Nandi Hills Travel Guide – We had planned this trip for quite some time! All of us being minimalists, we’d calculated every penny for the trip. Each bus/cab ride, fuel prices on our chartered car, even the coffee prices! After all, Bangalore is expensive.
Well, not everything by our trip outlines. But that’s just how traveling is. What fun is it when a journey goes with perfection anyway? But with my Nandi Hills experience, here’s everything to know about visiting Nandi Hills without hustle – thus Nandi Hills travel guide.
Nandi Hills is one of the top things to do in Bangalore. This post has everything you need to know about visiting Nandi Hills – things to do in Nandi Hills, timings, itinerary, trusted booking resources, and extra expenditures.
This Nandi hills travel guide is lengthy, help yourself with this table of content below.
Nandi Hills Travel Guide – Tourist timings and rates
Let’s begin with all the things a visitor should know before traveling – the timings, entry fee, and what to expect during the pandemic.
- Nandi Hills Timings – The Nandi Hills is open from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm on all days of the year.
Is Nandi Hills open during the lockdown?
Nandi Hills travel guide – Yes, Nandi Hills is open for visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic as of July 4th, 2021. It shouldn’t be a problem to visit the hills as long as you wear your masks and avoid crowds.
Yet it’s best to stay updated on it. Not long ago, people were gestured to leave Nandi Hills as it started to crowd up on a weekend.
Take your precautions and it’s best to visit on non-peak days for safety.
Best time to visit Nandi Hills
The best time to visit Nandi Hills is early morning. To experience the beautiful sunrise, be there by 6:30 am. The gates to Nandi Hills open at 6. But be an hour earlier to avoid long waiting lines.
The hills being a very popular spot, it’s hard to find a spot for your vehicle to park (or even go up). When we visited, the gates were still shut.
We’d made it there by 5 am and we were in front of the queue. But even being there early at 5, there were already a dozen bikes and cars ahead of us before the gate. While we waited for an hour till 6, the queue of vehicles kept piling up behind us.
- How much time does it take to visit Nandi Hills? It takes 2-3 hours to experience the Nandi Hills sunrise at the top, walk around the gardens, and explore some historic places like the Tipu Summer Palace.
Nandi Hills Entry Fee
The entry fee for Nandi Hills cost Rs 175 when we visited including the car parking.
The prices on most sites haven’t been updated, but the prices have hiked a lot since GST. The cost for entry has almost doubled in 3 years. Here are the updated prices:
- 2 wheelers – It costs Rs 30 for 2-wheeler parking.
- 4 wheelers – Car park by the bus stand for 4 members costs Rs 125 and Rs 150 for 5 members in a car. It costs Rs 175 for car parking on the Nandi Hills hilltop.
- Autorickshaws – It costs Rs 70 to park by the bus stand and Rs 80 on the hilltop.
Source: AsiaNet News
Even with the hike in prices, the number of tourists visiting Nandi hills every morning keep increasing, hence making parking space harder to get.
Accommodation at Nandi Hilltop
The KSTDC (Karnataka State Tourism Department) manages the guest houses at Nandi Hilltop called the Hotel Mayura Pine Top. It’s the perfect spot to stay for those visiting Nandi Hills. For a weekend getaway, I’d recommend staying here considering its decent reviews on Booking.com.
Moreover, the prices are reasonable ranging from Rs. 2000 – 3500 per night considering the popular location and facilities. Check for pricing for your dates on Booking.com below:
However, this is the only available as the tourism department manages the accommodation at the top. But with so many people visiting, there are many other stays available at the foothills of Nandi. Though at the foothills, they offer various facilities like camping, fires, cycling, and trekking. One such popular eco-resort here is the Discovery Village Nandi Hills.
Nandi Hills Travel guide: Things to Carry
This Nandi hills travel guide isn’t complete without mentioning stuff to pack! There isn’t much to bring along, but the visits in the morning get cold. Here are some things that’ll come in handy.
Things to Wear
Since visiting Nandi Hills is lesser than a one-day trip, there aren’t many essentials to carry. But the first thing I’d recommend bringing along is a jacket (or anything to keep you warm).
Here are things to wear when visiting Nandi Hills in the morning:
- Jacket
- Beanie cap (or something to cover your head)
- Sports shoes
On the safer side, bring a waterproof jacket – the chilly atmosphere forms water droplets on your clothes. When it’s cold the place gets way too chilly then. Within an hour on the hills and all our heads were wet.
Also, it’s better to wear sports shoes or any footwear with a grip. Apart from the view bridge being slippery at times, the hills that you’ll walk on around the hills are smooth to stride upon.
- Here’s another article on Bangalore to check out: Ultimate Bangalore Itinerary for 2 days
Things to Pack for Nandi Hills
Absolutely nothing! The only things you’ll need on this trip are:
- A water bottle
- And a camera.
A water bottle is sufficient for an early morning visit to Nandi Hills. Some blogs included items such as sunscreen. Unless you’re staying up there till late morning, it isn’t necessary.
We didn’t have a professional camera with us. But bring one along, the sunrise view is breathtaking in the chilly mornings. The shadows of the trees make it cooler (or spooky!).
- Another article on Bangalore to check out: Visvesvaraya Museum Bangalore – A splendid 1 Day Visit!
