How to spend 3 days in Hampi—a beginners guide

Hampi has been long on the backpackers trail for good reason. This Vijayanagara ancient capital has been as known for its chilled-out traveler vibes as it is for its remarkable UNESCO World Heritage Site monuments.

What was Hampi?

In the 15th century, Hampi was the second-largest city in the world (after Beijing), and its wonders attracted traders from across Asia and Europe. Accounts from the period describe the city's opulence, beauty, and cultural significance. In 1565, the Vijayanagara Empire was defeated by a coalition of Muslim sultanates, and its capital was conquered, pillaged, and destroyed by sultanate armies. The city was never rebuilt, and what remains of Hampi is a stunning collection of over 1600 temples, halls, monuments, and relics of the bygone capital.

And now?

The landscape around Hampi is a truly unique collection of boulder mountains that rise out of the earth and frame the historic temples that lie among them. The region is split by the Tungabhadra River into two parts: ‘ancient Hampi’ and ‘hippy island', also referred to as the south and north sides of the river. The majority of ancient sites and monuments are situated on the south or ancient side, whereas the area formerly known as ‘hippy island’ was a backpacker hub where (mainly Western) travelers stayed in makeshift shacks and huts along the river and frequented pop-up cafes and bars in amongst the boulders. But, in 2020, after a ruling by the Supreme Court, Hippy Island was destroyed in so much as the infrastructure, cafes, and accommodations were demolished. This blog gives some interesting insights into why Hippie Island Hampi was destroyed. In 2023, the ferry is back up and running, and there’s a few guest houses reappearing about 2-3km down the round, but the Hippy Island that you might read about in pre-2020 travel blogs and guidebooks is no more, and the vast majority of the tourist infrastructure and things to do are in ancient Hampi, Hospet, and the surrounding villages.

How to get there (without flying!)

Hampi is in the central-eastern region of the state of Karnataka, India. The nearest train station to Hampi is in the neighboring town of Hospet, about a 30-minute rickshaw ride from Hampi Central. Hospet train station is busy for its size and relatively well connected to Bangalore in the south, Goa to the east, Hyderabad, and Mumbai to the north, east, and west, respectively. These are popular long-distance train routes and may require early booking to secure a reservation in an AC carriage. For more information on navigating Indian trains, we put together a short beginner guide.

Hampi and Hospet are also both well served by short- and long-distance bus routes from Goa and the major cities to the north and south. This was going to be our Plan B had we not managed to reserve an AC carriage on our chosen route. You can book buses quickly and easily using the backpackers' favorite 12Go Asia. A few buses take you to Hampi town itself, but the vast majority drop you off in Hospet, so make sure to check your final destination.

Where to stay

There are a few location options when it comes to accommodation, and it will depend on your timescales and personal preference. Hospet: If you are looking for hotel-style accommodation with facilities and a wide choice of restaurants and shops, then Hospet might be the place for you. It is a 30 minute drive to Hampi Central, so you would need to either take a tour, hire a scooter, or be comfortable taking a 200 rupee rickshaw each way.

Hampi Central: Hampi is not so much a town as a series of interconnected monuments and ancient wonders interspersed with stalls, eateries, and museums. There is a small village center along the riverside with a few cafes that can offer simple lodgings to travelers. The location is fantastic for exploring the sites, but the choices are very limited.

Neighboring villages: Much of the budget accommodation and guest houses lie a few kilometers from Hampi on the road towards Hospet. There are a good range of quality homestays all within close proximity to the major sites, and they will be happy to arrange tours and transport. We stayed at Jasmine Villa in the village of Kadirampura, which was a clean and bright guest house with about 4 ensuite rooms, a shared kitchen, and a fantastic rooftop for sunset watching. The villages also provide an insight into local village culture and life in the region.

‘Hippy Island: Although the original accommodations on Hippy Island are demolished, rebuilding is happening, and a few kilometers east in Sanapur, accommodations with huts and chill-out gardens can be found. Do note, though, that there isn’t much going on on this side at the time of writing, and you might find yourself spending much more money on travel to make your way to the major sites on the other side of the river.

What to do

There are over 1,500 ancient monuments to explore in Hampi, and they do not disappoint! We spent 4 nights and 3 days and didn’t make it to every site on our list. This example itinerary roughly follows our trip, but with a few tweaks if we were to do it again! I haven’t listed every monument we visited (there are too many), but I have the general area and highlights. If you are planning your own trip, check out this detailed area map.

