Kerala: Backwaters, Tea Hills and Beaches

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Kochi

   Cochin International Airport (COK) to your hotel in Fort Kochi

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Kochi
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Cochin International Airport (COK) at Nedumbassery, north of the city. A driver meets you in the arrivals hall for the drive of about 40 km, an hour to an hour and a half depending on traffic, across the Periyar River at Aluva and down to Fort Kochi, the old harbour quarter at the mouth of the backwaters. We stay here, not in the modern city across the water, so the Chinese fishing nets, the churches and the cafes are a short walk from the hotel. The rest of the day is yours: sleep off the flight, or walk the seafront at sunset when the nets are lowered and the fish auction stalls set up along the shore. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week ahead, from what to pack for the cool tea hills to how the houseboat night works, and then we walk to a local restaurant for a welcome dinner of Kerala seafood, appam and vegetable curries.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Cochin International Airport (COK)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner in Fort Kochi

   Temps libre : Free until the early evening briefing

   Activité : Plan to land by about 3 pm to reach the briefing; later arrivals are met and join the group at dinner or the next morning.

   

2. Jour 2 : Fort Kochi and Mattancherry

   Fort Kochi on foot, then Mattancherry and Jew Town

   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Kochi
   Détail du jour 2

   We start early, when the fishermen are working the Chinese fishing nets on the point and the light is soft, and walk Fort Kochi with your guide before the heat. St Francis Church, built by the Portuguese in the early 1500s, is where Vasco da Gama was first buried in 1524 before his remains went home to Portugal. From there we walk past Dutch and British era houses to the Santa Cruz Basilica. A short drive takes us to Jew Town in time for the Paradesi Synagogue's morning opening, roughly 10 am to noon, which is why the morning runs in this order. The synagogue dates from 1568, and the lanes around it still smell of ginger and pepper from the old spice warehouses. Next door is Mattancherry Palace, built by the Portuguese for the Raja of Kochi and later rebuilt by the Dutch, with Kerala murals of scenes from the Ramayana. Lunch is a Kerala sadhya, a vegetarian feast served on a banana leaf. The afternoon is free. In the early evening we go to a Kathakali performance, arriving early to watch the actors paint their faces.

   Compris

   • Fort Kochi walk with your guide: the Chinese fishing nets, St Francis Church and the Santa Cruz Basilica
   • The Paradesi Synagogue and Jew Town, in the morning opening hours
   • Mattancherry Palace and its murals
   • Kerala sadhya lunch on a banana leaf
   • Kathakali performance, with time to watch the make-up

   Temps libre : Afternoon free in Fort Kochi

   Activité : The synagogue is closed on Fridays, Saturdays and Jewish holidays, and Mattancherry Palace on Fridays, so day 2 is never planned on those days. The synagogue opens roughly 10 am to noon and 3 to 5 pm, so we visit before lunch. Shoulders and knees covered for the synagogue and churches.

3. Jour 3 : Up into the tea hills

   Kochi to Munnar on the road through Kothamangalam and Adimali

   • Environ 4 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Munnar
   Détail du jour 3

   We leave Fort Kochi after breakfast and drive about 135 km east into the Western Ghats, roughly four hours with stops, which is the longest drive of the trip and right at our cap. The first half crosses flat country of rubber and pineapple; after Kothamangalam the road starts to climb through forest, past the Cheeyappara and Valara waterfalls, which run strongest after the monsoon in October and November. Lunch is a sit-down meal on the way. By early afternoon the forest gives way to tea, clipped into rounded rows across every slope, and we reach Munnar at about 1,600 m, where the air is noticeably cooler. After checking in, a local guide takes us on an easy walk of about an hour and a half along the estate paths in the late-afternoon light, explaining how the leaf is plucked, who picks it and how the estates began under British planters in the late 19th century. The evening is free.

   Compris

   • Drive from Kochi to Munnar with stops at the Cheeyappara and Valara waterfalls
   • Sit-down lunch on the way
   • Late-afternoon tea estate walk with a local guide

   Temps libre : Evening free in Munnar

   Activité : Munnar nights are cool from December to February; bring a fleece. The mountain road has many bends; take a travel sickness tablet if you need one.

