Bangalore was hugely different from Mumbai – it felt much less hectic (although the traffic can be really bad) and quite easygoing.

DAY 1

We got on an early flight from Mumbai and were greeted in Bangalore by the famously terrible traffic. We stayed in Koramangala, which is a bit far from the centre but is a nice residential neighbourhood with cool bars and restaurants.

We were immediately struck by how different Bangalore was from Mumbai, with its ample tree-lined boulevards and much milder weather.

Bangalore has a famous craft beer scene, so we headed to Barleyz (a beer for 200 rupees) and to Prost (a beer for 300 rupees, with a 3 for 2 deal) to try the local brew – and we weren’t disappointed.

In the evening we went for dinner at Bombay Brasserie with my local friend Nimisha. The place served delicious Indian food with a modern twist (dinner for four for 4500 rupees).

DAY 2

We started our second day in Bangalore by checking out the area around the National Gallery of Modern Art. We visited the cool Karnataka Shitralaka Parishath School of Arts, where we saw lots of great artwork by the students.

There was also a big handicraft market, which was our first encounter with the impressive range of crafts at ridiculously cheap prices. We had lunch at the school cafeteria (around £1 per person!).

We then hopped on the metro and headed towards the busy MG Road, a big commercial area. There is currently a ban of alcohol in some regions of the city, so we walked a bit further to find Arbor, a local brewery serving yummy beers (300 rupees for a pint) busy with the local crowd. After a great night out, we headed back to our flat.

DAY 3:

We had a late start and headed to Cubbon Park, a huge central park where you can spot squirrels, parakeet and lots of other birds. The place was nice and chilled, and there were lots of locals just hanging out.

We had a late lunch/early dinner at Church Street Social, where we tried some of their massive all day breakfast options (meal for three for 1500 rupees). Then it was time to head back to our flat as we had an early train to catch in the morning.

HOW TO DO IT:

• Stay: Because of the traffic, it’s important to carefully choose the area where you want to stay. Our flat (which I don’t recommend) was in Koramangala, which is a nice neighbourhood but a bit far from the centre. Indiranagar is probably the best bet as it’s a great area full of cool bars and restaurants and with easy access to the city centre by metro.
• Transportation: Bad traffic is a real problem in Bangalore. The metro is really efficient but it only covers a small part of the city, so you end up getting Uber (all taxis in Bangalore are app-based) or tuk-tuks (which don’t use meters so you need to agree on a price before you get in).
• Weather: Despite it being monsoon season, Bangalore has a mild climate, so it was actually quite nice to walk around during the day – a massive contrast with the other places we visited.