Bengaluru being capital city of Karnataka and one of the most important IT hub in India, is frequently visited by lot of folks. I would assume that lot of people visit Bengaluru for business than personal work. Many of these folks get 2 day weekend off and at times, people plan extra time to explore the place well. Certainly Bengaluru city has a lot to do and explore but there are some very interesting places around Bengaluru where you can drive over the weekend and make best of your time.
Let's go step by steps and first talk about how to reach Bengaluru from different parts of India or aboard. And then accommodation options and the relevant places to stay for saving time while you are on the move.
How to reach Banglore : Banglore is connected very well through road, train and flights. One just need to opt for right option by looking at relevant websites. Flights for Banglore and from Banglore are usually expensive on Mondays & Fridays. Booking train ticket through IRCTC website has become easier and for buses, Redbus can be a good option.
How to commute from Airport to the hotel? - App based taxis by Ola and Uber are available from a specific section of the airport. It's not far. One needs to walk for 2-3 minutes from the exit gate of Bengaluru airport. On the way you would also find AC buses going to the city. You can check with them about the place you want to go. The caveat is that bus would not drop you at the doorstep but it's cheaper option. And city like Banglore needs more encouragement for public transportation than booking one vehicle for one person. Traffic situation is Banglore is not good.
Accommodation : One simple tip to chose your accommodation is to opt for location which is closer to the place you want to visit more frequently. E.g. - If you are in Banglore for business trip, chose you hotel close to the office otherwise you would end up spending hours on the road in the morning as well as in the evening. If you have any local contact who is helping you with local booking, ensure that s/he understands your needs well and find a place close to the office.
In terms of cost, variety of accommodations are available. Oyo is one of the cheapest option but you need to carefully check the reviews of the property mentioned. Oyo is not very consistent, so be careful before choosing. If you are in the city for a longer period of time with family or in a group, you may also want to chose a home-stay through Airbnb. Banglore city has some of the best 5-star hotels, boutique hotels and business hotels.
Related posts :
Novotel Bengaluru - A good business hotel in TechPark
Local commute in the city : Try not to go for rented cars and avoid driving yourself. Use Metro wherever you can and then shared cabs (I specifically ask for shared cabs in Banglore because one cab for one person in this city is ridiculous. This chokes the whole city. )
Now let's talk about some of the popular places you must visit when in Banglore -
1. LalBagh Botanical Garden :
Lalbagh is one of the most popular places in Banglore and not only amongst tourists but locals also like coming to this huge green landscape for early morning walk, jogging or yoga. The place is very well maintained and different parts of the garden are dedicated to specific purposes.
There is a e-kart ride which takes you through various parts of Lalbagh and the driver usually tells you about various points on the way. There are some historical architectures and one of them was pigeon tower, where all pigeons of royal family used to live. These pigeons were used for sending messages from one part of the world to the other. I will not spoil the fun by telling all that you see in Lalbagh of Banglore.
2. Bannerghatta Zoo and National Park :
This is an interesting styled zoo spread over acres of land. Beyond a point, one has to book tickets in the closed van. This van goes through huge land where each kind of wild animal have their own habitats. It's not like zoo but huge land to given to for examples white tigers. And then these region are separated by high wire-mesh. This was my first experience of this kind and that's why I could see all the animal from very short distance.
Check out more through following blog-posts :
3. Cubbon Park :
Cubbon park is another huge green landscapes which is close to some of the other popular places to explore in Banglore. It's located at walkable distance from Vidhan Soudha, the Fish Aquarium, Science museum and all.
Cubbon Park, Bengaluru - a huge green area in the city
4. Government Aquarium in Banglore :
This aquarium is located very close to the Cubbon park the entry ticket is about 5 rs per person, I think. That's almost free in city like Banglore in 2018. This is very good place if you are accompanying kids. Check out the blogpost below to know more about this aquarium.
5. Vidhan Saudha :
This is simply state assembly building but it's architecture is beautiful. It makes sense to witness it once and especially during the night time when it's beautifully lit. Without special permission, common public is not allowed to go inside but it's still worth to take a round from outside.
At the same time, do reach out following blog-post for better planning of your day -
6. Govt Museum & the Art Gallery :
Both Art & Science museums are located adjacent to each other. The Govt museum of Art is a good place for people interested in various kinds of arts, especially sculptures and history as well. There are lot of interesting things preserved in this museum which we used to read during our school days.
Do check more about this beautifully designed museum in this blogpost - Govt Museum and Art Gallery - A must visit place in Banglore
7. Visvesvarya Industrial & Technology Museum :
A brilliant place for kids to come, play scientific games and learn in the process. It can be good outing for locals with their kids and families can spend half a day easily in this museum. Do check out more about the place in the blogpost below.
