Known by sobriquets like Garden City and Silicon Valley of India, Bangalore or Bengaluru is a popular destination in South India for education and work. The metropolitan is known for its multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and cosmopolitan character.

Bangalore is a place that is rich in culture and tradition. For nature lovers and the health conscious lot, there are a number of public parks dotting the landscape, the popular ones being Lal Bagh and Cubbon Park.

Cuisine is as diverse as it can get. Bangalore has a varied mix of restaurants. From roadside vendors, South Indian, Udupi restaurants, and North Indian to Chinese and Western fast food one can experience food at its best here. The City has also been named as India's most vegan-friendly city by PETA India.

For art lovers, you can stop by the National Gallery of Modern Art and try the Bangalore International Art Festival, Art Bangalore.

Cartoonists can visit the Cartoon Gallery, the first of its kind in India. The Indian Institute of Cartoonists in Bangalore promotes and preserve the work of eminent cartoonists in India through the gallery.

With regards to literature, Kannada is the state language. The Kannada Sahitya Parishat, which is a non-profit organization promotes the language through books, seminars, and research projects. That being said, the City has its own literary festival, the Bangalore Literature Festival.

The theatre culture is popular in Bangalore. The City has an active English and foreign language theatre scene. The British Council, Max Müller Bhavan, and The Alliance Française de Bangalore host plays all through the year.

Art and History lovers and those interested in architecture can visit Bangalore Fort, Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace, Bangalore Palace, and Mayo Hall; the Government Museum that has a rare collection of archaeological and geological artifacts; Kempegowda Museum, Karnataka Folk Museum, Gandhi Bhavan to showcase Mahatma Gandhi's life; HAL Aerospace Museum; Madras Sappers Museum & Archives; Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum; NIMHANS Brain Museum; Philatelic Museum; Law Museum; Legends Motorcycle Museum; and Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium; the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) and the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat.

Interested in wildlife? To learn more about the wildlife in Bangalore, a trip to the Bannerghatta National Park, the Butterfly Park, the Hebbal lake, and the Bangalore Aquarium, which is the second largest aquarium in India will definitely pique your interest to take up photography or research on the flora and fauna that is so unique to Bangalore.

Besides the shopping malls, you can visit places like MG Road, Brigade Road, Commercial Street, and Chickpet. UB City is considered India’s first luxury shopping mall.

For a little bit of fun, you can visit any of these amusement parks - Lumbini Gardens; Wonderla; Innovative Film City; iplay, the ice-skating rink which is the only natural ice rink in Karnataka; Fun World; Snow City; Flight 4 Fantasy; Talk To The Hand, which is a Laser Tag Entertainment center; Fever Pitch Basecamp which is a camping destination; and Breakout Escape Experience.

Festivals

Karnataka Rajyotsava is celebrated on November 1 to mark the formation of Karnataka state and is a public holiday. Christmas, Dasara, Deepawali, Eid ul-Fitr, Ganesh Chaturthi, Janmashtami, Maha Shivratri, Naga Panchami, Ram Navami, St. Mary's Feast, and Ugadi are festivals celebrated in Bangalore.

Getting around

Commuting in Bangalore is easy with the number of buses, autorickshaws, and cabs or taxis and access to the metro (Namma Metro) plying throughout the day. Those wanting to use the buses, can try either Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) or Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). The Kempegowda International Airport, formerly called Bangalore International Airport, is located at Devanahalli, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the City. It is the third-busiest in India after Delhi and Mumbai in terms of passenger traffic and the number of air traffic movements. One can take the BMTC-operated taxis and air conditioned Volvo buses to travel to the airport and back.

Bangalore is also the divisional headquarters in the South Western Railway zone of the Indian Railways. The train can be availed by those who would like to explore places around the City. The four major railway stations are Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Railway Station, Bangalore Cantonment railway station, Yeshwantapur junction and Krishnarajapuram railway station.