Cornelius Amann
October 06, 2026
5/5
South India: Tamil Nadu Temples, Kerala and Mysore
14 days from Chennai to Bengaluru: Mamallapuram, Pondicherry, the Chola temples of Thanjavur, Chettinad, Madurai, Periyar, two nights in Munnar, a houseboat night, Fort Kochi and Mysore.
14 days · Chennai to Bengaluru · up to 12 guests
The Pancha Rathas, 7th-century monolithic temples at Mamallapuram Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mahabalipuram,_Pancha_Rathas,_Tamil_Nadu,_India.jpg)
The facts
At a glance
- Length
- 14 days, 13 nights
- Start and end
- Chennai to Bengaluru
- Group size
- 7 to 12 guests
- Activity level
Moderate
Mostly easy walking, but long days on your feet in temple complexes, barefoot on stone that heats up by midday, with 2 to 3 hours walking on most touring days. Munnar sits at about 1,600 m. The optional Chamundi Hill stairway is about 1,000 steps and the optional Periyar forest walk about 3 hours; both can be swapped for an easier version.
- Meals included
- 13 breakfasts, 8 lunches, 2 dinners
- Room of your own
- + CAD 490 (estimated price)
- Season
- November to February
Highlights
Why this trip
- The Shore Temple and the Pancha Rathas at Mamallapuram before the coaches arrive
- All three Great Living Chola Temples: Brihadeeswarar at sunset, Gangaikonda Cholapuram and Darasuram
- Bronze casters at work in Swamimalai, and lunch in a Chettinad merchant town
- The Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai, with the night ceremony that closes the temple
- The first boat of the morning on Periyar Lake, then two nights in the Munnar tea hills
- A night on a houseboat on Vembanad Lake and Kathakali in Fort Kochi
- Chamundi Hill at first light and Mysore Palace at opening
What makes this trip different
Free time is part of the plan
Free time and choices are marked on the days they fall.
Solo without the penalty
A room of your own is + CAD 490 (estimated price).
Day by day
Itinerary
Tap any stop on the map to open that dayClick any stop on the map to open that day
Arrive in Chennai
Chennai International Airport (MAA) to your hotel in Chennai, then Mylapore
- Welcome dinner
- Stay in Chennai
- Drive about 45 min
Fly into Chennai International Airport (MAA), where a driver meets you for the short drive into the city. Chennai is the capital of Tamil Nadu and sits on the Bay of Bengal, and the old neighbourhood of Mylapore is the place to start.
Evening
If you land by about 2 pm, join your See Sight Tours guide for a late-afternoon walk there: the painted gopuram of the Kapaleeshwarar Temple, the temple tank, flower sellers threading jasmine for evening prayers, and the lamps being lit in the outer courtyards at dusk. It is a gentle first lesson in the temple etiquette you will use all trip: shoes off at the gate, shoulders and knees covered, inner shrines for worshippers only. In the evening the whole group meets for a short briefing on the two weeks ahead, then sits down to a welcome dinner of South Indian vegetarian dishes served on a banana leaf.
Included
- Pick-up at Chennai International Airport (MAA)
- Mylapore walk with your guide and the Kapaleeshwarar Temple at dusk (if you land by about 2 pm)
- Welcome briefing and welcome dinner
Free time: Free until the late-afternoon walk
Mamallapuram's shore temples, then Pondicherry
Chennai to Mamallapuram on the East Coast Road, then on to Pondicherry
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Pondicherry
- Drive about 3.5 h
We leave Chennai at about 7 am and take the East Coast Road south, so we reach Mamallapuram at about 8:30, while the stone is cool and before the tour coaches. This was the port of the Pallava kings, and its monuments, listed by UNESCO in 1984, were carved in the 7th and 8th centuries. Your guide starts at the Shore Temple on the edge of the sea, then the Pancha Rathas, five temples each cut from a single granite outcrop beside a life-size stone elephant. Arjuna's Penance is a whole cliff face of gods, animals and sages carved in relief, and the rocky hill behind it, past the balanced boulder called Krishna's Butter Ball, has carved shrines and a view to the coast.
