Sringeri and the quiet west
2 days· easy·Sringeri, Chikkamagaluru
Arrange a permit before you travel. This trip includes Kudremukh Peak, where you will be turned back at the gate without one.
The western taluks are a different district: wetter, emptier, and oriented around the river rather than the estates. This is the trip for a second visit, or for anyone who found Mullayanagiri at sunrise a little crowded. Sringeri town is small and shuts early — eat before eight.
Day 1 of 2
- Morning
Sringeri Sharada Peetham
Go early — the courtyard is genuinely quiet before nine and full by eleven. The fish in the Tunga below the temple are fed by hand and protected; do not swim there.
- Afternoon
Sirimane Falls
Twenty minutes from the temple and a gentle walk down. Shallow enough to stand in at the base, which is rare here.
About Sirimane FallsDirections₹20 entry
Day 2 of 2
- All day
The Kudremukh road
One of the best drives in Karnataka — grassland ridges, almost no traffic, and shola forest in the folds. The peak trek itself needs a forest permit arranged in advance; the drive does not.