could you please give me information about places near chikmangalur? places could be about 100 kms and also which are the good hotels in those places. thanx.
Worth watching places are 1.Mullayyanagiri 2.Bababudangiri 3.Kemmannagundi 4.Kuduremukha(if you are ready to spend one whole day) 5.Kalhattagiri falls 6.Hebbe Falls
I heard Soundarya Paradise is good.It's in Chikkamagalur.
Chikmangalur has limited choice of hotels the top end is Taj Garden Retreat without any doubt its a 5 start property and lower ends are plently. However I strongly recommend you to stay at Wood Way Coffee Estate its a home stay. it costs ~Rs.1700/- per person/night with all meals. Contact Estate Owner Shreedev and if required give him my reference, his contact is 0826 2248300 http://www.woodwayhomestay.com/
I can assure you will enjoy your stay here, its 14kms from Chikmangalur.
Chikmangalur has limited choice of hotels the top end is Taj Garden Retreat without any doubt its a 5 start property and lower ends are plently. However I strongly recommend you to stay at Wood Way Coffee Estate its a home stay. it costs ~Rs.1700/- per person/night with all meals. Contact Estate Owner Shreedev and if required give him my reference, his contact is 0826 2248300 http://www.woodwayhomestay.com/
I can assure you will enjoy your stay here, its 14kms from Chikmangalur.
Hi! There is quite a bit you can do around Chikmagalur. Apart from the Belur/Halebid historic sites, you might want to check out the Muthodi National Park. (I think it is closed now because of the fire season. But if you stay at Tex Woods which is adjacent to this park, you can still go on safari rides inside the forest because they have special permission or something.) If you go west on NH 48 (about 40/50 kms from Hassan), you will reach Sakleshpur. There is a fort here built by Tipu Sultan. Not many people know about this, so you will not find many tourists here. The fort itself is at the top of a hill, in the shape of a star. If you can get a guide to give you the tour, it is pretty interesting, especially the two escape tunnels built from here all the way to Srirangapatana! There is also a dam near Chikmagalur called the Yagachi Dam. You can see that too. Other than this, I am not sure about other touristy spots. I should also maybe tell you that we stayed at Eagle Eye Holiday Home and had one of the worst experiences there. (Please check my review of this place on this very website for more details on our experience there.) I don't know if Chikmagalur has good, decent places to stay. We stayed at Hotel Ashhok in Hassan and we passed by The Serai which looked really cool. There is a Taj near Chikmagalur, but it doesn't seem to be rated high on this website. Also, I have heard that Nature Nirvana (closer to Kemmanagundi) is a good place to stay too. That about sums up my experiences for this area. Hope it helps!
I will recommend NatureNirvana at 1800 per person per night. It is a good option, but the drive has about 6 km of mud road...I went in an alto and managed but need to be careful and keep the wheel in the middle of the stretch as otherwise it will hit the bottom. If you have a higher vehicle no worries...but will have to drive at 20 km per hr for 6 km. At the end of it all its worth it, but try spending at least 2 days as the drive will tire you out. The drive to Kemmangundi is wonderful scenery wise but the road was non existent in Aug 2007 when I went there last.
The place gives you a feel of a forest estate. If you are looking for places to go around, there are quite few places like a dam, hill views, valleys et al. But I would suggest it good for guided trekking or spending a serene time there.
I stayed in a place called http://www.naturenirvana.com/. Its a value-for-money place. So don't expect a star stay. Its a home stay with pleasant people around. You can visualize it as a bungalow built for the owners of a coffee estate. They seem to have converted the bungalow to rooms for visitors.
Travel by car is not suggested, as the road is harsh. Jeep kinds of vehicles should be fine.
