Seventeen seats for group heritage tours and hill runs
The 17-seater is the largest vehicle we routinely send out of Mysuru, and the size demands more route planning here than at the other two hubs. School groups, temple parties and extended families take it for the Palace and Srirangapatna circuit, or south towards Bandipur and Ooty. It is available as either a Tempo Traveller or an Urbania, though for this hub's specific roads the coach is more often the right answer.
Indicative per-kilometre rates from the Mysore (Mysuru) hub. Final quote depends on route, duration and season.
| Vehicle | Seats | From |
|---|---|---|
| Force Urbania 17 Seater | 17 | ₹32/km (300km min/day) |
| Tempo Traveller 17 Seater | 17 | ₹24/km (300km min/day) |
Two Mysuru roads rule out a 17-seat body and it is better to know before booking. The Chamundi Hills ghat above the halfway car park is too tight above the upper hairpins, so hill-temple days get a 9 or 12 seater instead. Beyond Gudalur on the Ooty route, the thirty-six hairpins are passable in a 17 but slow, and we allocate an extra ninety minutes rather than pretend otherwise. Bandipur adds its own rule: the reserve closes to through traffic at 9pm and our drivers will not attempt a late crossing.
We do not send one. The upper hairpins are too tight for the wheelbase, and a stalled coach on that road blocks everyone behind it. For a seventeen-strong group we either run the hill leg as two trips in a 12-seater or use the halfway parking and the local shuttle.
Around five and a half hours, which is roughly ninety minutes more than a car. The Gudalur hairpins are the constraint — thirty-six of them, taken slowly in a coach this length. We build that into the schedule rather than promising a car's timing and arriving late.
Yes, and it is common work for us. Our drivers on this corridor are endorsed for forest routes, hold to the 40kmph reserve limit and observe the horn ban. We plan the return to clear the gate before the 9pm closure, which means leaving the safari area by around 8pm.