Visiting Nandi Hills from Bangalore
Nandi hills are 50-60 km from Bangalore in the district of Chikkaballapur. It’s only 43 km from Yelahanka, the edge of Bangalore – where I live – and only 38 km from Kempegowda airport. It takes around 1 to 1.5 hours to reach Nandi Hills by car
While the car is the best way to get to Nandi Hills, here are some ways to reach Nandi Hills.
Nandi Hills travel guide: How to go there?
Most people visit Nandi Hills from Bangalore. And the hills being popular, there are many ways to get to Nandi Hills:
- Take a bus to Nandi Hills. Get a bus from the majestic bus stand (KSRTC) directly to Nandi Hills. Or take a connecting bus from Chikkaballapur. Majestic is 60 km away and it shall take 2 hours to reach Nandi Hills.
- Drive/Hire a cab. This is the best way and safest way to get to Nandi Hills. Use services like Klook, Zoomcar, or Ola rentals to rent a car for the round trip, it’s cheaper than hiring a cab.
- Ride your bike! Most take bikes up to Nandi Hills. The ride up the hills is a sweet journey for bike riding enthusiasts. Some folks go for rental scooters like Vogo or Bounce to visit the hills. However, the rides can get dangerous during peak hours.
We booked a car on Zoomcar. You’ll need to search for a bit to get the best prices. It’s 20% off on Klook car booking to Nandi hills now. Check it out!
For cabs, you can also get them at the Kempegowda airport and reach the hills within an hour.
Taking a private vehicle is better than a bus as it’s impossible to visit early in the morning by bus. The first bus to Nandi hills leaves at 8:30 am.
Driving from Bangalore
Driving from Yelahanka, Bangalore wasn’t a problem. We were up early and on the highway NH44 a few hours after 12. Since we had time, we detoured, visiting the Kempegowda airport – thus spending more time and fuel than mentioned on this Nandi Hills travel guide.
Anyway, driving to Nandi Hills isn’t a problem, but driving up the hills is challenging with the traffic around.
Lucky for us, one of our friends was an experienced driver. For those into amateur driving, it’s best to hire a driver. Nandi hills isn’t a place you want to be messing around with when it comes to the roads. Though the narrow roads are wide for enough 2 vehicles, people drive crazy in the morning on the curvy uphill paths.
My friend who was driving had one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the gear the whole time.
Many people ride bikes here and for early morning rush hour, I decided that car’s the best way to visit Nandi hills.
Places to visit in Nandi Hills by walk
Nandi Hills Travel guide: All the places here are within walkable distances. When you wander the hills, you’ll find all these spots by yourself.
Here are all the places to visit in Nandi Hills by walk:
- Sunrise View Point
- Sunset View Point
- Nandi Temple
- Nandi Hills Park
- Tipu Summer House
- Amruth Sarovara Pond
Take a stroll around the hills, you’ll visit all of them. In fact, I didn’t know about these places before I began writing this post.
We didn’t get down to the Tipu Summer House but do visit it. The summer house is down the hill from the Sunrise viewpoint side, it has grand scenic views of the sunrise.
- Sunrise and Sunset Viewpoints: While there’s a sunset viewpoint on the other side of the sunrise viewpoint, the sunrise is way better. It has a bridge made for the view.
- Nandi Temple: It was easier to refer to the Nandi temple but there are other temples on the hills. The Nandi Temple is the one that’s behind the sunrise viewpoint. Some other temple names I looked up are Shri Verrajaneya, Maheshwara Temple, Ksheera Nadhi Moola, Bhramashram. There are many more as you walk along the road in their own devoted spots.
- Nandi Hills Park: This park’s right at the center with beautiful greenery. The morning vibes while walking through the park is absolutely worth the visit. Take your time and wander everywhere through it. However, look out for the signs that don’t allow you to walk over some spots.
- Tipu Summer House: We weren’t aware of the Tipu Summer house’s existence at the time. It’s a bit of a walk and you should visit it!
- Amruth Sarovara Pond: You’ll find this while walking through the park.
Another travel blog to check out: 8 Things to Know about Bangalore
Things to do in Nandi Hills
Most from Bangalore go for the drive and early sunrise in Nandi Hills. But with its popularity, so has its tourism that promotes living close to nature. There are resorts with various activities like camping, trekking on other hills, paragliding, and cycling.
However, these aren’t the main attractions of Nandi Hills. For those visiting from outside, you can find these activities anywhere else in the world.
Go for simple accommodations at reasonable prices and explore Nandi Hills and places nearby yourself.
More pictures of Nandi Hills!
Forgive me for this, but I just had to share the rest of the pictures – there were so many of them! Not that they were great clicks, but they had to be on this Nandi Hills travel guide :)
My skin started to get dry due to the cold. It was so cold it took an effort to stand still for a picture!
Nandi Hills Sunrise pictures through the trees
TailPiece
Nandi Hills travel guide: One morning is sufficient to make this visit. The reason, why everyone in Bangalore is hyped about Nandi Hills, is because it gives most a moment of fresh air – a minute away from their busy lives. Every person has their own experience to share.
Some go for the sunset and most for the sunrise.
We prefer taking a car, most prefer motorcycles. But there are the cool ones who even wish to cycle or trek Nandi Hills! It’s all about how you go. If you have a cool experience to talk about, comment below.
Look at this monkey that got up on our car when we were leaving :) Have a great day.
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