Karnataka Archives - Travel Duo

15 All Time Favorite Best Bike Ride Places near Bangalore

Renu on November 10, 2020

We have been to all the Best Bike Ride Places near Bangalore since we are into regular road tripping. I have curated a list of best places to go in different highways for example Mysore highways, Hyderabad highways etc.,

And all the places in the following lists have google map link. So just click on the link to the destination, based on the distance you could plan your trip.

Best Bike Ride Places near Bangalore – The List

You could the best bike ride places near Bangalore based on the location or the nearest highways. For example, for us Mysore highways are nearby compared to Kunigal or Hyderabad. So I have curated list of bike ride places based on the highways you would drive through.

List of Places You could go in Mysore road –

Since the travel distances vary for the location you start in Bangalore, I chose not to mention the distances. Feel free to click on the interested places given below to get directions and distances from google maps.

Mysore road presents you lots of destinations for one day destinations for bike ride. Our initial bike trips started with going frequently to Mysore road, and we totally loved it.

Rasta Cafe : One of the best bike ride places near Bangalore, and one of the all time bikers hangout places near Bangalore. 24×7 open cafe with lots of good food options and sports activities.
Sri Sri Ravishankar Ashram : We went on a casual bike trip to this bangalore ashram and totally loved the vast ambiance and cool cafe. If not for any cultural trip, this is a must visit place and best option to spend your day with your loved ones.
Grips Go karting and Bowling : A place to hangout and do some engaging activity with your partner. Located at 20 kms distance from my home in Bangalore, we love to go frequently to this place.
Wonderla Amusement park – best bike ride place near bangalore for both couples and family. A place worth your money and time, and have unlimited fun.
Machanabele Dam – We have been to this many times as much as we have been to Mysore. Because we choose to go Mysore via Machanabele dam, a best route to avoid all the traffic until Ramanagara. Its best place for a one day picnic. Pack your picnic bag or just a day bag with snacks and waterbottles, and have peaceful time watching the lake and dam. Also one the way you could spend some time in Dodda Alada mara, another famous places near bangalore. It is one of the all time best bike ride place near Bangalore, as we prefer this route for its greenary whenever we go for any CCD.
Srirangapatna : Another most frequented place in our bike ride journey is this Srirangapatna for Lord vishnu temple and coupled with another places like Somanathapura or Melkote or Talakadu (mentioned below). Or it is one of the destination on along journey towards Mysore or Coorg.
Somanathapura : An ancient Hoysala architecture, open from 9 am to 5 am is a best tourist place to hangout with lots of greeneries around. Spend time sightseeing the temple, hangout in the garden until evening. Its best to pack our own food since options are less once you divert from Mysore highways.
Melkote : Famous for its cave temple on the hills, this is yet another best bike ride place near Bangalore. You could pack some food spend some time on the hills until evening with a good view. (If you prefer to eat on the highways, then Channapatna McDonald’s is our all time favourite)
Shivanasamudra falls : Famously known for its waterfalls named Ganagachukki falls and nearby Lord Vishnu temple. Here is the travel guide to reach this place by bike. While you are there, you could also visit nearby Hogenakkal Falls.
Talakadu : Famous for ancient temples buried under sand and Kaveri river (talakadu beach), this place is the most famous among the tourists. We have been to this place by bike a couple of times and here is the guide to visit this place by bike. It is another best bike ride places near Bangalore, you would see lots of couples there came by bike, and parking is always full.

All the above places are the nearest destinations for just one day bike trip.

If you have decided to stretch your limits and go on a long road trip, then I would suggest going to Mysore. Where there are many sightseeing places like Mysore zoo, Mysore Palace, Brindavan gardens, Rangathittu bird sanctuary etc.,

Note: Even bike riders need to pay toll for Nice road entry.

Hyderabad Highways Road

Lepakshi – Located in the Karnataka – Andhra border is the very famous, majestic, ancient temple called Lepakshi Veerabhadra Swamy Temple. Famous for its hanging pillars and rock carved architecture, this place is one of the best bike ride places near Bangalore. Little far from Bangalore, yet a must visit place and absolutely worthy of your time. You could hang out in the temple premise with packed snacks and water bottle, until the temple closes. We coupled Our Bangalore to Lepakshi trip with yet another famous tourist destination in Bangalore, Nandhi hills.
Nandhi Hills : A famous place for watching the sunrise in Bangalore, is also famous for its trekking destinations. We love this place for its beautiful temple with scenic pond situated in a vast area, a must visit place.
Ghati Subhramanya Temple – A little diversion from hyderabad highways just before nandhi hills road is this famous Ghati Subramanya temple. We love going to these above places especially Chikkabellapur and Doddabellapur area for watching rose plantations.

Even Though I have given all the temple links to the above destinations, you could simply avoid going to the temple and choose to hangout in the restaurant nearby.

Read – In all our Bike trip From Bangalore – Why Did We Choose to Visit Temples?

