My intention behind writing road-reviews have been to provide necessary information to fellow travelers (read drivers) who wish to undertake that journey. With that thought, probably New Delhi to Patna by road, doesn’t make the cut, since not many would be traveling (read driving) such a long stretch. Patna is not a hot tourist place and neither is it close enough to let people choose the tar instead of routine rail or expensive air. So the only real reason I think would be then to use this is to get and feel high, since I did it, just the last week. I drove all the way to Darbhanga (200 Km further to Patna) from Delhi. May be 10 years down the line when I read this again, I would feel young (and stupid), so here it is Delhi Patna Road Review.
Delhi – Patna can be divided into following stretches.
Delhi to Patna Distance – 1050 – 1100 KMs , Time – 32 hours with a 12 hour night stop at Allahabad or Banaras. 20-22 hours non-stop with 2 meal breaks and 2 tea breaks.
1. Delhi – Agra – Etawah
2. Etawah – Kanpur
3. Kanpur – Allahabad
4. Allahabad – Banaras
5. Banaras – Patna
Delhi to Patna Road Map
1. Delhi – Agra – Etawah Distance
Distance – 320 KM , Time – 5 hours including a 20 minutes stop at McDonalds, Mathura.
You need to get on NH2 which is more popularly known as Mathura Road. The road exits Delhi from the south so depending upon your point of stay in Delhi, you need to plan an early exit. Ask for ‘Ashram’, its on Ring Road, and then take Mathura Road. Stick to it and cross Badarpur on the way. Badarpur has the reputation of snarling traffic so try to cross that before 6 AM else you would lose some precious time. Keep going straight and cross Palwal. The quality of the road is fantastic and you can easily clock an avg of 65-70 an hour. The traffic would slow down at Kosi trade tax barrier. Again, if you can get past Badarpur by 6, you would be able to avoid this mini-jam. The directions are a no brainer since it’s the same NH2 all the way till Banaras (or Mohania to be precise). Apart from the good tar, there is nothing else great to look at so have some good music and conversation within the cabin. As you approach Mathura, look for that huge M sign of McDonalds. It’s the only decent place to stop for a quick grab but be alert on the time spent as it can eat your valuable minutes without anyone realizing it. Also, if you are leaving early, then its a good stop to relieve yourself and get some clean-hot snacks to fill your belly.
The above pic is from Aditya’s post on Delhi-Agra-Kanpur, which now seems like the most reliable and detailed post on internet. I was so busy driving that I actually missed it.
As you cross Mathura, you would shortly get into Agra madness. Keep your patience and drive safe. There is a lot of petty traffic and some of it can get aggressive very easily so resist your set-the-world-right temptations and allow the wrong-side traffic to carry on with this business-es. If you are not very un-lucky, it should not take lot of time, 30 minutes to cross Agra. If you care and have time, then you can stop for few minutes and watch Sikandra fort. Its right there on the road, on the left.
Once you are out of Agra, the road gets a little better and traffic reduces. Press the pedal and hit Firozabad. This is the first city (after Agra) where you would start to feel the Mughal Era. Some of the old buildings could be still seen, the city is known for its bangles and glass work. There are these big tempting bangles showrooms which you need to pass quickly else a female fellow traveler’s urge makes you stop. After Firozabad, you have Shikohabad and finally Etawah. The roads are really good and you should be able to do an average of 65 (if not 70). This road falls under ‘Golden Quadrilateral’ and NHAI is currently finishing the road in Etawah, so you would need to take a detour. It should be done shortly, most of it is done.
2. Etawah – Kanpur
Distance – 150 KM. Time – 2 hours non-stop
In this stretch you do nothing but just drive quick. Very sparse in terms of traffic and the road is new. The only but very critical and important thing which you need to be aware is that you would find oncoming traffic on the wrong side of road at full speed. It’s a double road so while you think that you can drive at 100 KMph on the right lane of the left road, in practice you can’t do that. This is something which you will see for almost rest of NH2, more when you get out of big cities and are in vicinity of small towns. There is no point in spoiling your drive by getting into the blame game so as I said before, resist the temptation of setting-the-world-right and give these guys their way and forget about it. Since the visibility is good because of no distractions like polls, posters, hoardings, trees, road being straight, it’s not too difficult to spot these wrong-side-right-fellas so just let them go. You can actually do this stretch in less than 2 hours.