Afternoon
Lunch is fish or vegetarian thali in town, near the workshops where stone carvers still work.
Evening
Then two hours south to Pondicherry and an evening walk on the seafront promenade.
Included
- Mamallapuram with your guide: the Shore Temple, the Pancha Rathas, Arjuna's Penance and the hill shrines
- Lunch in Mamallapuram
- Evening walk on the Pondicherry seafront
Free time: Evening free in Pondicherry
Activity: About 2.5 hours on foot in Mamallapuram on sand and smooth rock; the hill path is short but steep.
Pondicherry's French Quarter
Pondicherry on foot: White Town, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and the Tamil Quarter
- Breakfast
- Stay in Pondicherry
Pondicherry was French until 1954, and the old town still splits in two along a canal. We walk at 7 am, when the streets are quiet and the light is soft on the mustard and white villas of White Town, past the Church of Notre Dame des Anges, the war memorial on the promenade and the bougainvillea over the old French schools. Then the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, founded in 1926, where visitors file past the flower-covered tomb of its founders in silence; dress modestly and leave phones in your bag. Across the canal, the Tamil Quarter has verandahed houses and a small market.
Afternoon
Breakfast is in a White Town cafe, and by late morning the rest of the day is yours: a long lunch of Creole and Tamil dishes, a swim at your hotel, or the boutiques on Rue Romain Rolland. Your guide can arrange a visit to Auroville, the international township founded in 1968.
Included
- Early-morning walk in White Town and the Tamil Quarter with your guide
- The Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Optional experiences
- Auroville visitor centre and the Matrimandir viewpoint (about 10 km), arranged by your guide
Easier option: Join the walk for White Town only and meet the group for breakfast.
More active option: Hire a bicycle in the afternoon and ride to Auroville and back, about 25 km on flat roads.
Free time: Afternoon and evening free
Chidambaram and the Chola road to Thanjavur
Pondicherry to Chidambaram and Gangaikonda Cholapuram, then Thanjavur
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Thanjavur
- Drive about 4 h
Today follows the old Chola heartland inland.
Morning
We leave at 8 am and reach Chidambaram in about an hour and a half, while the morning rituals are under way at the Nataraja Temple, where Shiva is worshipped as the cosmic dancer under a gold-covered roof. Men may be asked to remove their shirts for the inner hall. An hour on, Gangaikonda Cholapuram was the capital built by Rajendra I around 1035 to mark his victories; its great temple stands almost alone in the fields, quiet and unhurried.
Afternoon
Lunch is a banana-leaf meal on the way. We reach Thanjavur in the middle of the afternoon and rest, then go to the Brihadeeswarar Temple when it reopens at about 4 pm. Completed in 1010 by Rajaraja I, its tower rises about 66 m above a monolithic Nandi bull, and the granite turns gold as the sun drops behind it.
Included
- The Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram
- Gangaikonda Cholapuram
- Lunch on the way
- The Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur in the late afternoon
Easier option: Stay in the vehicle or the shade at Gangaikonda Cholapuram and save your energy for Brihadeeswarar.
More active option: Stay on at Brihadeeswarar for the evening lamps after the group returns to the hotel; your guide arranges an auto-rickshaw back.
Activity: Three temples barefoot today; bring socks for hot stone and water for the van.
Thanjavur's bronzes, Swamimalai and Darasuram
Thanjavur Palace, then Swamimalai and Darasuram, and back to Thanjavur
- Breakfast
- Stay in Thanjavur
- Drive about 1.5 h
Morning
Before breakfast, anyone who wants to can go back to Brihadeeswarar at about 6 am, when the first rituals are held and the courtyard is almost empty. At 9 am we visit Thanjavur Palace, built by the Nayak and Maratha rulers, and its art gallery, which holds one of the finest collections of Chola bronzes, with the Saraswathi Mahal Library alongside. Then about 45 minutes to Swamimalai, where families of bronze casters still make temple images in the lost-wax method: you watch the wax model, the clay mould and the pour. This is a working visit, not a shop stop, and nothing needs to be bought. A few minutes away is Darasuram, the third of the Great Living Chola Temples, built in the 12th century, with stone chariot wheels on its hall and fine carved friezes.
