Bangalore City tour - All key things in one day

Bangalore has plethora of things to do. Its usually impossible to decide what one can do in a day. Even if you take the KSTDC day tour, you will not be able to see all the important points. Following is an attempt to make an itinerary for people visiting Bangalore and wanting to see the key attractions in one day.

First start your day very early and preferably start from your house at 7 AM. You can follow the following sequence, hopefully all in a day.

1.       Hebbal Lake --> Lumbini Gardens --> Bangalore Palace  ( Should be done by 11 AM)

2.       Vidhan Souda --> High court  --> Cubbon Park --> Lal Baug   ( Should be done by 3 PM)

3.       Bull Temple   / Bugle rock ( Time would be 5 PM )

4.       Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain ( Must reach here early 6:30 or 7 PM otherwise you will miss the show)

5.       Walk on MG Road, Brigade Road. (8 PM onwards)OR Visit largest mall of South Asia.

 

I usually like the fact that its much less crowded and hence cleaner park. There is no boating here, but the stroll in a park is good way to get started as its along the lake. Ample parking is available outside the lake. You can spend 30 mins to 1 hour here

Very close to Hebbal lake, lumbini gardens offers boating facilities, it has also got play activities for children. There are some outlets here where you can eat , have beverages etc. You can sit along the lake side and enjoy your meal. Approx 1 hour here.

Located near Mekhri Circle this Palace is a smaller replica of the Windsor Castle in England. Agreed that the palace is small but its still worth a visit. The palace looks great from outside you will not be allowed to click pictures but somehow you can manage to grab a shot or 2 from the parking area. There is an additional charge of Rs 100 per person to see the palace from inside. Even if you skip this, you can still enjoy the great view of outside. We had gone inside and I think it’s worth a visit once although it’s on expensive side. Don’t pay extra for camera, the guide will let you click some pictures just tip him Rs 50 or something.

Vidhana Soudha is the seat of the state legislature of Karnataka. The building has great architecture.w as built way back in year 1956 in the 'Neo-Dravidian' style, incorporates elements of Indo-Saracenic, Rajasthani Jharokha and Dravidian styles.

Just opposite Vidhan Souda is Karnataka High Court a red brick and stone building in the Greco-Roman style of architecture. It houses the High Court for the state of Karnataka. You can just take a walk around it.

Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum : If you have kids 7+ years to 16 years, I think they  will enjoy this museum.  The museum has lot of science related projects for display which generally excite people. If you don’t have time I would suggest you skip this.

From here you can proceed to the scenic cubbon park. Again parking is available here. It’s a huge park if you are in your own car you will be able to see the whole park. Otherwise you can only walk limited distance. The inside of the park is less crowded and good for relaxing. You can have your food here if you are carrying with you. Cubbon park is also well known for Kids train.

Lal baug. is a botanical garden, and surely not an attraction to be missed. Built by Hyder Ali in the year 1760. The 240-acre  park is home to over 1000 species of flora and a Glass House. The park is known for its annual flower show. Flower shows are on 15^th Aug and 26^th Jan every year. The garden surrounds one of the towers erected by the founder of Bangalore. The Lal Bagh Rock, dates back to 3000 million years, is another attraction. You can easily climb the rock and get a good glimpse of the park and surroundings.

Lal baug has golf carts which take you around the park. If you really want to cover other things in 1 day, I strongly suggest you take the golf cart. Its expensive at Rs 100 per person, but worth it. Lal baug is a huge park and see the vastness and massive collection of flora and fauna is very exciting to first time visitors.

Lal Baug also has a nursery and you can buy some plants here. Lal baug is known as walkers paradise, there are many people who come to the park for daily walk.

Exit from Lal baug west gate and you will be close to your next destination which is Bull temple and Bugle rock park.

Bull temple : Built by Kempe Gowda I, it is reminiscent of the 16th century Dravidian style architecture. It has a huge granite monolith of Nandi. There is huge idol of Nandi Bull inside the temple, measuring 4.5 m in height and 6.5 m in length. This idol is said to have been carved out of a single rock. The bull also has a small iron plate on its head. As per the tradition, this plate prevents the bull from growing

Adjacent to bull temple is Bugle rock

Bugle Rock is an abrupt rise above the ground the main rock formation and with an assessed age of about 3000 million years. Bugle Rock has generated wide interest among the scientific community. Bugle rock has a watch tower which gives a great panoramic view of the Bangalore city. There is also park where children can play and enjoy. The park also has musical fountain. Recently this was renamed after local politician T.R.Shamanna who lived around the area. For more information on Bulge rock refer to this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugle_Rock

The fountain operates only in the evening and its must see for someone who has not seen any musical fountain before. They have 30 mins light and music show where fountains dance to the tunes and create a great spectacle. Many people like it much better than the musical fountain of Brindavan gardens.

Grab a popcorn and some cold drink get into the park, sit back and enjoy.

This is close to musical fountain. Heart of Bangalore shoppers is MG road, Brigade road where you will find most of the shops and almost any brand you are looking for. I suggest you take a walk from MG road to Brigade road just to experience the ambience and tempo of the place. If you are really interested in some serious shopping you can also goto commercial street where you will find many more shops all on one street.

The last leg can take anywhere between 2 to 3 hours depending upon your interest. Plenty of dinner options will be available along this road.

The largest mall in bangalore and entire south asia is Mantri Square 1.7 million sq.ft.,mall is developed by Mantri Developers and is located on Sampige road in Malleswaram.

 

Congratulations now you have covered almost all of the major points in Bangalore. I am sure you will have an eventful day with this information. Make sure to adjust the itinerary as per your convenience.

Checkout the related post on Day trips of place around bangalore.