Goa to Hampi train to see Dudhsagar Falls from the train! South Goa (Margao / Madgaon) to Hospet to Hampi 🚊 Backpacking South India travel blog

Hi there!

So you’re going from Goa to Hampi!

So…

Is it easy to get the train from Goa to Hampi?!

There might be a few inconvenient parts to taking the train to Hampi from Goa:

• Getting to the train station
• It’s an early morning train
• There’s no train station in Hampi

So if you’re visiting Goa, chances are that you’re staying in one of the beach towns of Goa.

There aren’t train stations directly at any of the beach towns. 

And for the train to Hampi, it leaves from the south part of Goa. 

This means that you’ll have to plan out accordingly how to get to one of the train stations in Goa that are further south.

The trains that go from Goa to the train station near Hampi are morning trains which means that it will require you to wake up early. 

They aren’t super early, but still early enough that you’ll probably have to wake up earlier than you want!

And then, there is no train station directly in Hampi, so that does mean you’ll need to take an extra mode of transport to get to Hampi. 

All of this said…

One of the main reasons I went for the train option is because it comes with views of the famous waterfalls of Goa!

You can see Dudhsagar Falls from the train if you take the train from Goa to Hampi… IF you’re paying attention!

What about the overnight bus to Hampi?

Taking the overnight bus from Goa to Hampi is a popular option. 

For me, the main reason to take the train was to see the waterfalls.

But this viewing of waterfalls lasts for a very short time. 

So if you’re feeling indifferent to seeing the waterfalls, the bus might be the more convenient option.

Although, during monsoon season, it does seem like it might be easier to take the train, as buses might be more limited during this time. 

If it weren’t for the waterfalls, I think the overnight bus would have been my preferred option. 

Taking the bus seems to mean that your drop-off point will be directly in Hampi, unlike the train in which the drop-off point is a neighboring city.

And if the waterfalls are going to be your main reason for choosing the train, make sure the waterfalls aren’t dried up! 

How long does to take to get to Hampi from Goa by train?

Officially, according to the scheduled timings, you can expect it to take around 7.5 hours from Madgaon in South Goa to the train station near Hampi.

That’s around how long my train took.

Then once you get to the train station, you need to get to Hampi.

Depending on your mode of transportation to get to Hampi, this could take an additional 30 minutes (rickshaw) to possibly close to 2 hours (walking + bus).

And with that…

What train station is near Hampi?!

First…

Train station in Goa

So if you are staying at a beach in south Goa, the train station that you’ll start from to pass by the waterfalls will be the Madgaon Junction railway station (aka Margao).

This is where I caught the waterfalls train from.

I took a bus from Panjim to Margao to catch the train from the Madgaon train station, although I could have also taken a bus from Panjim to Vasco to catch the train from the Vasco train station. (The train from Margao is slightly later!)

If you’re coming from a south Goa beach, there are also buses to Margao. I’ve taken a bus from Palolem to Margao.

If you’re taking a morning train, you may consider staying overnight in Madgaon aka Margao.

Although there really aren’t many decent budget accommodation options that I’ve found in Margao – another downside to taking the train!

If you’re staying in North Goa, the closer train station would be the Vasco railway station compared to Madgaon.

Vasco is still a bit of a distance from Panjim and north Goa beaches, though.

So you’d still have to plan it out!

Train station near Hampi

The train station closest to Hampi is called the Hospet Junction railway station. (aka Hosapete Junction)

So, in doing your train searches, you’ll want to search from Madgaon (MAO) to Hospet (HPT), or Vasco (VSG) to Hospet (HPT). 

Which trains pass by the Dudhsagar waterfalls in Goa?

And, it seems that basically all (or rather, both of) the trains that go from Goa to Hospet will pass by the waterfalls. 

But if you want to confirm, you can take a look at the where is my train app and expand out on the train stations it passes by.

Just because it’s listed doesn’t necessarily mean the train stops there though, but it does pass by.

What are the train timings?

If I’m planning to buy a general class train ticket on the day of travel, I now use the app called where is my train.

This app makes it easy to track train delays. 

I took the earliest morning train, Howrah Amaravati train. 

This train doesn’t run every day. 

You can check the where is my train app for a more detailed look at trains to Hospet.

You can also check train timings on trainman.

On trainman you can see seat availability if you want to book reserved tickets.

So…

Here are the basic things to do on the day you want to go to Hampi… aka how to get from Goa to Hampi by train!

This is basically how I got to Hampi from Goa in June 2019 anyway!

• Check for train delays
• Arrive at your Goa train station of choice (possibly Madgaon or Vasco)
• Buy a general class train ticket (or buy a reserved train ticket ahead of time)
• Get on the train to Hampi! (or more specifically, to Hospet)
• Enjoy the train ride with Goa’s famous waterfalls!!
• Arrive at Hospet train station
• Walk to the Hospet bus station (or take a rickshaw)
• Get on the bus to Hampi!
• Enjoy the bus ride!
• Arrive at Hampi bus station
• Walk to your accommodation in Hampi! (or take a rickshaw)
• Enjoy Hampi!!

Check for train delays

Arrive at Goa train station

Buy a general class train ticket

Get on the train to Hampi!

Enjoy the scenic train ride with waterfalls!

Arrive at Hospet train station

Walk to the Hospet bus station

Get on the bus to Hampi!

Enjoy the bus ride!

Arrive at Hampi bus station

Walk to your accommodation in Hampi!

Enjoy Hampi!!

Now…

How to take the train from Goa to Hampi

More details!

