Recreation & Leisure
Long weekend hill trips from Bangalore, for groups
The long weekend out of Bangalore is a mass migration, and the vehicle decision is really a traffic decision. Everyone leaves at the same time on Friday evening, the Mysore road and the Hassan road both back up for thirty kilometres, and a group that departs at six in the evening arrives at a Coorg resort at one in the morning. Groups that leave at four in the morning on Saturday do the same drive in five and a half hours. Which vehicle you take matters much less than when you leave in it — though the second question, whether the resort road takes a seventeen-seater, has ended more than one long weekend at a locked gate.
What this trip actually involves
- Departure timingFriday evening departures out of Bangalore add two to three hours in long-weekend traffic. A 04:00 Saturday start reaches Coorg faster than a 18:00 Friday one
- Resort road accessEstate and plantation properties in Coorg, Chikmagalur and Sakleshpur often sit at the end of a narrow track. Send the resort name and we will check before you book
- Ghat sectionsCoorg, Chikmagalur, Sakleshpur and Ooty all end in ghat climbs. Anyone prone to motion sickness should sit forward with a window vent, not under full AC
- SeasonOctober to February is the easy window. June to September is beautiful and slow, with landslip closures at short notice in the Western Ghats
- Ooty permitTamil Nadu interstate permit required for Ooty. Kerala for Wayanad. Coorg, Chikmagalur and Sakleshpur need none
- ChargingPer calendar day plus bata. A Friday-night-to-Sunday trip is three calendar days if you leave on Friday, two if you leave Saturday morning
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 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 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 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.
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.
Itinerary options
Two-night weekend
Saturday morning departure
04:00 Saturday start beats the traffic. Resort by mid-morning, two nights, return Monday. Two calendar days of vehicle if you return Monday morning, three if Monday evening. The version we recommend for Coorg and Chikmagalur.
Friday-night departure
For groups who cannot take Saturday morning
Leave Bangalore after work, accept the traffic, arrive late. Three calendar days of vehicle. Works, but plan on arriving between midnight and 01:00 for Coorg on a long weekend, and tell the resort.
Three-night trip
Two destinations
Groups with an extra day often pair Coorg with Wayanad, or Chikmagalur with Sakleshpur, since the second leg is short. Adds one calendar day and very little distance.
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
Is it faster to leave Friday evening or Saturday morning for Coorg?
Saturday morning, by a clear margin, on a long weekend. A 04:00 Saturday departure typically reaches Coorg in five and a half to six hours. An 18:00 Friday departure takes eight to nine, most of the extra sitting in the exodus on the Mysore road. It also saves you a calendar day of vehicle charge.
Will a 17 seater reach our plantation homestay?
Send us the property name and we will check. A great many Coorg and Chikmagalur estate properties are down a narrow track with a tight final turn, and a 17 seater Urbania or Tempo Traveller cannot always make it to the porch. It is a five-minute check and it saves a very bad arrival.
How is a weekend trip charged — per km or per day?
Per calendar day plus driver bata, with a minimum running of 300 km per day for round trips out of Bengaluru. That is why leaving Saturday morning rather than Friday evening can save you a whole day's charge as well as three hours.
Which vehicle for 12 friends going to Chikmagalur?
A 12 seater Tempo Traveller is the lowest per head, and for a two-night trip with a bag each it works. If the group is carrying suitcases rather than duffels, or wants to sleep on the drive back, the 13 seater Urbania has the boot and the recliners. The fare table above gives you both figures per head.
One last thing
If your long weekend falls on an actual public holiday, add an hour to every estimate here and book the resort's late-arrival meal in advance. The Bangalore exodus is genuinely worse on gazetted holidays than on ordinary weekends, and no vehicle choice fixes it.