   

4. Jour 4 : Eravikulam and the Tea Museum

   Munnar to Eravikulam National Park, then the Tea Museum

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Munnar
   Détail du jour 4

   We go up early to Eravikulam National Park, a short drive north of Munnar, aiming for one of the first forest department buses that carry visitors from the gate up to the Rajamalai section, before the holiday crowds of late morning. This is open grassland and shola forest at about 2,000 m, home to the Nilgiri tahr, a mountain goat found only in the Western Ghats, which often grazes beside the path. Anamudi, the highest peak in South India at about 2,695 m, rises inside the park. The park closes each year for the tahr calving season, roughly February and March; on those dates we go instead to the Top Station viewpoint on the Tamil Nadu border for the view down over the plains. After a free lunch in town we visit the Tea Museum at Nallathanni, which tells the story of the estates and shows the old machinery and a working processing line. The rest of the afternoon and evening are free.

   Compris

   • Eravikulam National Park, with the forest department bus up to Rajamalai (October to January)
   • Top Station viewpoint instead, when Eravikulam is closed for calving (about February and March)
   • The Tea Museum at Nallathanni

   Option plus facile : Skip the Tea Museum and take the afternoon at the hotel.

   Option plus active : In place of the Tea Museum, a guided half-day walk of about 8 to 10 km on estate paths and hill tracks above Munnar.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

   Activité : About 1 to 2 hours on foot at Eravikulam on a paved path with a gentle climb, at around 2,000 m. The Tea Museum is closed on Mondays, so day 4 is never planned on a Monday.

   

5. Jour 5 : Through the cardamom hills to Periyar

   Munnar to Thekkady, a spice plantation and Periyar Lake

   • Environ 3.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Thekkady
   Détail du jour 5

   After breakfast we drive about 95 km south through the Cardamom Hills to Thekkady, about three and a half hours on a winding road through tea, then cardamom grown in the shade of forest trees, then pepper vines climbing every trunk. Thekkady, with the market town of Kumily, sits at the edge of the Periyar Tiger Reserve. We go straight to a spice plantation for a walk with the grower among cardamom, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, coffee and vanilla, and lunch there. Mid-afternoon we take the forest department boat, the last departure of the day at about 3:30, out on Periyar Lake, a reservoir made in 1895 when the Mullaperiyar dam flooded the valley, its dead tree stumps still standing in the water. Elephants, gaur, sambar deer and wild boar come down to the shore more often as the day cools, though sightings are never certain. In the early evening we watch a kalaripayattu performance, the martial art of Kerala, then dinner is your choice in Kumily.

   Compris

   • Spice plantation walk and lunch
   • Forest department boat ride on Periyar Lake, about 1.5 hours
   • Kalaripayattu performance in Thekkady

   Temps libre : Evening free in Kumily

   Activité : Boat tickets are sold in limited numbers for set departure times; we book the mid-afternoon trip ahead, and switch to an early-morning boat if the afternoon is full.

6. Jour 6 : A forest walk, then onto the backwaters

   Periyar Tiger Reserve on foot, then Thekkady to Kumarakom and onto a houseboat

   • Environ 3.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Kerala backwaters (houseboat)
   Détail du jour 6

   At about 7 am we walk into the Periyar Tiger Reserve with forest guides from the local community, who run the reserve's guided walks, for about three hours through forest and along the lake shore. You look for tracks, langur monkeys, Malabar giant squirrels and hornbills; elephants are possible but not expected. Back at the hotel for a late breakfast and time to pack, we leave at about 11 and drive about 115 km west, roughly three and a half hours with a tea stop, down through rubber estates to Kottayam and on to Kumarakom on Vembanad Lake, the largest lake in Kerala. We board a kettuvallam, a houseboat built on the lines of the old rice barges, at about 2:30 pm, and a late lunch is served as we set off across the lake into the canals of Kuttanad, where rice is farmed below sea level behind dykes. After about three hours of cruising, houseboats moor for the night at about 5:30. The cook shows you how to wrap karimeen, the local pearl spot fish, in banana leaf for dinner on deck.

   Compris

   • Guided nature walk in the Periyar Tiger Reserve, about 3 hours
   • Drive from Thekkady to Kumarakom
   • Overnight houseboat cruise across Vembanad Lake and into Kuttanad, in a bedroom with its own bathroom
   • Lunch and dinner on board, with a cooking demonstration

   Option plus facile : Sleep in and skip the forest walk; join the group for breakfast at about 10.

   Option plus active : Once the boat is moored, walk the dyke paths between the rice fields with a crew member before dark, about 2 to 3 km on the flat.