The above places are budget friendly and also most famous tourist destinations near Bangalore.

Since you are planning to visit places by Bike, you might want to know about 7 Good Qualities of A Bike Ride Partner (A guide to select a Travel Partner).

Kunigal Highways

We have been to Hassan once on an unplanned journey in our Adichuchunagiri hills trip. While we were there, we visited a couple of famous places in Hassan. Read here.

We have also been to nearby Halebidu and Belur.

How Do We Travel By Bike??

We are travel duos, married couples on wheels since 5 yrs. We have been to all the famous, nearby places and far places from Bangalore by bike. Now we are road trippers, after buying #AllNewCreta in the year 2020.

For Short Trips (One day trips) – We carry a day bag to fit all the below items.

Things we carry in a day bag are as follows –

Water Bottles – its the only brand I trust
Sanitizers, liquid soap – multipurpose, face wipes
Coolers – Important but Not Mandatory
Scarf – A must have for a Bike rider
Snack of choice. I prefer to carry a protein bar – which is filling and easy to carry.
Phone chargers, Power banks – just in case

For 2 days or more long bike trips – We carry saddle bags and a tank bag to fit in all the essentials.

In that we pack – required amount of clothes, camera bag, our mobile phones, chargers, travel essentials, toiletries and what not.

Read – Best Bluetooth Earphones Under 2000 rupees – We Used Regularly MotorBike Rides

Sum Up

We have been to all the above mentioned places by bike and have written detailed travel guides for all the places individually.

Since we live near to Mysore road, we have been frequent travelers to these places and know all these places really well. We always do not travel out with a purpose.

We sometimes choose to have just coffee in any of the best Cafe in Mysore highways and return home. Depending on your travel purpose, you could choose any of the places mentioned above.

And the best part? They don’t hurt our pockets.

In all our Bike trip From Bangalore – Why Did We Choose to Visit Temples?

Renu on October 21, 2020

We are bikers, duo travelers to destinations in SouthIndia mostly bike trip from Bangalore. What started as a casual outing for coffee in Kanakapura road and Mysore road has soon become a planned bike trip to similar places.

And what started as fun riding bikes to nearby places has soon become a passionate bike ride to the far destinations.

To the readers wondering why we always go to places with temples, here is the reason behind it.

Bike Trip From Bangalore: How it Started After Our Marriage

Our very first official bike trip was from Bangalore to Srirangapatna and its nearby places on 26th August 2016.

Definitely a date to remember in our life.

Then after a couple of train trips to Hampi and Belur, soon we realised that we don’t like any modes of travel except by road. Soon, we started going many one day trips by bike, challenged ourselves to go beyond the borders. One such trip was to Lepakshi from Bangalore (Andhra Pradesh) via Nandi Hills (Karnataka).

But what gave us recognition as bike riders among friends (majorly in social media since we started posting pics and total Kms we rode), was a night bike trip to Hassan. That was an unplanned trip to Hassan and we rode 500kms back to back in less than 40 hrs, day and night.

That was a greatest milestone achievement in the year 2016.

In the following year 2017, after numerous 1 day and 2 day trips, we had set another milestone of 11 days continuous bike trip within SouthIndia.

We broke the 2017 record in the following year by going 12 days long bike trip within SouthIndia.

Well, if you see, either 1 day or 2 days or 11 long days, we always visit a famous temple in that particular place. Sometimes our trip plan will be weaved around a particular famous temple in that destination.

Why temples? Why not just go to a exotic destination, chill out and come back?

The Reason Behind Visiting Temples – On All Our Bike trip From Bangalore

The only connection I remember having with temples are those in my childhood. I remember my mother dragging me and my sibling to an ancient Lord Shiva temple in the town I grew, barely giving us time to change from school uniform to civil clothes.

Many years after, I remember accompanying my roommate from Bangalore to Tirupati Balaji temple. That was a memory I still cherish.

And many years later, soon after our marriage, we went to temples with family as it was customary to darshan several temples.

But here we are, riding to all the famous places, visiting the famous/ ancient temples, taking pics, and taking great effort sorting them in all possible harddisks.

Well, to begin with, I suggested going to Srirangapatna Ranganathar temple, as a meaningful destination for our first bike trip from Bangalore.

We liked the idea of keeping a meaningful destination instead of just hanging out in any restaurant and coming back.

Unintentionally we went on a couple of temple trips in the following months.

Later we came to know, both our families liked (assumed?) that we both went on a spiritual trip, spending our weekends in a meaningful way.

Only we both knew it was not just visiting temples, it was about meaningful destinations in our bike trips.

Also we had some meaningful conversations while we were there in the temples – about the architecture and about us.

Sometimes our conversations gets more interesting, we used to compare with the previous temples we have visited, engage in that topic even after we return to our hotel rooms.

Like how we were amazed to see Karnataka’s only unique Hoysala arhictecture’s influence in Ambarnath temple, Mumbai.

