|
NH7 – Bangalore to Chennai Road Review (and back) |
I had been thinking of writing this review for a long time now. Not sure of how to go about it. Not that I did not have ideas. On the contrary , I had many ideas but was not able to make a choice.
So here I am , having made my choice, presenting a review of the a ”Road frequently traveled”.
The distance between Chennai and Bangalore is approx. 340 km (GPO to GPO, that’s how distances are measured, right?). There are 2 prominent routes between these 2 cities.
- Via Hosur and
- Via Chittoor
Route no 2, is supposedly shorter as compared to Route 1. However, its half the width of Route 1. If you had asked me around 3 yrs back, I would have suggested this route rather than the first one. So, what is it that has changed in the last 3 odd years?Here’s the answer.
Route 1 which is a national highway is a part of the Golden Quadilateral that connects the four metro cities. So???
So, the advantage that this got is that the roads are broad and well-maintained.
The journey begins from Hosur road at the Silk board junction in Madiwala,
Bangalore. Till the time you cross electronic city (15 odd kms from Silk Board), the journey is all but fast, thanks to the traffic.
The traffic eases out once the EC junction is crossed. From here till the border of Karnataka/Tamilnadu takes only 20 minutes. Before you realize , you hit the industrial town of
Hosur. From here on , it’s a breeze. The stretch that I love the most is Hosur to Krishnagiri, which is a ghat section (not in the true sense, but relative). Its scenic and the best time to be driving on this stretch is in the early morning when the sun comes up in the horizon. From EC to Krishnagiri, it takes around an hour.( a distance of 70 kms).
Remember this is a toll road and there are 4 toll booths that one needs to cross (pay) to get to Chennai. The first toll is at Krishnagiri. Once you cross Krishnagiri, there is a deviation you need to take for Chennai(Dont worry, there are sign-boards). From here on , it’s the plains and one can just zip across comfortably at high speeds (I remember touching 150 on my Fiesta,later came down to 130 thanks to the stares from my family folks). The best part is that you would not want to take your foot off the gas pedal (accelerator), but at the same time , the landscape is too inviting not to stop. I remember stopping here and there to get a picture or two (some this-happens-only-in-india stuff too)
.jpg)
As you drive along , the small towns of Ambur, Vaniyambadi, Walajabad go past, until you reach the outskirts of
Vellore. If you are tired , and want to take a break , you would find decent restaurant here to cool your heels off until they are ready to take on again. You might need to veer off the main highway and get into the city to find a decent restaurant.
Once past Vellore, comes Ranipet, where route no 1 and 2 merge. From here till Kanchipuram , is where you can catch up on lost time. From Kanchipuran the going gets a little slow till you reach Sriperumbudur and slower as u get to Poonamallee. Then on , it’s the city traffic. Welcome to Chennai
In short, the NH7 , is a great road to drive on . If you are driving non stop at a constant speed of 100-110, you should be able to reach Chennai outskirts in less than 4.5 hrs.
I can never forget the bus(Volvo) journey where the bus left Chennai at 12 and reached
Bangalore (Silk board) at 4.45 AM. This was with a break of 10 min (to wake up the backup driver).
Summary :
Distance : 340 Kms
Time it takes : anywhere between 4.5 and 5 hrs (using the formula time=distance/speed)
Ideal speed : 100-110 (I cud maintain 130 in my Fiesta)
Best time to start : 5.30 AM if possible (latest by 6.15)
Meal Stops : Krishnagiri or
Vellore or Kanchipuram
February 6th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Short review :) , what about the other route ?
February 8th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Good one. NH 7 per mein abhi Goa travel kiya.
Soch raha hoon ki 1 trip maar hi aata hoon aab Chennai ka.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Karthik, you are tempting me to traverse this route.
I did travel on this road a few years back (ghumakkar.com was not born then) when it was a standard national highway of yore.
March 19th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Karthik,
Really cool review and guide.
Thank s a lot. I am planning to drive through this route to chennai for this weekend trip.
Dhanesh
April 10th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Hey Karthik,
Thats was so nice of you.. I am definitely going to utilize this info.
April 12th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Thank you very much for the information.I am planning a trip to Bangalore from chennai and back with my wife and 1 year old Kid. I have a delima of Krishnagir route or Chittore route. But now i am clear prefer Via Krishnagiri. Thanks for the Info.Will get back after the trip.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:27 am
Hi Karthik
Thank you for the great review and cool pics,I’m a South African living in Chennai and will be visiting a friend in Bangalore and your travel tips are greatly appreciated.
Best regards
Faye
September 29th, 2008 at 7:27 am
I am planning to leave bangalore at around 5.30 PM on a tuesday. Considering the time at which am leaving, which route is suggested - via Chittoor or via Vellore? I prefer to take the Chittoor route as i stay very close to KR Puram in Bangalore. Await any comments or suggestions.
September 29th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Nice review, I have travelled by both routes in the last couple of years, but the hosur route has been the best so far, my last two trips to Chennai have been via this route. I will be travelling again this thursday and plan to leave at 6:00 AM (This is mainly to get to Hosur from Bangalore or you can safely add another hour to the entire trip).
Possible bottle neck is at Vellore but other than that its a breeze.
And Sudhakar… suggest you take the hosur route, and since u are leaving at 5:30, you should be able to make good time even though this route is about 30 km longer. You can always use the outer ring road to get from KR Puram to Silk Board.
October 25th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
NH7 runs from banaras to kanyakumari!!!!!..shame on ur knowledge……………….bangalore to chennai is NH4
October 26th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Ramu - NH4 is the route no 2 i.e. via Chittoor. Its probably a common route as aptly mentioned by Karthik.
In this post, we are on a different road which is Blr - Krishnagiri - Vellore - Chennai. You are 100% right on NH7 but interestingly Blr - Krishnagiri falls under Banares-Kanyakumari :) and I think thats the reason Karthik mentioned NH7.
I would think that Karthik mentioned NH7 so that folks can distinguish the drive from the usual NH4 when they leave Blr and probably later he failed to mention that one would need to exit out of NH7 post Ratnagiri. I have driven with him , in separate cars as well as same car, few times and I have not found many who are as consistent and as non-rushed like him from my share of road-rides :)
I think you were a little harsh on him.
October 27th, 2008 at 3:50 am
Thanks for that Nandan. The highway that leads out of bangalore towards Hosur and K’giri is NH7. For chennai , one needs to veer off NH7 after K’giri.