Kerala

Kerala in Short — Kochi · Munnar · Alappuzha

4 Days / 3 Nights · 1N Kochi + 1N Munnar + 1N Alappuzha houseboat

1. 1

   Arrive Kochi, and walk Fort Kochi

   A port town that has been Portuguese, Dutch and British, and still looks it.

   • •Met at Kochi airport or Ernakulam station and transferred to your hotel
   • •Chinese fishing nets on the Fort Kochi seafront — cantilevered dip nets worked by hand
   • •St Francis Church, where Vasco da Gama was first buried
   • •Mattancherry Palace and the Paradesi Synagogue in Jew Town
   • •Kathakali performance in the evening — arrive early to watch the make-up being applied

   Overnight — Kochi
2. 2

   Up to Munnar

   Sea level to 1,600 metres in four hours, through spice country.

   • •Drive to Munnar — about 130 km, four hours, climbing through cardamom hills
   • •Cheeyappara and Valara waterfalls en route
   • •Check in, then the Tea Museum for how the leaf is actually processed
   • •Evening at leisure — the town is small and walkable

   Overnight — Munnar
3. 3

   Munnar in the morning, backwaters by evening

   • •Early: Mattupetty Dam and Echo Point before the buses arrive
   • •Tea estate roads around Kundala and Top Station
   • •Drive down to Alappuzha — about 170 km, four to five hours
   • •Board your kettuvallam houseboat around noon or early afternoon
   • •Cruise the Vembanad canals; the boat moors before dusk

   Overnight — Houseboat, Alappuzha backwaters

   ⚠️ Houseboats moor at sunset — canal movement is not permitted after dark. The evening is spent tied up, which is the quietest part of the trip.

4. 4

   Disembark and fly out

   • •Breakfast on board, disembark around 9 am
   • •Drive to Kochi — about 55 km, an hour and a half
   • •Transfer to the airport or station

   ⚠️ Keep the departing flight after 2 pm.

Kerala Classic — Kochi · Munnar · Thekkady · Alappuzha

6 Days / 5 Nights · 1N Kochi + 2N Munnar + 1N Thekkady + 1N Alappuzha houseboat

1. 1

   Arrive Kochi, Fort Kochi on foot

   • •Airport or station pickup and check-in
   • •Chinese fishing nets, St Francis Church and the Dutch Cemetery
   • •Mattancherry Palace, the Paradesi Synagogue and the spice warehouses of Jew Town
   • •Kathakali in the evening

   Overnight — Kochi
2. 2

   Kochi to Munnar

   • •Drive to Munnar, about four hours through rubber and cardamom
   • •Waterfall stops at Cheeyappara and Valara
   • •Tea Museum, and the estate roads above town

   Overnight — Munnar
3. 3

   A full day in the tea hills

   The reason to give Munnar two nights rather than one.

   • •Eravikulam National Park — the Nilgiri tahr comes close to the path here
   • •Mattupetty Dam and Kundala Lake
   • •Echo Point and Top Station for the view down into Tamil Nadu
   • •Afternoon walk through a working estate

   Overnight — Munnar

   ⚠️ Eravikulam closes for the tahr calving season, usually February into March. If your dates fall inside it we substitute Anamudi viewpoints and say so before you book.

4. 4

   Over to Thekkady and the spice country

   • •Drive to Thekkady — about 90 km, three to four hours
   • •Periyar Lake boat cruise — elephants and gaur come down to drink in the late afternoon
   • •Guided spice plantation walk — cardamom, pepper, nutmeg, vanilla
   • •Optional evening: Kalaripayattu martial arts, or a Kathakali show

   Overnight — Thekkady

   ⚠️ The Periyar boat runs on fixed slots and sells out. Your driver will get tickets early rather than at the jetty.

5. 5

   Down to the backwaters

   • •Drive to Alappuzha — about 140 km, four hours
   • •Board the houseboat around noon
   • •Cruise through Vembanad's canals, past paddy below sea level and village jetties
   • •Moor before dark; dinner on board

   Overnight — Houseboat, Alappuzha backwaters
6. 6

   Disembark and out

   • •Breakfast on board and disembark
   • •Drive to Kochi, about an hour and a half
   • •Airport or station transfer

Kerala for Two — hills, a houseboat and the cliff at Varkala

7 Days / 6 Nights · 2N Munnar + 1N Thekkady + 1N Alappuzha houseboat + 2N Varkala

1. 1

   Arrive Kochi and drive to Munnar

   • •Airport pickup at Kochi
   • •Straight up to Munnar, four hours through the cardamom hills
   • •Check in; the evening is yours

   Overnight — Munnar
2. 2

   Tea country, slowly

   • •Eravikulam National Park in the morning
   • •Mattupetty, Kundala Lake and the estate roads
   • •Top Station in the late afternoon for the valley view

   Overnight — Munnar
3. 3

   Thekkady

   • •Drive to Thekkady, three to four hours
   • •Periyar Lake cruise
   • •Spice plantation walk

   Overnight — Thekkady
4. 4

   The houseboat

   • •Drive down to Alappuzha, about four hours
   • •Board a private one-bedroom houseboat at noon
   • •Afternoon cruise; the boat moors at dusk and the evening is entirely quiet

   Overnight — Houseboat, Alappuzha backwaters
5. 5

   South to Varkala

   • •Disembark after breakfast
   • •Drive to Varkala — about 150 km, three and a half hours
   • •Check in above the cliff; sunset from the north cliff path

   Overnight — Varkala
6. 6

   Varkala, and nothing scheduled

   One open day. It is deliberate.

