrs. This day was crucial, as roads in Jharkhand and chhatisgarh border are ver bad sometimes. So I wanted to cover most of the distance in daylight and reach Ranchi by 2300 hrs atleast. Nightmare started as soon as we came out of town. A road full of potholes, full of muddy water. You dont know which one is how much deep? Anyways, my Manza cleared them successfully. After about 5 kms, roads became driveable. After about 40 kms I started feelinf sleepy. We stopped at a junction. We had tasty poha and chai (tea). We started the journey from here towards Korba. Outside Korba, again a stretch full of potholes. Here, luckily, some locals warned us about few potholes which were capable of engulfing trucks. We passed that stretch. Surprisingly, the stretch which I had doubted most, turned out to be in excellent condition. Roads were good till Ranchi. And I reached destination by 1900 hrs. I was again p***ed off in Ranchi, as every one is driving on High beam and all fog lamps ON. I wonder how they manage to drive like this. Truckers have much better road discipline than many of us educated car drivers. Total distance driven 610 km.

Photos will follow soon as right now I cant upload them.
 
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