Here, cardamom, pepper and coffee plantations ripple across hillsides, and sunbirds, minivets and drongos flit from tree to tree. Above it all, mountains stand with their heads in the clouds, their slopes cloaked in forests of towering teak, pink-blossomed crepe myrtle, rosewood and toddy palm.

Chikmagalur’s speciality product is coffee — originally brought here, legend has it, by the 16th-century Sufi monk Baba Budan, who smuggled seven coffee beans out of Mecca in his beard. South Indians are very proud of the frothy, milky, sweet drink they call kapi, but it’s not just about drinking it. Visiting a plantation to see the coffee berries being harvested, dried, roasted, ground and bagged is an essential Chikmagalur experience.

Most tourists breeze through Chikmagalur on their way from one place to another, perhaps stopping briefly at a coffee plantation before moving on. For us, it deserves more. This vivid green, endlessly photogenic region is a wonderful setting for a few days of relaxation — especially if you prefer mountains to beaches (we see you, beach-haters, and we respect you).

Beyond the plantations, there are numerous walking and trekking opportunities, including to the top of the highest peak in the state, Mulainagiri, where a Shiva temple watches over the landscape below. Then, there are the historical gems, Halebid and Belur, where Hoysala temples have survived since before the Vijayanagar Empire, nearly a millennium ago. But really, the best thing about Chikmagalur is the opportunity to do nothing much at all, except sit on a balcony or terrace with a cup of kapi, listening to sounds of the birds and the rustling of the trees.