3. Kanpur – Allahabad
Distance – 200 KM, Time – 4 hours since the by-pass is not yet done
Most of the road within the Kanpur city is an elevated road, so that takes you away from city traffic. You need to keep on NH2 and should not be taking any left exits, which go to the city. The landscape (and the social-scape) would now begin to change. We are now starting to get into Eastern UP and as you travel more towards East, the poverty would start to hit you. It’s not very visible since you are still on a big-side road but as your cross small towns, you would start to see it. The shops in these towns are more like the assembled contraption of wood-and-aluminium (from vanaspati ghee tins) and it’s not un-common to find small kids relieving themselves in open along the road.
The road is all the same, quick and clean with very minimum traffic. About 60 Km after Kanpur, look for a big BP petrol pump on your right, its in Malwa and is a COCO (Company Owned Company Operated). Its time to re-fuel (assuming that you started with a full-tank) and get some fresh air. There is a small tea shop where you can have tea and snacks. There are swings and some green area to relax. Loos are clean though not too great. It seemed like a nice-clean and big place to have some quick bites and get enough energy to hit Prayag, the Sangam city.
Allahabad is about 140 KM from this place, you would pass many small towns and finally you would reach a point, from where it appeared to me that NH2 is making a by-pass. Its not yet ready and didn’t seem like it would be done shortly. In any case, we had decided to stay put in Allahabad (a quick story on that later) so we went in. You would pass a town called Lukarganj. The road suddenly gets narrow and some of the stetches are actually stone-paved, with so much of petty traffic and narrow-potholed roads because of rain, you wonder whether you would ever make it to Prayag. Sustain all that and find a good place to stay. I stayed at Kanha Shyam which I think is incorrectly rated (high) and has lived its life. I looked at Map and it shows a by-pass kind of thing. Anyway.
4. Allahabad – Banaras
Distance – 120 KMs, Time – 2.5 Hours (if you are coming from city, once by-pass is there, it would be less than 2 hours)
I think I started to write about the social side but didn’t elaborate much. Now you are in true Eastern UP. While the quality of the roads remain same, the infrastructure seems to have taken a beating. The houses wont have plasters on the outer walls in small towns, the shops have no spank and the landscape looks more rural. There are less tractors in the fields and there are more people with bare chests and worn-out dhotis. Even though it would look more like apna-desh, it may not be necessarily pleasant. Almost everyone would be chewing pan or a gutkha, from toll man to rick puller to khaki clad police wallahs. There is definitely much less rush and there is more time per transaction but it can get a little depressing at times, especially for spoil-ed metropolitans. I noticed more of this since I stayed at Prayag and had to really pass through couple of small towns. I think one of them was Hanuman-Ganj (what a hindu-muslim solidarity name of a place, hanuman and ganj) but most of you would avoid this if you don’t chose to stay at Allahabad.
Anyway, I would come back and rather focus on road, since we have a long way to go. We stayed at Banaras but if you don’t then that’s much better since Banaras is not on NH2. You spend a lot of time going in the city and coming out (that has its own charm but can be avoided at least in one of the to or fro trip).
5. Banaras – Patna
Distance – 250 KM, Time – 5 hours
Eastern UP is gradually getting over. While you can survive the chaos and sheer variety of Banaras by being more patient, we were preparing ourselves to enter Bihar which over time has lost its reputation of being a hub of culture-education and power. Since we were in the city, we headed towards Mughal Sarai to get to other side of Ganga. Mughal Sarai used to be a big hub for Indian Railways at one point of time, it even is today, to a great extent but development over time has acted as a great leveler, and for the same reasons it’s fairly big and the urban sprawl goes on for a while. I still remember the times, when the loco of our train would be changed, from Diesel to Electric or vice-versa, depending upon which side you are going to. Banaras and Mughalsarai is divided by a bridge. After crossing Mughalsarai, we joined NH2 and it was again 6 lane high-speed drive till Mohania.
