Recently, I went to visit Hampi over an extended Weekend. Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage site and it has always been on my checklist, however not until recently did I get this opportunity to visit Hampi and explore its archeological grandeur and marvelous ruins. I stay in Bangalore, so I just drove there in my car. However, if you are coming from outside, you can travel to Hubli or Vidyanagar airport, which are the two nearest airports. Otherwise, you can also take the train and travel to Hospet and then from there to Hampi.
You can go to Hampi almost at any time of the year. However, the best time to visit is between October through March. The weather is a bit cooler and bearable. I went there in August though and the weather was decent enough.
Route from Bangalore to Hampi
Hampi is 350 km away from Bangalore. The shortest and fastest route is through Chitradurga. You’ll really enjoy this scenic stretch and it’ll take less than 6 hours to reach Hampi. We took 2 breaks one for having breakfast and another for clicking some pictures at Tungabhadra Dam. After crossing Hospet, you’ll witness windmills on both sides of the road, which makes the route very aesthetic.
Places to Stay
There are various ranges of hotels and AirBnBs in Hampi. For mid-range you can go for Pearl by Priyadarshini or Vijayshree Resort. For experiential, you can opt for Hampi Boulders Resort. For Corporate, you can go with Hyatt Place or Heritage Hotel in Hampi. For luxury, you can check Shivavilas Palace, Evolve Back or, Hyatt Place. We stayed at Hyatt Place, Hampi. It’s a decent hotel located in Vidyanagar Township. Kaladhaam near this place adds charm to the entire township.
Day 1
On our way to Hampi, we explored Kaladham and clicked a lot of pictures to capture its serene and rustic vibes. Post this we checked into our hotel and called it a day. The next day, we started early and headed towards the Tungabhadra Dam to experience the unique Coracle ride. You can also enjoy this ride in front of Kondandarama Temple and Sanapur Lake. During high tides and monsoons though, this ride is usually not operational, so keep that in mind. A 30-min ride might cost you around INR 300-350 pp, however, a 60-min ride will cost you upwards of INR 500 pp. Since we went during sunrise, we had to pay INR 500 for a 30-min ride. It’s a different kind of experience, and while in Hampi you should not miss it.
Post this we went to visit the local cane market and explored locally manufactured artefacts. Hampi is a place of Historical Ruins, and there are over 500 ruins scattered across multiple sites. We definitely wanted to cover some of the key ruins and sites so we headed off to the Lotus Mahal. There are many sites within the premises of Lotus Mahal, however the most noteworthy were the Treasury Building, Queen’s Bath, Elephant Stable, and the beautiful Lotus Mahal. Lotus Mahal is a marvelous example of the Vijayanagara Empire architecture. It is structure resembles that of a Lotus. It was built for the Royal Ladies to relax and socialize when the King and his royal men used to go out of the kingdom for longer period of time.
The treasury contains some of the monoliths, coins, and some figures from that era. The Elephant Stable has 12 distinctive chambers for Royal Elephants.
Our next stop was the very famous Vijaya Vittala Temple. It’s well-known for the stone chariot, which is featured on our Rs. 50 Note. From the Parking Lot, you can either take a buggy for Rs 10 pp, but you’ll have to wait for your turn or else you can walk for 1-km and reach the main entrance. Since it was cloudy, we thought of walking our way to the temple compound. On the way, we also took stops at Narsimha Gudi, Pushkarini, and King’s Balance. We also observed various ruins here and there before reaching the Temple Gate. These ruins are Vittala Market remains. This is known to be one of the grandest markets where International Trade between Persians and Portuguese traders used to take place. Vijaya Vittal Temple compound is huge and everyone flocks around the iconic Stone Chariot to get their photos clicked holding a Rs. 50 Note. We had to wait for some time, but soon we got our chance to click pictures with the chariot.
By the time we were returning, it was around 4 PM. So, we thought of visiting the famous Hemakuta Hills to watch the sunset. This location is just beside the famous Virupaksha Temple.
This is where I watched one of the most beautiful sunsets in my life. Because of its height and location, it offers a spectacular view of the river and temple together. There are many small temples scattered on the hill. I also noticed that many photographers have set up their camera and gears to capture the perfect sunset picture from up top. It was a very serene and peaceful experience for me and my husband to watch the sunset.
After this, we returned to our hotel, had our dinner there, and retired for the day.
Day 2
Since we were also planning to return that day, we got up a bit late around 9 AM to have a peaceful breakfast. Post this we checked-out of the hotel and headed towards the Virupaksha temple. From the Parking Lot, it takes around 10-15 min to reach the temple gates. There are two lines, one is regular and another one is skip-the-queue for which we paid Rs 50 pp. Being one of the famous temples in Hampi, it was very crowded and people were eagerly waiting in their lines to catch a glimpse of Lord Virupaksha. After a hurried session, we clicked some pictures and started our journey back to Bangalore.
We took a pit stop to have lunch and finally reached Bangalore by 8 pm.
Hope this blog has provided you with some insights and can help you plan for your trip to Hampi. Comment down in case you have any questions.
Nice guide…👍