How to visit Nandi hills Bangalore?

My family came 2 weeks ago to see me and I thought to take them any hill station in Bangalore. After search Nandi hill was the shortest available spot. I tried but could not succeed due to short time but there were many other factors who blocked the trip to be finalized or realised.

1. Very few hotels at top of Nandi hill. All booked before Friday for weekends.

2. There are no direct transportation available from any part of Banglore to Nandi hills. Train – you won’t reach there directly, station is far from there. Bus – No direct bus, multiple change. Cab – since it’s outstation to-fro charges will be applied and if you are night staying then price may go up.

So, I thought to try it alone and then take the family after knowing the location.

Here are few pointers,

1. Bus is hectic and need smart and researched approach. Most cheaper. Time consuming.

2. It’s around 60km from Bangalore and near to Kempegowda airport.

3. Hill station so in the morning and evening it would be cold, whatever be the month.

4. No ATM and carry cash. No Paytm, no Online transfer.

5. Government hotels krtc will not allow single person (u need to convince them, carry company id card). They will take 1000 cash as refundable deposit.

6. Sceneric place. Good maintained and very good for family.

7. All points within 2km circle max by walk. Battery car available for 10 points siteseen.

8. Best to come by bike or personal car.

9. Come early in the morning, go in the evening but not late, after sunset it’s dangerous and gate will be closed.

10. Hill top is secured with main gate which opens at 6am and closes at 6 pm. So if you are not staying at hill top then u won’t be able to enter it and go to sunrise point before 6am. Entry fees ₹20 per person plus car entry fees extra.

11. Last not least, book good room for avg 2k, cheaper 1k is good for bachelors or single not good for family..Specially government one.

Now, I will describe how I did it. Cab was easy mode but being alone I thought not good to spend 10k for single night trip. I researched on quora and google, found few good tips but still those were not sufficient.

Places : Majestic or Kempegowda bus station, Devenhalli RTO corner, Chikkaballapur, Nandi or Nandigram, Nandi hill signal, Nandi hill top.

Some people will suggest to go to Chikkaballapur then take bus. Well I had issue here, from Chikkaballapur to Nandi hill bus frequency is very less, minimum 2.5 hrs or may be more.

From Devenhalli RTO which is after Airport, there are 2 cross roads, one goes to Chikkaballaur and another Nandi hills and both are approximately same 20km. And from Chikkaballandur to Nandi hill is 25km..So if you go to CKR and come to NH it will be 45km ie extra 25km plus more time.

I took bus from Ecospace bellandur to Ibbelur then another to Majestic and it took around 1.5 hrs. AC bus approximately ₹80.

Then at Majestic Terminal 1, took bus at plateform 1 for Chikkaballapur (frequency good, 15-30 min) non AC and semi ST kind of for ₹64.

Got down at Chikkaballapur stand and took another bus for Nandi at plateform 15. Here I had language issue, none were able to speak hindi but what I understood that there were no direct bus at that time for Nandi hills and this one would be dropping me at Nandi or Nandi gram. And here I misunderstood Nandi as Nandihill signal.

So I got down at Nandi and fare was ₹9 and approximately 9km. Then I realised my mistake, asked one Auto guy who told me that bus just left for Chikkaballapur and will come after 90 minutes. Since it was 1.30pm, I was not in mood to take bus anymore and was cursing myself for not opting Devenhalli rto stop route. Asked auto for Nandi hills – ₹400 was first bet and after negotiation we finally settled for ₹300. But there was twist, 4 Bcom college girls who also waiting there for bus from last 2 hours were negotiating with same guy, seems they came with little money (may be to see serial shooting I think). Auto wala told me if I can share the auto he will charge me ₹250 only. ₹50 was not issue for me but I knew the pain of transportation specially when you have little money. I had done many in my odd days. So I took the auto but girls were missing, after 10 minutes search we found them. After 5 minutes ride one girl started the talk and we could spoke only in english. All were enjoying their time even in that situation – friends. I hardly understood anything, nothing. But their laughing, doing masti was reminding of my days with my school friends.

Well whole 5 hrs journey ended around 3pm. But here is my take if I want to do another bus ride or you.

1. Start at early around 6am. Take bus from Majestic.

2. Get down at Devenhalli RTO cross road.

3. Try to take bus upto Nandi hill or atleast Nandi signal. If not then try to get at the end of the road.

4. Nandi hill from Nandi signal is around 8km. Take auto may be ₹150-200 or sharing.

Waiting at Devanhalli RTO is better than going to Chikkaballapur. But there is direct bus to Nandi hills from Chikkaballapur and if you missed waiting time would be 2 hrs or more.

Enjoy, I will post my return journey experience later.

How to see all points, sunrise, source of water, basavana?

There is trail near to Mayura pine top Restaurant not hotel near to Nandi sagar hotel…Go down and you will see all.

Return journey:

I did checkout at 11am and walked to the main gate while seeing Amrut sarovar and Tipu summer. Took share auto at 11.50am, fare was ₹30. Reached Nandi hill cross or signal in 20 minutes. Had my mini lunch there, white rice, rasam and curd. At 12.55 took another private local bus to reach Karahalli cross and fare was ₹10 and reached there in next 6 minutes. Here boarded another local bus for Devenhalli in next 10 minutes and fare was ₹15 for 15 minutes ride. Once I reach at Devanhalli, I will get plenty of buses to Majestic. And yup got another bus in next few minutes… Total journey would be 2hr excluding gaps.

Optimal route : Majestic – Devanhalli bus stop or Devanhalli RTO cross – Karahalli cross – Nandi hill signal – Nandi hill… 😂 32 + 15 + 5 + 30 = ₹82 one way.

I covered this trip 1 night 2 days by bus and expenses were ₹2500 including all things, 😂😂. Next time I will come by Bike.