Bijapur is a useful base for the Chalukyan sites of north Karnataka, all of which lie within reasonable driving distance.
Badami, about 130 kilometres south, has the famous rock-cut Hindu and Jain cave temples carved into a red sandstone cliff in the 6th century — strikingly different from anything in Bijapur and a different era entirely. Allow a full day; the temples and the lake are worth a slow visit.
The temple cluster at Pattadakal (UNESCO World Heritage) is a further 30 kilometres beyond Badami and an easy combined trip.
Hampi, capital of the Vijayanagara empire that the Adil Shahis helped to destroy in 1565, is about 280 kilometres south. It is too far for a comfortable day trip and is better treated as a separate two-day stop — but the connection between the two cities is well worth thinking about, as the wealth of Bijapur came in part from the sack of Vijayanagara.
