From Visakhapatnam, catch the 1 Vishakapatnam - Kirandul Passenger (1VK) having Reserved First Class & Sleeper Class accommodation. 1 VK departs Vishakapatnam at around 6:45AM and reaches Jagdalpur by around 5:30PM.
From Hyderabad, you have to reach Bhadrachalam first and then drive down close to 250 km on the single -laned NH 212, via Konta & Sukma to reach Jagdalpur. Road conditions are bad,and be prepared for frequent checks by the law enforcement authorities. Your vehicle of choice for a trip to Jagdalpur should ideally be a vehicle having a high ground clearance, and SUVs like the TATA Safari & Ford Endeavour fit the bill perfectly.
From Raipur (Capital of Chhattisgarh state), the road to Jagdalpur is good enough. You have regular overnight non-a/c sleeper buses running between Raipur/Bilaspur & Jagdalpur.
Mahua - the traditional Bastar drink. Have it strong or mix it with water or soft drinks. Some other drinks such as sulphi and chidras are also available which are sweet extracts of sulphi tree and chind tree no need to mix water it will taste as coconut tree drink. with time it will have more vigour you should drink it the same day other it will become sour and unable to drink the next day...
If not on your own conveyance,and intend to get to Raipur, catch one of those numerous sleeper non-a/c buses to Raipur.
If you intend to go to Vishakapatnam, catch the return 2VK passenger that arrives at Jagdalpur at around 9:30AM (Daily service).
If you intend to go to Hyderabad/Vijayawada, start early, catch the NH 221 to Bhadrachalam, and onwards to Hyderabad/Vijayawada.
'''BEWARE OF NH-16 TOWARDS NIZAMABAD''' - Never even think of going west, towards Nizamabad (In Andhra Pradesh). Maps show the existence of NH16, linking Jagdalpur & Nizamabad via Gidam, Bijapur, Madded & Bhopalapatnam, but in reality, the road (NH-16) starts getting bad to worse from Bijapur onwards, and abruptly comes to a halt at Bhopalapatnam. Lack of a bridge across the Indrawati near Bhopalapatnam is the main culprit.
So, if you are planning to get to Hyderabad via Bhopalapatnam & Warangal (NH - 202) - don't even think about it!