There are so many fantastic places to visit in Karnataka that you’re unlikely to return home disappointed.
Wealth has always come and gone here: the state’s interior, home to some of the earliest settlements in peninsular India, bears chastening witness to the ravages of time. The state has been seat to a roll-call of dynasties, both alien and homegrown – Hindu, Muslim, Jain, British – whose once-great cities and civilizations now stand largely in dusty ruins. As a result, Karnataka tourist places are brimming with architectural and archaeological riches: the still-emerging Vijayanagara kingdom capital of Hampi in the north; Chalukyan and Hoysala temples throughout Pattadakal, Belur and Halebid; the Islamic palaces of Tipu Sultan in the south; the onion-dome tombs of his Turkish and Persian antecedents in the far northeast; the British boulevards of Bengaluru; and the wondrous palaces of the Hindu maharajas at Mysore.
Best Places to Visit in Karnataka
- The awesome royal palace and the technicolour Devaraja Market in Mysore
- The mind-boggling silicon capital, Bangalore (Bengaluru), with its top-notch cuisine and bars
- The gravity-defying boulders and melancholic ruins of Hampi
Top State Festivals
- Dussehra (Oct, Mysore) The Maharaja’s Palace is lit up in the evenings and a vibrant procession hits town to the delight of thousands
- Lakshadeepotsava (Nov, Dharmasthala) Thousands and thousands of lamps light up this Jain pilgrimage town, offering spectacular photo ops
- Huthri (Nov/Dec, Madikeri) The Kodava community celebrates the start of the harvesting season with ceremony, music, traditional dances and much feasting for a week
- Vijaya Utsav (Jan, Hampi) A three-day extravaganza of culture, heritage and the arts at the foot of Hampi’s Matanga Hill
- Classical Dance Festival (Jan/Feb, Pattadakal) Some of India’s best classical dance performances
Top Things to Do in Karnataka
Rock Climbing / Bouldering
Magnificent bluffs and rounded boulders stand tall all over Karnataka. Anegundi and Hampi have graded boulders for some easy climbing. Challenging rock faces can be found in Badami, Ramnagar, 40km south of Bengaluru, Savandurga, 50km west of the capital, and Turahalli, on Bengaluru’s southern outskirts.
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