Evening
Lunch is your choice in Kumbakonam, known for its filter coffee, and the late afternoon and evening are free in Thanjavur.
Included
- Thanjavur Palace, the art gallery of Chola bronzes and the Saraswathi Mahal Library
- A bronze-casting workshop in Swamimalai
- The Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram
More active option: An early return to Brihadeeswarar at about 6 am for the first rituals, with your guide.
Free time: Late afternoon and evening free
Chettinad mansions, then Meenakshi at dusk
Thanjavur to Kanadukathan in Chettinad, then Madurai
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Madurai
- Drive about 4 h
About two hours south, the villages of Chettinad were built by the Nattukottai Chettiars, merchant bankers who made fortunes across Southeast Asia in the 19th and early 20th centuries and came home to build enormous mansions. In Kanadukathan we visit one that is open to visitors: courtyards ringed by Burmese teak pillars, imported tiles and marble, and long halls for family weddings. Nearby, at a workshop in Athangudi, craftsmen pour the hand-made cement tiles that floor these houses.
Afternoon
Lunch is a Chettinad meal on a banana leaf, known for its pepper and spice. Two more hours bring us to Madurai by late afternoon. At about 5 pm we enter the Meenakshi Amman Temple, a city within walls with towering painted gopurams, the Golden Lotus tank and the Hall of a Thousand Pillars. Phones and cameras stay in the lockers.
Evening
After dinner on your own, your guide takes anyone who wants back for the night ceremony, about 9 pm.
Included
- A Chettinad mansion in Kanadukathan
- An Athangudi tile workshop
- Chettinad lunch
- The Meenakshi Amman Temple and the Hall of a Thousand Pillars in Madurai
- The night ceremony at the Meenakshi temple with your guide
Free time: Dinner free
Activity: The Meenakshi complex is large and busy; expect about 2 hours on foot barefoot.
Madurai's flower market, then the cardamom hills
Madurai to Thekkady through Theni and the Cumbum valley
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Thekkady
- Drive about 4 h
Madurai wakes early.
Morning
At dawn we walk through the wholesale flower market, where jasmine and marigold are sold by the sack before the heat, then return for breakfast. At 9 am the Thirumalai Nayak Palace opens: built in 1636, its courtyard of giant white pillars and its stucco domes are best before the sun is high. We leave Madurai at about 10 am and drive west through Theni and the Cumbum valley, where vineyards and coconut groves run up to the wall of the Western Ghats, then climb the hairpins to Kumily and Thekkady, at about 900 m on the Kerala border.
Afternoon
Lunch is on the way. In the late afternoon a planter walks us through a spice garden, where cardamom, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla grow under the trees.
Evening
In the evening we watch kalaripayattu, Kerala's martial art, performed by a local troupe.
Included
- Madurai flower market at dawn
- Thirumalai Nayak Palace
- Lunch on the road to Thekkady
- Spice garden walk with a planter
- Kalaripayattu performance in Thekkady
Optional experiences
- Ayurvedic massage in Thekkady, price confirmed at booking
Activity: The last hour is a winding mountain road; take motion-sickness tablets if you need them.
Periyar Lake at first light, then Munnar
Periyar Lake, then Thekkady to Munnar through the cardamom estates
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Munnar
- Drive about 3.5 h
We are at the boat landing for the first forest department boat of the day, at about 7:30 am, when the water is still and animals come down to drink. Periyar Lake was formed by the Mullaperiyar Dam in 1895, and dead trees still stand in the water. From the boat you may see elephants, gaur, sambar and wild boar on the shore, and you will almost certainly see cormorants, darters and kingfishers; nothing is promised.
Morning
Back for breakfast, then we drive about three and a half hours north through cardamom estates and small hill towns to Munnar, the old tea station of the High Ranges at about 1,600 m.