Soon, by law of nature, we were naturally attracted to similar destinations, and many good things happened since then.

The Best thing Happened from Visiting Temples in Bike Trips

The constant planning and organizing the trips became my main hobby after marriage.

We were always on the wheels, sometimes going to the same destinations again and again because we did not have any plans laid for that particular weekend. Or simply because of silly reasons like how we liked to have black coffee in Tiruvannamalai (200 kms bike trip from bangalore) and going to nearby Tirukoilur riding among sunflower fields.

Sometimes we go out shopping, but change our mind soon after we exit our apartment building, ride to the far destination for cuppa coffee and come back home only late in the night.

We soon became best friends riding together, talking about the past and the future.

In the past 5 yrs of married life (as of Sep 2020), we grew together as a strong couple and the complete credit goes to all the numerous travels we went (including the ones by train, by air and car).

Note to readers

Click on the category in this website – Road trips from Bangalore to read about all the interesting places we went by bike and car.

Had we not started visiting temples in our short bike trips from Bangalore, we would not have planned our 11 days long bike trip in the year 2017 and 12 days trips in the year 2018. Because it is difficult to just kill time without any purpose.

Wow, what a journey we had. Looking back, it was like magic, but we did it. Riding under sun and moon, storm and rain, we rode bike continuously for those many long days.

You know what else we achieved from those bike trips?

Apart from becoming friends-

Apart from undertaking long bike trips and eventually becoming super confident riders-

We have realised one very important thing in life.

Together we are strong.

Together we can achieve anything.

As an individual, we have our own strengths and weaknesses. But when we both are together, we have only strength.

But Why did I go on a solo trip for 5 Days?.

Final Words – We are not Temple Crazy

Before you think of me as crazy visiting only the temples on our vacation – know this. I am not a spiritual nor a devoted traveler to temples. It’s just the curiosity to know the significant importance of many temples from one another. Also, I am totally in love with the ancient architecture and the lost temples. So you cannot find me visiting any modern age temples, or any non-historic temples for that matter.

Like this train trip to Belur in Karnataka, where we explored 2 less popular Hoysala architectures, the two very beautiful temples in Karnataka.

And once we have been to 24 temples in 3 days in Kumbakonam, the only place where temples are more than tea shops in TamilNadu. So could not get enough from those 3 days, we planned 11 days long motorbike trip to explore the Kumbakonam temple city.

Did we ever go on an exotic trips?.

Many actually.

We did go exotic places like when we stayed in Aveda Resort in Kumarakom, The continental Inn for a week stay in Mumbai, The Grand Mercure in Mysore, Riva Resort in Goa to name a few.

Long Drive From Bangalore to Mysore in Our #AllNewCreta

Renu on August 10, 2020

Yesterday, we went on a long drive from Bangalore to Mysore in our #AllNewCreta, in our new Car bought in June 2020.

Long Drive From Bangalore to Mysore

We wanted to take our new Creta on a long drive since 2 months.

Since its a new car and that too an SUV, we were more than cautious all these days. All we did was to take our ‘Milo’ – that is the name our car :), on a very short one day road trips in highways. Not more than 80 kms in one day trip.

We did go once in Hassan road, and couple of times in Mysore road and several times to Kanakapura road to our regular cafe coffee day.

Well, its time we took the beast for a long drive from Bangalore to Mysore.

Why We Chose Mysore for Our First Long Drive

The main reason being, we are very much familiar with just 2 roads / highways starting from Bangalore.

One is Hosur road, leading to Chennai and Salem, where we have been on multiple bike trips and road trips to Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, Kanchipuram, Yercaud, Kumbakonam, Trichy, Tirunelveli, Madurai, etc.,

And Second, Mysore highways, leading to Mysore, further to places like Coorg, Wayanad, Bandhipur, Ooty, Chikmagalur, Mangalore etc.,

Due to pandemic – interstate highways lock-down, we were left with just one familiar road, that is Mysore highways.

Very soon we will be exploring many other roads such as Kunigal Highways and Hyderabad highways. We have covered Nandhi hills and Lepakshi in one day bike trip in Hyderabad highways, yet to explore further once this pandemic is over.

Our recent Hassan road trip in our #AllNewCreta

Many Other Good Reasons for Choosing Mysore Highways:

Well Paved Roads – A very popular highways (NH 275), now under construction for 6 ways road is a treat for anyone looking for long drive from Bangalore to Mysore, or Coorg or Wayanad.
Numerous Restaurant Choices – Throughout the highways, you have numerous choices of restaurants and coffee shops. Our new favorite is Drive thru McDonalds in Channapatna, where you get hot meals at all times. And the best part? It is a drive through. No time waste in dine – in.
Toll Fare of Just 65/- rupees – We all need a weekend getaway that doesn’t burn our pockets, isn’t it?. Trust me, Mysore highways doesn’t cost you much like Salem and Kunigal highways where you would be easily spending minimum of 250 rupees for a one way drive. Whereas, here, for a long drive from Bangalore to Mysore, you would be spending just 65 rupees. And if you choose Kanakapura road (NH 948) for the return journey, you would be spending only half of that money. Very gooood.

