Incredible India
7 Things to Do in Chikmagalur, the Birthplace of Indian Coffee
A district in Karnataka's Western Ghats where a 17th-century Sufi saint is said to have introduced coffee to India, Chikmagalur pairs plantation stays with some of the state's highest peaks and quietest waterfalls.
Sep 24, 2026 · BigTravel.in
Chikmagalur, in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, holds a specific claim in Indian food history: local legend credits the Sufi saint Baba Budan with carrying seven coffee beans out of Yemen in the 17th century and planting them in the hills that now bear his name, Baba Budangiri, giving coffee its first foothold in India. Coffee estates still cover much of the district today, wrapped around some of Karnataka's highest peaks and least crowded waterfalls. Here are seven ways to spend time there.
1. Walk a working coffee estate
Several plantations around Chikmagalur run guided estate tours covering how coffee is grown, harvested and processed, usually alongside the pepper vines and silver oak shade trees typically interplanted with the coffee bushes, a practical introduction to an industry that still shapes the district's economy and landscape.
2. Baba Budangiri
The hill range where Baba Budan is said to have planted India's first coffee, its caves and a small dargah associated with the saint drawing pilgrims alongside trekkers, with views across the coffee-covered valleys below.
3. Mullayanagiri
At 1,930 metres, Mullayanagiri is Karnataka's highest peak and one of the highest points between the Nilgiris and the Himalayas, reached by a motorable road followed by a short flight of steps to a small Shiva temple at the summit.
4. Hebbe Falls
A two-tiered waterfall dropping in the hills near Kemmangundi inside the Bhadra Tiger Reserve, reached by a jeep ride followed by a forest trek; the reserve is also home to elephants and gaur, and less visibly, tigers and leopards.
5. Kemmangundi
A former summer retreat of the Mysore royal family, this hill station near Hebbe Falls has laid-out gardens and viewpoints, including Z Point, looking out over the Bhadra valley below.
6. Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary
A tiger reserve bordering the coffee-growing hills, offering jeep safaris around the Bhadra reservoir with a chance, though no guarantee, of spotting gaur, elephants and the sanctuary's more elusive big cats.
7. Belavadi and Halebidu temples
A short drive from town, the 13th-century Hoysala-era Veeranarayana temple at Belavadi and the better-known ruins at Halebidu, once the Hoysala capital, show the same intricately carved soapstone architecture found at Karnataka's more visited Hoysala sites, with a fraction of the crowds.
Traveller tips
- Mangaluru International Airport, around three hours by road, and Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, around four to five hours away, are the nearest airports.
- October to March brings the most comfortable weather; the monsoon (June to September) turns the waterfalls dramatic but can make forest roads difficult.
- Permits and a Forest Department jeep are required for Hebbe Falls and Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary; these are usually arranged through your accommodation or at the check post.
- Plantation homestays are a common way to combine a coffee-estate stay with day trips to the surrounding hills.
Where this is
Chikmagalur, Karnataka