Our Tirupati Balaji yatra packages start in Tirupati and run from 1 night to 4 nights. The darshan of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala, up in the hills above Tirupati town, takes one day. Most of the planning goes into what comes before it: the right darshan ticket booked on the TTD portal, a room near the hills, the correct clothes packed, and a plan for elderly parents. Most families add Sri Padmavathi Ammavari temple at Tiruchanur and Srikalahasti. Others go on to the Sripuram Golden Temple at Vellore. From Mumbai and Pune you can reach Tirupati by an overnight train or a short flight.
Tirupati packages at a glance
| Package | Nights | What it covers | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tirupati quick darshan | 1N / 2D | Fly in, ₹300 darshan at Tirumala, Padmavathi temple | Working couples, a long weekend |
| Tirupati Balaji Darshan | 2N / 3D | Tirumala darshan, Padmavathi temple, Srikalahasti | Families, first-timers |
| Tirupati, Sripuram and Kanchipuram | 3N / 4D | Tirumala, the Golden Temple at Vellore, Kanchipuram temples | Those flying home from Chennai |
| Kolhapur Mahalakshmi, Tirupati and Sripuram | 4N / 5D | Ambabai darshan in Kolhapur, the direct train to Tirupati, Tirumala, Sripuram | Families from Mumbai and Pune who prefer the train |
The full day-wise plan for Tirupati Balaji Darshan 2N/3D is on its own page. The other formats are built from it, adding or dropping days, and any of them can be changed to suit you.
Which darshan ticket should you book?
For most families from outside Andhra Pradesh, the ₹300 Special Entry Darshan is the one to book. It gives you a fixed time slot, so you know which day you’ll have darshan before you buy train tickets. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) runs several kinds of darshan:
- Special Entry Darshan (₹300). Booked only on TTD’s official portal, ttdevasthanams.ap.gov.in. TTD releases each month’s quota online well in advance. Weekend and festival slots often sell out within hours, so we book the darshan first and the travel after.
- Slotted Sarva Darshan (SSD) tokens. Free tokens with a time slot, handed out in person at counters in Tirupati, such as Srinivasam near the bus stand, Vishnu Nivasam near the railway station and Bhudevi Complex at Alipiri. The number is limited and it’s first come, first served. TTD’s website shows how many tokens are left for the day.
- Sarva Darshan. The free general queue with no token. It works, but the wait can stretch through a whole day on busy dates. We don’t plan a trip around it unless you have time to spare.
- Divya Darshan. A limited number of tokens for pilgrims who climb the hill on foot. Where they are issued, and for which footpath, has changed several times, so check before you plan around them.
Darshan for senior citizens and differently-abled pilgrims
TTD has a separate darshan quota for senior citizens and differently-abled pilgrims, booked on the same portal well in advance. Here are TTD’s own rules:
- Senior citizens: must have completed 65 years. Aadhaar is mandatory. Only the spouse may go along as an attendant. The quota is 1,000 a day, and the slot is at 3 pm, Monday to Saturday.
- Differently-abled pilgrims: need a disability certificate from the state or central government. Only the spouse may accompany them.
- Serious medical cases: such as dialysis, kidney or liver transplant, open-heart surgery or cancer patients. They need a certificate from their surgeon or specialist.
Since only a spouse may accompany them, a son or daughter can’t go in with a widowed parent on this quota. In that case we book ₹300 tickets for the whole family instead. Note too that TTD suspends these special darshans during the Brahmotsavams.
Dress code and temple rules at Tirumala
Traditional dress is compulsory for the ₹300 darshan, sevas and break darshan. Pack it in your hand luggage.
- Men: dhoti or pyjama, with an upper cloth.
- Women: saree or half-saree with blouse, or churidar with pyjama and an upper cloth.
- No footwear in or around the temple, and no caps, hats or turbans inside.
- No flowers in your hair. At Tirumala the flowers of the hills are kept for the Lord.
- Tirumala is strictly vegetarian. No alcohol, smoking or intoxicants are allowed in town.
