Gokarna is a beach destination in north Karnataka, known for its hippie culture and not visited by many mainstream tourists other than bachelors & foreigners. It is one of the best beach destinations to drive from Bangalore on a long weekend. It was a long weekend road trip from Bangalore in the 2nd week of March. March is not the best time for a beach destination, but fortunately, the weather was not so hot. This time I attempted to create a video instead of a blog post. Let me know if you like it ..read more

This was a full-week trip, including both weekends. We have been to Goa on a shorter trip earlier, so we wanted to keep it long and relaxing this time. The focus was south Goa, as we visited the north part earlier, and we love less crowded, close to nature places, in which south Goa is clearly the winner. Route We went by train from Yashwantpur to Vasco Da Gama. The train was not in excellent condition and took more time to reach than I would have taken to drive to Goa by myself. In any case, my daughter was looking for a train journey for a long, so it was not a bad option. If one decides to ..read more

The place is geographically adjacent to or part of the Bhadra wildlife sanctuary. It was on my list of places to visit and came up in a discussion with friends, resulting in the trip with friends and family we had been talking about for a long time. It was the first weekend of July. The rain had already started in Bangalore, and so was Kemmannugundi Hill. Route: It is around 280 km from Bangalore. The road condition is primarily good other than the very last part. Google Maps was sufficient to lead to the place accurately. A good portion of the route is through the Bangalore- Hassan highway, w ..read more

This was a weekend trip in May. We visited Ooty earlier and didn’t like it. I was not expecting much from Kotagiri either, but it came out to be a beautiful place. Route Bangalore -> Mysore -> Bandipur -> Gudalur -> Ooty -> Kotagiri -> Kodanad This route was much longer than the suggested one by Google Maps, but knowingly we went through to enjoy the jangle and in the hope of seeing some wildlife. While going, it was already 9:30 am by the time we reached the entrance of Bandipur, and the weather was also hot. But while coming back, we entered Mudumalai at around 6 pm, and t ..read more

This was the extended weekend of 1st May 2023. We extended it by two more days and made it a Kodaikanal & Munnar road trip from Bangalore. I covered the Kodaikanal in an earlier post, and let me take you through Munnar here. Route We went to Munnar from Kodaikanal. The route is simple, coming down from Kodaikanal to the plane, driving towards Theni, and going uphill to Munnar. Kodaikanal -> Theni -> Munnar As valid for any route, Google Maps perfectly guided us in most parts. Just make sure not to give the exact hotel location from the start itself, as in that case, it shows shortcu ..read more

This was the extended weekend of 1st May 2023. We extended it by two more days and made it a Kodaikanal and Munnar road trip from Bangalore. It was a much-needed unwinding trip after some health-related stressful events. Generally, we prefer beaches, but this was the month of May, so we finalized these two locations. The goal was to relax, and so we did. I will cover the Kodaikanal here, and Munnar is in a different post. Route We started at 5am from north Bangalore and took the following route: Bangalore -> Hosur -> Krishnagiri -> Salem -> Dindigul -> Kodaikanal Google Maps al ..read more

This was mid of January. These two places were on our list for quite some time but never got prioritized earlier. This time, the cancelation of a beach destination made the backup plan a final one. The trip went much beyond our expectations. Both places are amazingly beautiful in their own ways, and we felt they are yet to get the name and fame they deserve. Route We went to Belum Cave first and then to Gandikota. We took the route to Bangalore airport and then started going toward Hyderabad. At Anantapur, took the exit from the highway towards Tadipatri and further to Belum Cave. Google Maps ..read more

It was a three-day tour from Bangalore by road in May 2019. It was an extended weekend, and the temperature was manageable. The destination was Wayanad, and we also visited Srirangapatna on the way. Route We went from Bangalore to Mysore to Nagarhole to Wayanad. The road condition was decent. Crossing the Nagarhole was certainly enjoyable by the sight of wild elephants and dears. It was a little more adventurous than we expected, and you can find here why. Stay We stayed at Varnam Homestay. It is a Kerala-style home, made of concrete and wood. They had their own farm around the place, and ..read more

It was a day tour from Bangalore on the weekend of 17th December 2022. Route The location is around 150 km from Bangalore. There is little to talk about the route besides what Google Maps suggests. The most part is the tolled road and in excellent condition. The last part is through villages, and also in good condition. Just for the last couple of km, don’t follow Google Maps, as it shows a route toward the back of the hill. Instead, take help from locals on the way. The place The Gommateshwara statue is at the top of the hill. According to some websites, there are around 700+ steps. The steps ..read more

Mahabalipuram can be visited from Bangalore on a stretched day trip, as it takes 2-4 hours to cover the monuments there and 7 hours to reach the place. We covered this on our way back from Pondicherry to Bangalore by road on Nov 26th, 2022. Route Mahabalipuram -> Arcot -> Chittoor -> Kolar -> Bangalore The road condition from Pondicherry to Mahabalipuram is good. The road from Mahabalipuram to Bangalore is primarily narrow and/or under construction for the most part. Google Maps took us through some roads through green paddy fields in villages and industrial areas and connected to ..read more