Overall it’s a good 1 day package to go in for, along with family also.
I am putting up this review in order to help others know beforehand before zeroing in on APTDC Bangalore Tirupathi one day package.
This was the 2nd time I went to Tirupati through a package tour, though last time, I visited with a private package tour operator from Bangalore. The ticket here is Rs 1800 per head. It’s a Mercedes Benz semi-sleeper bus and blankets are provided(no water bottles)
The tour started at Shivananda Circle, Bangalore and took a round journey through old airport road, through Marathahalli, where they picked up more passengers and to back to tin factory and from there on to the Tirupati road. Well this route is a bit time consuming and until 10:15 pm you will be within city itself navigating the traffic.
Enroute, they stop at Kamat Upachar at around 10:45 pm. The food was not that great. At least not as good as other Kamat hotels around Bangalore. But its manageable.
The bus reaches next day 3 am at a lodge(non-AC though and it sometimes feels uncomfortable since Tirupathi is very hot in summer season). Two people were given a room each and they give a 1 hour window to freshen up and come back to the bus. Room facilities were ok ok types and manageable. Hot water was available but was not required in summer season. You can take cold water bath comfortably.
The guide spoke some broken english and hindi at which he was not very good. But he was good at telugu and Tamil.
Next is darshan of Sri Padmavathi Ammavari Temple at Tirupati. The darshan ticket is a nominal Rs 25 per head which is not included in the package. Darshan is quick within 5-10 minutes. Darshan finishes before 5:30 am. Next they took us to a restaurant en route Tirumala where the breakfast was decent.
After finishing breakfast, the Tirupati-Tirumala government buses were waiting for us. We have to keep our luggage in the APTDC bus itself but we can carry with us mobile phones till Tirumala(not in the darshan queue). After reaching Tirumala, the guide took the people who were getting their heads tonsured to a place, and the rest of us waited somewhere near the shops for around 45 minutes. After they joined us, we deposited our mobiles and chappals at a particular shop for a nominal fee of Rs 10 per mobile(no charges for chappals) and then we went for Darshan.
The guide arranged Rs 300 seegra darshan for us. This I didn’t find much of a difference between we ourselves buying the tickets and the guide buying it for us, except that if we ourselves buy it, we will get the ticket for the next day. But during peak seasons, it is suggested to go through APTDC as they have fixed quota darshan tickets.
At 8:45 am we entered the queue and at around 11 am we had the holy darshan of Lord Balaji. It was good. Humbling experience as it has been always. At 11:30 am we came out of the temple complex while the guide came out a few minutes later with Laddus. After the darshan we were asked to wait in the bus stand. Journey back to Tirupati in the government bus. The return journey has more zig zag and u turns then the onward journey to Tirumala. Hence people having vomiting problem have to be careful.
Reaching Tirupati we got back into the same Mercedes Benz bus. En route Bangalore the bus stopped at APTDC restaurant (it’s government run) where the food was decent.
Overall it was a good package and no major issues / no major wastage of time or mismanagement. But I suggest for people going once in a while not to be in a hurry but make a 3-4 day trip to Tirupathi and visit nearby places. Its worthwhile and memorable.
Hope my review helps someone.