Check for train delays

So having the app called “where is my train” on your phone can be helpful! 

The trains from Goa that go to (near) Hampi start at Vasco, so you may not need this app to check for delays if you’re boarding the train at Vasco. (But it will be helpful for other reasons!)

If you’ll be boarding the train from Madgaon, it could be nice to consult the app!

You can consult this app to see where the train is at the moment, if the train is currently delayed, and you can see what the current expected arrival time to the Madgaon train station is too.

It can also be a good way to check what the chances of delay for the Madgaon to Hospet train might be, because you can check the train arrival timings of previous days. 

Checking a couple of days for the train from Goa can give you an idea of what to expect for train delays.

And also just to give you an idea, on the day I took the Madgaon to Hospet train…

These were the scheduled timings:

• Depart Madgaon – 7:50am
• Arrive Hospet – 2:48pm

And these were my actual timings:

• Depart Madgaon – 7:50am (not sure exact time, but it was pretty much an on-time departure!)
• Arrive Hospet – 3:22pm

Okay, so you now have a better idea of when the train might actually depart from your Goa train station of choice.

Arrive at Goa train station

I arrived in Margao the night before, and then took a rickshaw to the the train station.

The rickshaw ride!

And so…

Arrival to Madgaon railway station!

Buy a general class train ticket

Since this is a day train, you may consider taking the train in general class.

This will make it so that you don’t have to book ahead.

Taking the train in general class does mean that there’s a chance for a crowded train.

I don’t like planning ahead much so I just went with the option of buying a general class ticket. (Although I did attempt to upgrade once on the train! More on this later.)

So to buy a same-day ticket…

Once you get to the train station, you can head to the ticket booking counter.

If you’re taking the train from Madgaon, you might arrive to the backside of the train station.

In this case, you’ll walk through the train station to get to the front exit of the train station.

It’s at the front of the train station that you’ll find the ticket booking counter. 

You’ll say that you want to go to Hospet.

How much does the train ticket cost?

The cost of a general class train ticket for Madgaon to Hospet bought at the train station was 120 rupees (US$2). 

I also paid an extra 485 rupees (US$7) once on the train to get a 3AC seat, but more on that later.

Wait for the train to arrive

At the ticket counter you can ask what platform the train will arrive at.

You can also find information posted in the train station to know which platform to wait at too. 

It might not immediately be known which platform the train will arrive at.

But once it becomes known… go to that platform!

And then, wait!

And then once the train arrives…

Get on the train to Hampi!

So the train to Hampi arrives at your Goa train station!!

There was probably an announcement at the platform.

So actually, I was thinking that I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to take the train in general class.

As an early morning train, I had to wake up early and didn’t get maximum sleep.

So I was thinking it would be nice to potentially lay down and be assured that I wouldn’t have to deal with a crowded train.

So then when the train arrived and I saw all the people trying to get on the general class (aka second class) car…

I decided I would see if I could get ticket in an AC class.

I really didn’t know if this would work.

If you also decide to try, just know that success not guaranteed! (The back-up plan would have been to go to general class, since that was the train ticket I bought.)

So I got on the 3AC car.

And then basically I asked someone who worked on the train if I could pay extra for a seat in this compartment. 

Well, success!!

And it was SO great to be able to lay down and get some sleep during the train ride!!

On day trains it’s not really guaranteed that you’ll be able to sleep if you have a lower berth or middle berth seat.

The lower berth seat can be for everyone to sit during the day, and then the middle berth seat needs to be set up. (And it can’t be set up if people are sitting in the lower berth.)

But because of the time this train originated, everyone had an early morning so I guess that meant people wanted to lay down!

If you have an upper berth or side seat, you can generally be free to lay down whenever!

Middle berth seat

Middle berth and lower berth

Upper berth

Upper berth, middle berth, lower berth!

Later on in the train ride another ticket for an “excess fare” ticket was written up by the guy who was coming around to check train tickets.

In other news, there’s a toilet on the train, so no excuses not to stay hydrated, unlike if you’re taking an overnight sleeper bus in India. 😉 

Toilets on trains in India generally aren’t that great. But, at least they are there just in case! 

There’s also generally a plug to charge your devices, although I’ve had some instances on trains where this doesn’t always work. It usually does work though.

Enjoy the scenic train ride to Hampi!

Including passing by Dudsagar Falls!

And riding through a national park!

So there were 2 spots that I noticed that you could see the waterfalls.

Both times you go by them quite quickly, so if you want to see these waterfalls, it’s best to be ready for them!

I was following along on the maps.me app with GPS. You can download the offline map before you go.

Then on the map, you can locate where the Dudhsagar Falls are located, and then you can have a look at the path of the railway. 

Once you reach the Kulem train station, you can start to pay attention more as you enter the park!

If you see the Castle Rock train station, this can be an indicator that you are done passing through the park!

And then for the rest of the train ride, you can keep monitoring the expected arrival timing to the Hospet train station too, so you can know when to prepare to get off.

This app works offline even without data or internet.

You just need your GPS locator to be turned on!

Arrive at Hospet train station

When you get to Hospet, you are almost at Hampi!!

There are a couple of ways to get to Hampi, so see about your options on how to get from Hospet to Hampi here!

In short…

This is one way!

Walk to the Hospet bus station

Arrive at Hospet bus station

Get on the bus to Hampi!

Enjoy the bus ride!

Arrive at Hampi bus station

Walk to your accommodation in Hampi!

Enjoy Hampi!!

HAPPY TRAIN RIDE FROM GOA TO HOSPET!

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