The Coffee heaven of India- Chikmagalur!!

Hey all!! Sorry for the extra long break!! I am back again here with yet another destination for you to check out which has been traveled and enjoyed by yours truly!! Chikmagalur a quaint and beautiful hill station in central Karnataka with its rolling hills and heady scents of coffee plantations should be added to your bucket list in places to be ticked off within India!! I am going to try and make this blog your go to guide to plan your next vacay to Chikmagalur!! get in touch to plan your holiday to this place while its still quaint, untouched and peaceful.

Best time to visit: Like I already mentioned Chikmagalur is a hill station and a mini one at that making it an ideal year round destination. Having said that its always better to avoid hill stations in monsoon which happens to be between June to September. Otherwise this destination has something to offer you for every season. So if you ever intend to visit this place don't hesitate just pack your bags and hit the road any time other than monsoon!!

How to get there: This place is well connected by roads from Bangalore, Mysore and Mangalore. While its around 250 kms from Bangalore its just around 150 kms from Mangalore. The route from Bangalore is smooth with good roads and interesting sights like Belur and Halebidu temple to check out on the way. Mangalore though shorter is covered with a ghat route and could be more tiring and is not really advisable until you take a professional driver with you. Though Bangalore is 250 kms away, its a pretty easy and straight forward drive and the roads are amazing. The temples of Belur and Halebidu which proudly flaunt the ages old Hoysala architecture are seriously a pride not to be missed.

Where to stay: Again a family friendly destination which offers a host of places to

stay in all types and budgets. Starting from a simple budget hotel in the town to a beautiful luxurious resort in the dense coffee plantations, the options here would spoil you for choices. I would personally lean towards a resort with a coffee plantation or a quaint little home stay on a coffee plantation as that would possibly be the only way you can check out the rolling plantations of this place. On our visit we stayed at the Honeydewz exotica resort and spa which was pretty decent and was worth the money we spent. They also owned their coffee and pepper plantation which was right across the road. The best accommodation in the luxury category would be the Serai Chikmagalur and in the homestay category would be the coffee bean homestay.

What to do: You are again spoilt with choices as far as the activities you can do and places you can visit are concerned, ranging from some really pleasing waterfalls, lakes to some easy to moderate hiking trails and rolling private coffee plantations. You can trek up the Mulyangiri, Baba budan giri or the Kemmangundi peak. Visit the charming Hebbe and Kalhatti falls. Trek up the Khudremuk peak. Check the stunning wildlife at the Bhadra wildlife sanctuary. Hill stations are normally rich in nature but this one is different. Check out the temples of Belur and Halebidu, The Sringeri Sharadha mutt temple, The kodanda Ramasamy temple to name a few would satiate your thirst for history!!

Budget: Chikmagalur, like all other destinations of India is a place that can be visited on multiple budgets depending on how and when you are traveling there and the place you are staying at. A 4 day vacation with a stay in Honeydew exotica resort with breakfast and dinner and vehicle at disposal from Bangalore to Bangalore costed a total for 38 K for us a couple with an infant. Taking a hotel in the city would bring the cost down by about 5 to 10K.