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Karnataka travel guide

This could well be a side to southwest India that you’ve never, ever heard of so why not have a browse through our Karnataka travel guide and find out what you’ve been missing. From the misty mountain tops, coffee and cardamom estates of Coorg, in the Western Ghats, to the UNESCO sites of Hampi and Anegundi, check out our Karnataka map & highlights as you make the most of your time researching the best of the rest of southwest India.

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KARNATAKA TRAVEL GUIDE

With Goa snoozing on her shoulder and Kerala resting at her feet, Karnataka can often be overlooked despite the beaches along the Konkan coast and the waterways within the Western Ghats, which more than match the alternatives. Hill stations, such as Madikeri and Coorg, sit surrounded by coffee and spice estates, offering respite from summer temps, and forest trails leading to hidden waterfalls and misty mountain lookouts.

Karnataka was occupied by some of southern India's oldest dynasties and as such the heritage and well-preserved architecture that you'll find today sets it apart from noisier neighbours.

Explore amongst the temples, aqueducts and elephant enclosures in the UNESCO village of Hampi and you’ll find the vehemence of the Vijayanagara Empire, frozen in time, with a guide book all that’s required to shed light on fascinating 14th century facts. Wildlife abounds along the Kabini River and the national parks of Nagarhole, Bandipur and Mudumalai; although, don’t expect wild nights out as this is Karnataka, not Goa, so get some shut eye and make the most of southwest India’s hidden heartland.

Read on in our Karnataka travel guide.

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Things to do in Karnataka…

There's nothing like the foothills of the Western Ghats for a wildlife safari with Nagarhole, Bandipur and Mudumalai National Parks, all Project Tiger reserves, providing healthy habitat for India's indigenous wild animals, just 50-80km from Mysore. Park lodges allow access to early morning game drives as big cats, bison, sloth bears and an abundance of Asian elephants, as well as 250 species of birds, make the most of dense sandalwood forests and verdant riverbanks. Although you can only begin to imagine the weather-related moaning that accompanied the British in India around the turn of the 20th century, they did know the higher you go the cooler you become which is why Karnataka's heritage-laden hill stations are worth investigating firsthand. These lush green high altitude oases provide the perfect antidote to city streets with Madikeri in Coorg and several within the Nilgiri Mountains certainly worth adding to the hill station hit list. From the red sandstone carved caves of Badami to the paved temple complex at Male Mahadeshwara Hills in Chamarajanagar, Hinduism in Karnataka is not something that can easily be ignored. Embarking on temple tours with a knowledgeable local guide or well written guide book is certainly the best way to make the most of the experience with visits to Gol Gumbaz and the fortified Ibrahim Rauza in Bijapur inviting additional insight as to the historic role of Islam in southern India.

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Things not to do in Karnataka…

Although India may have banned pachyderms performing in circuses they haven't, as yet, outlawed that age old tourist attraction of elephant riding, so make sure you make your opinions known rather than sitting astride an animal and acting like an ignorant remnant of the Raj. Zoos are another area of contention in the region with Mysore Zoo happily keeping wildlife in cages for the benefit of fee paying tourist traffic.

Although the beaches and hippy hangouts of Goa, to the north of Karnataka, have a somewhat relaxed attitude to beach attire it's probably safe to assume that if you're visiting the coast, or anywhere else for that matter, the more flesh on display the more attention you'll attract. Understanding the culture of Karnataka, particularly in a religious context, should be part and parcel of visiting as a responsible traveller so please bear this in mind before you bare all in public.

There's much to be admired in Bangalore although perhaps not the amount of diesel emissions and dust pollution generated that can make for a quite oppressive atmosphere during the hot and humid summer months. Waste management and slum districts are also a major cause for concern with an ever-burgeoning IT industry putting pressure on already over congested infrastructure that's struggling to keep up with the pace.

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Written by Chris Owen

Karnataka travel guide