Bengaluru · Suggested Itineraries

Bengaluru sightseeing is best organised by geography, because the city's traffic punishes zig-zagging across town. The plans below cluster sights that are close together, so you spend your time seeing things rather than sitting in cars.

One day (the essentials). A brisk but satisfying loop of the city's highlights.

• Start early at Lalbagh Botanical Garden while it is cool and quiet — an hour or two among the trees, the Glass House and the lake.
• Move to Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace and the adjacent City Market area, then on to the Bull Temple and old Basavanagudi for a taste of the traditional south city.
• Break for a proper South Indian lunch and filter coffee.
• In the afternoon, take in Cubbon Park, the exterior of Vidhana Soudha and the Attara Kacheri, all close together in the centre.
• End the day around MG Road / Brigade Road for shopping, dinner, and a first sampling of the pub scene.

Two days (the comfortable version). Adds the palace, the temples and time to breathe.

• Day 1: Lalbagh in the morning, then Tipu's Summer Palace, Bull Temple and Basavanagudi; lunch; Cubbon Park and Vidhana Soudha in the afternoon; MG Road/Brigade Road in the evening.
• Day 2: Bangalore Palace and its grounds in the morning, then the hilltop ISKCON Temple at Rajajinagar. Afternoon for shopping — Commercial Street for the bazaars or UB City for luxury — followed by dinner and drinks in the Indiranagar or Koramangala microbrewery districts.

Three days. Follow the two-day plan and give the third day to the surroundings: an early-morning run to Nandi Hills for sunrise (back by lunch), a family half-day at Bannerghatta, or a longer excursion toward Ramanagara or Shivanasamudra. Alternatively, slow the city days right down and spend the extra time in the cafés, parks and neighbourhoods that give Bengaluru its easy character.

Bengaluru as a Karnataka base. Many travellers use the city as the first vertex of a wider southern-Karnataka trip. A common shape is Bengaluru (2 nights) for the city, then onward to Mysuru (1–2 nights) for the palace and Chamundi Hill via the expressway, continuing to Coorg (Kodagu) for the coffee hills, or to the Hoysala temples at Belur, Halebidu and Somanathapura. Bengaluru's flights and trains make it the natural in-and-out point for the region.