From Mohania, you can either go all the way down to Kolkata or take a left to reach Patna via Ara. As we took the left, the landscape suddenly changed. From a double road highway, we were on a single two lane road but very well tar-red. On both sides we had long stretches of fields. Since it was June, the rice has not yet made in and there was nothing on the fields at most of the places.
I realize that a lot of people are not reading the comments. Well things change so do read the comments for latest. As of now, do NOT take the exit at Mohania, instead go a little further till Sasarem and then head towards Ara. Mohania-Ara is being re-built from the scratch so hopefully when its done it would be a breeze but till then, go via Sasarem.
We crossed numerous small towns on the way, we were able to get past quick because there was hardly any traffic. The occasional bus or even less occasional tractor was what we needed to maneuver. We drove past Buxar (remember the battle of Buxar) and were heading to one of the big political and historical marvels of all times. This part of Bihar is a little better-off in terms of overall development, employment, money, at least till Ara. The distance of 150 KM from Mohania to Ara was spent in less than 3 hours. We had not planned to break till Patna so we kept going.
At Ara, we had a one hour stop at a railway crossing. As many as five trains passed while the barriers were down. This simply killed the good time we had saved but anyway. From Ara, the road quality takes a hit, especially as you reach Danapur, even though Danapur is a cantonment area.
One interesting ride which I should share with all of you is this real long road bridge, after Arrah. As we were approaching the bridge, we noticed that the traffic has gradually started to drift towards right and there is this serpentine line which seemed to be heading at some barrier. We suspected a railway crossing, being ignorant we kept on our left and after passing all the waiting trucks (which were now on our right), we discovered that there is this long road/rail bridge. So we reached to the head of the queue, may be the make of the car did it or what, we were not looked at with contempt by the few police-men who were controlling the entry to the bridge. After a while, we were asked to move in and boy what a view. Try to imagine a narrow real long straight bridge which is double-decker, since the rail bridge is on first floor, is old, the color if the iron has gone rust-colored, you look down and you see Ganga and there are not many cars in front, infact none for us. The bridge is so long that you can’t see the other end and I didn’t meter it but it must be more than a KM. If someone from that area is reading this then we would really benefit from some more details. It was one damn different experience.
Ok, So it’s already past noon. Enter Danapur, remember to take a right (so keep asking) else you would get into something which you would regret (we almost did). Get off Danapur and you are at Patna. You are still at the out-skirt but you could sense that this once has been one of the greatest cities of all times, the patliputra, a city which has seen the only golden era of Indian History. So much for drive and for the adrenaline, we were finally there.
I was to drive beyond Patna (200 KMs further towards North) but I would save you further fatigue. Its been a really really long journey. We crossed the longest bridge on Ganga (5 odd KM), Mahatma Gandhi Setu, which was not in a good condition. Some pics before I close.
Mahatma Gandhi Setu
Keep going
We could see the mammoth Ganga in its full glory and as we looked up, the astonishing skyscape was even more grand. Being humbled by both, we clicked some pics, thanked our stars , while still driving and carried on.
Ahaa ! You reminded me of a trip down memory lane when I was a small kid. I only remember the names of some places because of the experiences we had. It was Delhi to Jhumri Tillaiya or Bhagalpur, I don’t remember but we had visited both places. And the route we had taken was Moradabad, Bareilly, Lucknow, Varanasi and from there I think it was same route as yours.
We had broken down our journey into several days, visiting & staying in all major cities.
And please, don’t interrupt your journey. Take us to Darbhanga as well. Also, tell us if is it safe to go there now as tourists if I convince some people to visit Bihar ?
