School & College
School excursion transport from Bangalore
A school excursion runs on headcount and daylight. Both are unforgiving: the number of students who board must match the vehicle's permitted capacity exactly, and the trip has to be back before dark because parents are waiting at the gate. The destinations that work from Bangalore for a single day are a shorter list than most circulars assume — Mysore, Shivanasamudra, Ranganathittu, Nandi Hills and Shravanabelagola are comfortable; Coorg and Ooty are not, whatever the map says. Everything else follows from choosing a destination that fits the day.
What this trip actually involves
- Permitted capacityThe headcount including teachers must not exceed the vehicle's permitted seating. Give us the real number; we will not overload a vehicle
- Escort seatingTeachers seated at the front and the rear so the whole group is in view. Tell us the number of escorts and we allocate seats rather than leaving it to boarding order
- Cost per studentShown in the tables below. Divide by paying students, not total seats, when setting the circular amount
- SafetySeat belts, first-aid kit, fire extinguisher and a driver with a commercial licence and a clean record. Vehicle documents available for inspection before the trip
- Daylight rulePlan to be back in Bangalore before dark. That rules out Coorg, Chikmagalur and Ooty as single-day school trips regardless of what the distance suggests
- StopsToilet stops every 90 minutes on a school run, at planned halts with facilities rather than wherever the group asks
Cost per person
Round-trip fare divided by the vehicle's seat count. Fill fewer seats and each person pays proportionally more.
Bangalore to Mysore — 145 km, 3.5 – 4 hours
| Vehicle | Seats | Round trip | Per head |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tempo Traveller 17 | 17 | ₹8,100 | ₹476 |
| Mini Bus | 25 | ₹12,860 | ₹514 |
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 Shivanasamudra — 135 km, 3 – 3.5 hours
| Vehicle | Seats | Round trip | Per head |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tempo Traveller 17 | 17 | ₹7,600 | ₹447 |
| Mini Bus | 25 | ₹12,000 | ₹480 |
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 Nandi Hills — 62 km, 1.5 – 2 hours
| Vehicle | Seats | Round trip | Per head |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tempo Traveller 17 | 17 | ₹5,500 | ₹324 |
| Mini Bus | 25 | ₹8,700 | ₹348 |
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 Shravanabelagola — 145 km, 3 – 3.5 hours
| Vehicle | Seats | Round trip | Per head |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tempo Traveller 17 | 17 | ₹8,100 | ₹476 |
| Mini Bus | 25 | ₹12,860 | ₹514 |
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
Mysore day trip
Palace, zoo and Srirangapatna
06:30 departure from the school. Breakfast halt on the expressway. Mysore Palace, then the zoo. Lunch. Srirangapatna and Ranganathittu on the return if time allows. Back at school by 19:00. The most reliable single-day school excursion out of Bangalore.
Shivanasamudra day trip
Gaganachukki and Bharachukki falls
Shorter drive, better for younger classes. Departure at 07:00, both falls with the walk down at Bharachukki, Talakadu on the way back. Back by 18:00. Best between August and December when the falls are actually running.
Nandi Hills half day
Sunrise trip for senior classes
Pre-dawn departure for the sunrise, back at school before the second period. Popular with senior classes and geography groups. 62 km each way with a ghat climb at the end.
Recommended vehicles
Tempo Traveller 17
The workhorse for temple groups and school excursions. Seventeen seats at the lowest per-head cost available anywhere in the fleet.
Mini Bus
For groups above seventeen, where splitting into two Tempo Travellers costs more and separates the party.
Questions we get asked
How many students can a 17 seater Tempo Traveller carry?
Seventeen passengers including teachers and escorts — that is the permitted capacity, not a guideline. If you have sixteen students and two teachers, that is eighteen and you need the next size up. We will not carry more than the permit allows, on any booking.
What is the cost per student for a Mysore day trip?
See the fare table above for the vehicle cost on this route, divided by your actual paying headcount. Remember to divide by students rather than by total seats, since the teachers travel free but occupy seats — that is the calculation that most circulars get wrong.
Can we do Coorg or Ooty as a one-day school trip?
We would say no. Coorg is five and a half to seven hours each way and Ooty is six to seven. A single-day attempt means leaving before four in the morning and returning after dark with a bus full of tired children. Both work well as two-day trips.
Will you show us the vehicle documents before the trip?
Yes, and we would rather you asked. Permit, fitness certificate, insurance and the driver's licence are all available for inspection before the booking is confirmed. Schools that check these are doing the right thing and it takes us five minutes.
One last thing
A practical note for whoever writes the circular: build the per-student figure on the vehicle you will actually book, not on a full vehicle. A 17 seater booked for fourteen students and two teachers costs the same as one booked for seventeen, so the per-student figure moves considerably with how full the trip is. It is better to over-collect slightly and refund than to be short on the morning.