8. Banglore Fort :
Don't confuse it with the famous Tipu's palace which is much beautiful. It was an accidental visit to the fort but I must say that I liked it. People hardly visit this place and it's located in the middle of a congested market and preserved by Archeological survey of India. Before you plan a visit to this place, I would recommend to check following link to know more about it and take an informed decision about it.
MobileGIRI around Banglore Fort, Karnataka (India)
9. Banglore Palace :
Banglore is a beautiful architectural piece which is a little away from the city and hence you need to have a good slot of time available for this place, but it's worth.
What else?
UB Mall in Banglore is one of the top luxurious malls in India and it was built in an era when there were very few malls in India. Here you can find some of the top brands of the world and restaurants which are rare to find in other cities. And did I miss MG road?
Banglore is also known for it's night life and some of it's funky breweries or the pubs. Some of the links below would give you some sense about what to expect.
Weekend Trips from Banglore :
In this section I will not be providing details and instead I would recommend you to check out provided links, which should be more than enough for you to plan your weekend at Banglore in much better way.
Hampi :
I got to know about Hampi in 2007 when I had started learning photography and I used to bug a lot of my mentors to click some creative shots with DSLR cameras/lenses. That was the time when I used to spend a lot of weekend time with Camera & traveling. Some of my Bengaluru friends had visited Hampi & shared their photographs. Heritage sites and Architecture used to be the favorite sites of Travellingcamera and they still are. This year I got a chance to get a glimpse of Hampi and it’s ruins. I would still say it glimpse as Hampi is a lot of offer and you can spend good amount of time around these ruins to learn about history and architecture at the same time. I strongly believe that it’s certainly a must visit place for Photographers & Explorers. There is so much diversified subjects to explore. Without any delay let me come to the main Agenda of this post and let’s talk about ways to reach Hampi.
Hampi Travel Guide : How to reach, Where to Stay & Things to do !
Kabini Tiger Reserve and National Park :
This year I was exploring Karnataka state of India and during the same trip I also visited Kabini Tiger reserve & wildlife sanctuary. I have done more than a dozen safaris in Wildlife sanctuaries in north India and success rate of Tiger sighting has been pretty low. I had never seen any Leopard in the wild and here I saw 2 leopard at the same time. And not only that, these leopards were around us for at least 15 minutes. We saw them drinking water in a pond and then taking some rest under the sun, before they headed back towards the forest. This post shares some of the such interesting experiences from Kabini Tiger Reserve. We have also tried to share some details details around - how to reach Kabini, main places to stay, what else to explore locally apart from Wildlife Safari.
Mysore and around :
Main places to visit in Srirangapatana, Karnataka
Pattadakal :
Pattadakal is very special place in north Karnataka when we talk about Heritage and Chalukya monuments. This UNESCO world heritage site is in Bagalkote district of Karnataka state of India and is easily approachable from Badami & Aihole. This place has temples from 7th & 8th century and most of these are Hindu or jain temples on the bank of Malaprabha river. I visited Pattadakal temples while I was on Karanataka tour and it was certainly a very special experience. This post shares more about Pattadakal Temples, some tips & other places to explore in this region of Karnataka state.
Badami :
Badami cave temples are mentioned whenever we talk about Indian heritage, art forms, old temples and some unimaginable work which is worth sharing with the world. Many people who want to explore the heritage of India and it's history certainly visit these cave temples which was very unique and well preserved so far. Here we are trying to share more about Badami Cave Temples and other important places to explore. Badami is in Bagalkot District of Karnataka State.
The famous Jain Pilgrimage at Shravanabelagola :
Some places offer natural beauty, few offer heritage stories and there can be places which takes you through some amazing adventure, but how many places you know which can offer you trekking experience, divine feeling, spiritual environment, natural beauty & architectural marvels? Shravanbelagola is such place which is primarily a popular jain pilgrimage in South India but also a place which offers very special experience for folks visiting this part of Karnataka state of India.
Shravanabelagola - An awesome place in Karnataka to enjoy Hiking, Architecture & Landscapes
Belur and Halebidu Temples :
Many times when tourists search best or top Indian States to explore, Karnataka doesn't come or comes at the bottom of these lists. And even in those lists, not much in Karnataka is highlighted. Hampi takes out all the spotlights in Karnataka and then places like Mysore. But when I spent a week in the Karnataka state on a fast paced tour, I realized that there is a lot to explore in Karnataka state of India and I need to visit the state few times to know it better. During one of my visits to the state, I spent some time around Belur and in this post we are trying to share some relevant details around how to reach Belur, how to do local commute, where to stay and what all can be explored w.r.t. time available.
Certainly there are lot more places that are accessible from Banglore, so keep a watch on this place to find more details. For specific questions, please use comments section below.
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