Karnataka Coastal Complete Guide 2026: Mangalore, Udupi, Karwar, Gokarna, Murudeshwar, Honnavar
Browse more guides: India travel | Asia destinations TL;DR I walked the full 320km Karavali coast of Karnataka across three districts (Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada) over twelve days in early 2026. I started at Mangalore (population around 500,000), prayed at the 968 CE Mangaladevi Temple, climbed to Kadri Manjunatha (1068 CE), and ate kori roti for 90 INR. I rode the Konkan Railway (commissioned 1998, 760km, 92 tunnels, more than 2,000 bridges) north to Udupi, stood inside the 13th century Krishna Matha founded by Madhvacharya in 1238, and peered at Lord Krishna through the Kanakana Kindi window. I sailed to St Mary's Islands (a UNESCO Geomonument since 1985, columnar basalt around 88 million years old), slept on Gokarna's Om Beach and walked over the headlands to Kudle, Half Moon and Paradise. I gazed up at the 123m Murudeshwar Shiva (second tallest Shiva worldwide after the 351m Statue of Belief at Nathdwara, 2022) and took the lift up the 76m Raja Gopuram. I d...