Best Drive in Restaurant in Kunigal highways

From our recent short raod trip from Bangalore, the best drive -in restaurant in Kunkgal Highways is Swathi Delicacy. Here is google map link – https://goo.gl/maps/TLXDeUxjxEFF3M678.

Taste their coffee alteast, its the best :).

Travel Time from Bangalore to Mysore by Road

Bangalore to Mysore distance is 150 kms from each other. The travel time from Bangalore to Mysore by road, was just 3 hrs. Fair good time with just pit stop of 10 mins (that too at McD’s drive thru) in a moderate traffic.

Ideally it would take about 4 hrs of drive for a skillful driver in an ususal weekend traffic. Whereas, it would take just 3 hrs of drive for a skillful driver in a weekday traffic. The toughest one is from Nice road until Ramanagara, after that it is usually a smooth drive.

We started by 8 am on a Sunday morning, after having a cup of black coffee at home.

(This is how to make best coffee at home, my all time favorite drink).

McDonald’s Drive thru, Channapatna, Long drive from Bangalore

By the time we reached “the frosting” cafe, it was 11am. Strectched legs, quenched thirst, ate pizza, clicked pics and chilled out for some time. After all the chillax, roamed the city until 2.30pm.

Entrance view at the frosting cafe, Mysore

Meantime had coffee at Ashirvaad grand pure veg situated across Grand Mercure hotel.

If you are wondering, we came to know this restaurant when we stayed in ‘Grand Mercure‘, just a week before outburst of Covid-19. While we stayed there, we came to this veg restaurant for the evening meal. We liked this veg restaurant in Mysore since then. And their best mysuru coffee too.

Instead of “frosting cafe”, last time we went to “The Old House” cafe. Love both their ambiance and food.

In fact we wanted to go to our all time favorite Green hotel with Malgudi cafe. It is one of the best cafe in Mysore. Unfortunately it was temporarily closed for the pandemic. Otherwise we would never miss their coffee and dessert for anything in the world.

best cafe in mysuru — The green hotel, Malgudi cafe in Mysuru

Around 2.30, we had lunch at yet another famous restaurant in Mysore for Biryani, called Hanumanthu Mess. It is rated one of the best non veg restaurant in Mysuru. And it is true. A small mess serving delicious non veg biryani could be your favorite too.

We then leisurely started our Milo, to return back to Bangalore.

Returning Back – Long Drive Via Malavalli / Kanakapura Road

It is our thing, we always choose Malavalli – Kanakapura road (NH 948) for the return journey.

Ideally it is a parallel highways to Mysore highways, with less fancy road and far less traffic.

Not only that, we love that road for the greenery and agri land.

We were on this route couple of times when went on bike trip to Shivanasamudra falls, T Narasipura, Talakadu Tala Kaveri river and Somanathapura (Hoysala architecture) and Srirangapatna.

With our favorite music playing at the back, the return journey took us 4 hrs of time. Because, we stopped at many places to click pics, the most notable one was the thriving Kaveri river after monsoon (top most pic in this story).

We never had any interest to go sightseeing in Mysore. If you are travelling with kids, and planning to go sightseeing Mysore palace, zoo and botanical garden – then you need to be arriving Mysore at 10am. So that you would have sufficient time to look around places in Mysore in one day.

But, we always love to hangout in cafe’s instead of sightseeing in Mysore.

This time too, in our long drive from Bangalore to Mysore in our #AllNewCreta, we did nothing but chill out in cafes.

Glad we took our Milo for a long drive.

Road trip From Bangalore to Nandi Hills: A Beautiful Temple You Don’t Want to Miss

Renu on July 17, 2019

In all our Road trip from Bangalore to Nandi Hills, We never miss to visit this ancient, beautiful temple named Boga Nandeshwara Temple with a breathtaking pond.

Many visit Nandhi hills to watch sunset.

Many go on one day trip from Bangalore to Nandi hills for adventurous trip, for trekking with groups.

Not all of them know about this ancient temple which is picture worthy from all the angles. The majestic pond is this temple’s highlight. One must visit this temple to witness the beauty and vast history behind its architecture.

Road trip From Bangalore to Nandi Hills

About Nandi Hills Temple

Bhoga Nandeeshwara Temple is located at the foot of Nandi Hills Bangalore, approximately 15kms away. Not to confuse this temple with Yoga Nandeeshwara temple a.k.a Nandi Temple located on top of the hills. But there is a connection between these two temples which many of us don’t know.

These two temples together depict the different forms of Lord Shiva. From Childhood to adult married form depicted in Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple. Whereas final phase of “renunciation” is depicted in Yoga Nandeeshwara temple at the hilltop.

