Car Hires for Mysore & Surroundings

schematic

Howdy IMers,

I'm headed to Mysore next week, arriving on the Mysore express early in the morning. I'd like to head straight from the train station to Bandipur (where I've got accommodation lined up), stay overnight in Bandipur, and then head back to Mysore the next day.

The following day, we'd like to hire a car to see Hassan/Halebidu/Belur.

1) Can someone confirm that Hassan/Halebidu/Besur is a reasonable day trip from Mysore?
2) Can someone recommend a tourist taxi outfit in Mysore that we could hire for these trips? No A/C Ambassador should fit the bill, I'd think. No Kannada in our group, so decent English at booking would be essential.

I'm researching diligently, but if anyone has "don't miss" places/experiences in any of the above places, including Mysore, I'll gladly take them!

aadil

Lots of places near Mysore as well as far away too that are a must see but I don't know if you have the time or inclination to see them all!!! There is the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary near Srirangapattina which is also a nice place to see Tipu Sultan's Palace as well as tomb. Then there is Somnathpur and Sravanabelagola in the vicinity as well as Halebid and Belur which are really nice temple towns. You can stay in Belur and visit Halebid from there. The KSTDC Hotel Mayura in Belur is really a nice place with some wonderful rooms and cheap rates too. If you go up north then there is the three temple towns of Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal which are really great places to enjoy the art and architecture of the olden times and if you are willing to go further north then one of the best places to see is Hampi. If you have the time and interest then you could also visit Dharmasthala, Shimoga (for Gajanur which is an elephant training center nearby is a lion and tiger sanctuary), Bijapur for the Gol Gumbaz and many more places in Karnataka that you will want to see but I guess you will need a lot of time to see and enjoy them.

Cheers,
Aadil.

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schematic

Upon arriving at the Mysore train station, we negotiated with tourist taxi guys queued up outside. Rs1800 got us a no-AC ambassador and a ride to Bandipur and back to our hotel the in Mysore the next day. That included the driver's batta.

We didn't have time to negotiate the tourist taxi rate for the trip to Belur/Halebidu/Sravanabelangola, so we just took what the hotel travel desk offered. No-AC Indica was around Rs2000 for the day, not bad considering the distances involved.

Figure two hours from Mysore to Bandipur and three hours Mysore to Belur.

We didn't encounter too much rain. So much for those worries. Both destinations highly enjoyable and well recommended.

aadil

If you went for just one day then the rates were pretty high for a non ac Indica car!!! Anyway what matters most is whether you enjoyed the trip or not and that I think there is no doubt about the good time you must have had there!!!

Cheers,
Aadil.