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Are you heading straight to Wayanad from Bangalore? Or your journey includes visit of other tourist places en route? For example Mysore,Coorg or even Ooty!

Let’s consider the cheaper and simpler option first, i.e. heading straight to Wayanad by bus. KSRTC (both Kerala & Karnataka corporations) operate buses  that connect Bangalore to Wayanad.

Keep in mind, there is no town called Wayanad! Book your ticket to Kalpetta or Sulthan Bathery or Mananthavady (3 main towns in Wayanad district), if you are trying to search for a destination while booking online.

There are 3-4 types of buses (classes) ranging from the crammed backbreaking type (cheaper though!) to luxury types (those Volvos).  Between the two KRSTCs (Kerala & Karnataka) you'll find about 30 daily bus connections from Bangalore towards Wayanad.

For seat booking at Karnataka RTC check www.ksrtc.in and for the Kerala RTC www.keralartc.in/KERALAOnline.

Additionally , from Mysore, there are many bus services to Wayanad. That's if you are not able to see an option available from Bangalore.

Now, let’s see the ‘drive all the way to Wayanad’ option.
From Bangalore, there are many routes to reach Wayanad ( 3 main routes). Finally, it all comes down to selecting the right route to Wayanad. Where in Wayanad do you want to go?

Let us remember, Wayanad is not a town or a city. It is the name of a large district with more than half a dozen towns. In all probability, you would be heading to one of its three major towns , Sulthan Bathery, Kalpetta or Mananthavady.

The three popular route options between Bangalore and Wayanad .

From Mysore, you'll take the deviations depending up on the routes you opt. See the Map Key in the route map.

Route A : Bangalore to Mananthavady via Nagarhole & Kutta ( 267 km )
Route B : Bangalore to Mananthavady via HD Kote & Bavali ( 263 km )
Route C : Bangalore to Sulthan Bathery via Gundlupet ( 264 km )

Route A : Bangalore - Mysore - Hunsur- Nagarhole - Kutta - Kattikulam - Mananthavady (Wayanad)
Route B: Bangalore - Mysore - HD Kote - Bavali - Kattikulam - Mananthavady ( Wayanad)
Route C: Bangalore - Mysore - Gundlupet - Munthanga - Sulthan Bathery ( Wayanad)

Select your forward and return routes smartly, considering your overall itinerary and Wayanad itinerary. This may involve going to Wayanad by one route (say , Route A) and return by another route (example , Route C). You’ll even see (a little later on this page) a Route D if your itinerary includes Ooty in Tamil Nadu too. There are many advantages for this circuit route strategy.

First of all, you will be saving time and travel cost by avoiding too many up and down travels with in Wayanad. Arrange your itinerary smartly so that you can start at one end of Wayanad as you enter by one route and by the time you complete your tour of Wayanad, you are already near the beginning of the return route you’ve chosen.
Well, it is not all that straightforward; nevertheless some forethought and planning can make your tour a lot more effective. Plus, you have the experience of seeing two different wildlife sanctuaries as you go in and out of Wayanad.

Luckily Route A/Route B and Route C are located at the two ends of Wayanad’s ‘tourist arc’ . So you start at one end of the arc, sweep your way through and leave at the other end.

Generally, you’ll first have to head towards Mysore, weather you opt for Route A,B or C.

From a traffic standpoint, Gundlupet route is the most frequented and the Nagarhole-Kutta route is the least, though the same thing can not be said about the road conditions.

Bangalore to Mysore: Irrespective of which route you select, the first lap of the plan is to head towards Mysore. It's about 150 km drive on the state highway (SH17). The highway is in good condition, with 4 lane most of the way.

You'll take anything between 3 to 4 hours, depending on many traffic conditions. What probably slows down would be the slow moving traffic in the Bangalore city to Bidadi stretch (about 30km). Beyond this traffic moves pretty smooth. The same can't be said about the extended weekends though!

Bangalore to Ooty: As promised above, here is an idea to cover Ooty also as part of your Wayanad round trip. Take Route C. At Gundlupet take the Ooty diversion (left) instead of heading straight to Sultan Battery. You'll soon cross Bandipur National Park and Mudumalai Tiger Reserve . Call it a bonus!

Bangalore to Ooty road distance is about 300kms. From Ooty you can head to the southern parts of Wayanad (Sultan Battery or Kalpetta) via Gudalur. Well, going to Wayanad via Ooty is not the shortest route. You'll like this , if you are planing to cover Ooty as part of your itinerary.

Bangalore to Coorg: If Ooty is located south of Wayanad,  Coorg is located north of Wayanad.

It's possible to make and extended road trip plan to cover Wayanad by including Coorg region also in your itinerary.  Take Route A and head to Madikeri or Virajpet. This route can take you to the northern parts of Wayanad.