Walking up: Alipiri and Srivari Mettu
Many pilgrims walk to Tirumala as a vow. TTD gives these figures for the two footpaths:
| Footpath | Length | Usual time | Collect your bags at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alipiri | about 7.8 km | about 3 hours | GNC luggage counter |
| Srivari Mettu | about 2.1 km | about 1.5 hours | MBC luggage counter |
Both paths are steps almost all the way, with drinking water, toilets, shelters and medical help along the route. Your bags go up free and are waiting at the top. Srivari Mettu is shorter but steeper. Alipiri is the classic route. Neither suits anyone with knee or heart trouble. Grandparents can go up by road and meet the walkers at the top: the ghat road is about 18 km, open from 3 am to midnight, and the APSRTC bus costs ₹90 one way.
Where you’ll stay
You can stay up in Tirumala or down in Tirupati. TTD runs the rooms in Tirumala, booked in advance on the same portal or allotted on arrival through current booking. They are clean and close to the queue complex, but scarce on busy dates. Tirupati town has many more private hotels, and with an early-morning slot the drive up is easy. For a 2-night trip we usually book Tirupati, plus a Tirumala room for the darshan night if TTD has one available.
Temples to add: Padmavathi, Srikalahasti and Sripuram
- Sri Padmavathi Ammavari temple, Tiruchanur. The temple of the Lord’s consort, run by TTD, on the edge of Tirupati town. Many families feel the yatra isn’t complete without it.
- Srikalahasti. About 36 km from Tirupati. A Shiva temple with the Vayu (wind) lingam, one of the five Pancha Bhoota temples, and well known for the Rahu-Ketu puja. It fits easily into the day you leave.
- Sripuram Golden Temple, Vellore. The Sri Lakshmi Narayani temple, covered in gold and reached along a star-shaped path. Darshan runs from 8 am to 8 pm. Phones, cameras, big bags and outside food are not allowed, and there’s a dress code: no shorts, sleeveless tops or short skirts.
Best time to go, and the Brahmotsavam rush
Tirumala is busy all year, so the date matters less than the day. A weekday slot outside school holidays is the calmest. The heaviest crowds come during summer holidays, long weekends, Vaikuntha Ekadasi (December or January) and the Brahmotsavams.
The annual Salakatla Brahmotsavam falls in September or October. In 2026 it ran from 15 to 23 September, with Garuda Seva on 19 September. Because 2026 had an extra lunar month, a second Navaratri Brahmotsavam followed from 12 to 20 October. During the festival, the processions are the reason to go, but darshan queues are at their longest. Break darshan and the senior-citizen quota are suspended. If you want calm darshan with elderly parents, avoid these weeks.
Getting to Tirupati from Mumbai and Pune
- By train: the daily Mumbai–Chennai trains, such as the Chennai Express from CSMT, run via Pune to Renigunta Junction in about 19 hours. Renigunta is about 20 minutes from Tirupati.
- From Kolhapur: the daily Haripriya Express runs direct to Tirupati overnight. That is how our Kolhapur Mahalakshmi package works.
- By air: Tirupati airport is at Renigunta. IndiGo has flown non-stop from Mumbai, but the schedule changes by season. From Pune you will usually change at Bengaluru or Hyderabad.
Questions pilgrims ask before booking
Can you book the ₹300 darshan tickets for us?
We help you book them on the official TTD portal in each pilgrim’s name, with their own ID, the day the quota opens. Nobody can sell you a “guaranteed” darshan ticket outside that portal, and anyone who claims to is a tout.
How many days do I need?
With a ₹300 ticket, two nights is comfortable: arrival and Padmavathi on day one, Tirumala on day two, Srikalahasti on the way out. If you’re relying on free SSD tokens, add a night, because tokens are often for the next day.
My parents are over 65. Is the special darshan easier?
The queue is shorter and better arranged, but only husband and wife can go in together. If both parents are over 65, it’s a good option. If you need to stay with them, book ₹300 tickets for everyone.
Darshan types, the senior-citizen and differently-abled quota, dress code, footpath distances, ghat road timings and bus fares checked November 2026 against the TTD website (tirumala.org). Sripuram timings and rules are from the Sripuram temple website. Brahmotsavam dates and quota releases are from news reports of September to October 2026. Train and flight timings are from railway and airline schedule listings. TTD changes quotas and counters at short notice, so we confirm the current arrangement when we send your quote.