A few days back, I was surfing all possible internet sites for the quest to perform self-driven road journey from Hyderabad to Delhi and further north to Himachal. Earlier I never drove down on this route in one stretch so I was little apprehensive about practicality issues. What I accumulated through web search in options are as under-
1. NH 44 ie Hyderabad- Nagpur- Sagar- Jhansi – Gwalior – Agra – Delhi.
2. Hyderabad – Nagpur- Bhopal – Jaipur – Delhi.
3. Hyderabad – Pune – Ahmedabad – Jaipur- Delhi.
SUV!
As all routes with different permutation and combinations offer the best opportunities to explore Mother Nature but a major factor of distance and time can’t be ruled out. I’m thankful for all related reviews and their valuable inputs have become the reason behind my penning down so others may also get benefited with the real-time review. Before I further mention about the route I choose and experience based recommendations.
I would love to write two lines for the machine used which was a major winning factor in our triumph. I’ve driven down almost in all hilly terrains, western and coastal routes of India. All my earlier terrain grazed excursions are either on my bike or typical SUV having features of AWD and 4×4. But this time when we planned our journey to North, we left with the option of the car my wife used to drive in the city and that’s nothing but beautiful curvy and sexy Honda Jazz ivtec CVT. I always admire this car in city capacity but bit apprehensive about its performance in highway and hills of Himachal. Nevertheless, this time it was Lady’s choice and we all set with this sexy Honda machine to explore the unexplored. The car outperformed in excepan tional way and now after experiencing the comfort, safety and response of this lovely robust machine I’ve nothing left to say but it’s SIMPLY SUPERB with all authority. It’s swiftness, spacious cabin, wonderful comfortablity and responsiveness on highway and city rush amazed thoroughly a taller person like me ( 186 cms ).
And the journey begins!
Now, I come back to our core subject. I choose NH44 between Hyderabad and Delhi. The experience of driving on this North – South corridor was mind blowing.
If your destination is Delhi or further north from down south then why should you choose this route..
1. Shortest possible route. Hyderabad to Delhi is approx 1560 km.
2. Maximum stretch is two way with 4 or 6 lanes.
3. Tolls on the roads means maintained and under supervision.
4. All weather roads.
5. Bypassing villages and cities thus keeping away nuisance of city traffic.
6. Elevated road.
7. Government initiative of making roads better by placing sign boards and safety instructions.
Google maps are survivors!
What I kept in mind which you can’t ignore even on the safest of the safe roads.
1. Driving sense and ettiqutes of others.
2. Rule breakers.
3. Two wheeler riders without Basic safety gears.
4. Animals mainly domestic.
5. Pedestrians on highway.
6. After dark . ( though this point is not specific to driving experience on this highway as vehicles ply throughout the clock but may be avoided to subdue any unpleasant contingency. I clocked this route in night too ( till 0100 hours) while coming back ( Gwalior to Sagar ) and faced no night nuisance except my own yawnings.
I started my excursion on Jun 9th, 2018 at around 0530 hours from Secunderabad ( Hyd ) and hit NH44 within 30 minutes. If you’r comfortable in highway driving and cruise your machine in different torques, (average speed between 80 -120 km/h ) which highway of its kind amply offers so you will be clicking timings somewhere like as under.1. Hyderabad to Nagpur : 6/7 hours. ( road conditions were good except minor highway repairs enroute ) The stretch between Hyderabad and Adilabad was excellent with well defined road conditions.
2. Nagpur to Sagar : 6 hours ( through Chindhwara ) I took this route while going north and found it manageable with stretches of one way/two way and semi hill beautiful terrain after Nagpur till another 100 kms.
While coming back I took NH44 through Sagar – Narsinghpur- Seoni – ( Pench forest reserve) – Nagpur, approx 450 km but wonderful road with beautiful forest one way stretch of Pench reserve forest. I recommend to use this route for Delhi- Hyderabad or vice versa roadies after seeing both roads. Clearly NH44 dominates. So this way we reached Sagar ( MP ) at 1700 hours in evening.
