Karnataka

Hampi Tour Packages

The ruined capital of the Vijayanagara empire, spread across 26 square kilometres of boulder-strewn landscape that looks like nowhere else in India. It is a UNESCO site and it is enormous — the mistake most visitors make is treating it as a day trip from Bengaluru, which reduces one of the great archaeological sites in Asia to a rushed afternoon. Two nights minimum: one day for the Sacred Centre around Virupaksha, one for the Royal Centre and the Vittala temple with its stone chariot. Sunrise from Matanga Hill is the view people remember. Summer here is brutal and October to February is the only sensible window.