Best Time to Visit Karnataka

The best time to visit Karnataka is between November and April. The weather is fine with very little rain and pleasant days. This is also a good time for outdoor activities ranging from angling to trekking, as also visiting wildlife reserves in the state.

June to October is a season of incessant rains to the west of the Ghats, and hot weather to their east. Coorg though beautiful i the rains, is damp and slushy, so avoid going there between May and August definitely as it pours during this period making it extremely wet.

The airconditioned city of Bangalore has great weather all year round - summers are never very hot with median temperatures remaining in the 30-34 degree C range during the day time and falling to 20 degree C at night. The winter months are even better as the days are very pleasant at a maximum of 27 degree C and the minimum in the single digit figures.

During winter most of Karnataka’s special events and cultural festivals take place with Dussehra being celebrated with pomp and show in October in Bangalore and especially Mysore. In mid January Makar Sankranti is celebrated all over Karnataka with Udupi taking the lead in the festivities.

If you happen to be in Coorg during September be sure to attend the Kali Podu event when the swashbuckling Kodagus take out all their ancestral weaponry,polish them till they shine and then put them away till the next year.

Climate

The coastal regions have a tropical monsoon climate: its warm all year round and but when incessant rains hit in June it becomes surprisingly cool. The monsoon lasts till the beginning of October.

On the lee side of the Western Ghats, the northern part of the Deccan plateau is hot through the summer months from April to October, after when it may get a smattering of rain because of the retreating monsoons and cool down marginally.

The southern parts of the plateau where cities like Mysore and Bangalore are have a temperate climate with little difference in summer and winter temperatures. Since this area is at some altitude (e.g. Bangalore is at 1000 metres), it's mild all through the year. This area receives rainfall from June to September.