Bagalkot is located at 16°11′N 75°42′E / 16.18, 75.7[1]. It has an average elevation of 533 metres (1748 feet). It is situated on the bank of the river Ghataprabha.

Bagalkot District is flanked by Bijapur district in the north and Gadag district in the south. Raichur district lies towards east of Bagalkot and Koppal district towards southeast along with Belgaum district towards west border the same.

Bagalkot is well connected by road and railway routes. The state highway passing through Bagalkot connects NH-13 at about 40 km from Bagalkot. It is connected to Hubli and Belgaum by road and connected to Gadag and Bijapur by train.

The metre gauge railway track from Hotgi junction to Gadag junction via Bagalkot was finally converted to broad gauge in December 2008 and now Bagalkot is served by direct trains to Bangalore, Hubli and Solapur.