Weekends if not planned well would turn into lazy and unproductive days. Why not use this time to explore new places around you and give yourself a well-deserved break free from the busy urban life? This article is written keeping the motorcyclists in mind - It does not matter if you are a beginner or expert or an intermediate level when it comes to riding a motorcycle. All you need is a passion to explore new places and it will be really nice if you have a riding partner who shares similar passion (Although not madatory). We have listed few place recommendations around Bengaluru which are less than 250 Kms from Bengaluru (One side) and we have accounted for a budget less than Rs 2000 - so it will be economical as well.

Prerequisites

• A motorcycle with >100cc engine in good condition with right tyre pressure
• A budget of Rs 2000 (Which covers fuel, food, beverages, toll and other misc expenses)
• A fully charged smartphone with any Maps app installed
• Preferably a riding partner (Not mandatory) * Make sure your pillion seat is comfortable
• A spare next day for you to relax
• You are in Bengaluru
• You have a good health
• You are carrying water bottles to keep yourself hydrated
• You are wearing basic riding gears like Helmet, Gloves and Riding Jacket

Mysuru or Srirangapatna

We will have to be travelling around 143 Kms to reach Mysuru from Bengaluru. And about 128 Kms to reach Srirangapatna. Depending on the convenience and preference, you can choose your destination. We will be taking the national highway NH275, popularly known as Bangalore-Mysuru Express way.

The express way which is 6-lane is recently inaugurated - since we will be commuting via motorcycle - we do not have access to all the lanes, instead should choose the service road that runs parallely to it. Of course, there is no toll for 2-wheeler! That’s an advantage. Enroute Mysuru, we will come across multiple popular cities like Bidadi, Ramanagara, Channapatna, Madduru, Mandya, Srirangapatna etc. Every city has earned its own name and reputation because of its own speciality. You can come across beautiful picturesque hills getting past Ramanagara (The film sholay has been shot here). You can plan your route in such a way that you can stop for breakfast at Bidadi - a place which is very popular for its Thatte Idli. This evidently means, you will have to start from Bangalore as early in the morning - 5 am will be a nice time to kickstart this trip. Post your breakfast or coffee do not forget to refill your water bottles and move on for the next pit stop- which is channapatna. Channapatna is known for Toys and you may spend some good time shopping for Toys. The next pit stop will be Maddura where you can savour some nice Madduru Vada or finish your lunch (If you are hungry). You may also reach the Mandya city directly and have a good lunch at the road side hotels like A2B or any other popular restaurants like McD or KFC. Once you leave Mandya and head towards Srirangapatna, you will come across the beautiful River Kaveri. You may spend some time here or choose to head towards Srirangapatna and explore popular places like Ranganataswamy temple, Tipu Sultan Fort, Nimishamba temple etc. You can also choose to take a dip in this river and chill around. From here, you can reach Mysuru which is only about 10-15 kms short and reach the final destination.

Chikkamagaluru

Chikkamagaluru is a hill station and it is known for its amazing weather. To reach Chikkamagaluru, one has to take the popular NH75 Highway - Which is really nice to ride. The roads are really good till Hassan city, so you can enjoy a very long uninterrupted commute. To reach NH75, you may choose to start from Nelamangala and take a left to get past Kunigal, Yadiyur etc…

You can take Yadiyur as your first pitstop and the Hassan city as next. You can also explore the very popular Beluru temple enroute. From Beluru temple, it is just about 15 kms to reach your destination which is Chikkamangaluru. The total distance is about 242 Kms to reach Chikkamagaluru from Bengaluru. It is going to be a little tiring as it is a very long distance to commute. It is very much possible, just make sure you leave your place as early as 5am to reach your destination before lunch or around 12pm so that you can headback on the same day. It is going to take more than 10 hours of riding to make within a day. So plan carefully and make sure your partner is comfortable to accampaign you in this long journey.

Sakaleshpur

Sakaleshpura is also one of the very coolest spots to visit in Karnataka and it very much possible to reach by motorcycle. The route is very similar to that of BLR-CKM, only a slight deviation is required towards Saklespura once you reach the Hassan City.

Make sure you double check the route for Sakleshpur once you reach Hassan. You may explore places like Shravanabelagola (Where statue of Bahubali is present) enroute. At Sakleshpura you can enjoy the pure nature, hills around you - You can check a place called “Kaadu Maney” in Sakleshpur. The total distance to Sakleshpura from Bengaluru is about 221 kms which is doable - provided you plan well and leave early in the morning.

Chikkaballapur

If you are now little clueless about commuting long distance or a little less confident about doing the above 3 routes, you can simply choose to do a <100 kms ride (one way) for places that are more close to Bangalore.

It is going to be less tiring and you can even finish the trip in half-a-day as well. Chikkaballapur can be reached using the popular National Highway NH44 where the highway passes through Bangalore International Airport. Chikkaballapura is a great place and you can get inside country roads and explore places like Skandagiri and Manchenahalli dams enroute. There is also a Shiva statue by Isha Foundation which is recently popular among tourists - You can visit this place as well.

Nandi Hills

Nandi Hills, although it is most generic place suggested by everyone - it is one of the nicest places to visit. Probably it is the only place near to Bangalore where hill has motorable road. You can experience the scenic beauty of Nandi Hills while you are riding the motorcycle.

You can either choose to go hill top or get inside around villages near Nandi Hills to experience some cool country roads. You can have food road side or on a popular hotel called Nandi Upchar when you are heading back. There are many resorts, activity areas enroute Nandi Hills, if you have time, you may explore those and may be plan in advance. The best thing about Nandi Hills is you can go and come back within half-a-day as it is just around 70 Kms from city centre and you will experience the nature well away from buzzing Bengaluru.

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed reading this article and are now in a good position to prepare for your next road trip in a motorcycle. If you have any road trip ideas which can be done in a motorcycle in a single day please feel to share it here by commenting below. Thank you!