Oh, really. Tillaiya is now in Jharkhand and from Varanasi you would have to take a different route but for bhagalpur you will probably follow most of this route. I came back from Darbhanga via Gorakhpur and all along the way, I could see the NHAI East-West Corridor work getting done. I followed the same route as you, i.e. Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Bareily, Moradabad, Delhi on the way back.
From Patna to Darbhanga, there is nothing great to write, it got dark and not much of significance except that in some stretches there was no road :) and while at other stretches, there was this 6 lane highway courtesy again the East-West corridor.
Regarding safety, I was advised to avoid night driving in areas around Chhapra – Muzzafarpur belt, Patna-Muzzafarpur is relatively safe, beyond Muzzafarpur, its all safe.
I never expected that someone would write such a comment :), thanks. Makes one feel good and useful.
Beautiful and crisp description. All through I felt that I was a part of the entourage. The pictures are simply captivating.
The five KMs long bridge over the river Ganges, perhaps is the longest in the country !!
The post has come at the most appropriate time, as we are in the midst of deploying over 200 ATMs (I work for an ATM manufacturing company) all over the state of UP. This post will be of immense help to us.
Thank you for sharing.
Nandan,
You are most welcome. Yes, Jharkhand is now a separate state.
Good hein Nandan, such a long drive. Do share the experience of coming back, not looking too much here and there and just driving, haan?
A crisp review indeed !
What struck me was that you kept your eyes open to the rural landscape and the associated poverty in our desh.
Thanks Ram. On the way back, I took Darbhanga – Gorakhpur – Delhi and covered almost the rest of Eastern UP and some of Bihar.
Upanshu – I took a different route for coming back and a better part of it is already covered under another review (Delhi Moradabad Lucknow) so not sure how many readers would really want it. And also the overall alert-ness is a little less and the focus is more on back-home :) so I dont remember too many details.
Sudhir – Yeah, it gets a little different beyond Kanpur.
Wow. I would really like to do this once. I have done iit several times on rail but road would be fun. Only thing is that you get regular advice from folks “dont drive during night” and As you also mentioned”dont try to discipline people”.
I almost got the feel of coal tar and enjoyed the journey. May be next time you do something this crazy I will hop in to your car.
Agree with you that ‘not many will be travelling such a long stretch’ but road reviews are indeed what I’m looking for, out of Delhi to any place in India. There is no dearth of travelogues in the cyber world but not many road reviews.
So cheer yourself up with the fact that there ARE people looking forward to driving experiences however crazy it look like!
In fact, I am planning for trips much beyond Patna.
Srijan – It would be more fun to have people like you on-board :) Patna is a little afar, we should probably plan something close-by on one of the weekends, may be the carrom club (if our better halfs allow us)
Patrick – I was missing your comment. I know some of us would just be happy to be on road. Why you would be making plans on driving beyond Patna and which side (further East or North East).
Nandan, one more thing, driving for 22 hours should be a big NO NO. It’s dangerous, not acceptable in driving rules. Better to take more time then stretching yourself and family.
I remember one of my flying/driving Seattle-Toronto-Niagra-Toronto, not too long drive, but I was driving @ 2:30 AM and last 20 KMS were scary as I was about to fall on wheels.
Safety 1st buddy.
I agree with Upanshu, 100%! Infact the last time we drove on this route at 1 AM, it was decided that this would not be a benchmark… we managed to stretch it to 2:30 AM this time! bad!
Night driving and driving for more than 15 hours (that’s the max, upper, top limit buddy) should be avoided at all costs.
And for anyone driving ahead of Patna, take the by-pass, and avoid the city. You will miss the bypass, mostly – as even the natives of Patna do not know where it exists… but look for it, it must be somewhere in the city itself, I am assured.
Nandan,
This sounds like the beginnings of a great road movie. Hmmm, who will play Urmila? Or was it Antara Mali? You made me miss home! But, hats off to you, for taking on this mammoth road trip. And living to tell us about it!Waiting for a Delhi-Ladakh road review from you now…
Upanshu – Agree. Always. 20-22 is a conservative estimate for this stretch, a more focused and planned drive with at least two drivers, can be finished in 18 odd hours. Also once the allahabad bypass is done, we are good.
