Hop in for a glimpse of Bangalore

Hop in for a glimpse of Bangalore
The Times of India

Bangalore: Just when double-decker buses seems to fade away from Bangaloreans’ memory, a similar concept will come alive soon. A private company will bring out open-air double decker buses for a touristy ride of the city.

You can hop onto this bus, sit on the open double deck and enjoy Bangalore’s beauty at its best, while the bus manoeuvres on the city’s prime roads unmindful of the traffic. You can now have an over-the-top view of the Raj Bhavan, which otherwise is camouflaged by trees.

Another plus is the complete view of the dismantled central jail on Seshadri road or the best glimpse of the vast expanse of turf club. All this with “City Jockeys” (guides in simple terms) constantly briefing the tourists about the city’s treasures.

In all this excitement, don’t forget to watch your head! City’s greenery might hit you in the face, literally. High tree branches and overhead power cables could be dangerous so do keep an eye for these.

Aptly named hop-on-hop-off City Swamps, these buses will hit the roads next week and is an initiative of conceptree creations. The brightly coloured red buses have open top with a seating capacity of 32 and 34 below. Initially, five buses will be introduced which will cover nearly 30 tourist attractions, said Avinash Kumar, head of Conceptree, on Saturday.

Under the plan, a tourist is provided with a day-pass, which will be valid for 24-hours to travel on any of the City Swamps fleet that will cover a customised circuit of tourist attractions with the flexibility to hop-on-hop -off the bus at any of the tourist spots. The tourist can take the next bus on the circuit that is available at a minimum of 30 minutes frequency.

The tickets are priced at Rs 300 per day for adults, Rs 150 for children above 5-12 years, and free for children below five years. One-round trip takes two hours.

TICKET TO RIDE
l Hop-on-hop off points: 15 points including Cubbon Park, MG Road, Infantry Road, Golf Club, Cubbon Road, Kasturba Road. l Tourist spots covered: 30 attractions including Vidhana Soudha, Kumara Krupa, Chitrakala Parishat, Cubbon Park, government museum, Raj Bhavan, Lalbagh.
l Availability of tickets: All five star hotels, malls and tourist stops.