Festival & Seasonal
Christmas and New Year group trips from Bangalore
The last week of December is the single most heavily booked period of the year for group vehicles out of Bangalore, and the one where waiting to book costs the most. Resorts in Coorg, Chikmagalur and Ooty are full by early November and vehicles not long after. It is also the period with the most late-night driving, because groups want to see in the new year at the destination and travel back the next day, and the roads out of the hills on the first of January are busy in a way that catches people out. Cold matters too — Ooty and Chikmagalur mornings in late December are genuinely cold, and a vehicle heater is not standard equipment in this class.
What this trip actually involves
- Booking lead timeEight weeks for the 28 December to 2 January window. This is the tightest availability of the year, ahead of Dasara
- Night drivingNew Year night returns from hill stations are slow and busy. Ghat roads in the dark with fog are not the place to make up time, and our drivers will not
- ColdOoty, Chikmagalur and Coorg mornings in late December drop low. These vehicles are built for AC, not heating — tell the group to carry warm clothing
- FogMorning fog on the Ooty and Chikmagalur ghats through December and January. It delays departures and it should
- PermitsTamil Nadu for Ooty, Kerala for Wayanad and Munnar. Gokarna, Coorg, Chikmagalur and Sakleshpur need none
- ChargingPer calendar day plus bata. A 30 December to 2 January trip is four calendar days
Cost per person
Round-trip fare divided by the vehicle's seat count. Fill fewer seats and each person pays proportionally more.
Bangalore to Coorg — 265 km, 5.5 – 7 hours
| Vehicle | Seats | Round trip | Per head |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ertiga | 6 | ₹8,600 | ₹1,433 |
| Tempo Traveller 12 | 12 | ₹11,900 | ₹992 |
| Urbania 13 | 13 | ₹24,300 | ₹1,869 |
| Urbania 17 | 17 | ₹28,900 | ₹1,700 |
No interstate permit — the route stays within Karnataka. Driver allowance included; tolls and parking at actuals. Minimum running 300 km per day for round trips out of Bengaluru. Point-to-point fare for this route: sara.cab.
Bangalore to Ooty — 265 km, 6 – 7 hours
| Vehicle | Seats | Round trip | Per head |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ertiga | 6 | ₹9,200 | ₹1,533 |
| Tempo Traveller 12 | 12 | ₹12,700 | ₹1,058 |
| Urbania 13 | 13 | ₹25,900 | ₹1,992 |
| Urbania 17 | 17 | ₹30,800 | ₹1,812 |
Tamil Nadu interstate permit required, charged at actuals. Driver allowance included; tolls and parking at actuals. Minimum running 300 km per day for round trips out of Bengaluru. Point-to-point fare for this route: sara.cab.
Bangalore to Chikmagalur — 245 km, 5 – 6 hours
| Vehicle | Seats | Round trip | Per head |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ertiga | 6 | ₹7,900 | ₹1,317 |
| Tempo Traveller 12 | 12 | ₹10,900 | ₹908 |
| Urbania 13 | 13 | ₹22,200 | ₹1,708 |
| Urbania 17 | 17 | ₹26,400 | ₹1,553 |
No interstate permit — the route stays within Karnataka. Driver allowance included; tolls and parking at actuals. Minimum running 300 km per day for round trips out of Bengaluru. Point-to-point fare for this route: sara.cab.
Bangalore to Gokarna — 485 km, 9 – 10 hours
| Vehicle | Seats | Round trip | Per head |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ertiga | 6 | ₹15,800 | ₹2,633 |
| Tempo Traveller 12 | 12 | ₹21,900 | ₹1,825 |
| Urbania 13 | 13 | ₹44,300 | ₹3,408 |
| Urbania 17 | 17 | ₹52,700 | ₹3,100 |
No interstate permit — the route stays within Karnataka. Driver allowance included; tolls and parking at actuals. Minimum running 300 km per day for round trips out of Bengaluru. Point-to-point fare for this route: sara.cab.
