For tourists wanting to take a quick tour of the landmark places in Bangalore (or Bengaluru), the new service launched by the Bangalore Metropolitan Corporation (BMTC), the Hop On, Hop Off (HOHO) bus service, is the ideal way to go. The HOHOs cover around 20 places of historical, religious, scientific and political import. The service was inaugurated by the Hon. Minister for Transport, Sri. Ramalinga Reddy on 30th May 2014.
History of Hop On, Hop Off Buses
The HOHO service is modelled on similar sightseeing services around the world. Though the first such bus service was started in Bangalore in February 2009, with a very few number of buses plying the road and covering limited areas in the city, it was not a huge success. With the re-launched airconditioned HOHO service boasting of more buses and manned by trained personnel, the experience should be seamless, pleasurable and afforadable to the average tourist.
The right timing
The best feature of the newly lauched HOHO service is that the buses start at 8.30 am and continue on till 10 pm daily – the peak tourist time in any city. The tickets issued for the service can be used in other BMTC buses (except the Vayu Vajra service to the airport). The buses ply on a round route. If a person wants to explore one particular area of interest for a longer time, she or he has the option of doing so and then hopping on to the next HOHO scheduled to arrive at the pick up/drop off point.
Affordable rates
The tickets are priced at Rs.250/- for an adult and Rs. 150/- for a child (6 to 12 years) for a day. Considering that one gets to travel in comfort and visit almost the entire city, the prices are reasonable. One should also remember that the tickets allow for unlimited travelling between the select locations.
Places covered by Bangalore’s HOHO Buses
The HOHOs start from Kempe Gowda Bus station (Majestic in layman’s terms).
The route includes scientific, political and historical monuments:
Historical places
- Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium
- Vidhana Soudha
- Tippu Sultan’s Palace
Art galleries and museums
- Sir. Vishveshvariah Museum
- Venkatappa Art Gallery
Children’s park, amusement parks and botanical parks
- Bal Bhavan
- Fun World/ Snow city
- Lalbagh, Cubbon Park
- Lumbini Gardens
- Freedom Park
Religious places
- Bull Temple
- St. Mary’s Basilica
- Gurudwara
- ISKCON Temple
- Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple
Other areas of interest
- Halasuru Lake
- UB City
- MEG Cente
- M G Road Metro Station
- Garuda Mall
- Bangalore Central Mall
- Mantri Square, Orion Mall
- Commercial Street
- Sankey Tank
The BMTC hopes to add additional buses and routes to the current schedule in the near future. The HOHOs are targeted not just at tourists, but also the residents of Bengaluru, who would like to catch the splendour and history of the capital city at their leisure. In addition, to Bengalureans the HOHOs are the perfect way to show the city to relatives and friends visiting Bengaluru for the first time without having to worry about traffic or parking woes.
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