Bengaluru

India's Silicon Valley and Garden City, where Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace and Lalbagh Botanical Garden sit alongside craft-beer pubs; the gateway to South India.

Bengaluru is the capital of Karnataka, India, set on the southern Deccan Plateau at about 920 m. Its mild climate and leafy streets earned it the name "Garden City", and its concentration of tech companies has made it "India's Silicon Valley". The city centre breaks down into a few areas. Around Cubbon Park is the government and museum district, home to the Vidhana Soudha, the High Court, the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum and the Museum of Art and Photography. To the south, the old city has Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace, Bangalore Fort and the KR Market flower market; further south is Basavanagudi, with the Bull Temple and VV Puram Food Street. To the north are Bangalore Palace, the old neighbourhood of Malleswaram and the ISKCON Temple. MG Road, Brigade Road and Church Street form the hub for shopping and nightlife, packed with craft-beer pubs. Classic day trips include sunrise at Nandi Hills, the Adiyogi statue and night treks at Skandagiri, about 60 km north; Bannerghatta Biological Park to the south; and the Big Banyan Tree, Wonderla amusement park and the monolith of Savandurga to the southwest. The best season is October–February, with daytime temperatures in the 20s°C and cool mornings and evenings; March–May is hotter, and June–September is the monsoon, though it never gets oppressively hot. Kempegowda International Airport is about 35 km north of the city, with airport buses and taxis into town. The metro (Purple, Green and other lines) reaches most major sights, but traffic is notoriously heavy, so hire a car for out-of-town trips. Allow 2–3 days for the city, or 3–4 days including a day trip. Remove your shoes and dress modestly at temples. Food highlights include South Indian vegetarian breakfasts, ragi mudde and craft beer.

Top sights

• Lalbagh Botanical Garden – A royal garden established in 1760, famous across India for its Victorian glasshouse and flower shows.
• Cubbon Park – A 300-acre green lung in the city centre, with a red Gothic-style library and colonial-era buildings scattered among its trees.
• Bangalore Palace – A Tudor-style palace of the Mysore royal family, modelled on Windsor Castle, with royal furniture and hunting trophies inside.
• Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace – A two-storey teak palace completed in 1791 in Indo-Islamic style, the summer residence of Tipu Sultan.
• Nandi Hills – A hilltop fort at about 1,478 m above sea level, and the top choice for Bangaloreans who want to watch the sunrise and the clouds.
• ISKCON Temple Bangalore – A large modern temple on Hare Krishna Hill, with golden flagpoles and chanting ceremonies that leave a strong impression.
• Bull Temple (Dodda Basavana Gudi) – Built in the 16th century by Kempegowda, the main hall houses a giant Nandi bull carved from a single block of granite.
• Vidhana Soudha – The Karnataka state legislature building, a granite giant in the Neo-Dravidian style and a Bengaluru landmark.
• Bangalore Fort – A stone fort begun in 1537 by Kempegowda and rebuilt by Hyder Ali, of which only Delhi Gate and a section of wall survive.
• Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum – One of India's first science museums, with steam engines, real aircraft and interactive science exhibits that are great for families.
• National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru – A national gallery housed in a converted colonial mansion, with works by Raja Ravi Varma and other leading figures of modern Indian art.
• Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) – A private museum opened in 2023 that houses ancient and modern South Asian art and photography, with innovative curation.
• Commercial Street – Bengaluru's busiest budget shopping street, packed with clothing, jewellery, fabrics and street snacks.
• MG Road & Brigade Road – Bengaluru's central business district, lined with craft beer bars, bookshops, cafés and shopping malls.
• Bannerghatta Biological Park – A wildlife park about 22 km south of the city, where a safari ride lets you see tigers, lions and Asian elephants up close.
• Wonderla Amusement Park Bengaluru – A large water and thrill park on Mysore Road, one of India's most popular theme parks.
• Ulsoor Lake – A large artificial lake east of the city centre, dotted with small islands, where you can go boating or take an evening walk around the sho…
• St. Mary's Basilica – The first papal basilica in Karnataka, with a Gothic Revival spire rising above the historic Shivajinagar neighbourhood.
• Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple – A Shiva cave temple carved into a hillside, notable for the huge granite disc and trident in front of its entrance.
• Shivoham Shiva Temple – A seated Shiva statue about 20 metres tall beside the old airport road, striking when lit up at night and busy with devotees.
• Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium – A dome planetarium opened in 1989, with English and Kannada sky shows that are great for families.
• HAL Heritage Centre and Aerospace Museum – An aviation museum run by Hindustan Aeronautics, with several domestically built fighter jets and helicopters on display outdoors.
• K. R. Market – Bengaluru's largest wholesale market, where the dawn flower market bursts with colour and is a must for photographers.
• Malleswaram – A historic neighbourhood that preserves the charm of old Bengaluru, home to a morning market, ancient temples and century-old South Indian…
• VV Puram Food Street – Bengaluru's most famous night snack street, with South Indian and North Indian street food stalls lined up side by side.
• Adiyogi Shiva Statue, Chikkaballapur – A 112-foot steel bust of Shiva built by the Isha Foundation, often visited on the same day as Nandi Hills.
• Bhoga Nandeeshwara Temple – A thousand-year-old temple at the foot of Nandi Hills, founded in the 9th century, with finely carved pillars, corridors and a stepped tank.
• Big Banyan Tree (Dodda Alada Mara) – A giant Indian banyan more than 400 years old, whose aerial roots form a forest covering about 3 acres.
• Savandurga – One of Asia's largest single-rock monolith hills and the most challenging day hike around Bengaluru.
• Skandagiri – Famous for night hikes to the summit to watch the sea of clouds at sunrise; the peak has fort ruins and a small Shiva shrine.

Where to eat

• MTR (Mavalli Tiffin Rooms), Lalbagh Road – A legendary vegetarian institution in Bengaluru founded in 1924, said to be the birthplace of rava idli.
• Vidyarthi Bhavan – A long-standing Gandhi Bazaar institution opened in 1943, famous across the city for its crisp, buttery masala dosas.
• Karavalli Southwest Coastal Restaurant – A garden restaurant in a Taj hotel, opened in 1990, bringing the coastal cuisines of Karnataka, Kerala and Goa to Benga…
• CTR (Central Tiffin Room) – A century-old vegetarian tiffin room in Malleshwaram whose butter masala dosa has repeatedly been voted the city's best.
• Meghana Andhra Biryani (Residency Road Branch) – A Bengaluru local biryani landmark; its spicy boneless chicken Andhra biryani appears on almost every city biryani list.
• Koshy's Coffee Restaurant – An old-school restaurant on St. Mark's Road that began as a bakery in 1940, with colonial-era décor and a long-standing…

Itineraries

• Bengaluru, Mysuru, Ooty & Coorg – Loop from Bengaluru to see the royal city, ride the mountain toy train, and stay in the coffee hills.
• Karnataka Dynasty Heritage Trail – Travel south to north to see Mysuru, Hoysala temples, Hampi, Badami, and Vijayapura.