Driving Delhi to lucknow

Hi All,

I could not get a train ticket to Lucknow this diwali and hence  plan to drive from Noida to Lucknow in my i10 this Friday morning. I plan to leave at aroung 4:30 in the morning. I would be accompanied by my youger bro,wife and sis-in-law.I am the only regular driver.Bro and wife just learnt driving , so dont plan to make them drive much on highway.

Though teh ladies are not very enthusiastic about such a long drive(~500 kms) ,I'm looking forward to it. Plan to take NH2 (Delhi-Agra-Etawah-Kanpur-Lucknow) as I read that the roads are far better here than NH24, though the route is 50kms longer.Does any one have any idea of this route and pointers to good stops for breaks? Also other info would be helpful.

Thanks and Happy Diwali to you all !!

Ankit, Don't think of anything other than NH2 route you propose. The road is a pleasant surprise. most villages are bypassed with flyovers (but the pesky villagers manage to climb them to run across the road!).

I have been to Varanasi on my buddhi Honda City, and I could not believe I made it comfortably till Prayagraj by nightfall.

Get your car serviced before the trip (i.e. tomorrow max!) as it is very helpful as an insurance against breakdowns. Inflate tyres to 35 PSI, and Keep your speed upto 100 max, so you are always in control.

Thanks Krishna. Mine is a new car (6 months old) and I had planned to get the 2nd service done after I'm back from Lucknow. That way it would have clocked in some more kms.(~4800 now) . Service is due on 28th Oct. Moreover I also read that we should try have at least a 100 km run after servicing (before taking the car for any long drive) so that any problems after servicing might come to surface.

Anyway, mine isnt giving any problem as such .Do you suggest that I can go ahead for the 500km drive and back before I get it serviced?

Looks like ok from what you say. (I have to commute 50 km from my residence to service station, so my trial gets taken care automatically )

Inflate tyres properly, slightly higher than normal use (I recommend 35 PSI)

Thanks will take care of that. Will get the typre pressure, air fresher ,wiper fliud in place today evening..

Hey Ankit, how did your trip go?

Hey Krishna,

The trip was good. It was much easier than I had thought. We started at 4:30 am in the morning and crossed Agra at 8,including a 30min halt at Mc donalds near Mathura refinery. The road ahead of Agra(Agra-Etawah-Kanpur) was a pleasant surpise and one can effortlessly criuse at 100kmph for the next 3 hours till Kanpur. I reached Kanour Dehat (outskirt area from where kanpur city <45 kms) at around 11:30 am. Sadly the directions were not very clearly mentioned at Kanpur and also the road till Unnao was not in the best of shape, which ate much time and I could reach home in Lucknow only at 2:30 pm. There were 7-8 toll booths on the way .Total toll amounted to somewhere >Rs.200 .The total distance was 550kms.  Check for details on the route here.

I just made sure that to stick to the basics - Never drive in the rightmost lane (Change back to the mid lane after overtaking. This allows way for speeding vehicles and also gives you greater reaction time in case someobe suddenly crosses over the divider etc..) . Also kept alert to expect the unexpected - expect people suddenly coming from the wrong side(and actually encountered some sudden ones,but was prepared), ppl or animals crossing all of a sudden etc.Must say following these tips helped driving on the highway!

On the way back , I started at 8:30 am ,crossed Agra at 3:30 pm but got stuck in the evening traffic at Faridabad and could reach home only at 8pm. I must say that the road between Agra and Kanpur was the best part and pure driving pleasure.

It was my first long trip ( >500 kms) and my car (i10 Kappa) was pleasure to drive with no issues at all. Mileage achived was between 18-19 km/l with 90% use of a/c . Plan to get it serviced in the next few days (2nd service due) .Cheers!

Post edited to change the font & its size for better readability.

Woohoo 18-19 with 90% AC!!! Great!

Told you NH2 would be a pleasure. Thanks for the details!

Well, My bro is in delhi since last 3 days. I dont remember when we last travelled in Train for Delhi. All the time, Fiesta Superfast through NH-24 (Sitapur, Shahjahanpur, Bareilly, Rampur, Moradabad, Gajraula, Hapur Bypass, Ghaziabad, Delhi.)

8 to 9 hours only with 2 haults. Road is really good now.

@ Ankit: 18-19kmpl ... thats great. My friend Ritesh got around 16kmpl only from his sportz.

Wow , 8-9 hours through NH 24 sounds great. As per the feedback I had, the road was single laned (without a divider) and also one could encounter occasional jams on the way as compared to NH2 ,which is expressway all the way. Thats why I opted for NH2 and I would iterate that its a pleasure to drive here. Still with 2 halts(total ~45 mins) and city traffic it took me 10 hours!

My Sportz gives a mileage of 13-13.5 in city.Though I drive cautiously to save fuel. On my journey to Lucknow it gave 18 (normal fuel, speed aorund 100km for 3 hours continuous,rest around 80 kmph , 35 psi) . On the way back it gave 19 (Xtra premium, 80-90 kmph throughout) . Both with 90% use of AC. Hope it improves after the second service.