Day 1: Explore ancient Hampi

We jumped straight into a full-day Rickshaw tour of the ancient side; this was arranged by our guest house directly and cost about £20. If I had our time again, I would probably recommend spending the first day exploring Hampi on foot and getting a feel for the place before taking a tour. We asked our driver to specifically focus on the areas a little out of town, such as the Royal Palace grounds, elephant stables, and Shree Vijaya Vitthala Temple.

You can then make your way back into Hampi Central to visit the stunning working temple, Virupaksha Temple, and surrounding city remnants. Just a little way up the path, you will find Kampa-Bhupa's Path, an ancient river walkway that provides a scenic way to stretch your legs and take in the unique landscapes. This path also takes you to the ferry, where you can cross the river to Hippie Island.

Day 2: See the other side

We had read that Hampi was the perfect place to bicycle, with the distances just that bit too far to explore on foot in the heat and the leisurely pace of life and traffic in the area. Unfortunately, at the time of writing (in 2023), a recent development has seen the local government banning guest houses, hotels, and most shops from renting bikes to tourists directly, and we were advised that there is now only one small licensed bike rental shop in Hampi. Unfortunately, there were no bikes available when we inquired, and there seemed to be no obvious way to book. If you're looking to bike Hampi, I would suggest asking your guest house well in advance if they arrange or pre-order bikes or going on a group tour.

We instead used our day to explore the other side of the river. The highlight of the day was visiting the birthplace of Hanuman, climbing the 575 steps up to the temple, and taking in the stunning views from Anjeyanadri Hill. The climb is manageable for those with moderate fitness levels.

Our tour of the north side included stops at the boulders, Kamalapur Lake, and at the boatman attempting to sell boat rides on the traditional coracle circular boats. While we’d read it was possible to haggle the price down to 1000 rupees for a private cruise, on the day we visited, they weren’t going lower than 2500, which was beyond our budget, and to be honest, it didn’t seem worth it. One thing to note is that it’s a very long way by Riskshaw to Hippie Island, and back, you will feel like you're spending a lot of the day just driving around. The day also cost us about £31 due to the long distances. Some fellow travelers we met had the right idea of disembarking their Rickshaw at sunset point and taking the ferry back across to Hampi, probably saving the best part of an hour's journey and a fair few rupees. Top tip!!

Day 3: self-guided walking tour

We are definitely the sort of travelers who get very tired of touring with guides, and after two days of being driven around, we were looking forward to a bit of space to explore by ourselves, and the temples and monuments in and around central Hampi are actually really easy to locate and wander off the road. We set off from our guest house and walked the 4 km into town, monument-hopping as we made our way back towards the river to explore some of the temples closer to Hampi Central. A highlight is the Sasivekalu Ganesha Temple. This could be followed by a stroll around the museum, which has signs in English, helps piece together the history of the Vijayanagara kingdom, and gives a lot more context to the ancient wonders you’ve been enjoying.

What about food?

If you are looking for a wide range of restaurants and cuisines, then you might want to venture to Hospet. Hampi and the surrounding villages do have a small handful of quality establishments serving reasonably priced vegetarian and non-vegetarian Indian food. We found ourselves returning to a couple of places in our guesthouse village, Kadirampura.

Happy Hampi Cafe: We ate here twice and would recommend the cashew curry and masala chai.

Italian cafe Hampi—we only found this on our final lunch and were surprised that it didn’t serve Italian coffee at all but exceptionally tasty curries at very reasonable prices.

Zomato services Hampi and the surrounding villages, so you can always order your favourite food from Hospet to e delivered and to enjoy in your guest house.

And Alcohol?

There are no official bars in Hampi, and alcohol is generally prohibited in and around the ancient sights due tot their religious significance. There is a small alcohol shop just off the road in Kadirampura that sells large Kingfishers at reasonable prices. Your guesthouse will often offer purchase them for you, but they'll add on a couple of 100 rupees commission per bottle so you can just pop in yourself. I had heard that restaurants will sell off-menu beer, but we didn’t see this during our stay.

To conclude...

Hampi is jaw-droppingly stunning; the ancient monuments will leave you speechless, and a visit to this magical place should be on everyone’s travel bucket list. That said, it’s probably not the backpacker utopia it once was, so if you're on the search for the hippie island of old, be sure to temper your expectations accordingly. Also, dear Hampi please bring back bike rentals for guest houses it's the perfect place to cycle and a shame there are so few bikes available!!

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