Since it represents a departure from the married life, there are no festivals celebrated in Yoga Nandeeshwara temple.

Note: This Nandi Hills temple is not the same “Nandi temple” in Mysore.

In Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple you can see childhood form as “Arunachaleswara” shrine located on the south, youth form located on the north. (Both are beautiful majestic Shiva Lingas with individual Nandhi guarding them).

In Between “Arunachaleswarar” shrine and “Bogha Nandeeshwara” shrine is the “Uma Maheswara” shrine where Lord Shiva is married to Goddess Parvati, sitting on their Vehicle Nandhi. You will be amazed looking at the ornamental pillars which are small but breathtakingly beautiful. Scroll down to see the pics below.

Temple Pond – Pushkarni Details

Also there is a Kalynai / Pushkarni (temple pond) adjacent to the temple, a very beautiful pond which attracts hundreds of visitors for its exotic design, artistic appearance and its cultural heritage. It is also called Shringi Theertha, Myth says that it was created by Nandi and it is also the source of South Pinakini (South Pennar) River.

Google Map Link of Nandi Hills temple – https://goo.gl/maps/B8H5bD394o1JENTi8

Pushkarni or Temple Pond in Bogha Nandeeshwara Temple

(Note: this pond pic is from internet search since it is beautifully captured than my mobile phone)

Update (14th July 2019) – Since last year we click pics from the Canon EOS 800 D DSLR camera we bought in 2018 for our long bike trip. Also we carried our personal phones whenever we couldn’t take out the DSLR or no space in luggage. Rajesh carried One Plus A6010, and whereas I carried Samsung galaxy S7. Got to tell you my Samsung pics were no good compared to the clarity of One plus. Decided that when I upgrade my phone, I would definitely go for the One plus only.

Road Trip From Bangalore to Nandi Hills – How To Reach

Nandi Hills Bangalore is the most preferred choice for one day bike trip destination by bikers.

It is such a beautiful sight to watch many bikers parading in small or big groups to Nandi hills.

With approximately 70 kms distance from Bangalore to Nandi hills, you have smooth NH 48 roads for seamless drive for the entire 2 hrs of drive. You might experience a slow traffic until Kempegowda Airport on weekdays, especially on Saturdays. Sundays are the most peaceful days.

The distance from Bangalore airport to Nandi Hills is 47 kms distance, which is the most greenery roads.

There are also bus facilities from Bangalore to Nandi hills, and from Nandi hills to Bogha Nandeeswara temple.

Thanks to “Archaeological survey of India”, this famous Nandi Hills Temple is well maintained all the times.

Riding to Nandi hills temple is always a pleasant experience. Once on the way to Nandi hills temple we spent time around the rose plantation, clicked some pics before we reached there.

Read – Kolar is another best place for one day road trip from Bangalore.

If you like to go trekking to far places from Bangalore, you could go either go Coorg or Talakona forest and waterfalls or Yercaud.

10 Things to do around Nandi Hills

After a couple of bike ride to Boga Nandeeshwara temple, we went one step ahead and visited multiple places far apart from this temple in one day.

On 5th November 2016, We went on One day bike trip to the very famous Lepakshi Temple (Anantapur District, Andra Pradesh) after visiting Boga Nandeeshwara temple. I suggest travelling to Lepakshi Temple, which is one of the best one day trips from Bangalore within 150 kms.

That day alone we rode bike for 300 kms on up and down journey. One of the memorable adventurous bike trips ever because we have traveled up and down two different states in one day. Good news is Lepakshi temple is just 76 kms away from the Nandi hills.

On 21st jan 2017, we went on One day bike trip to visit Sri Ranganathar Temple (Rangastala) and Boga Nandeeswarar Temple (Nandi Hills) in Chikkaballapur District followed by Ghati Subramanya Temple in Doddabellapur District. We rode 286 Kms on that day alone. Another memorable bike ride experiences.

Read – How to Travel to Hampi by Train From Bangalore.

Here are the 10 things to do Around Nandi Hills Bangalore

Watching sunset and going on a trek are the most common things people would do in Nandi hills, here are the other things you could do.

Ride to Bangalore to Bogha Nandeeshwara temple, spend time around temple and in the temple pond.
Go Watch Sunset in Nandi Hills top after visiting Yoga Nandeeshwara temple at the hilltop
Go trekking in Nandi Hills (join any organised groups for trekking to Nandi Hills with food and water provided)
Visit Sri Ranganathar Swamy temple in Rangastala, 11 kms away from Bhoga Nandeeshwara Temple
Trekking in Avalabetta Hill, 46 kms away from Bhoga Nandeeshwara Temple
Visit Lepakshi Temple in Anantapur district, Andra State, 76 Kms away from the Nandi Hills
Go visit Ghati Subramanya temple, 29 kms away from Nandi Hills
Go watch traditional dance at Nrityagram located 50 kms away from Nandi hills towards Nelamangala.
Visit Grover Zampa Vineyards, spend a day at grapes plantation in the Devanahalli road.
Or stay in Discovery Village resort in Nandi Hills, enjoy the weather, sunrise and sunset for 2 days, nothing but chill with the family or friends.

