Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace
Tipu's teak palace of 1791 inside Kempe Gowda's old fort walls — painted pillars and the scent of old wood.
Combine with the Kote Venkataramana temple next door.
45 min
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Bangalore
Bangalore keeps its history low and green: a 1537 watchtower fort, Tipu Sultan's teak palace, the cantonment the British laid beside the petes, and the parks that earned it its garden name.
Cubbon Park
1537
The mud fort
Kempe Gowda founds the pete town.
1791
The Company's city
Bangalore falls in the Third Mysore War.
1809
The cantonment
A second, British city grows beside the first.
1956
Vidhana Soudha
The granite seat of the enlarged Mysore State rises.
Bangalore Fort
Originally a mud fort built by Kempe Gowda in 1537 and rebuilt in stone by Haidar Ali in the 1760s; only fragments, including the Delhi Gate, survive.
A short stop on the way to the Summer Palace.
30 min
Kote Venkataramana Temple
Built in 1689 within the old fort by Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar, a Dravidian-style temple older than most surviving structures in the Pete.
Shoes off; morning is the quietest time.
30 min
Bangalore Palace
Bought in 1873 for the young Chamaraja Wodeyar and rebuilt as a Tudor castle — princely kitsch at its grandest.
Entry and camera tickets are expensive; the audio guide is included.
90 min
Vidhana Soudha
The granite legislature completed in 1956 in a neo-Dravidian style, commissioned to outshine the colonial buildings opposite.
Not open to tourists inside; see it lit on Sunday evenings.
20 min
Bull Temple
The Dodda Basavana Gudi, built by Kempe Gowda in 1537 around a monolithic Nandi nearly five meters long.
Visit during the Kadalekai Parishe groundnut fair in November or December.
30 min
Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple
A cave temple cut into a hillock, restored by Kempe Gowda, where the setting sun lights the lingam on Makar Sankranti each January.
Evening puja is the best time to visit.
30 min
St Mark's Cathedral
The cantonment's cathedral, begun in 1812 and modeled on St Paul's in London.
Open for visitors outside service times.
30 min
St Mary's Basilica
The city's oldest church, rebuilt in Gothic style in 1882, and the focus of a large festival every September.
Combine with Russell Market nearby.
30 min
Nandi Hills
A 1,478-meter hill fort that Tipu Sultan and later the British used as a summer retreat, with Tipu's Drop, the cliff from which prisoners are said to have been thrown, and the ninth-century Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple at its foot.
Opens around 6am; leave Bangalore by 4:30am for sunrise and expect weekend queues at the gate. Hours and entry rules change, so check before going. Stop at the Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple on the way down.
5 hrs