Bengaluru Urban district

A 300-acre landscaped green lung in the city centre, laid out in 1870, ringed by the red-brick Attara Kacheri (High Court), State Central Library and Government Museum. This heritage guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

Karnataka's monumental granite state legislature building, completed in 1956 in a Neo-Dravidian style; floodlit on Sunday evenings and viewed from outside. This heritage guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

A Tudor-revival palace built in 1878 by the Wodeyar royal family, with fortified towers, arches and interiors of Wodeyar-era portraits and furniture. This heritage guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

An ornate two-storey teak palace completed in 1791 for Tipu Sultan, richly carved and painted, now an ASI-protected monument beside the KR Market fort area. This heritage guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

A large hilltop Krishna-Balaram temple at Rajajinagar, one of the biggest ISKCON temples in the world, known for its gopuram, glass-and-gold shrine and multimedia halls. This temple guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

A historic 240-acre botanical garden begun under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan in the 1760s, famous for its Glass House, lake, ancient rock and the biannual flower shows. This heritage guide belongs to the South Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

The Dodda Basavana Gudi in Basavanagudi, a 16th-century Kempe Gowda-era temple housing a huge monolithic Nandi bull carved from a single granite boulder. This temple guide belongs to the South Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

A large zoo, safari park and rescue centre on the southern edge of the city, with a bus-based lion and tiger safari, a butterfly park and a rehabilitation centre, adjoining Bannerghatta National Park. This wildlife guide belongs to the Bannerghatta planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (nature option in Kochi)

India's first butterfly park, a domed conservatory and museum within the Bannerghatta complex where dozens of butterfly species fly free among nectar plants. This wildlife guide belongs to the Bannerghatta planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (nature option in Kochi)

One of the largest and oldest lakes in the city, in the Ulsoor (Halasuru) neighbourhood near MG Road, dotted with small islands and offering boating, a lakeside promenade and a Ganesha temple on its bank. This heritage guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

A hands-on science and technology museum on Kasturba Road beside Cubbon Park, opened in 1965 in memory of engineer-statesman Sir M. Visvesvaraya, with interactive galleries on engines, electronics and space and a full-scale Wright Flyer replica. This museum guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

A rock-cut cave temple in Gavipuram attributed to Kempe Gowda I in the 16th century, famous for a solar phenomenon on Makara Sankranti (mid-January) when the setting sun’s rays pass between the horns of a stone Nandi to light the Shiva linga inside. This temple guide belongs to the South Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

India's first aerospace museum, opened in 2001 by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited near the old HAL airport, displaying vintage fighter aircraft, helicopters, aero-engines, a flight simulator and the story of Indian aviation. This museum guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

A sky-theatre and science centre at the High Grounds run by the Bangalore Association for Science Education, with domed astronomy shows, a science park of interactive exhibits and a public telescope programme. This museum guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

A scenic man-made lake created in 1882 by Colonel Richard Sankey between Malleswaram and Sadashivanagar, ringed by a popular walking and jogging track, with boating and plentiful water birds. This heritage guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

The Krishna Rajendra Market (City Market), the largest and oldest wholesale market in the old city — a teeming bazaar of flowers, fruit, produce and wholesale goods beside the Jamia Masjid and Tipu’s fort area. This heritage guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

A century-old shopping street in the Shivajinagar / Tasker Town area, one of Bengaluru’s oldest and busiest retail districts, packed with clothing, footwear, jewellery and street-food stalls. This heritage guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

The oldest temple in the city, a Chola-era Shiva shrine in Ulsoor greatly expanded under the Vijayanagara-era chief Kempe Gowda, with an ornate gopuram, a pillared kalyana mantapa and finely carved Yali pillars. This temple guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

A leading visual-arts complex and art college on Kumara Krupa Road, with galleries of Mysore traditional paintings, folk and tribal art, Nicholas Roerich’s Himalayan works and contemporary Indian art; host of the annual Chitra Santhe street art fair. This museum guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

One of the oldest museums in India, established in 1865 on Kasturba Road beside Cubbon Park, with archaeology, coins, sculpture and inscriptions, sharing its compound with the Venkatappa Art Gallery and the technology museum. This museum guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

The Bengaluru branch of the National Gallery of Modern Art, in the restored early-20th-century Manikyavelu Mansion on Palace Road, with a permanent collection of modern Indian art and rotating exhibitions in landscaped grounds. This museum guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

The surviving Delhi Gate and bastions of the old fort founded in mud by Kempe Gowda in 1537 and rebuilt in stone by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, beside the KR Market; scene of the 1791 British siege, and a natural pairing with Tipu’s Summer Palace. This heritage guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

A late-17th-century temple to Venkataramana (Vishnu) built by the Wodeyars beside Tipu Sultan’s Summer Palace and the old fort, in a Vijayanagara-Dravidian style with carved pillars and a gopuram. This temple guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)

The oldest church in Bengaluru and one of the few minor basilicas in India, a Gothic-style Catholic church in Shivajinagar with stained glass and a tall spire, famed for the September St Mary’s Feast procession that draws huge crowds. This church guide belongs to the Central Bengaluru planning base in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, with route context, best-time notes and verified inventory categories for stays, food, operators, shops, wellness and transport as they are approved. (see option in Kochi)