Mysore Palace
Amba Vilas, rebuilt in Indo-Saracenic style in 1912 after a fire; lit by some 97,000 bulbs on Sunday nights.
Opens at 10am; go early. Illumination on Sundays and holidays around 7pm.
2 hrs
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Mysuru
Mysuru kept what other cities lost: its palace lit by a hundred thousand bulbs, its silk and sandalwood trades, and the memory of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan, who nearly stopped the Company here.
Kaveri
1399
The Wodeyars
A chieftain's line takes Mysore.
1761
Haidar Ali
The commander seizes the state.
1799
Srirangapatna
Tipu falls defending his island capital.
1881
Rendition
The Wodeyars return as model princes.
Srirangapatna
Tipu Sultan's island capital on the Kaveri, where he fell in 1799 — walls, dungeon, summer palace and tomb.
Daria Daulat Bagh is closed Fridays. Hire an auto-rickshaw to cover the island's sites.
Half day
Chamundi Hill
The goddess temple above the city, with the colossal Nandi, carved in 1664, partway up the climb.
Climb the steps early morning, or drive up and walk down.
Half day
Somanathapura Keshava Temple
A Hoysala temple of 1268 on a star-shaped plinth, carved in soapstone with friezes of elephants, horses and epics.
An easy half-day trip; few crowds.
Half day
St. Philomena's Cathedral
Neo-Gothic cathedral completed in 1936 under Maharaja Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV, among the tallest churches in Asia, with twin 175-foot spires.
Visit the crypt with its relic of St Philomena.
45 min
Brindavan Gardens
Terraced gardens below the KRS dam, built in 1932 by the engineer M. Visvesvaraya, with a musical fountain show in the evenings.
Come for the fountain show after dark; it gets crowded on weekends.
2 hrs