Winding Roads & Never Ending TalesFamily trips, wrong turns and the places we still talk about.
Kushalnagar: The First Stop on Our Coastal Road Trip
This coastal holiday began away from the coast. With our baby coming along, I did not like the idea of starting with an eight-hour drive, so Kushalnagar became our first stop. It turned into more than a convenient break: the monastery, Nisargadhama and a Christmas evening at the resort gave the journey a proper beginning. Sometimes planning around a child takes you somewhere you might otherwise rush past. In this case, we were happy to have that first day before heading towards the sea.
This was the beginning of our seven-day road trip from Bengaluru towards the coast.
A note on this archive story
From the travel archive, first published 27 Feb 2017. This is our experience at the time, not a current price or booking guide. Check opening hours, access, fares and services before making your own plans.
I have been living in Karnataka for almost 4 years now and have travelled a lot on weekend trips near Bangalore. But longer holidays were normally destined for long hauls. This time the plan was to keep it simple, a road trip covering the entire coastal Karnataka till Karwar. So on the eve of Christmas, I finally set off on this most remarkable journey of my life spread over 7 days.
The Karnataka coastline stretches to 300 km from Mangalore in the Dakshina Kannada district to Karwar in the Uttar Kannada district. There are several beautiful beaches along this coastline that attract tourists from all over the country and the world. Normally I have found blogs talking about people making trips like Bangalore-Udupi or Bangalore-Gokarna which always meant a straight 8-hour car ride. I wasn’t ready for that. I had a baby traveller and hence wanted the entire plan broken down into small hops. For ease of reading, I will break it up on day wise.
Travel period: our Christmas coastal road trip. The original entry had an inconsistent year, so use the series as a route diary rather than a dated booking schedule.
Route: Bangalore – Kushalnagar, Travel time = 6 hours
Cost: Budget-friendly hotels
BREAK POINT: Golden Monastery
The early morning start at 5 gave us a good opportunity to cover a fair distance in short time. As customary we stopped in between to have tea. We wanted to see Golden Monastery in the early hours before heading towards the hotel. The journey time was around 6 hours although the road conditions throughout were fine. This Tibetan settlement at Bailkoppa or Baylkuppe is the second largest Tibetan settlement outside Tibet. There are over 7,000 monks and students at the Tibetan monastery.
The 40 feet tall golden Buddha statues are the major attractions of the Monastery. The statues of Buddha, Padmasambhava, and Amitayus are the notable ones. The walls of the temples and the institutions are decorated with colourful paintings depicting gods and demons from Tibetan Buddhist mythology. The altar is decorated with flowers, candles and incense sticks. This was more of a pit stop rather than an actual destination but it provided us with a good break.
BREAKPOINT: NISARGADHAMA
The major attraction of Kushalnagar is Nisargadhama. It is a small island in Kaveri River which has been converted into a small park cum zoo. The ticket cost is very nominal around 20 rs. The place became very crowded within few hours so it was good on our part to come just after lunch here. The entry is through a hanging bridge and has steps leading you to the boating place. Even though it was very sunny outside the trees and thick bamboo groves were giving much-needed shade.
The place is enjoyable for kids as it has enclosures with animals like rabbit, birds, and deer. Saw signs of Elephant Park but could not find them. Don't compare it with a big zoo but its still a nice place to explore. There are many tree houses spread across the park and you can use anyone you like for a good top view of the place.
Don't forget to walk till the end where you have deer cages. It’s a delight to see Kaveri up close and personal nestled among trees with minimal daylight. The place is full of rocks with water flowing gently over them giving you enough place to sit, play and dip your feet in the water.
WHERE TO STAY
We stayed at Palm Era Resorts near Nisargadhama. After exploring, we came back for Christmas dinner around the fire. There was a very excited group of kids dancing to the music, and as it got colder everyone moved closer to the warmth.
We had added Kushalnagar mainly to avoid doing the whole drive to the coast in one go with our baby. Turned out to be a lovely first day by itself. We were quite happy not to be sitting in the car for a few more hours.
WHAT TO SEE
The other important place to visit here is Dubare elephant’s camp where you can watch elephants taking bath and playing with each other under the watchful eyes of the custodian or Mahavat as they are locally called. Full points for being a good place to relax and unwind for a short break near Bangalore.
Please read the following links if you want to read more about coastal karnataka.
Day 3 and 4: Malpe, St Mary Island and Udupi
TIP
Choose a room that suits the forecast and your family's comfort, rather than assuming the weather stays the same all year.
2. Nisargadhama is an animal zoo of sorts so choose either early morning or evening to enjoy the place.
What I would keep in mind
- Break a long transfer where your family can actually enjoy the stop.
- Keep the first day's plan modest after an early departure.
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