Though Mysore is just 150 KMs away from Bangalore but it can become expensive if you are travelling with a toddler. There are quite a number of buses operate between Mysore and Bangalore which will charge you around 600 INR / 7$ for a one day trip to Mysore. But the problem with this type of trip operators is that they will give you limited time to explore the places and also they will take you to predefined places.
Though if you are a budget traveller you can actually use these types of buses to visit important places in Mysore, but if you are travelling with a toddler it's better to keep some time in hand and explore the places at your own pace. This is what I have done. To keep my schedule less hectic I have taken a train to and from Bangalore to Mysore which comes 250 INR / 4$ to and fro. Since all the hotels have check-in at 12 PM, I have taken a train at 08:45 AM (MYSURU EXPRESS - 16316) which takes around 2 and a half hours from Bangalore. I have also pre-booked my hotel which came around 650 INR / 10$ since the discount was going on.
I have started around 7:30 AM from my home, boarded the train and reached Mysore at 11:40 AM. You will get a lot of Tuk-Tuk from the railway station which will charge around 30-50 INR / less than 1$ to take you to the city centre. Since my hotel is very near to the Mysore Bus Stand, I paid the tuk-tuk guy around 50 Rs and he dropped me directly to the hotel. While my wife and kid were relaxing at the hotel, I have hired a Scooty from Bounce, which cost me around 500 INR + 200 INR for fuel / 10$, thus I don't have to pay those hefty amounts to tuk-tuk or taxis.
We have started around 12:15 PM from our hotel and reached Mysore palace. It took us close to 2 hours to complete the whole tour. As I have mentioned earlier that tour guys will give you only 1 hour to come back from Mysore Palace. So if you would like to explore, do take your time to view the artistic beauty of Mysore palace.
At 2:30 PM we had our lunch at the Veg Restaurant and then we went back to our hotel as my kid falls asleep. We again started from the hotel at around 5 PM to visit the Brindavan Gardens, we choose night time because there used to be a water fountain show at night.
Not only that you will also to do boating around the lake. Please be informed that Brindavan Gardens also are known as KRSDAM or Krishnarajasagara Dam and very few people know it by Brindavan gardens. Also if you are using Google Map, it will take you to the back gate of Brindavan Gardens which remains closed so you need to ask people about the direction when you are around 2-3 KMs away from the Garden. At around 8 PM we have returned from Brindavan gardens and it took us around 40 minutes to reach Mysore, we had our dinner and we called it a day.
We have started Day 2 thinking where to visit first - Zoo or Chamundi Hills. We have settled it with Zoo because being a Sunday, Zoo might get crowded in the noon. The Zoo opens at 8:30 AM and we reached there by around 9:00 AM.
You will see a lot of animals and it is one of the best Zoo I have visited, I can say it is much much better than Bannergatta National Park, Bangalore. My Kid enjoyed it and if you have a kid with you this is a must-visit. Also, note that the tour guys will not take you to the Zoo.
It took us around 3 hours to visit the whole Zoo and I must say we were tired like hell. We then went to Chamundi hills to visit the Chamundeshwari temple which is located at the top of the Chamundi Hills. Since there were too many people we have taken a ticket to get entry fast, I know its unethical but since we were having less time we need to take this route. You will love the greenery while going to the top of the hill and also you can view the whole of Mysore from the top. After reaching Mysore again we had our lunch, got our luggage and then dropped the vehicle and reached Mysore Railway Station. Our train was at 5 PM from Mysore and reached Bangalore around 8 PM.
So the cost involved are
Total - Around 4000 INR or 56 $. You can actually cut your cost more, like on food or Chamundi hills ticket. But for 2 people for 2-day travel to Mysore Rs. 4000 is OK.