   Temps libre : Evening on the moored houseboat

   Activité : The forest walk is on uneven trails, about 4 to 5 km; leech socks are provided when the forest is damp. Boarding is about 2:30 pm, later than the usual houseboat check-in, and is agreed with the boat in advance. The group shares one large houseboat or two or three smaller boats that cruise and moor together.

7. Jour 7 : Dawn canoe, then Marari Beach

   Kuttanad canals by canoe, Alleppey, then Marari Beach

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Marari Beach
   Détail du jour 7

   Wake early for the best hour on the backwaters. At about 6:30 am a country canoe collects us from the houseboat and a local boatman paddles into narrow canals too small for the big boats, past houses with steps down to the water, people washing pots, children waiting for the school boat and kingfishers on the wires. Back on board, breakfast is served as the houseboat cruises the last stretch to Alleppey, where we step ashore by about 9:30. From there it is only about 15 km north to Marari, a fishing village with a long, quiet beach of soft sand backed by coconut palms. We stay here two nights, so the rest of the day is yours: swim, read in the shade, or book an Ayurvedic massage at the hotel. In the late afternoon, walk the beach as the fishing boats come back in. Dinner tonight is your choice.

   Compris

   • Dawn canoe ride through the narrow canals of Kuttanad
   • Breakfast on the houseboat as it cruises to Alleppey
   • Transfer from Alleppey to Marari Beach

   Activités en option

   • Ayurvedic massage or treatment at the hotel (price confirmed at booking)

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free at the beach

   Activité : The sea at Marari can have a strong pull; swim only where the hotel or lifeguards say it is safe.

   

8. Jour 8 : Marari village morning, a free day by the sea

   Marari Beach and the village

   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Marari Beach
   Détail du jour 8

   We start before the heat with a gentle guided walk through Marari village, along sandy lanes between coconut groves, ponds and small houses, with a local guide who lives here. Early is when the fishermen haul in their boats and sort the catch on the sand, and on the way back we stop at a home where coir rope is still spun by hand from coconut husk, one of the old trades of this coast. Back at the hotel by mid-morning for breakfast, and then the day is free. This is the time for a longer Ayurvedic treatment, a swim, or a cycle to the next village along the shore. Our guide can arrange a yoga class or a cooking lesson for anyone who wants one. In the evening we gather for a farewell dinner of Kerala dishes, with seafood from the morning's catch and vegetarian dishes for anyone who prefers them.

   Compris

   • Guided early-morning walk through Marari village with a local guide
   • Visit to a coir-spinning home
   • Farewell dinner

   Activités en option

   • Ayurvedic treatments at the hotel, including longer sessions (price confirmed at booking)
   • Yoga class
   • Cooking lesson

   Option plus facile : Skip the early village walk and sleep in; the farewell dinner is the only fixed time today.

   Option plus active : Do the village loop by bicycle, about 10 km on flat lanes, in place of the walk.

   Temps libre : Late morning to evening free

   Activité : The village walk is about 3 km on flat sandy lanes.

9. Jour 9 : Back to Kochi and home

   Marari Beach to Cochin International Airport (COK)

   • Environ 2.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 9

   A last swim or a slow breakfast, then we drive about 90 km north to Cochin International Airport, two to two and a half hours depending on traffic through Kochi. The road runs up the coast past Cherthala and the backwater bridges into the city, and your guide sees you to the terminal and checks your flight before saying goodbye. If you are staying on, we can drop you in Fort Kochi instead. Plan on a flight leaving after about 1 pm; for an earlier flight we leave the beach earlier and pack a breakfast for the road. Many guests add a few days: the Golden Triangle of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur is a short domestic flight north, and our own Golden Triangle trip fits before or after this one. If you would like extra nights at the beach or in Fort Kochi, or an Ayurveda stay of several days, ask us when you book and we arrange the hotel and the transfer.

   Compris

   • Drop-off at Cochin International Airport (COK), or at your Fort Kochi hotel

   Activité : Book a flight leaving after about 1 pm.

Faune et météo : October to March is the season, after the southwest monsoon. October and November are green with full waterfalls and some afternoon showers; December to February is the driest, with cool nights in Munnar; March is hot and humid on the coast. Eravikulam closes for the tahr calving season around February and March. Wildlife on Periyar Lake is never certain: elephants, gaur and sambar are seen most often toward the end of the day and in the drier months.

• Kochi2 nuits
• Munnar2 nuits
• Thekkady1 nuit
• Kerala backwaters (houseboat)1 nuit
• Marari Beach2 nuits