Places to visit in Mysore (Mysuru)

After Bengaluru, Mysore feels like someone turned the volume down. It is small, flat and laid out on a grid, one of the rare Indian cities calm enough to ride a scooter in, and the old royal capital still sets its tone: wide avenues, palaces turned into hotels and galleries, sandalwood in the shops and jasmine in the market. Dasara has been celebrated here since 1610, and the city is also the home of Ashtanga yoga.

Kannada is the city language; English is enough in tourist places. Autos really do run on the meter here, which says a lot about the mood.

• [Mysore Palace (Amba Vilas)](/en/mysore/mysore-palace/): Henry Irwin's Indo-Saracenic palace of 1897–1912, the seat of the Wadiyar dynasty. Shoes come off inside. It is lit with about 97,000 bulbs on Sundays and public holidays (roughly 19:00–19:45) and every evening during Dasara.
• [Chamundeshwari Devi Temple](/en/mysore/chamundeshwari-devi-temple/): the temple of Chamundeshwari, who killed the buffalo demon the city is named after, on Chamundi Hill about 300 metres above town. Pilgrims climb the 17th-century stone stair barefoot, past a Nandi of about 5 metres carved from one block of black granite.
• [Mysore Zoo](/en/mysore/mysore-zoo/): founded in 1892 and one of the best-kept in India, ten minutes' walk from the palace. Closed on Tuesdays.
• [Karanji Lake Nature Park](/en/mysore/karanji-lake-nature-park/): India's largest walk-through aviary under Chamundi Hill, with boats on the lake. The free [Regional Museum of Natural History](/en/mysore/regional-museum-of-natural-history/) sits on its bank.
• [Kukkarahalli Lake](/en/mysore/kukkarahalli-lake/): a 4.5 km shaded track that the city walks at dawn and before sunset.
• [Devaraja Market](/en/mysore/devaraja-market/): the old city bazaar of flowers, fruit, kumkum (red powder for worship) and incense.
• [KSIC Silk Factory](/en/mysore/ksic-silk-factory/): watch Mysore silk being woven on weekdays, then buy GI-tagged saris at the factory showroom.
• [Lalitha Mahal Palace](/en/mysore/lalitha-mahal-palace/): a white palace of the 1920s with a dome modelled on St Paul's, now a heritage hotel.
• [Oriental Research Institute](/en/mysore/oriental-research-institute/) and [Railway Museum](/en/mysore/railway-museum/): the library where the lost Arthashastra was recognised in 1905, and royal saloon carriages beside the station.

• [Srirangapatna](/en/mysore/srirangapatna/): Tipu Sultan's island capital on the Kaveri, 15 km away, with the [Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple](/en/mysore/ranganathaswamy-temple-srirangapatna/) consecrated in 984, Tipu's painted teak summer palace and his domed mausoleum.
• [Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary](/en/mysore/ranganathittu-bird-sanctuary/): six islets in the Kaveri, where a ranger rows you past nesting storks and pelicans and crocodiles on the rocks. June to November is nesting season.
• [Brindavan Gardens](/en/mysore/brindavan-gardens/): terraced gardens by the KRS dam about 20 km out, famous for the evening musical fountains.
• [Srikanteshwara Temple, Nanjangud](/en/mysore/srikanteshwara-temple-nanjangud/) and [Talakadu](/en/mysore/talakadu/): the riverside pilgrimage town called the Kashi of the South, and temples dug back out of the sand dunes on a bend of the Kaveri.
• [Bandipur Tiger Reserve](/en/mysore/bandipur-tiger-reserve/): the maharajas' old hunting ground, now a Project Tiger reserve, with safaris around 6:30–9:00 and 15:30–18:00.

One day: climb Chamundi Hill before sunrise while the stone is cool, visit the palace when it opens at 10:00, then the zoo or Devaraja Market. If it is a Sunday or a public holiday, stay for the palace lights in the evening.

Two days: add a morning at Srirangapatna and Ranganathittu, and Brindavan Gardens for the fountains at dusk.

Three days or more: Nanjangud and Talakadu, a sunrise safari in Bandipur, or simply slower mornings around Kukkarahalli Lake. Mysore is also an easy day trip from Bengaluru, but it rewards a night: the lights and the dawn climb both fall outside day-trip hours.

Mysore sits on a rain-shadow plateau at about 700 metres, so it is comfortable all year. October to February is the best window: dry from December, with days around 29–32°C and nights down to 16°C. March to May is the hot season, up to about 35°C. Dasara falls in September or October, the city's great festival, when the palace is lit every evening and elephants parade; it also fills transport and hotels and roughly doubles prices, so book well ahead. Month-by-month figures are on the [weather page](/en/mysore/weather/).

From Bengaluru by train: about a dozen trains a day, from a second-class seat for about ₹80 to the Vande Bharat (about 1 h 55 min, ₹480–660). Note that the Vande Bharat leaves from SMVT in eastern Bengaluru, 40–60 minutes from the centre, so from central Bengaluru an ordinary train from KSR City is often simpler. Mysuru Junction is a short rickshaw ride from the palace.

By bus: KSRTC coaches leave Bengaluru's Kempegowda Bus Station every 15–30 minutes, take 2–2.5 hours and need no booking.

By car: the expressway takes 1.5–2 hours, but leaving central Bengaluru can add an hour; a taxi with driver costs about ₹2,500–3,500.

By air: the small Mysore airport (MYQ), 10 km out, has turboprops to Chennai and Hyderabad. Everything else comes through Bengaluru, 170 km away.

Around the city: autos run on the meter, about ₹11 per km, so ask for it before you sit down. Uber, Ola and Rapido all work. A scooter from about ₹400 a day fits Chamundi Hill and the palace into one day, and a city bus goes up the hill for a fraction of a taxi fare. More on the pages about [getting here](/en/mysore/how-to-get-there/) and [getting around](/en/mysore/getting-around/).