Start by 5 in the morning and reach by 11 in the night. But yes, I agree with you and Smita, SAFETY FIRST.
Smita – Right.
Shreyasi – It was Antara, though Urmila would have done as bad a job there :), Delhi – Leh is pending and should happen soon. The only thing which is stopping me is whether its fine to take a 3 year old baby. But, yes when it happens it would be here. And next time, I am driving back home, join me.
Yeah, avoid night driving. That way you won’t drive for more than 15 hrs at a stretch.
Nandan
Would like to visit Darjeeling – Gangtok so your tips will be helpful. And Calcutta some other time.
Being a TV professional, I have a longtime plan to make a documentary on GT road through the eyes of a truck driver. When I read this article, I could see the visuals in each words of Nandan. I felt as if I am traveling with him. So intense and useful. I would say a complete script for a travelogue. Simply wonderful!!!
Jogi – If you give me some time, then I can try getting a license of HMV and would get some training as well. I read a book by ‘Anthony Weller’ on G T Road, its called ‘Days and Nights on G T Road’. He actually travels from Calcutta and goes all the way till Peshawar, stopping at places. Its a marvelous account, I think I would read it again quickly.
I am ready to do the main act, when ever you are ready :)
thats an awesome journey and your review almost took me there..it must have been quite exhaustive to drive and then narrate the experience..incidentally bihar and jharkhand have been on my to do list and i will probably ask you for more info..tho I dont think I would be able to do this journey on road
That’s another of your masterworks, Dear Nandan. And just what I was looking for. I have been planning to do a Delhi-Lucknow trip via Agra-Kanpur. I have done it through NH-24 which is the highway passing by my place in NCR, many times. But that road is not good due to plenty of diversions between Hapur and Moradabad and further probably between Sitapur and Lucknow, because of four laning work going on.
Now that GQ-isation of NH-2 is nearing completion, I am thinking of taking the road. But even now, most of the done-it people advise to avoid night driving. What would you say, that you have done some night drive on NH-2?
Thanks again
-Rajeev Tivari
Oh yes, I read ‘Days and Nights on G T Road’ and what a book it is and love to read it again. But your review is also equally good…..May be you can be my Protagonist for the film….as said ‘Ghumna Achha hai’.
Thanks Lakshmi. Bihar seem to be getting better. Jharkhand roads are much better though you need to plan your drive to avoid night rides in naxalite zones.
Rajeev – Thanks. Very motivating. I came back through NH24 and even though I dont recommend any one to drive in night, I guess its fine if you do have to do it in the end. I dont recommend because of road-safety reasons and not necessarily security reasons. By road-safety, I mean traffic, effect of spirits/sleep on some of the truck drivers (though you can not really isolate them), high beam, low visibility, poor-no sign-ages etc.
I would tend to think that NH2 has very few of the above problems because its already a double road, better sign-ages, lighting, better road etc. The only issues it
has and where NH24 scores better is that NH2 has more lonely stretches, esp between Kanpur and Etawah. Once you are beyond Shikohabad, you are almost in NCR with Agra as always rushy and Mathura too close to be really considered away.
So if you are driving back, I would recommend that start by afternoon (4 PM) so you get close to Agra by the times it gets very dark and if you are starting from Delhi, then start a little later (2 AM).
Hope this helps.
Super Kano!! (kannada) . liked the idea of putting out the route map on the page. that helps a lot. Not sure if I would get a chance to drive this sector, but it was nice experience reading it.
Maja maadi :-)
Nandan, Thanks. That definitely helps. I might leave from Shipra Sun City about 5:00am to aim a 3:00pm reporting at LKO. Btw, You are also in Indirapuram. Great to have neighbours like you.