Road trip from bangalore to Nandi Hills — One day Bike trip from Bangalore to Nandi Hills images

Bangalore to Nandi hills — Nandi Hills temple – Bogha Nandeeshwara Temple images

nandi hills bike trip temple images — Nandi Hills temple – Bogha Nandeeshwara Temple images

Nandi hills bike trip images — Boga Nandeeshwara temple main entrance

Nandi hills bangalore images — Boga Nandeeshwara temple – Inside entrance to main sanctum

Nandi hills - Boga Nandeeshwara temple images — Nandi hills – Boga Nandeeshwara temple images

One day Bike trip from Bangalore to Nandi Hills images

Bogha Nandeeshwara Temple Nandi Hills Karnataka

As I mentioned earlier, road trip from Bangalore to Nandi hills is always a pleasant experience for us riding among agri fields.

One day trip or a short trip, Nandi Hills Temple is one of the best nearby places in Bangalore to visit on weekends.

Melkote From Bangalore (335KM in One Day Bike Trip)

Renu on February 15, 2017

In our One day bike trip to Melkote From Bangalore, we have visited CheluvaNarayanaSwamy temple and Lord Yoga Narasimha Swamy temple on the Melkote hill.

On our way back we have visited the very famous Srirangapatna temple, near Mysore.

We have traveled a total of 335 kms just in one day trip from Bangalore and here is our travel story.

How to Reach Melkote From Bangalore by Road – 2 Routes

On an early morning on 11th Feb 2017, we started our bike journey to Melkote from Bangalore, coincidentally it was our 11th one day bike trip from Bangalore :).

Never we have ever been to Melkote on our previous bike trips to Mysore or Srirangapatna.

You know we always make it a point to visit a famous temple / historic place during all our bike trips.

Knowing that Melkote is famous for a historically important Lord Vishnu temple called Cheluvanarayana Swamy temple and the other Yoga Narasimha Swamy on the hill, we have decided to ride exclusively to Melkote.

This was our first exclusive trip to Melkote from Bangalore.

There are 2 routes to reach Melkote from Bangalore. One is Kunigal Mangalore Highway and the other Mysore Highways.

We took Kunigal highways to reach Melkote (I explained the reason in next section). If you are taking Mysore NH, the distance is almost the same as above, you will be taking a diversion from Mandya to reach Melkote.

The following is the route we took to reach Melkote by Bike.

Melkote route from Bangalore (Kunigal Highways)

Bangalore-Nelamangala-(Kunigal Mangalore highway)-Bellur cross- Nagamangala-Melukote (temple visit) -return via Srirangapatna (temple visit) mysore highway road

Melkote Distance From Bangalore

Melkote distance from Bangalore is 167 kms (from my home) via Kunigal route and 140 kms from my home via Mysore NH.

The reason I mentioned “My home” as a starting point is because the distance might vary a little based on the location you start in Bangalore.

Both the routes now have plenty of options for restaurants, cafes and fast food joints.

Since we never experienced Kunigal route ( with 167 kms) we decided to take that route.

Note: Both the routes have plenty of pitstop options for the travellers.

In Kunigal route, we had breakfast at tiffanys in Nelamangala. And we stopped at Hotel Mayura at Bellur cross for lunch.

2 Must See Temples of Melkote

Melkote is famous for two temples namely Cheluvanarayana temple and Yoga Narasimha temple on the hills.

We spent some time in the CheluvaNarayana Temple pushkarini until the temple opened for evening darshan. As soon as we had darshan, we headed to the Melkote hill temple.

We had to wait a long time in the queue to darshan Lord Yoganarasimha and headed as fast as we could to Srirangapatna temple.

Again standing in queue for quite sometime in Srirangapatna temple, we had darshan only at 7.15pm.

Well, we knew for sure made mistake of coming all the way to Srirangapatna instead of returning to Bangalore from Melkote itself.

We then started our bike around 7.30 pm, with a prepared mind for a thrilling bike ride in the NH.

Riding in dark is not new to us, once we rode about 500kms in Hassan trip, the highlight was riding in pitch dark among tall trees.

Sightseeing Places Around Melkote

From our experience, know that it’s better to stick to just sightseeing in Melkote on your trip.

Here is the list of places to go nearby Melkote.

Feel free to click on the name to get google map location, explore more about the places in google before you decide to go sightseeing these places around Melkote.

