Harangi Dam

A 64-acre river island of bamboo, sandalwood and teak on the Kaveri near Kushalnagar, reached by a hanging bridge, with a deer park, boating, a treehouse and easy forest walks.

The Golden Temple at Bylakuppe near Kushalnagar, the largest teaching centre of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism in the world, with gilded 12–18 m Buddha statues, vivid murals and hundreds of resident monks.

The largest natural lake in Kodagu, at Doddamalthe about 6 km from Somwarpet, ringed by coffee estates and forest and revered for the Honnamma temple on its bank; a calm boating and picnic spot with an annual temple fair.

A forest camp on the banks of the Kaveri near Kushalnagar where trained elephants are bathed and fed; reached across the river and known for its elephant interactions and coracle rides.

The Raja’s Tomb (Gaddige) — domed, Indo-Saracenic mausoleums of the Kodagu kings and a royal priest on a hill above Madikeri, with fine views.

A hilltop fort in the heart of Madikeri, first built in the 17th century by the Haleri rajas and rebuilt in stone by Tipu Sultan and the British, now enclosing government offices, a small museum, a church and views over the town.

An 1820 Shiva temple in Madikeri built by Lingarajendra II in an unusual blend of Kerala, Gothic and Islamic styles, with a domed roof, minaret-like towers and a central tank.

A garden viewpoint where the Kodagu kings are said to have watched the sunset over layered Western Ghats valleys — Madikeri’s classic sunrise-and-sunset spot, with a musical fountain and a toy train.

A powerful waterfall about 8 km from Madikeri, set among coffee and spice estates and viewed from a hanging footbridge; fullest and most dramatic during and just after the monsoon.

A two-tier waterfall where the Kumaradhara river drops about 60 m in the Pushpagiri foothills near Somwarpet; reached by a flight of steps and a short walk, it thunders during and just after the monsoon and quietens by late winter.

The third-highest peak in Kodagu at about 1,620 m, north-east of Madikeri, with a Shiva shrine near the top; a grassland-and-shola trek quieter than Tadiandamol, rewarding clear-day walkers with wide Western Ghats views.

A grassland hilltop viewpoint within the Pushpagiri range, reached by a rough jeep track from near Madikeri, famous for sunrise and sunset over layers of misty Western Ghats hills; often wrapped in cloud in the monsoon.