As you rightly said, in my experience of Night drive on NH-24 the on-coming headlights have been the major issue, though otherwise it is way better than day beacuse of absence of jaywalkers, motocyclists, cyclists and other sundry vehicles like jugaad and bullock carts. You and the truckers. And the dreaded killers parked on the road without any taillight/blinker/signs. Majority of accidents in nights are due to such beasts.
So, on return, encouraged by your advice on night drive on the beautiful and nascent four laned tar of NH-2, I would think of leaving LKO at about 2:00pm to reach Agra by 7:00pm. Btw, What is the state of highway patrol on NH-2?
But before that I would have to convince my family, parents, cancel my Lucknow mail return tickets, trust my ageing (2001) car and send some prayers up for a favourable weather. Lot many things on to do list, discounting the mandatory vehicle checks.
Coming to this site, I think this is a unique place where one can get first hand details on the roads to take, how to and which ones not to. So precious for any driving enthusiast.
Rajeev
Ok. Great. Shipra is just next door, I am at Amrapali.
I have drive till Kanpur only once and I didn’t see much of Highway Patrol but may be they are there. If you start by 2 PM from LKO then you are fine, since you would get to Agra by the time it gets dark and post Agra its definitely a much more active road.
Just to add, I did find sufficient policing on NH24 in night so thats good.
Do make it and do come back to share on what you find.
Sure, I too hope to come back to share it, though your call makes it scarier than I have come to think of it ;-)
Btw I had been to Badrinath Kearnath by taxi. Can I share the report here? It is on the lengthier side as it reports a 7-day yatra. Some other sites on travel found it too long.
Rajeev
There are some of us who read every comment so this comment is for those people.
You should see a story on Badrinath, Kedarnath by Rajeev very soon here. These places are the real Himalaya places.
It is a Short, crisp and nicely written road review. It should be helpful to many.
I DID THE LUDHIANA- DELHI-BARIELLY-LUCKNOW-GORAKHPUR -MUZAFFARPUR -PATNA STRETCH IN JULY 08.TOTAL DISTANCE APPROX 1450-1500 KM.LUDHIANA-DELHI TOOK 4 HOURS (300 KM).DELHI-LUCKNOW TOOK 9 HOURS (550 KM).LUCKNOW-MUZAFFARPUR-PATNA TOOK 13 HOURS (580 KMS).BRAND NEW MAHINDRA LOGAN THANKED GOD FOR THE HIGH GROUND CLEARANCE AFTER GORAKHPURAT PLACES YOU HAVE TO SEARCH FOR THE ROAD BETWEEN THE DITCHES & POTHOLES.AN UNFORGETABLE DRIVE ENJOYED THE MOST BY MY DAUGHTER JASMINE.
Hi Nandan,
Its a nice post, i really appricate you work effort thru sharing ur experience.Well done..keep it up.
Can you plz suggest me wat wud be the perfect time to start journey from delhi to patna.i m leaving in north delhi and planning to travel to patna by road on 21 oct.
I have planned to leave delhi at 10.PM as i have to attend office in the day.However i am determined that i will stay in Agra first night,as i dont perefer to drive in late night, i mean after 1-2 AM night. kindly give ur suggestion and advice.Hope U can understand the time crunch situation for working people..
Sanjeev – Thanks.
If you leave at 10 PM from North Delhi, it would take you at least an hour to get beyond Badarpur and then add another 3-3.5 hours to reach the hotel in Agra so that would be 2-2.30 AM. Probably you wont be able to start before 8 AM.
I would suggest that you start early morning instead, i.e by 4 AM and take a break at Varanasi which you would reach by 8 PM max. Wake up in time and go to Ghats, spend an hour there. Start for Patna by 8ish and you would reach Patna by 4 PM. If while driving, you feel like breaking early then break at Allahabad and try to start early the next day.
All the best and whatever you decide, please come back and share your driving experience.
