We had some guests in our house in summer vacation and they had come with an agenda to see lot of places around Bangalore. Mysore was on the top of their list. They had heard a lot about Brindavan gardens, Palace. With less time at their hands, they wanted to cover everything in one day.
After much research, we made the following plan and shortlisted following things to do
- Zoo
- Palace
- Karanji Lake and aviary
- Lalitha Mahal palace
- Chamundi Hills
- Brindavan gardens
We skipped St. Philomena Church, Jagmohan palace, Wax and Rail Museum as they are not that exciting to us.
We started from our home at around 6:10 AM ,reached palace at 9:10 AM with 30 mins break for breakfast at Adigas. There are number of hotels along the way, couple of Kamat restaurants too. The palace was not yet open as it opens at 10 AM so we went to the Zoo. It was already crowded but we managed to get in by 9:30 AM
The Mysore zoo is good, the giraffee is really the main attraction and its worth a visit just to see the birds and Giraffee. There is also a small aviary inside the zoo. The entire zoo is around 3 KMs walk but golf cart and buses are available. Golf carts are Rs 100 per person. We went by walk and took 2 hours to cover the entire zoo. We had Coconut water inside the zoo and it was good. Overall I think Zoo is worth a visit, its well maintained and most animals are not in the cage. Dont spend too much time in the zoo, skip the the animals that dont excite you like snakes etc.
After the Zoo we went back to Mysore palace and it took us 1 hour to see inside. We did not goto Main palace which is behind the front palace. Mysore palace is certainly worth a visit if you have not seen it before. The illumination of the palace is on Saturdays and Sundays. Chech the timings I think its 7 PM to 7:30 PM.
We were very tired after the walking so much, but we proceeded to Karanji lake and nature park. Its a cool place much less crowded. We mainly went there to see the Birds Aviary where you are face to face with Peacocks and few more birds , i think it was worth the time and money. There is also boating in the lake which attracts many. We did not goto Butterfly park as it was 1.5 km walk from the lake. We had carried our lunch with us. So we saved time and we had it here itself. Its a great idea to carry lunch with yourself especially if you are going on 1 day tour.
Next we proceeded to Lalitha Mahal palace. The security will not let you in, Just give him some 40 -50 Rs to take some pics from outside. Or if you can afford lunch here nothing like it. Its around 700 Rs. If you go at Tea time at 4 PM it would be Rs 90 for tea. So plan your trip accordingly.
From there we went to Chamundi hills, did not go inside temple just enjoyed the view and came down. Actually you dont have to go all the way to the Chamundi hills temple if you just want to enjoy the view of the city. You can stop along the way and come down.
Next we proceeded to Brindavan Gardens. It took us more than 30 mins to get there another 10 mins to park. Brindavan gardens is very crowded on weekends and holidays, its best to go on weekdays. Otherwise be prepared for long delays. Coming out of park took us 30 to 40 mins in traffic. The gardens are good. There is musical fountain which they start at sunset. You can take the boat ride to the musical fountains its worth the money. When there fountains are all on, it gives spectacular view. We started at 7:00 PM back and came out on the main road at 8 PM , the traffic is really bad. I hope they do something about it.
All in all it was a great trip, but we had got very tired and dozed off to sleep on way back.
Some key tips
- Roads are good but you have to be very careful since this is a very busy highway and people just come in between.
- Start really early from home to enjoy the full trip and avoid crowds.
- Carry lunch and some snacks with you.
- See if you can avoid the rush and traffic jam at brindavan , maybe park 1 km outside, take auto richshaw or bus to the park.
Check this post for more information on Mysore