There are a number of tourist places surrounding Thirthahalli. Places which are worth seeing are Kavaledurga, Ambutheertha, Agumbe, Mandagadde bird sanctuary, Kundadri, Mrughavadhe, Chibbalagudde and Annegiri.

Kauledurga

18 Km to the West of Thirthahalli, there is a village with hillocks called "Kauledurga" or "Bhuvanagiri". There is a fort with seven walls, built in the last decades of 16th century by a pious Keladi ruler Venkatappa Nayaka. Inside this, one can find several small ponds and temples like Kashi Vishweshwara temple, Laxminarayana temple (built on Vijayanagar sculpture style) and palace monuments. Kauledurga was ruled initially by Keladi dynasty's Shivappa nayaka, followed by Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan, and finally by the British Empire . The fort is testament to many historical events including the crowning ceremony of Rani Chennamma (year 1672) and defeat of mughal emperor Auragazeb's army by Rani Chennamma's army.

Kauledurga survived frequent threats from the Bijapur Sultan, Ali Raja of Cannanor, Marathas and moghals due to its richness. Finally Haider Ali of Mysore caused the fall of the kingdom in 1763. Till 1882, it was recognized as taluk head quarters.

From the top of this hill, which is about 3058 feet height above sea level, one can enjoy sun set on Arabian sea .

Araga

Araga lies 9 KM north of Thirthahalli, there is a place called Araga. In 14th century, Araga was the capital of a province of Vijayanagar empire, after Hoysala kingdom lost power. It was once the capital of a Jain kingdom ruled by King Shanthara. Humcha or Hombuja, which is 30 Km North from Thirthalli was the native place of the Shanthara kings. Hombuja has lots of artistic Jain basadis (Jain temples) and a Jain math (Jain monastery) with a beautiful big lake.

Ambutheertha

Ambutheertha lies 16 Km to the North of Thirthahalli and is the birth-place of river Sharavati. The river flows towards North-west and plunges into the world famous "Jog falls", (900 ft) before joining the Arabian Sea .

2 Km from Ambutheerha, one can find the Accha kanya falls, where Sharavathi falls 6.1 meters in preparation before Jog falls.

Agumbe

Agumbe lies 32 KM to the South-West of Thirthahalli. It is a pretty town, at an altitude of 826 meters. The hairpin ghat road and its spellbinding view ascends to the sunset viewing platform, where one can enjoy the rare beauty of a full "sun set" on the Arabian sea . The best months for viewing this sun-set are November through February.

This place also holds credit for "highest rainfall" in Southern India with an average rainfall 790 cm.

Agumbe, surrounded by hills with lush vegetation and many small streams and filled with variety of fauna and flora provides an exhilarating experience. A refreshing trek of about 4 and 9 Kms, through lush green forests leads to a small fresh water pond "Jogi gundi" and a splendid view of the "Barkana water falls" respectively. In "Barkana", the water falls from a height of about 295 meter in the Balehalli forest area and later joins Seetha nadi. There is another water fall, "Onake abbi" where you can experience a rare thrilling opportunity of watching the water fall from the top. A thing to watch out for though is the leeches.

If you are lucky, you can come across the great barking deer, giant flying squirrel, macaque, babbler, barbet, blue jay, kingfisher, robin, weaverbird, and lion tailed black macaque, yellow lion ringed krait (an endangered species of snake), leopard and monitor lizard.

Kundadri Hill

Kundadri located near Agumbe, is also a Jain pilgrimage site in Tirthahalli taluk. Here, one can find a Vrushabha Theerthankara Jain basadi and also enjoy dawn and dusk against the background of Arabian sea. On a full moon day one can experience sun rise and moon set simultaneously.

Located 3200 feet above the sea level, Kundadri has a single gigantic monolithic rock formation with various outgrowths. A rough stone paved path leads to the top of the hill amidst dense forest.

Mandagadde protected forest / Bird sanctuary

32 Km from Thirthahalli towards the East, lies Mandagadde which is one of Karnataka's famous bird sanctuaries. This sanctuary is on a small island formed by river Tunga. Many varieties of birds live here from June to October. This sanctuary is a paradise for wild life enthusiasts. Birds like Egrets, open-ball stork, cormorant, darter, white ibis, heron, partridge, snakebird etc migrate from different parts of the world and particularly from Siberia during May-June season for breeding.

Elephant, cobra, eagle, langoor, wild pig, sambar, python, tortoise, tiger, jungle fowl beckon you to explore the wild, exciting Mandagadde protected forest.