Your first weekend trip from Bangalore: Mysore-Somanathapura in 2 Days

We departed early morning at about 7 am by personal car and reached Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary (open 9 am - 6 pm) around 11 am, having stopped for breakfast on the way. One can also stop at Srirangapatna Temple on the way. It was little sunny by then and we didn't really see any birds, but we had stroll amidst greenery, clicked few pictures, visited the museum there, and spent around 1.5 hours. Museum is fairly decent, even though it's government museum, and had working exhibits, sample of birds and birds' body parts, and games and maps to learn about ecology of area and life cycle of birds. It's quick detour on the way to Mysore, but can be skipped as well at no loss.

Of course, no trip is complete without Mysore Palace. It's grand palace of Wadiyar King of Mysore. It's visually stunning both from outside and inside, though it's less beautiful than Gwalior Palace but more than Udaipur Palace if you have other palaces in India as reference points. Palace compound is also very beautiful to walk around, and has many temples. You can also avail services of horse cart for round trip. While parking is available nearby, it can be crowded sometimes and you may have to wait. Entry path to palace, once inside compound, is little unmarked so you have to ask (there are lots of tourists and police personnel always) and you will be required to remove your footwear (there are paid shoe stands) nearby. On weekends and special occasion, palace is lit up in evenings and gives different view, so planning your trip accordingly will add to your experience. One can easily spend 2-4 hours here.

Another must see attraction in Mysore is Zoo, formally called Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens. It's rightly considered the best in India, and is perhaps in Asia too. It's large, clean, and has every imaginable animal, bird, reptile, and amphibian specie in spacious enclosures. You must be ready to walk for 2-3 hours and about 4 km to properly watch everything. There is one restaurant/snack/water/toilet break in middle of route. Since animals are primarily active in early morning or post-afternoon, you should plan to visit before 11 am (for birds) or after 3 pm (for mammals). Zoo is open from 8:30 am to 5 pm on all days except Tuesday. Entry fee for adults is 60/- on weekdays and it's more than justified.

If you cannot walk, or are in hurry, you can do an hour long tour of whole area through battery operated vehicle (150/- per person) but that should only be your last resort. Vehicle stops 6-8 places on the trip (they say 3 places, but it will stop more) and you get about 5 min to go and see. Other animals have to be seen in motion, and obviously some inside enclosures will be missed. My experience with these group vehicles is that most other people to seem to come with little interest (not sure why they come at all) and won't even bother getting off vehicle or just rush through the displays and walk back. I end up being last person to board, and hence driver and other passengers aren't too happy, and I end up guilt tripping into rushing too. So yeah, use this if walking is not at all possible or time is hard constraint.

Another suggestion- most people will start touring from right to left (starting with giraffe, counter clockwise) as that's natural direction the way zoo is set up, and this walk will have reptiles and birds first, and large animals like tigers, leopards, wolfs, elephants, etc. at last. Given duration and length of walk, one tends to get exhausted and lose interest towards end of the walk. Hence, if your interest is to see those large animals then you should start tour from left to right (clockwise).

Somanathapura Temple is about 1,000 year old temple dedicated to lord Vishnu, and despite its name is not connected to Somnath in Gujarat or Lord Shiva in any way. It's under care of archaeological survey on India and is small but beautiful temple. Afternoon sun didn't help though as stone flooring was as hot as simmering pan. Temple is in village area and there is nothing to eat around, nor we found any suitable lunch option on the way from Mysore to Somanathapura so please get something packed from hotel/city! We left for Bangalore directly from there and reached in evening around 7 pm.