Things to do in Mangaluru

Mangaluru, also called as Mangalore, is a small city after all. Here is a list of places where you must be heading to, if you are new to this city.

I have mentioned what you can expect from the places. Go ahead and pick what you like!

1. Beach Please! : Someshwara Beach/ Tannirbhavi/ Panambur:

 Someshwara beach :

          is a li'l on the other side compared to rest of the beaches. While most of them are in the north towards Udupi road, Someshwara beach is down south towards Kerala. Its 13kms from Mangaluru but you would love the road that leads to the beach too. The Nethravathi river bridge is such a place, where you feel like stopping and admiring the nature. And the destination? It has a beautiful Shiva temple along the beach. It has hugs rocks which is not common in other beaches. This place feels serene.
How to reach?
       There are city buses frequently from Statebank(That's the NAME of a bus stand!! :P)
or you can take your vehicle. Parking space is available anyway.

Tannirbhavi:

         What's different about this? There's an entirely different view here. It has long stretch of  Coastal She Oak trees and the view is beautiful. There are a couple of eateries which serves the very own Bhelpuri-named as Charmuri, gobi-manchurian,etc.
How to reach?
         Reach Sultan Battery through city bus. Take a ferry to cross the river(hardly 2-3 mins) and there you are!  You can also take your vehicle through a left deviation after Kulur Ferry bridge and just go ahead till you find an allotted parking space. That's when you know that you have reached. You can also ignore this parking space and move ahead to reach another Parking space with a lot of trees. Stop here. This is the same place as the one which you would reach had you taken a ferry.

Panambur :

       A li'l ahead of the Kulur Ferry bridge, towards Udupi, you would find the industrial area with chemical factories. That's when you know that you have almost reached Panambur beach. This is the highly commercialised beach in Mangaluru where you would find a lot of stores, kites for sale, ATVs, and a lott of people. If you love the crowd, this is where you want to be.
This is the beach that hosts Kite festival every year and also has Surfing classes during the off-monsoon time.

How to reach? Any city bus that goes towards Surathkal, has "Panambur Beach" written on it. It's the easiest to catch.

2. Places of worship: 

Kudroli temple/ Kadri temple/ Mangaladevi temple/ Milagres Church/St Aloysius Chapel:
   
   Kudroli Gokarnatheshwara temple :

 A sight to enjoy if visited after sunset. Beautifully set up with huge Hanuman and Sai Baba and Krishna mandir too. Do not forget to check out the beautiful huge doors of the wedding halls next to the temple and take a trip to the top through the glass lift and enjoy the setup. There is a beautiful mini forest and a lake too. Do visit this place in the evening to get the most of it.
        Dasara festival is the best time to visit, as an entire hall is decorated and set up with huge idols of nine Devis and Ganesha. And the procession goes on throughout the night of Dasara for which the crowd gathers much ahead on the streets to gather a glimpse of the beautiful idols.

Kadri Manjunatha Temple :

         is one of the oldest temple and gives a serene, pure and blissful feeling. The temple is on top of a small hill and also has a few water ponds. It has goddess Durga and Ganesh mandirs too.

Mangaladevi Temple :

          Mangaluru gets its name from goddess Mangaldevi. It's Mangala-ooru (ooru means place) which has turned into Mangaluru. One of the oldest and beautiful temple which is extremely crowded during Dasara. The procession during Dasara is unmatched with a lot of dancers and tabloids performing through the streets, not to forget about the fireworks.

Milagres Church :

          is very close to the Mangalore Central-train station. I have loved my visit to this church but not much aware of the speciality here. Being studied for 14 long yrs in a convent school, I love the silence in a church.

St. Aloysius Chapel:

          is a beautiful must-visit chapel in Mangaluru. You will definitely fall in love with the paintings and architecture. An easy to access place.

3. Ice-Cream parlours:

    Mangaluru is the ice-cream hub of nation. The best players in this field are Pabba's, Ideal's, Natural. They provide a wide variety of flavours like tender coconut, jackfruit, papaya, watermelon,etc.

Also try out the cutlets at Pabbas. Ideals cafe has great dosas along with icecreams. 

There are new players like Cream N Rolls (Maurishka Towers, Mallikatta), Icy Creamz(Bendoorwell), NIICE Cream (Forum Mall).

Will write in detail about these, shortly. :)

4. Restaurants :
         There are a lot of restaurants to pick from. I would leave it to you guys to check them on zomato.com. Kudla,Maharaja,Palkhi, Gauji Gammath,Guthu,Kabab Studio,Aroma, Giri Manjas,etc are a few to help you start picking from.

5. Local Food :
          Forget the A/C retaturants, the genuine fun is in eating the local food. Let me list out my personal favourites. Please feel free to mention your favourites in the comment section so that I can add them to the list.
      a. Egg-charmuri/Egg masala from the stall outside Mangala Swimming Pool. Not just the charmuri, try the Groundnut masala, Mango pacchodi(my mouth is watering already!) and also ask for the watermelon juice or kokum juice. They are homemade and tastes really well.

      b. And if you love Maggi, you should be trying 'em at a place in Bunts Hostel circle,opposite Toyota showroom beyond Sugama travels.They have a variety of Maggi prepared.

      c. And another place for egg variety is at a road opp to Radha medicals between PVS and Bunts Circle stop.  

      d. And one opposite to Mallikatta Lions Seva Mandir serves yumm yumm hot pakodas.

      e. And another place for hot pakodas is in central market. Search for Saurashtra textiles, get to the basement of the building opposite to it. There's a chat stall which makes hot jalebis on the go. Pav-bhaji and all chats are really tasty here.

      f. If you are near or at Forum mall, try out the stall behind the Forum mall which serves charmuri, egg varities, juices, etc.

      g. Also the Pakoda shop at carstreet. Stand at School Book company and look right. You will find a small stall overcrowded. That's the one.

6. Wildlife Zoo:

         Yes, Mangaluru has its own zoo, Pilikula Nisarga Dhama, a perfect destination for a family picnic or a day outing for kids. It has a nominal entry fee of Rs 20 for kids and Rs 50 for adults.
How to reach? Again, we do have city buses plying to Pilikula. Get more details here.

7. WaterPark :
         Manasa Amusement Park:

A guaranteed full day of entertainment here. There are various water rides and a small pool for kids as well. There is an entry fee too. Please check the details here. Go with your best buddies or take your kids along. Either way its going to be a fun day. Both the Pilikula Nisarga Dhama and Manasa Amusement Park are located closeby. So, plan accordingly.

8. Science Centre:

  Pilikula Regional Science Centre: Haven't been here personally. But, I am sure it must be a useful and informational centre.Trust me, I was amazed by the virtual tour made available in their website. Huh! How did I miss visiting this. Gotta plan soon! :)

That's it for now folks!! Let me know what you want me to list out next. I shall try that out.

Happy Day!!