Best time
October to February is the season, with cool mornings for the ruins and lake afternoons at Sanapur. March to May is very hot, so sightseeing moves to early mornings and evenings. The monsoon, June to September, is green and quiet.
- November to February, 15 to 30°C: The season: cool enough to walk the ruins all morning, and the Hampi Utsav falls in this window.
- March to May, 25 to 42°C: Very hot; sightseeing only at dawn and after four, and the river is low.
- June to October, 22 to 32°C: A light monsoon greens the boulders and fills the Tungabhadra; coracles may pause when the river runs high.
What to pack
Cotton, a hat and plenty of water: the ruins have almost no shade. Shoes you can walk five kilometres in, something covering shoulders and knees for Virupaksha, and a torch for the early climb up Matanga.
Getting there
Hampi is about 380 km from Hyderabad, seven to eight hours by road, so the fixed-date group trips leave on Friday night and reach Hosapete for breakfast. By train, Hosapete is the railhead, 13 km from the ruins.
Hosapete, still written Hospet, is Hampi's own railhead and bus stand, 13 km from the ruins and about 25 minutes by auto or cab. Every train into Hampi stops here, and a private trip can simply start at the station on the morning you arrive.
Hampi is about 340 km from Bangalore, six to seven hours by road, and the group departures travel overnight on Friday. The Hampi Express from Bengaluru reaches Hosapete early in the morning and is the classic way in.
