Cheap things to do in Bangalore (under ₹500)
Mostly food. Under ₹500 each, and most are well under.
Eat a masala dosa at Vidyarthi Bhavan
A Gandhi Bazaar tiffin room that has served the same crisp dosa since the 1940s.
EasyBasavanagudi1 hr₹
Order the butter masala dosa at CTR
Central Tiffin Room in Malleshwaram has made benne dosa since the 1920s and still has a queue for it.
EasyMalleshwaram1 hr₹
Watch a play at Ranga Shankara
A JP Nagar theatre that puts on a play most days of the week, with cheap tickets.
EasyJP Nagar3 hrs₹
Ride the Yellow Line from one end to the other
Sixteen elevated stations from RV Road to Bommasandra give you a long look at south Bangalore from above.
EasySouth Bangalore2 hrs₹
Eat your way down Mosque Road from Albert Bakery
Frazer Town's old bakery opens in the afternoon, and the rest of the street fills up after dark.
EasyFrazer Town2 hrs₹
See Tipu Sultan's summer palace
A two-storey teak palace from 1791, tucked into the old fort area near KR Market.
EasyKR Market1 hr₹
Play with the machines at the Visvesvaraya museum
A science museum on Kasturba Road where adults can press buttons without kids judging.
EasyCubbon Park2 hrs₹
Take a random BMTC bus to its last stop
You'll end up in a neighbourhood you've never heard of, which is the point.
EasyAnywherehalf day₹
Watch the sunrise from Lalbagh rock
A sheet of billions-of-years-old gneiss inside Lalbagh, with a Kempegowda watchtower on top and a wide view east.
EasyLalbagh1.5 hrs₹
Eat five things on VV Puram food street
A short vegetarian street near Sajjan Rao Circle where every stall does one thing.
MediumVV Puram2 hrs₹
Walk under old fighter jets at the HAL museum
HAL's museum on Old Airport Road keeps real aircraft parked in the open, and you can walk right up to them.
MediumOld Airport Road2 hrs₹
Catch the sunrise at Nandi Hills
On a good winter morning you stand above the clouds 60 km from your flat.
MediumNandi Hillshalf day₹
Visit Nrityagram, the dance village
A residential Odissi dance school outside Hesaraghatta, built in mud and stone by an architect for its dancers.
MediumHesaraghattahalf day₹
Buy a wooden toy in Channapatna
The town that makes lacquered wooden toys is an hour away, and you can watch them turned on a lathe.
MediumChannapatnahalf day₹
Look for vultures at Ramadevarabetta
India's first vulture sanctuary sits in the rocky hills of Ramanagara, where Sholay was shot.
MediumRamanagarahalf day₹
Have breakfast at four darshinis in one morning
Standing-only tiffin counters are the city's real breakfast, and each does one thing best.
MediumMalleshwaram2 hrs₹
Climb Makalidurga and look down on the lake
A boulder trail near Doddaballapura that ends at a ruined fort and a Shiva temple above a lake.
MediumDoddaballapurahalf day₹
Climb Savandurga, the big monolith
One of the largest single rocks in Asia sits an hour west of the city, and you can walk up it.
HardMagadi Roadfull day₹
Take the train to Bangarapet for pani puri
A town in Kolar district famous for its chaat, reachable by a cheap train ride east.
HardDay tripfull day₹
Touch every metro terminal in one day
Six terminals across three lines, and you get to know the network better than most commuters do.
HardCitywidefull day₹
Cycle from the city to the top of Nandi Hills
About 60 km out of the city, then a long climb up the hairpins to the top.
LegendaryNandi Hillsfull day₹
Reach all four edges of the city by bus and metro
Yelahanka, Whitefield, Kengeri and Electronic City in one day, no cabs, no autos.
LegendaryCitywidefull day₹
Buy one fruit you've never eaten at Russell Market
A 1920s covered market in Shivajinagar with stalls for fruit, meat, flowers and dry goods.
EasyShivajinagar1 hr₹