Thanks a lot Nandan for ur advice and wish. I am completely following ur blog. Will definitely share my experience once i come back. Happy dipawali and Chhat…
Hi Sanjeev,
I too am planning for a road trip to Patna (in fact 250 KMs beyond Patna), I will probably start on 24th from NOIDA… please let me know if you have any plans to postpone your trip to 24th… we can heve the company.
Nandan- many thanks for this beutiful piece of travelogue. Really enjoyed reading.
Look forward for some more!
Regards,
Sanjeev
Thanks Jha Sanjeev.
250 KMs beyond Patna might be a familiar place to me. Which place, if I could ask.
Nandan, thanks for your prompt response!
I will visit Saharsa, this will be a road trip after ~2 years to my native place. Any guidance would be much appreciated.
Which part of Mithilanchal do you belong to, again if I may ask?
Also, I was in Chennai for close to two years and travelled almost all the good places in Tamilnadu. Hope you too liked the Auroville and other locations on the “ECR”… Mahabs… Covalam…
Great to hear from you!
Regards,
Sanjeev
Oh, never been there. I am from Darbhanga.
I have been to ECR road once, driven from Chennai to Pondicherri and then back. Good fun.
all the best.
Nandan- Great to know that. Seriously, ECR is real fun.
I need to know the most recent road conditions, as I might have to drive down to home all alone. A driver, known to me, informed that the roads are very bad etc… just made me more apprehensive for this trip.
Any quick update will help me decide whether I am going or not.
Regards
Hi,
Its graet you publish such an useful information. Please help me any idea about delhi-kanpur-lucnow-gorkhpur road.
Thanks
Archana
Archana – Thanks. What do yo want to know about Delhi-Kanpur-Lucknow-Gorakhpur route ?
Delhi – Kanpur is A1 road. Kanpur – Lucknow is good but not as good as Delhi-Kanpur. Lucknow – Gorakhpur has some small bad sections but overall pretty good. I last drove that section in June 2008 and I can imagine that things would have only improved. This is East-West Corrdior, the grand NHAI plan of connecting Silchar to Porbandar.
Let me know if anything specific you are trying to find.
This was really a great review. I was planning to travel to Darbhanga by Road, but, could not make it this time… But, I will try to make it next year..
thanks Nandan..
Hi..
very nice and informative dicription.
I have am planning to take the same route for Delhi to Samastipur/Darbhnaga,and probably without a night stay anywhere.
Do you have any idea of any other route though?
Santosh – For Delhi- Darbhanga you can take following
NH2 – Delhi – Agra – Kanpur – Lucknow
At Lucknow, get off NH2 and head towards Barabanki.
Barabanki – Gorakhpur – Muzzafarpur – Darbhanga. (this is essentially East-West NHAI Corridor). If you do make it, please share your experience here. All the best.
Hi Nandan, your post looks very descriptive and that i was looking for as i was planning to go to Begusarai via road. I was searching for some real life experiences and i got one from your post. I think, i’ll go to Patna via as same route as yours and take a bypass to Badh, Mokama road to Begusarai.
I’ll share my experience as well, not sure in the well written manner as yours but will do anyway.
Again, Thanks a lot!
Hi Nandan
Could you enlighten me with the road condition between Gorakhpur and Kishanganj, i.e. NH28 and 57, please?
Many thanks.
Patrick – Gorakhpur to Muzzafarpur was pretty good. Muzaffarpur bypass was being done and I think it must have been completed now. from there, till Darbhanga it is a super road.
From Darbhanga to Kisanganj, I have no clue.
I would tend to think that Darbhanga-Kisangaj would be a true-blue Bihar country side track :)
hi nandan,we r actually travelling to Gaya from Panipat,we intend to reach Mugalsarai by 8pm on 20th Feb2009 and if possible to travel further to Gaya on the same day,would u kindly tell us,what time to start from panipat,in the reviews caution about night driving is also a bit disturbing,u know me a safety officer,so safety is top priority as well.would u care to suggest,what time we should start from Panipat and what precautions to be taken,and anything about Allahabad BYPASS?
