Bangalore Palace Guide: Timings, Ticket Price, Photography Rules and Is It Worth It

Bangalore Palace stands on Palace Road in Vasanth Nagar, near Mount Carmel Institute of Management, about 5 km from Majestic. Its turrets, battlemented towers and Gothic windows are in the Tudor Revival style, and Wikipedia says the design is based on Windsor Castle. The palace was commissioned for Chamarajendra Wadiyar X of Mysore in the 1870s; the complex covers 454 acres by Wikipedia’s figure, though the building itself is about 45,000 sq ft with roughly 35 rooms.

This guide compares nine sources and a recent 2026 visitor review. They disagree on almost every number a visitor needs, from the ticket to the closing day, so we show ranges and tell you which claim comes from a single page. If you are planning a day in the city, our Bengaluru district guide and the Lalbagh Botanical Garden guide pair well with this page.

The spread comes from old copy: a 2020 visitor paid ₹260, which included ₹20 for earphones, and a 2026 review reports ₹300 for locals. Plan on ₹300 per Indian adult and ₹500 per foreign adult, which covers the top of the range, and be pleasantly surprised if the counter charges less. Karnataka Tourism lists the audio guide as a ₹230 extra; other pages say it is free with an ID or a cash deposit of ₹2,000, so ask before you pay.

On photography: the pages that sell camera tickets are older. Two sources, one a 2026 review, say photography is not allowed inside the palace and only exterior photographs are possible. Do not buy a camera ticket until you have confirmed at the counter what it covers; the exterior can be photographed from the garden without one, according to a 2020 account.

This is our own reading of the evidence, not a measured fact. The palace is worth a visit for three kinds of traveller: people interested in colonial-era royal architecture, people who want a Windsor-inspired façade to photograph from the garden, and visitors with a free morning in Bengaluru who have already seen Lalbagh. It is not worth it for anyone expecting a museum with a deep interior collection, or for anyone on a tight budget, because one 2020 visitor put the ticket at about five times the Mysore Palace price.

One 2020 visitor wrote that it was not worth the cost, and a 2026 review has the same complaint about the interior. A more neutral reading is that the building is better than the visit. Go at opening on a weekday, do the audio route, spend your remaining time in the garden, and do not buy extras you cannot use. If you want an alternative, our Mysore Palace guide covers a larger palace in Mysuru, and our forts in Karnataka list covers sites with lower ticket prices.

One page recommends October to February for the weather and early morning for fewer people and better light, and notes that indoor areas are more comfortable in summer. The palace is a short visit, so any dry morning works; avoid event days and Mondays unless you have confirmed otherwise.

For two adults, the tickets alone come to roughly ₹600 at the top of the range, ₹920 to ₹1,000 for two foreign adults, and nothing for an under-10 child on some pages. Add a cab or auto from the nearest metro or bus stop. Camera tickets can add ₹285 to ₹710, which we recommend you skip unless the counter confirms what they allow.

Mistakes to avoid

• Arriving on a Monday or an event day without checking.
• Buying a camera ticket and then learning interior photography is banned.
• Arriving after 4:30 pm. Last entry is about 5 pm.
• Expecting a Mysore Palace-sized experience.
• Relying on one blog for the ticket price. Carry ₹300 per adult plus a margin.
• Driving at peak hours when a cab from the metro would be faster.

Build a Bengaluru day with the Lalbagh Botanical Garden guide and the Bengaluru district guide. Heading out of the city next? Browse weekend getaways from Bangalore, the Mysore Palace guide or Belur and Halebidu from Bengaluru. For the best months across the state, see best time to visit Karnataka.

Ticket prices, timings, closure days and camera rules are approximate and change often, and several figures here come from older pages. Confirm with the palace before you travel. Updated October 2026.