3. We slept well as one can make after heavy substantial meals and were on road again at 1000 hours to Jhansi – Gwalior – Agra and Delhi.
Sagar – Jhansi : Excellent Two way with four lanes. Though one has to be very careful as you may found inhabitants residing next to highway and like to sit on dividers in evening hours ( experienced while coming back ) and same theory goes with domestic animals ie cows and buffaloes.
Jhansi-Gwalior : This one is only patch of around 100km which is one way , traffic prone, time consuming , potholes but manageable. The construction is on full swing and will be amazing to ply on it once it’s fully ready.
Gwalior – Agra : better than Jhansi – Gwalior but still lack the great driving feel of NH44 in Telangana region. However, this stretch is trafficable in two lanes ( one way ) and pleasurable in four lanes ( to ways ) but rather One can still easily paddle to acceleration. Here at Agra I strived for Yamuna Express way rather than NH44 to experience one of the best expressway to Delhi from Agra without any nuisance. Only catch is to enter Agra city but here you can get famous panchi petha , a kind of sweet from variety of stalls on your way enroute to Yamuna expressway. Once you’r on expressway Delhi seems to be much closer and vehicle thrust for more horse power. But beautiful things always comes with set of instructions so it’s true for this expressway to be more focused and alert with best of driving ettiqutes to avoid any mishaps which may prove fatal in such high speeds. Expressway offers two way with eight lanes and recommended max speed is 100km/hour but you may notice wheels rushing even as higher as in 140/160. I recommend here to be in safer side and controllable speed so as to enjoy the beauty of this fast road. Police keep vigil on high speed vehicles and rightly fine them on tolls. The entire expressway is equipped with surveillance gadgets. On this curve, Agra to Delhi is only three hours/230 kms ( approx) away.
4. We hit New Delhi at around 1630 hours and feeling victorious and contented with happy adventures ride.
5. After well deserved rest n recoup at Delhi we geared up for Divine Himachal.
We came back to Hyderabad after loaded fun from same route except Narsinghpur – Chindhwara- Nagpur stretch and took NH44 Narsinghpur- seoni – Nagpur which we found better and short.NOTE : Folks.. if you wanna hit Delhi ..go for NH44. Gone are the days when it was unsafe, rabble or shabby. Now this is North – South corridor and it takes precisely 22/24 hours in present conditions. We’ve already locked our dates in calendar for next voyage through same route.
God speed and Safe Ride
awesome… this is crazy… how much fuel did you burn?
Hello Manoj.
Vehicle: Honda Jazz i-vtec (CVT).
Fuel capacity: 40 Litres ( petrol ).
Mileage: 560 km/tank full.
Distance covered: 1560 km.
Great write-up. Keep it up.
Sure Anil ji..
Thank you.
Great
Please add some detail like night stay options and good eateries., Which will help me when I visit Tirupati from Amritsar in near future
Thanks
Dear Sir..
If you plan visit from Amritsar to Triputi via Delhi then plenty of options are there for night stay and eateries in this route.
I like to strongly recommend to make use of apps like agoda, Trivago or Oyo for hotel bookings enroute which will definitely save money and efforts for look outs.
As far as eateries are concerned you’ll find plenty of options enroute less between Sagar and Nagpur. So it’s better to pack stuff in your moving cabin for this stretch. In the end, choice lies purely on personal food habits and hygiene.
Thanks dear
Wonderfully written article,Anurag Ji. Very informative.
Thank you Vinod ji..
Good long journey, Anurag! It has been always on my list to do such a trip, but just not able to plan well yet!
Good to read one, maybe inspires me to make one soon! Many thanks!
Looking forward to read more from you!
Best.
Sure Archana..
Thanks for appreciation. Once the journey is finished it doesn’t seems to be long. Here it’s true for this road trip. 1500 odd kms with better roads and sophisticated vehicles really make this distance much shorter.
Good and informative article.Plz give a write-up on ur Himachal trip also.Congrats.
Sure sir..n Thank you.
You are as adventurous as you were as a child. This is all so well written. God job. Keep it up