Where to Stay in Madikeri: 9 Hotels, Ranked

A budget hotel on Kohinoor Road opposite the State Bank, named for its outlook towards the fort. The fort is the high ground in Madikeri and this is within walking distance of it, so you can do the fort, the Omkareshwara temple and the middle of town on foot.

A central budget hotel on Daswal Road behind Jedi Hospital, which advertises hot water round the clock — not a given in a hill town where mornings are cold most of the year.

A hotel up by Raja's Seat, about 2 km from the centre — the end of town people walk to for the sunset over the valley.

A hotel near the bus station in the middle of Madikeri. Everything central is within walking reach from there — the fort, the Omkareshwara temple and Raja’s Seat — which is worth something in a hill town where the sights are spread up and down a slope.

A hotel near the Madikeri bus stand. Mercara is the older English name for the town and still turns up on signs and letterheads.

A budget lodge a couple of hundred metres from the private bus stand, in the middle of town. Near the private bus stand, Madikeri, Karnataka 571201.

A budget lodge directly opposite the KSRTC bus stand — the cheapest sort of room in Madikeri, and the closest to the long-distance buses.

A budget lodge on the Mangalore road out of Madikeri. That is the side of town the coast buses leave from, which makes it convenient if you are going down the ghat to Mangaluru rather than back towards Bengaluru.

A budget lodge by the bus stand in central Madikeri, among the cluster of cheap rooms there. Rooms at this end of the market are not booked ahead in Madikeri; you walk in and ask, and on a festival weekend you may have to try several.