Bengaluru (Bangalore) Hotels

There is no question that the de facto Silicon Valley of India is a force to be reckoned with. Bengaluru is the fastest-growing city in the country and outside of Mumbai and Delhi, the most populous as well. It’s not all about hordes of new young professionals donning headsets and fielding calls from all over the world either. Call centre jobs, once so ubiquitous they promptly became a clichéd punchline, have slowly made way for middle-management positions at a variety of multinational Fortune 500s. Pubs have fallen out of favour as a new class of upwardly mobile wannabes find succor in swanky lounges and supperclubs. Once affordable real estate in the downtown districts have become prohibitively expensive. All in the name of progress in this city of aerospace, software and biotech executives.

Yet the side of Bengaluru most likely to charm visitors is not chockablock with gleaming high-tech campuses or yearning office towers but heritage landmarks, museums and temples. The genuine character of the Karnataka metropolis comes courtesy of points of interest like Bangalore Palace, Basavanagudi Nandi Temple, Cubbon Park, the State High Court, Archaeological Museum and Sir Seshadri Iyer Memorial Library. Toss in a vibrant and diverse restaurant and nightlife scene and Bengaluru takes shape as a befitting cosmopolitan capital contender for the 21st century.

Bengaluru’s Top 10

Bengaluru Local

Bengaluru/Bangalore is a big city that cuts a wide metropolitan swath. The third most populous urban area in India has well over 5 million people and covers more than 7,600². The current cityscape is a mix of old precincts, village clusters (hobli), expansive suburbs, technology and industrial parks and shiny, hyper-growth, purpose-built residential and commercial districts.

The Central Business District and principal commercial node of Bengaluru contains some of the most expensive real estate in Asia and a number of high-profile schools and consulates. Major thoroughfares include Mahatma Gandhi Road and Brigade Road.

Banashankari, or BSK, is the most prominent locality in Bengaluru, with a slew of household-name residents and lush residential areas.

Electronics City is a big industrial park that evinces Bengaluru’s once-nascent Silicon Valley ambitions. Notable residents include the likes of Tata, GE, Siemens and 3M.

Girinagar is a residential enclave with a strong Kannada community and many important temples and shrines.

Jayanagar is another vital Kannada enclave and handsome area for the upwardly-mobile and professional class in Bengaluru. Ragigudda Anjaneya Temple is a major point of interest.

Koramangala is a relatively cosmopolitan and highly developed precinct of Bengaluru. The area contains many technology and software giants and high-rise condominium projects.

Mathikere is the residential home of Jayaprakash Narayan Biodiversity Park.

Thyagarajanagar is significant as the oldest neighbourhood in Bengaluru. The locality contains many temples and places of worship.

Bengaluru Eat & Drink

As a cultural crossroads, Bengaluru has a plethora of restaurants that broach a diversity of culinary styles with relative ease and skill. Visitors to the city are inevitably spoilt for choice.

Bengaluru Events

Bangalore is not a raucous festival city per se but does serve up the usual colourful mix of Indian holidays and cultural celebrations.

Holi, the lively Hindu Spring festival, takes place sometime in February or March.

Diwali is the national “Festival of Lights” that takes place over five exultant days sometime between mid-October and mid-November.

M. ChinnaswamyStadium is a first-class cricket ground that hosts Tests and One Day Internationals on a regular basis, in addition to myriad concerts and cultural events. The oval is the home stadium for the Karnataka state team, as well as the Bangalore Royal Challengers of the Indian Premier League, whose owner is billionaire industrialist Vijay Mallya.

Ugadi Festival is a paramount food event in the state of Karnataka in late March, with reams of regional comestible staples on offer all over the city.

Karaga Festival is a major annual event for the endogamous Thigala community of Karnataka. The festival features parades and temple rituals and takes place in March or April.

Durga Puja or Dussehra, the “Fortnight of the Goddess”, is a venerable Bengali Hindu festival in September or October that features much colourful pomp and ceremony.

Bangalore Habba, a pre-eminent showcase of traditional drama, dance and music in December, has evolved into one of the most important cultural events in Karnataka.

Bangalore Queer Film Festival is a relative newcomer on the city scene but is already a hot ticket every February.

When To Go

A telltale tropical savanna climate makes it easy to identify when and when not to go to Bengaluru. The distinction between wet and dry seasons is crystal clear in the Karnataka capital, with the bulk of annual rainfall between May and November. Violent thunderstorms occur with predictable frequency in summer as well, most notably in June, July and August.

Cooler temperatures and scant precipitation then, make December to March the best time to visit Bengaluru. The dry season features conditions that range from 59°F (15°C) to 90°F (32°C), in stark contrast with summer lows that rarely dip below 68°F (20°C).

What To Miss

Traffic, auto-rickshaw scams, touts and shoddy shops and restaurants are at the top of the list of what to miss in Bengaluru. Vehicular congestion is impossible to escape in urban India but that much more manageable if you plan your accommodations in advance and position yourself well in the city.

Auto-rickshaw drivers do take the opportunity to exact ludicrous fares from foreigners and may turn bellicose if you question their integrity or gall. Nonetheless, verify if the meter is on and negotiate a fare you can live with or, perhaps more sagely, avoid the three-wheelers altogether and hire a private taxi.

Taxis will play the same con if given the chance, most notably from the airport. Head straight for the prepaid taxi booth at Bengaluru International and book a cab in advance.

Industrious and entrepreneurial hucksters are invariably eager to ply foreigners with protracted sales pitches. Sadly, polite niceties seldom work in these circumstances. A firmer approach is usually necessary to shoo the peddler hordes away.

The shabbier, more densely populated precincts of Bangalore demand a few sensible, extra precautions. Pickpockets who patrol crowded areas will engage in thievery if they sense a a compromised, distracted tourist. Keep your wits about you and safely store money and valuables.

Getting Around

Bengaluru International Airport is one of the busiest transport hubs in India, with close to 12 million passenger movements a year. That number looks to increase significantly by 2015, when dramatic terminal and runway expansion plans finally wrap up. Major destinations served by the airport include London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore. Needless to say, every major city in India is served by the airport as well.

Bengaluru International is 40 km from downtown Bengaluru proper. Until a proposed high-speed rail link breaks ground and is unveiled, visitors can reach the city by bus or a variety of taxi services.

Government-run and private buses connect to Bengaluru’s central station from just about every major and minor city in India. Comfort and cleanliness levels depend largely on how much you spend per ticket. The same is true for rail transport into one of the city’s two main terminals. While train travel is relatively cheap in India, it comes with inevitable delays and often requires interminable patience.

Within Bengaluru, it makes good sense - for those who can afford it - to hire a car and driver to get around. In truth, the average cost for a day is not terribly expensive and in light of the city’s complex, perilous roads, a perfectly sane decision. Otherwise, travellers can utilize a very busy but reliable bus network or the usual mix of auto-rickshaws and the like. The Namma/Bangalore Metro is in early days but will expand considerably in the years to come.

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