Memoirs of the ancient era, natural wonders and wild encounters – Hampi is the perfect getaway if you’re looking to spend a quiet yet eventful weekend away from Bangalore.
Read on to know more on how to plan that ideal weekend break to Hampi
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🗓️High level plan
Day 1: Start early morning from Bangalore and reach Hampi by noon (11 am), explore Virupaksha temple, Hemakuta hill, and Lotus Mahal, Elephant stables, Underground Shiva temple
Day 2: Early morning trek to Matanga hill, Vijaya Vittala temple complex
Day 3: Anegundi Chintamani temple, Anjanadri Hill, Sanapur lake
🏡Stay
Would highly recommend Zostel Hampi (at least for 1 night). While this is close to Anegundi and slightly away from the ancient Hampi, the property is located in a very pristine, scenic location and is a must-visit.
Even if you do not plan on staying here, do visit the cafe attached to the property – The Goan Corner (more on this in the next section).
In Hampi, there are quite a few options for homestays within a vicinity of 2-3 kms from the Virupaksha temple complex. If you are someone who prefers luxury, you could prefer Evolve Back – located at a distance of around 10 kms from Virupaksha temple.
🍜Food and shopping
The Goan Corner – earlier situated on the Hippie Island, is now a part of the Zostel property. This is the best restaurant you can find in Hampi – the food, the vibe and everything else is just right here. Must visit!
Apart from this, there are the following options:
- Mango tree – most popular among families for the homely south Indian meals
- Happy Hampi cafe – Good taste, but tends to get extremely crowded during peak hours
- Laughing Buddha Cafe
📝Detailed itinerary
Day 1: Reach Hampi, sightseeing around the temple complex
We started from Bangalore at around 5.30 am and reached Hampi at around 11 am with a pit stop of 30 mins mid way for breakfast.
We checked into our stay which was around 10 mins drive from the Virupaksha temple complex. Had lunch at the Mango tree restaurant and headed to the temple.
There are a few attractions that one must cover here:
The Sasivekalu Ganesha and Kadalekalu Ganesha – literally meaning the size of a mustard seed and a bengal gram seed, these are 2 main temples dedicated to lord Ganesha with 2 different sizes of the idol – Sasivekalu being the smaller one and Kadalekalu being the bigger one. From the Kadalekalu Ganesha temple, one can get a view of the Gopuram or the gateway tower of the Virupaksha temple.
From here, one can reach the temple on foot as well (it is a downhill slope on a rocky terrain), while exploring the Hemakuta hill complex which has a few other temple ruins.
You can then head to the area of the Queen’s bath, Lotus Mahal, the Mahanavami Dibba and the underground Shiva temple. These are located in the same area, around 5 mins drive from the main temple complex.
If you are visiting Hampi for the first time, it is recommended that you get a guide who will take you through each monument and clearly explain. If you want to explore at your own pace, then you could also get a guide book which extensively covers the history.
Since the attractions close post 7, we headed back to our homestay after a quick dinner at Mango Tree.
Day 2: Sunrise trek to Matanga hill and Vijaya Vittala temple complex
On the next day, we headed to the Matanga hill, located right opposite of the Vijaya Vittala temple for a hike. This is a short hike of around 45-60 mins and the view from the top is truly spectacular! Especially if you happen to visit in the monsoons, the entire area is covered with green plantations and trees and we did not feel like returning from here.
As hard as it was to get back, we headed down and grabbed a quick breakfast at a small stall near the temple. We then headed to the Vijaya Vittala temple complex.
There are 2 ways to get here – you can drive to the buggy point where the buggy will take you straight to the temple complex and back to the pick up point. Or, you could get here by foot, exploring some other ruins along way. We would highly recommend the path by foot if you’re fit enough. The entire distance takes around 45 mins to cover, including the time you would spend exploring the other ruins along the route. One of the main attractions here would be the Achyutaraya temple and the market at the other end of the temple. This is one spot which truly gives a glimpse of the grandeur of the Vijayanagara empire in those times.
There are several other temples on the way and ample rest points as well for one to take quick breaks before you resume walking.
We then reached the Vijaya Vittala temple complex and witnessed the world-renowned Stone Chariot.
Again, you should opt for a guide here if you’re visiting for the first time.
We then headed to our stay at Zostel, which is located close to the town of Gangavati, around 25 kms from Hampi. The property is located off of the highway and may be inaccessible if you plan on staying here and exploring Hampi since you would have to rely on autos or 2 wheelers provided by the property or your own vehicle. While the folks at the property can arrange autos for you, they might charge a premium due to the distance.
Since it started raining by the time we reached here, we decided to spend the rest of the day at the property itself.
Day 3: Explore the Anegundi region
On day 3, you could explore the other, lesser known side of Hampi, which is the town of Anegundi. This town is a drive of around 45 mins from the main town of Hampi and is indeed a picturesque one with paddy fields lining up most part of the road.
This part has more significance due to the belief that some major events forming part of the mythological epic Ramayana took place in this part. There are several spots which have gained popularity due to this story. The highlights being the Anjanadri Hill – which is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Hanuman and the Chintamani temple.
Both places are unique in their own way – on one hand, the view from the top of the hill offers an aerial view of the town of Anegundi and on the other, the Chintamani temple, located by the banks of the Tungabhadra river acts as a great spot for spending some time in solace.
After exploring both these, you can head to the Sanapur lake for sunset – this is more of a reservoir turned into a tourist attraction off late. There are some local private operators offering some coracle rides and other water sports. However, we did not venture into this. One word of caution – the road to this reservoir is quite narrow and can get tricky if you are a novice driver.
We then headed back to our stay. In the evening, there was a sunset trek organised by the Zostel team to a hillock closeby. This was an evening well spent getting to know fellow travellers and some interesting conversations around the story behind how the property was set up.
We ended the day with a great meal at the Goan Corner restaurant and started our journey back to Bangalore the next morning at 6.30 am.
Roamantic Affair 