Bangalore to Wayanad — 285 km, 6 – 7 hours
| Vehicle | Seats | Round trip | Per head |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ertiga | 6 | ₹9,700 | ₹1,617 |
| Tempo Traveller 12 | 12 | ₹13,400 | ₹1,117 |
| Urbania 13 | 13 | ₹27,300 | ₹2,100 |
| Urbania 17 | 17 | ₹32,400 | ₹1,906 |
Kerala interstate permit required, charged at actuals. Driver allowance included; tolls and parking at actuals. Minimum running 300 km per day for round trips out of Bengaluru. Point-to-point fare for this route: sara.cab.
Bangalore to Sakleshpur — 220 km, 4.5 – 5.5 hours
| Vehicle | Seats | Round trip | Per head |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ertiga | 6 | ₹7,200 | ₹1,200 |
| Tempo Traveller 12 | 12 | ₹9,900 | ₹825 |
| Urbania 13 | 13 | ₹20,100 | ₹1,546 |
| Urbania 17 | 17 | ₹23,900 | ₹1,406 |
No interstate permit — the route stays within Karnataka. Driver allowance included; tolls and parking at actuals. Minimum running 300 km per day for round trips out of Bengaluru. Point-to-point fare for this route: sara.cab.
Itinerary options
Three-night trip
Coorg or Chikmagalur for New Year
Depart 30 December in the morning rather than the evening — the roads are already busy by afternoon. Three nights at the resort, vehicle on standby for local sightseeing. Return 2 January once the first-of-January traffic has cleared. Four calendar days.
Two-night trip
Ooty or Wayanad
Longer drives and an interstate permit each way. Depart 30 December, two nights, return 1 January. Expect fog on the ghats both mornings and build the departure times around it.
Coastal alternative
Gokarna and Murudeshwar
For groups who would rather avoid the hill-station crowds. Longer drive, no ghat fog, considerably easier to find accommodation late. Increasingly the choice for groups booking in December.
Recommended vehicles
Ertiga
The smallest vehicle on this site, and the entry point for group travel. Below six people a sedan is cheaper; at six the Ertiga is the only vehicle where nobody sits sideways.
Tempo Traveller 12
The best cost per person of anything on this site. If the group is eight or more and the budget matters more than recliner seats, this is the answer.
Urbania 13
The most-booked Urbania. Thirteen recliners, standing headroom and a real boot — the default choice for corporate offsites and wedding-party transport.
Urbania 17
Maximum seats without moving to a bus. Seventeen recliners for large corporate groups and wedding convoys that must stay together in one vehicle.
Questions we get asked
How early do we need to book for New Year?
Eight weeks for the 28 December to 2 January window — it is tighter than Dasara. By the first week of December we are usually out of 17 seaters for those dates, and resorts in Coorg and Ooty are full well before that.
Can we drive back from Coorg on New Year's night?
You can, but we would suggest not. The ghat roads out of Coorg and Chikmagalur are busy and often foggy on the night of the 31st and the morning of the 1st, and our drivers will not make up time on a dark ghat road. Returning on the 2nd is a much better trip for one extra calendar day.
Do the vehicles have heaters for Ooty in December?
No, and this is worth knowing. These vehicles are specified for Indian AC use, not for heating. Late December mornings in Ooty and Chikmagalur are genuinely cold, so tell the group to carry warm clothing rather than relying on the vehicle.
Where should we go if everything in Coorg is booked?
Gokarna and Murudeshwar on the coast, or Sakleshpur. Both are considerably easier to find accommodation in late, neither has ghat fog, and Gokarna in particular has become the fallback for groups who start planning in December rather than October.
One last thing
If you are booking late for this window and the hill stations are gone, take the coast seriously rather than compromising on a resort you have doubts about. Gokarna and Murudeshwar are a longer drive on better roads, the accommodation is easier, and the drive itself along the Maravanthe coastal stretch is better than anything on the Coorg road.