India Part 3: Kerala
Kerala can be a land of tranquility and peace after frantic days travelling around bustling cities across India. You can run through fields of wheat like Theresa May, see how tea is made, and travel through the backwaters.
This post follows on from India: Part 2 so although we’ll pick up from an evening flight from Mumbai to Kochi, Kerala, this could also be seen as a stand alone 4-night itinerary for Kerala as well.
Day 8-12: Kerala (4 nights)
Based on Hindu traditions, Lord Parasurama (an incarnation of Lord Vishnu) created the new land of Kerala and because of this, it is known as ‘God’s Own Country’. It’s also known to have the most picturesque backdrops; winding landscapes, beautiful backwaters and hundreds of hilltops covered with spice and tea plantations. It’s also absolutely massive. So be prepared for long journeys between each town.
There are 4 main areas to visit, Kochi, Munnar, Alleppey and Trivandrum. The following is our recommendation on how to maximise your time to get to see as much as possible - scroll to the bottom to see our main suggestion!
Day 8-9: Kochi (1 night)
After being picked up by your driver from Cochin International Airport, drive to your hotel in Kochi. The drive is likely to be about an hour and you’ll reach in the late evening. We stayed at a few Trident hotels during our stay and would recommend them as, unlike some others we stayed are, they were all clean. Nothing is close by in Kochi so we’d suggest ordering room service and getting an early night before the next day of sightseeing and driving.
Let’s be real. Kochi isn’t the most exciting of tourist destinations, and a tour of the city will take about 2-3 hours. There are two ways to go around Kochi: get a tour guide to take you around or organise a walking tour yourself – everything is pretty close around.
Start the day early and head to Fort Kochi area to explore the heritage sites. First stop will be the St Francis Church, one of the oldest European churches in India. It has historical significance too. Explorer Vasco de Gama was buried in the church before his remains were later moved to Lisbon.
7am - 6:30pm (Mon-Sat). 8:30am - 6:30pm (Sundays).
No admission fee
Next you can go towards the Fort Kochi beach and see the Chinese fishing nets (you can follow the crowds if you don’t know your way around!). It’ll give you a chance to see the traditional way of catching fish, and if you’re into it, you can give the fishermen a helping hand. They expect a tip if you help them out so be ready for that.
Then head towards the Paradesi synagogue. It’s the oldest active synagogue in the Commonwealth, although it’s home to just a small congregation. On your way there, take some time to walk through the Jewish quarter, get some iced tea or coffee (you’ll be hot by this point!), and take a look inside the shops. The synagogue itself isn’t a large building but it’s worth a visit for the history.
10am - 12pm and 3pm - 5pm
No admission fee
Another popular spot is the Mattancherry Palace, well known for beautiful murals displaying Hindu mythology. You could spend an hour here just trying to understand the stories behind the art (and like we said, a tour guide is helpful for this!).
9:45am - 1pm and 2pm - 4:45pm
2Rs
Other places to see here are the Santa Cruz Basilica Church and Cheraman Jumah Masjid, if you want to extend your stay.
Now you can start your journey towards Munnar, a region known best for its tea plantations (but, heads up, not known for particularly clean or luxurious hotels). Unlike the roads from Agra to Jaipur, and on to Udaipur, the route here is long, windy and unforgiving. After two to three hours of driving, you’ll start coming across more open roads and more greenery.
Your first pit stop can be the Valara waterfalls. Unlike other areas, where you might hike through forestry to get to the water, here you’ll find a waterfall literally on the side of the road. It’s not a lot to see, but will provide the backdrop for some nice photos and you might be lucky and spot a few monkeys! Your next stop will be for some food, and then on to your hotel.
Note: We’ll be honest here, Munnar doesn’t have a lot to do so your hotel really matters because you’ll be spending a lot of time here. We stayed at a 5-star hotel (Broad Bean Resort & Spa), where multiple rooms smelt of sewage, the view was pretty lacking, and the food was really average. We don’t say this often, but avoid this hotel.
Dat 9-10: Munnar (2 nights)
The next day, you’ll get to explore Munnar a little bit more. It’s a beautiful region and if you’re the type of person who could daydream while staring at tea plantations all day, you’ll have a glorious time.
The first place you’re likely to visit is indeed a tea museum and plantation; take the chance to see how tea is grown and goes from farms into your cuppa (and buy some white or green tea as gifts or to take home).
Next, you can go to the Mattupetty Lake and Dam. It’s a chance to just hang out in a big park, relax and sit by the lake. Make sure you go to Echo Point too; it’s hard to miss, just follow all the people shouting! It’s called this because you shout into the lake and you can hear an echo after a few seconds. Incredibly, it really works.
Open 9am-5pm
No entrance fee for Mattupetty Lake
30Rs for Echo Point
Those really are the main sites, so if you want to plan more, look online before you go. You can take a ride on a hot air balloon, go cycling or even go rock climbing. And then back to the hotel where you might fancy getting a traditional Ayurvedic massage (be prepared for all the oil - it’s not a typical relaxing massage!).
Day 11 - 12: Alleppey (1 night) and Trivandrum
The next day you’ll head off fairly early to go to Alleppey (4 - 5 hours drive) where you’ll arrive in the early afternoon to take a houseboat along the backwaters for one night.
At the beginning of the journey you’ll be asked if you’d like to go to a fish market and choose your own fish for the chef to cook for you on the houseboat. From our research and tips from our driver, it sounded like prices would be hiked for tourists so we decided to say no to this, plus, fish was already included for lunch in our booking for this experience.
Another option is to stop for ice cream on one of the small islands. We opted for this and unfortunately it was a pretty big let down - aside from the stunning sunset we saw. There’s also a very small temple you can go visit along this island but again in our opinion, it’s not necessarily worth visiting.
Normally starts at midday (can be from 3 hours to one night)
Prices are negotiable based on luxury and time
Generally includes lunch and dinner for the first day and breakfast for the morning.
Note: We personally felt the houseboat wasn’t an enjoyable experience to spend the night, but it would have been more fun if you go as a big family. The backwaters are calm and you see another side of India; you really feel as if you’re in another country as the water passes by.
After leaving the houseboat in the early morning, drive 4 hours to Trivandrum and check in to your hotel in the early afternoon. After a quick hotel lunch, drive 20 minutes to Kovalam beach for a few hours of relaxation on what we would say was the save for our Kerala trip. The water is so warm and it’s not a very busy beach so you can happily spend a few hours here before catching a late night flight back home.
And that’s your trip to India done!
Our Suggestion:
Looking back, we both felt that we may have preferred to end our trip in Goa instead of coming to Kerala, but hopefully the above will help you decide what’s best for your trip. We’d say our biggest take away is to be prepared for the ridiculous amount of driving required between each town and the fact that most of it is across mountainous roads so can be quite nauseating.
But if you don’t quite believe us and are set on seeing what all the fuss is about for yourself, we’d definitely suggest changing the overnight houseboat trip to a 3-hour experience instead and drive straight to Kovalam after so you can enjoy the beach for longer the next day.
