Palaces, Forts, KR Market and more – A unique Bangalore day Trip

Most people wonder what to do in Bangalore over a long weekend and the roads to Coorg, Chickamagalur and Ooty are jammed. But Bangalore has a lot to see – we have done over 15 day trips and we keep discovering new interesting places.

This time we did a Fusion trip and accomplished a fun day between 7.30 AM – 3.30 PM covering a lot of ground

Breakfast at the iconic MTR
A visit to the Bull temple at Basavangudi
A walk in the Bugle Rock park watching colonies of Bats
A quick dash to the small but well maintained Tipu Summer Palace and the Bangalore Fort
The famous KR Market
The beautiful and vast Bangalore Palace
Lunch at Esplanade – a lovely Bengali restaurant at Indiranagar

Breakfast at MTR is always a treat and on weekdays it is not crowded. Yes the food is rich and since we were a group of 10 we got our own private dining space with excellent service. Hours of operation: 6:30 am – 11:00 am & 12:30 pm – 9:00 pm. Closed on Mondays

MTR to the Bull temple at Basvangudi is a short ride. The main temple is a few steps climb – but they have a large Ganesha temple and an assortment of other temples in the complex. Right next to the temple is the Bugle Rock park ( You can reach there from the temple main sanctum area) a lovely green space with nice clean pathways. There is a small tower like lookout place atop a rocky section and from there when you look up you see thousands of bats hanging from the trees.

We left from here by 10 AM and in a few minutes reached Tipu’s Summer Palace. Its a small but well maintained structure with a lovely green garden. Located adjacent to the Kote Venkatramana temple – it was at one time part of the Bangalore fort complex. The building dates back to 1791 and is made of Teak adorned with pillars, arches and balconies. One may feel that it is frugal to be called a palace – it hardly has any rooms, but for a king like Tipu who was always fighting wars it may have indeed been a palace.

A few minutes drive from here is the Bangalore Fort. Not much of it is left – but at one time the whole area including the Palace was part of the Fort complex. The Bangalore Fort was constructed in 1537 as a mud fort by Kempe Gowda (The founder of Bangalore) and later fortified as a robust strong stone structure by Haider Ali in 1761. The fort was breached by the British in the 3rd Mysore war in 1790 – 92.

The Fort is located next to the Victoria hospital and a short drive from here brought us to our next stop – the famous KR Market. Having lived in Bangalore since 1996 – I had never visited the place. It was a pleasant surprise to see that it was well maintained and very clean – considering that it is the largest wholesale market for vegetables in Bangalore. The area outside the market you have villagers selling greens and some vegetables – mountains of fresh “dhaniya” some of it crushed under the legs and wheels of trolleys gave a very appetising smell. And being sold for a fraction of the price that the supermarkets charge.

Once you enter the main complex, the big large iconic building there is a semblance of order in the courtyard and finally in the innermost section you see aisle after aisle stacked with vegetables, fruits and flowers. Fresh and very very cheap. They also have some shops selling traditional pots and pans, paper bags etc. You must do this trip with friends and family – it is indeed very enjoyable. Parking is a problem – but we had a driver. There is a Metro station close by – so thats an easy option.

Loaded with veggies we reached our cars and headed for the last destination – Bangalore Palace. This one was built by the Wodeyars in the later part of the 1800’s. Its built in Tudor style architecture with fortified towers and Turrets . Its a large building of over 45,000 sft spread across 454 acres. Just to get an idea of Inflation – this imposing structure was bought by the British from the Wodeyars for Rs 40,000 in 1873.

We received a red carpet treatment as the palace was getting ready to host a wedding (yes you can rent it). The entry fees are expensive – it is owned and privately maintained by the Wodeyar family, and they take only cash. The palace is now a museum.

Having covered a lot – we were famished and were running late to meet our deadline of being home by 3.30. We landed at Esplanade – an authentic Bengali restaurant at Indranagar (Double Road – CMH Road junction). the food here is outstanding and the service is fast. Between the Mochar Chops and Baingan Bhajas, Dum Aloo, Luchi, Dal, Mishti and a lot more – we just ordered too much food. But we thoroughly enjoyed it.