Winters are here! The weather is nice and cool and this is the best time to travel. Diwali vacations are still on and Christmas vacations are round the corner. For most of the folks, it’s chill time and you can definitely think of planning a vacation. Hence this Mysore travel guide!
We bring you the cleanest city in India in today’s blog. The city that houses beautiful palaces and gardens. A city which is famous for its silk and its wooden toys. The royal city of Mysore!
Mysore travel guide
Thinking about what to pack? Read our travel blog on Efficient packing for a weekend getaway!
How to get there:
It is very easy to get to Mysore. Mysore has its own airport and if you can’t get a direct flight, you can travel to Bangalore, and then travel by car to Mysore. It will be about 3-4 hours journey, depending on the time you are traveling.
Where to stay:
There are a plethora of options available for stay. You can select whatever suits your budget. You have your standard economy hotels like Ginger, and you also have luxury resorts like Grand Maurya & The Silent Shores resort. If you are a nature adventure enthusiast, you could go for the wilderness camps within close proximity to the city, like the Bandipur Safari resort & K Gudi Wilderness Camp.
Things to see in Mysore
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Mysore Zoo:
If you are visiting Mysore with kids, then Mysore Zoo is a must visit! It is one of the oldest zoo in India. The zoo is home to a wide range of animals and birds which you must have probably seen only in books. Tall Giraffes welcome you in the zoo. And you get to see all types of wild animals the royal tiger, hyena, zebra, and hippopotamus, among others, here. There are wide variety of birds too. Just be prepared for a long walk as the zoo is really huge. The zoo is very well maintained and clean.
Brindavan Gardens:
Brindavan Gardens is perhaps the very first garden in India sporting the musical fountain which kids would love. Every evening there is a light and music show which is the major highlight of the garden. The garden is really huge with a beautiful lawn and plants.
Rail Museum:
The Rail Museum is another attraction in Mysore that you can visit with your kids. The museum exhibits vintage locomotives. It also has a toy train. Kids would real enjoy the tour to this museum.
GRS Fantasy Park:
GRS Fantasy Park is an amusement park that has exciting rides for both adults and kids alike. There is a Caterpillar, Baby Train, Mini Aqua Bowl, Ramp Slide, etc. for kids and rides like Columbia, Dragon’s Den, etc. for adults.
Chamunda Hills:
A beautiful temple built atop the Chamunda hills. This would surely be a small trek for your kids! The huge Nandi is another attraction here. If you are planning to travel here, be prepared for a long wait at the temple queue. You could also shell out some extra bucks and get in the shorter line for the Darshan!
Mysore Palace:
This is by far, the best place to visit in Mysore. Even if you don’t do anything else, you MUST keep one whole evening for this magnificent view. This is the biggest palace in India which was the house of the royal family of Mysore. The intricate carvings in the palace will take your breath away! Be ready for a long walk as this is a really huge palace. The people who manage the palace put up a show in the evenings for the benefit of the tourists, which is cool to watch. But the cream of the cake is the lit-up palace, which looks so mesmerizing, you become speechless. Don’t get caught away by the crowds, and the hawkers who keep passing by. Find a place you can sit quietly and soak in the beauty! It is at such places and moments that I very strongly feel India has such a strong and beautiful legacy, it’s given us. Now, it’s up to us, what we make of it! Right?
Government Silk Weaving Factory in Mysore:
A trip to Mysore is incomplete without buying the Mysore silk. What can be more exciting than getting to see the silk production process as well! So as your kids enjoy this lovely factory trip, you can indulge in buying some sarees and scarves at cheap rates!
Also, check our Hampi travel guide for saree shopping and Unesco approved ruins to visit.
Channapatna Crafts Park:
A visit to Channapatna Crafts Park will take you into the beautiful world of these bright and colorful toys. Channapatna is a small village that lies between Mysore and Bengaluru that is known as the City of Toys. They are famous for their hand-made wooden toys. I was taken back to my childhood when I saw the rocking horses and the small pull-along wooden toys there! You can actually meet the artists at work and pack loads of these beauties as souvenirs.
Bandipur National Park, and Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary
For the nature enthusiasts in your groups, plan a trip to the Bandipur National Park, and Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary, which is actually outside Mysore city, but still pretty close. There is also a Dubare Elephant Camp on the way back to Bangalore, but I was disappointed with the place. You can try your luck to see if you like it better than me. Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary is nice, but the flaw is they open only after 8.30 a.m. Any bird lover would know that the best time to be able to see birds is between 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. So, that leaves a very small window to get any good sightings down there. You could try and get permission to enter earlier, though I’m not sure about it.
You can also include Gandikota and Belum caves in your itinerary, better known as the Grand Canyon of India.
Also read – Hyderabad travel guide
So, there you go. We give you one of the most beautiful, most quaint & quiet places, I’ve ever been in India. Do visit soon, and let us know what you thought about it. And yes, we await your pictures of the fabulous Mysore Palace!