Ancient Sri Brahmeswara temple, Kikkeri – Famous Hoysala architecture temple. Located 40 kms from Melkote.
PanchaLingeshwara temple – Hoysala architecture temple located near Kikkeri
Shravanabelagola – Bhagawan Bahubali Statue, A famous sightseeing day trip destination in Karnataka, located 35 kms from Melkote.
Sri ChennaKesava Temple – Hoysala architecture temple located 47 kms from Melkote and located near to Shravanabelagola. You could plan to visit these two temples in one go before reaching Melkote.
Nuggehalli Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Temple – located a short distance from Bellur cross, is yet another breathtaking architecture of Hoysala. Located about 30km away from Bhagawan Bahubali Statue and 55km from Melkote, it is a must visit temple in Karnataka.
Adichunchanagiri Hills – Sri Kalabhairaveshwara Swamy Temple, located close to the Bellur cross. At 54 kms from Melkote – a serene temple with a breathtaking view atop the hill should be in your travel bucket list.
SriRangapatna – Sri Ranganathaswamy temple, located 38 kms from Melkote is yet another historically famous temple of Lord Vishnu near the Kaveri river. This temple location is close to both Mysore and Melkote.

We have fallen in love with the beauty of this Nuggehalli temple. Consider this place to add to your bucket list on your trip to Melkote from Bangalore.

Here Is the Sample Road Trip Plan for you

If you are not sure of trip plan, here is a sample road trip plan to help you started with.

Start From Bangalore -Darshan Melkote temple – on return journey from Melkote – visit in order – Shravanabelagola -Nuggehalli – Adichunchanagiri hills.

You could even plan the other way around, like you can visit all famous places first, later in the evening visit Melkote before reaching home.

Moreover it gets too dark and scary in Adichuchanagiri hills temple (from our Hassan bike trip experience).

Did We Return Home Safe?

Following what seemed to be a never ending ride among the super crazy vehicles in the National Highways, we reached home safe sometime past midnight.

Yet another memorable one day bike trip to cherish, to Melkote from Bangalore, of total un-freaking-believable 335 kms in Pulsar bike.

Anything around 200 to 250 kms, we are good to go by motorbike in a day.

But on that day, we pushed past our comfort zone and rode about 335 km in just one day.

Looking back we are now so proud of the risks we took in our early days of bike trip. So later we were able to go on an 11 days long bike trip.

After almost 4 long years of bike ride to places, now we are settled to travel by car.

So these bike rides definitely hold a special place in our life. All credit goes to Rajesh, who was never afraid to set new milestones.

Read Related Our Bike Ride Stories here:

From Bangalore to Hassan Road Trip: A tale of New Bikers Riding at Night, 500KM trip

Bangalore to Tiruvannamalai Temple Thrilling Night Bike Ride Of 200 Kms

4 days Road Trip To Coorg From Bangalore (Bangalore to Coorg Bike Trip)

Is it Safe to Drive From Bangalore to Coorg by Bike?

Renu’s Solo Trip To Kumbakonam – How I roamed Kumbakonam for 5 days in a Rented Bike

2 Less Popular, Historically Important Places to Visit from Bangalore to Belur (Train Trip)

Renu on November 10, 2016

This is our travel story of visiting Halebidu and Belur in our one day trip from Bangalore by Train, along with the 2 other less popular destinations. This is the travel guide to the places to visit from Bangalore to Belur.

Bangalore to Belur distance is 222kms, an easy distance to cover by road for one or two day trip from Bangalore. Even though this was a train trip, you could use this guide to plan your Bangalore to Belur Road trip.

Places to Visit from Bangalore to Belur

When I searched for the places to visit from Bangalore to Belur – Here is what I found. Almost all the travel websites suggested the most popular places like Halebidu, Belur Chennakesava temple, Yagachi dam, Chikmagalur and Shravanabelagola.

I wanted to explore the less popular. I wanted to go to a place where not many show any interest. Not any particular reason, when it comes to visiting Historical places, I am kinda nuts.

So these are the two places I have got digging into the google maps after researching my brains out.

Both are beautiful places to visit from Bangalore to Belur, both are very beautiful and unique Hoysala Architectures.

Arasikere – Beautiful Hoysala Architecture (For Lord Shiva)
Javagal – Beautiful Hoysala Architecture (For Lord Vishnu)

When it comes to ancient popular Hoysala architecture in Karnataka, people always prefer visiting Somnathpur Keshava Temple in Mysore or Halebidu – Belur temples.

Whereas these two – Araskiere and Javangal are less popular among the tourists for unknown reason. And here is the detailed itinerary of how to visit these two temples.

places to visit from Bangalore to belur — Beautiful Arasikere Temple – Lord Siva temple

Places to visit in Bangalore to Belur trip — Javagal Lord Vishnu temple entrance

We have also visited yet another less popular Hoysala Architecture in Hassan district in our two day adventurous bike trip from Bangalore.

How We Started Our One day trip to Belur Halebid from Bangalore

In the year 2016, on 2nd October, we went on a one day trip to Belur Halebid from Bangalore.

This was a one day trip from Bangalore by Train. You could use the same guide for the places to visit from Bangalore to Belur.

