A Road Trip to The Everything Land (Coasts & Hills of Karnataka)

People dont take trips ... Trips take People 😇

This is so true ... a road trip is a means to know people, cultures, locations and finally Destinations ! 😇 And this one is kind of M.O.A.T (Mother Of All Trips) if not the best of all ! Penning down our very own version of the Coasts & Hills of Karnataka Road Trip, journaling what we saw & ofcourse what we missed 😅 To be done some other time, for sure, in this Lifetime 🙂

Approx. 2500 kms of pure driving pleasure, runway roads, pristine beaches, lush green forests & real good South Indian food. And not to forget, the Tolls are minimal & that definitely matters 😆

Quick itinerary -

Day 1 - Mumbai to kolhapur with Mahalaxmi Darshan 🙏

Day 2 - kolhapur to Honnavar with nice solitary dip in the sea ⛵

Day 3 - Honnavar to Udupi via Jog Falls, Marvanthe Beach & Murdeshwar

Day 4 - Udupi sightseeing (Malpe area, Padukere beach & the Mattu beach drive till the light house) (St. Mary's island was shut due to rough seas)

Day 5 - Udupi to Chikmagalur via Agumbe Ghat 😍 + Bhadra Tiger Reserve Safari

Day 6 - Chikmagalur Coffee Estate tours, Mullayanagiri Peak (6300 Ft) & Herekola Lake

Day 7 - Chikmagalur to Hampi via Belur Chennakesava Temple

Day 8 - Hampi sightseeing (need atleast 2 full days to do justice to the archeological site)

Day 9 - Hampi to Kolhapur via Belgaon

Day 10 - Kolhapur to Mumbai

🏞️ Now its time for some details 🧐😎

Uttara Kannada is a Must Visit and should hold a respectable place in everyone's road trip bucket list ! Albeit if you love to burn the rubber !! ✅ And coupled with some chill time at Chikmagalur (Ooty & Coorg are nice but far off if you wanna wrap it up in 10 days flat) & then proceed towards a different dimension straight from the History & Geography text books 📚. Plot the above itinerary on a map & you get a fantastic loop cutting through absolutely different parts of a Wonderful state - Karnataka ! 😇

Darshan of Ambemata 🙏 is a must if you are spending time at Kolhapur, a good break spot to split the long journey in 2 days. Further, just 10 kms away from kolhapur, you have the Karnataka Border (RTPCR for all is a Must with Confirmed bookings while ktaka has taken off curfews & restrictions etc.). Once there, you may want to touch down on Gokarna (sleepy temple Town), Kumta (another coastal town) 😴 - We skipped them & headed straight for Honnavar. Nestled in the midst of Uttara Kannada, a typical coastal town with absolutely pristine beaches just left for us to roam around 😎 You don't wanna leave this place for sure 🙂

This day was a day of pleasure driving ... Just about 150 kms to go ! But we decided to see the world famous JOG FALLS (a beauty in itself) around 70 kms from Honnavar (Yana caves is also an amazing spot but not linear to where Jog Falls are) & while proceeding towards Udupi, stopped over at Murdeshwar (another beautiful temple Town)... A pious feeling engulfs you while you stand below the mesmerizing Lord Shiva statue towering towards eternity ! 🙏😇 Next came the Marvanthe Beach - A road with ocean at one side & back waters on the other ! An out of the world feeling ! Words will only add to the injustice of what we experienced ! ✨😇 Finally, Udupi it was ! 😎 Explored the Malpe Beach Walk, Manipal University campus (mind you it feels good there), Padukere Beach (one of the cleanest beaches) & drove on a 10 km stretch on Mattu Beach sandwiched between sea & backwaters (Just a 100 mtr wide land mass for 10 kms, Just Imagine 😁😇)

It was time for some Hills - Chikmagalur 🏞️ it was. Our affair with Chikmagalur started with the Agumbe Ghat 🤫 (beautiful is an understatement). Chikmagalur is a land full of Coffee Estates & Pepper plantations. The property we stayed into was a vintage one, deep in a 100 acre Coffee Estate - The 6th generation was managing it !! You can spend some time at the Bhadra Tiger 🐯 Reserve (no pre bookings, first come first serve). As Chikmagalur is surrounded by lush vegetation & big Mountains, we decided to take a dig at one - Mullayanagiri ! Standing tall at 6300 ft. it is the highest peak of Karnataka, one needs to just climb 500 steps to reach the top & feel the cool breeze there ! ✅ Spend the evening at Herekola Lake, the calmness is seriously hypnotic 😇 And don't ever forget to take a Plantation tour, that is a Must Do ! 💯✨

It is Good to open History books sometime 😃 ! Well spent first half at Belur (Halebidu & Belur form a part where Hoysala Empire built massive yet intricate temples displaying different level of workmanship, depicting trades with the Chinese, Mongolians, Arabs & prosperity in 10th Century) 😇🙏 Belur hosts the Chennakesava Temple, a 11th century miracle ! Halebidu can be done too as it is on the way to Hampi, but we skipped due to lack of time 😔 Belur - Chitradurga - Hospet - Hampi ... Such is the drive with mountains made of huge massive boulders perched one over the other, naturally ! The best balancing act we have seen ever ! 😁

UNESCO Heritage site Hampi is a Chapter in itself ! 🙏 Well nested along the Tungabhadra River with natural fortification on all sides, the ruins of Hampi are spread over 16 sq. miles with approx. 1600 surviving monuments. Carved in granite, the structures show amazing workmanship, planning & administration skills of the then Vijayanagara Empire (2nd richest city in the world after Beijing in the 1500 CE) 😎 ... The Vittala Temple, Virupakshi temple, Chariots, Hazara Rama Temple, Procession platform, the Aqua Duct, Lotus Mahal, 4.7 mtr tall Narasimha statue, Pushkarni ... So much to see & soak in ! 😊😇 You have to atleast spend 2 full days atleast to let the guide (good one is a must) speak his heart out ! 😁 And it will be better if you read up & go ... One more longish visit to Hampi & Badami (we skipped this) is due 😊

❤️ While so much has been written, it feels so less for the road travelled, things seen from the lense of the eye & felt from the bottom of our Heart ❤️

Get out there & travel to unravel the mysteries that lie out there to be unboxed !! ❤️✅💯🔥

DM for more details ... ✅