   • •Papanasam Beach below the cliff
   • •Your Ayurvedic couple's massage, booked for whichever time suits
   • •Janardanaswamy Temple and the cliff-top cafés
   • •Sunset again — it is the best thing here

   Overnight — Varkala
7. 7

   Trivandrum and out

   • •Drive to Trivandrum, about an hour
   • •Padmanabhaswamy Temple from the outside if time allows
   • •Airport transfer

   ⚠️ This route ends at Trivandrum, not Kochi. Book the return flight from TRV.

Kerala End to End — Wayanad, the hills, the backwaters and the coast

8 Days / 7 Nights · 2N Wayanad + 1N Kochi + 2N Munnar + 1N Thekkady + 1N Alappuzha houseboat

1. 1

   Kochi to Wayanad

   The long drive of the trip, done first while everyone is fresh.

   • •Airport pickup and north through Thrissur and Kozhikode
   • •About 250 km, five to six hours, climbing the Thamarassery ghat with its nine hairpins
   • •Check in at Kalpetta or Vythiri

   Overnight — Wayanad
2. 2

   Wayanad's hills and caves

   • •Edakkal Caves — neolithic petroglyphs, reached by a steep climb and steps
   • •Soochipara (Sentinel Rock) Falls
   • •Banasura Sagar, the largest earth dam in India
   • •Optional: the Chembra Peak trek to the heart-shaped lake, permit dependent

   Overnight — Wayanad

   ⚠️ Chembra needs a forest permit and is capped daily. It closes in heavy monsoon and during fire season. Ask us to check your dates.

3. 3

   Back south, by way of Athirappilly

   • •Drive south towards Thrissur
   • •Athirappilly Falls — the biggest waterfall in Kerala, at its heaviest just after the monsoon
   • •On to Kochi and check in

   Overnight — Kochi
4. 4

   Fort Kochi, then up to Munnar

   • •Morning in Fort Kochi — the fishing nets, St Francis Church, Jew Town
   • •Afternoon drive to Munnar

   Overnight — Munnar
5. 5

   Munnar

   • •Eravikulam National Park
   • •Mattupetty, Kundala and Echo Point
   • •Top Station in the afternoon

   Overnight — Munnar
6. 6

   Thekkady

   • •Drive to Thekkady
   • •Periyar Lake cruise
   • •Spice plantation walk, and Kalaripayattu in the evening if you want it

   Overnight — Thekkady
7. 7

   The houseboat

   • •Drive to Alappuzha and board at noon
   • •Afternoon on the Vembanad canals; moor at dusk

   Overnight — Houseboat, Alappuzha backwaters
8. 8

   Out from Kochi

   • •Disembark after breakfast
   • •Drive to Kochi
   • •Airport transfer

• →South India tourist cabs run on a daily kilometre allowance with extra running charged per kilometre. Your quote states the allowance for the route and the rate beyond it — see the South India section of our Trip Policies.
• →Toll and parking are charged at actuals and are not in the base rate. We can fold an estimate into the package if you would rather have one figure — just ask when you book.
• →June to September is the monsoon. It is green, cheap and the traditional Ayurveda season, but hill roads are slower and Munnar can sit in cloud for days.
• →Air-conditioning is switched off on hill climbs to Munnar. That is normal for the gradient, not a fault, and the air up there does not need it.
• →Toll and parking are at actuals. We can quote them inside the package on request.
• →Periyar is a tiger reserve, so the boat is a wildlife cruise, not a guaranteed sighting. Elephants are common; the cats are not.
• →Alcohol is restricted in Kerala and not served in many hotels. Houseboats do not stock it — bring your own if you want it aboard.
• →The route is one-way: in at Kochi, out at Trivandrum. It saves a day of backtracking, but the flights must match.
• →A private houseboat costs more than a shared one and is worth it on a honeymoon — you get the deck to yourselves.
• →Non-swimmers should treat Varkala's beach with respect. There is a rip along parts of the cliff and no lifeguard outside the main season.
• →Wayanad adds a real day of driving in each direction. It earns its place, but if your week is tight the 6-day classic is the better trip.
• →Athirappilly is spectacular from July to December and modest in March and April. We will tell you honestly which you are getting.

Booking, payment and cancellation terms are the same as every trip we run — see our Trip Policies.