We reached Arsikere Railway junction from Bangalore in the early morning.

And We knew nothing about this place, no clue of the places to eat our breakfast.

After eating some home bought biscuits to go with cup of tea in a local bakery, we hired an auto to reach the Arasikere Ishwara temple.

From there, after about an hour of Bus journey we have reached yet another less popular temple – situated in a vast area, called Lord Lakshmi Narasimha temple.

After visiting those 2 less popular places, we were on a straight route to Halebidu and Belur.

The distance between Halebid and Belur is about 17kms, and there are bus and taxi options to travel between these two destinations.

We returned back by train to Bangalore around midnight.

Arasikere and Javagal should be in your bucket list if you are planning any one day trip from Bangalore or from Mysore.

And it is a must see places – one of the Hoysala places to visit from Bangalore to Belur.

Arasikere – The Less known Place to Visit One day trip from Bangalore

hoysala temples in Karnataka — Oranmental Star Mandap at the entrance facing main Sanctum

A very beautiful Hoysala architecture in Arsikere, dedicated to Lord Shiva, called Ishwara temple. It also has two other shiva linga sanctums, called Kattameshwara and Chandramouleshwara respectively.

There was no one in the temple premises except for us and the priest. He said that as a ritual he keeps an open temple every morning and evening.

We have time leisurely looking around the architecture, and our talks were around how our ancestors would have celebrated the occasions here.

We clicked pics to our heart’s content before we left the temple to the Arsikere bus station.

Javagal – Lord lakshmi Narasimha temple

bangalore to hassan road trip — Remains of Lakshmi narasimha temple

Yet another beautiful Hoysala architecture in Javangal in Hassan district of Karnataka.

This Lord Vishnu temple is situated in a vast area in the middle of the village (guess later people have built the houses surrounding the temple).

We went inside opening the gate, there was no sign of the priest or any devotees.

We have waited in the pillar mandap for sometime after exploring the temple and clicking pics – but no one turned out.

Happy to have visited this place, we left for the javagal bus station to catch a bus to Halebidu.

Temple of Belur and Halebidu : Our Final Destination

Our final destination was the temple of Belur and Halebid.

First we reached the Halebidu (or Halebeedu), a small town in Hassan district. It is one of the popular tourists places in Karnataka.

By the time we reached by bus to Halebidu from Javagal, our mobile battery almost ran out and so was our energy.

We entered a local eatery situated close to the Halebidu temple with rumbling stomach. But only to find they serve tomato bath (tomato flavoured rice) with a dal vada. Something to feed our crying bellies, we had each one plate of rice and vada combo.

Meanwhile we charged our phones, and relaxed ourselves from the never ending travel from Bangalore.

It was a non stop travel since the time we left early from our home.

After a well deserved rest, we went to the very famous Halebidu temple – a Lord Shiva temple called Hoysaleshwara temple.

karnataka famous temples — **the famous Halebidu temple** – the outer wall

hoysala architecture in karnataka — **the famous Halebidu temple** – the outer wall

The temple campus very much resembled Somanathapura Temple in Mysore. We had to walk about 200 – 300 meters between the well paved decorated grass compound.

There stands a majestic Hoysala architecture – one of a kind in India, a signature style by the Hoysala empire only seen in Karnataka state.

The two huge bulls guarding the two respective Shivalinga is a major attraction here.

Hoysala architecture — Outer walls of Halebidu temple

Just like the first Arasikere Lord Shiva temple, this temple also has two other Shivalinga sanctum. Except it is majestic, artistic and beautiful bull statues.

Unlike the first two (unpopular temples), this temple was hugely crowded and we were not able to click even one selfie in isolation.

After spending a relatively long time here, we headed to the final destination – Belur, the last places to visit from Bangalore to Belur train trip.

Places to Visit in Belur

There are many sightseeing places to visit in Belur, including the Yagachi dam and river rafting – our only intention was to visit the famous Chennakesava temple.

The Hoysala architecture temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu, the second Lord Vishnu temple in our one day trip from Bangalore.

famous temples in karnataka — Shri Chennakeshava temple belur -travelduo images

Just like the Javagal temple, this temple compound has a decorative Gopuram – only much better than Javagal.

Again this temple was also too crowded, majority of them are the school students who came on an excursion.

One of a kind Hoysala architecture, situated in a vast area and covered by never ending pillar mandap is sight to the eyes.

We never got enough of this temple even though we have visited 3 of its kinds in the same day.

Clicked enough pics and captured lots of memories before we headed to the bus station. Where we had our last meal, before boarding the train to Bangalore.

Sum- up

Hope you are impressed with our list of places to visit from Bangalore to Belur in one day. Since the first two places are less popular, they don’t appear in the travel websites. If you are going by road, distance from Bangalore to Belur is just 222 kms. You could very well visit all the places I have listed in this travel story. Hope you enjoyed it.