Reaching Tirupati : Tirupati is well connected from most parts of India. Those coming from Chennai/ Bangalore can opt for direct train or take a bus. Those from Delhi and Mumbai can board any Chennai bound train and reach Renigunta. There are Buses / Rickshaws that ply from Renigunta to Tirupati. The temple is at Tirumala (22 Kms from Tirupati on a hill). There are many conducted tours from Bangalore and Chennai. The advantage is that they organize everything including darshan and hence many find these conducted tours convenient.

Darshan: Tirumala Tirupati Devastnam Board has managed the rush to the temple in a modern and efficient manner. Darshan begins at 1 AM and continues till 1 PM. The crowd is high on holidays, weekends and during special functions. Though there are free darshans, it is advisable to go in for special darshan which cost Rs. 40 and Rs. 50. The special darshan considerable reduces the waiting time. One has to take the Sudarsanam token from the TTD office. The token is a wristband which mentions the time of Darshan. Please click here for locations from where you can get Sudarsanam token at Tirupati. You can even book from the select TTD offices from round the country. List of TTD offices in India is available here. Telephone numbers of TTD offices in Mumbai : 022-22187171; Delhi –24112349; Chennai –24343535; Bangalore-23315361.

Sevas: Sevas can be booked online from the TTD eSeva site. Many of the sevas entail darshan too. Details regarding various seva can be obtained here

Accommodation:
There are various options:

• Tirumala - Tirupati Devsthnam Trust (Temple mamangement) have various comfortable guest houses in Tirumala . One can check room availability and make online booking from the TTD site
• Various religious Mutts offer accommodation in Tirumala. Details of these options are provided in Travel paisa – Tirumala   Please bear in mind that each of these Mutts have their own policy
• There are various hotels in Tirupati. List of these hotels with Contact details  can be found at Travel Paisa - Tirupati

Other Temples around Tirupati:

There are many important temples around Tirupati -Venugopalaswami Temple, Vedanarayanaswami Temple, Sri Kalyana Venkateswaraswami Temple and Padmavati Temple are the most important ones. TTD runs a packaged tour, details of which are available here.

Climbing Tirumala Hills:

One can Choose to climb Tirumala hills from Tirupati as do lakhs of devotees every year. It is a memorable climb. There are lot of rest points where you can refresh with Snacks/ Cool drinks. There are many small parks and animal enclosures along the way. It takes around three hours to reach Tirumala temple.

 Have a wonderful darshan of Lord Srinivasa at Tirumala

(Contribution by Vasanthi Sridar) 

Related: Udupi and other Temples of Dakshina Kannada | Mantralaya | Dargah at Nagore