Start as early, by 4 AM. Since you would have to pass through Delhi, you need to start that early otherwise you would get stuck in Delhi and then you would keep chasing. Also try to not stop before Mathura. McDonald at Mathura is a pretty nice place to take a big break. The have clean restrooms, serve hot and clean food. There is a park for kids (if they are traveling alongside) and you can re-fuel.
When I did the trip, Allahabad By-pass was not complete. I guess now its complete.
I would suggest that you break your journey at Mughalsarai since Mughalsarai-Gaya is 225 KM+ and assuming that it would get dark, you wont be able to clock more than 40 KM an hour of average speed, that makes it a drive of 5.5 hour drive. Better to do a night halt and start early next day.
And please do come back here and share your experience. All the best.
Hi
I am an Army Offr posted In the East and would like to drive and take my car SX-4 from Delhi to Siliguri….any suggestions on the routes which I shd consider since I have heard a lot about bad road conditions in Bihar.
Would Delhi- Mathura-Kanpur-Allahabad-Patna-kishenganj-NJP a better choice or Delhi – NH-2 till Bardhamaan -Dalkola-NJP(avoiding most of Bihar) be a better choice.
I will be travelling without family with two drivers basically to get my car safely and surely to NJP in my own hands rather than loading it in a car carrier who screw up the cars nicely as I have personally seen what happens to the cars of other offrs reaching here by the truckers some even taking 2 months to deliver the car.
PLEASE I NEED YR SUGGESTIONS ON THE ROUTES IF SOMEONE HAS DONE THIS TRIP IN OWN CAR…THANKS.
just wanted to check up that have u made the delhi siliguri trip .i am planning to drive to shillong from chandigarh in june any info would be welcome . i am used to driving through night would it be okay. thanks
Hello Nandan, The information provided by you is really informative and is useful for traveller planning to travel Bihar by Road. I am planning to travel Ranchi from Delhi. I have few queries and reply of that will be a great help for me to reach the desitantion on time. Query 1. You had taken Agra route to reach Etawah. I had taken out map which takes me to etawah through aligarh. The distance to reach Etwah through agra is 320 Kms (mentioned by you) and the distance to etawah through aligarh is 353 kms (source: mapmyindia.com). What would you suggest which route will be better for me? Query 2. I planned night stay at varanasi which is 790 kms from Delhi. Do you think i will be able to drive this much distance in a day if i start early morning at 5:00 am and will drive latest by 9:00 pm with small breaks in between.?
Ashish,
Even though Delhi-Etawah is shorter via Aligarh but I would suggest to take Delhi-Mathura-Agra-Etawah (NH2) route because you can clock a much better average on NH2.
Regarding Varanasi, I started by 5 and I entered Allahabad by 4.30ish so I guess Varanasi is doable. Ensure that you head early (may be by 4.30 AM) so that you dont get stuck at Kosi Trade Tax barrier and in Agra.
All the best and when you are done, please do come back and update us about your experience.
Hi
i am looking forward to drive from muzaffarpur to delhi via gorakhpur,lucknow, kanpur, agara. Can you please update the road me abt correct route and road condition as well as time it takes?
Amrendra – Thats the correct route.
Muzzafarpur – Gopalganj – Gorakhpur (NHAI East-West Corridor). The road quality was pretty good since its one of the new-age NHAI projects. Go all the way till Lucknow and then take
There are three routes from Lucknow to reach Delhi.
1. Lucknow – Kanpur – Etawah – Agra – Delhi i.e. NH2.
2. Lucknow – Moradabad – Hapur – Delhi
3. Lucknow – Kanpur – Aligarh – Bulandsahar – Delhi
Take route no 1. 1 is far better and far quicker than the other two.
Total distance from Muzaffarpur would be 1000+ KMs so I would suggest that you take a break. If you start early from Muzaffarpur (say by 5 AM) than you can reach Lucknow before it gets dark.
Lucknow – Delhi would take about 8 hours.
Dont take the route via Aligarh