Afternoon
Lunch is on arrival.
Evening
The afternoon and evening are free: the air is cool, the light is long over the estates, and your hotel is a good place to sit with a pot of local tea.
Included
- Forest department boat on Periyar Lake, first departure
- Lunch in Munnar
More active option: Swap the boat for the forest department's guided nature walk, about 3 hours from 7 am, with a forest guide.
Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Munnar
Activity: Boat tickets are limited and issued per departure; your guide books them.
Eravikulam and the tea estates
Munnar to Eravikulam National Park, the tea estates and the Tea Museum
- Breakfast
- Stay in Munnar
- Drive about 1.5 h
We take one of the early park buses up to Eravikulam National Park, part of the Western Ghats World Heritage area, where the rolling grassland is home to the Nilgiri tahr, a mountain goat found only in these hills. They graze close to the road, and on clear mornings you look across to Anamudi, at about 2,695 m the highest peak in India south of the Himalayas. When the park is closed for calving, usually from February, we go instead to Top Station on the edge of the plateau for the view down into Tamil Nadu. Back in Munnar, an estate guide walks us along the pickers' paths between the tea bushes and explains how the leaf is plucked and graded. The Tea Museum shows the machinery and the history of planting here and ends with a tasting.
Afternoon
The afternoon is free.
Included
- Eravikulam National Park, with the park bus (Top Station when the park is closed)
- Tea estate walk with an estate guide
- The Tea Museum and a tasting
Easier option: Skip the estate walk and join the group at the Tea Museum.
More active option: A longer guided estate walk of about 3 hours in the afternoon, arranged with your guide.
Free time: Afternoon free
Activity: Eravikulam is about 2 km of paved, gently climbing path; Munnar mornings can be 10 C in winter.
Down from the hills onto a houseboat
Munnar to Kumarakom, then by houseboat across Vembanad Lake
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Kerala backwaters (houseboat)
- Drive about 4.5 h
This is one of the two longer days, about four and a half hours on the road, because there is no shorter way from the High Ranges down to the backwaters.
Morning
We leave at 7:30 am after breakfast and break the drive at the Cheeyappara waterfalls and a roadside tea stop, then cross the rubber country around Kottayam to Kumarakom on Vembanad Lake.
Afternoon
We board our houseboat around 1 pm, in time for lunch on deck: fish curry, red rice and vegetables cooked on board. In the afternoon we cruise across the lake and into the canals of Kuttanad, where rice is farmed below sea level behind earth banks, past churches, ferries and villagers washing at the water steps.
Evening
The boat moors before dark, about 5:30 pm, and the crew cooks dinner while the frogs start up.
Included
- Stops at the Cheeyappara waterfalls and for tea on the way down
- Overnight houseboat cruise on Vembanad Lake and the Kuttanad canals
- Lunch and dinner on board
Activity: The road from Munnar winds for the first two hours; houseboat bedrooms are air-conditioned at night.
Alleppey to Fort Kochi
Houseboat to Alleppey, then Fort Kochi and Mattancherry
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Fort Kochi
- Drive about 1.5 h
Morning
Breakfast is on deck while the boat cruises the last stretch into Alleppey, where we step off at about 9 am. An hour and a half north is Fort Kochi, the old port where Arab, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and British traders all left their mark.
Afternoon
After a Kerala lunch we start in Mattancherry, at the palace the Portuguese built and the Dutch rebuilt, whose rooms hold some of the best Ramayana murals in Kerala. A few steps on is the Paradesi Synagogue, built in 1568, with its blue hand-painted floor tiles, then the spice warehouses of Jew Town.
Evening
In Fort Kochi we walk past St Francis Church, where Vasco da Gama was first buried in 1524, to the Chinese fishing nets on the shore for sunset. In the evening we watch Kathakali, arriving early to see the performers paint their faces.
Included
- Houseboat cruise to Alleppey
- Lunch in Fort Kochi
- Mattancherry Palace, the Paradesi Synagogue and Jew Town
- Fort Kochi walk: St Francis Church and the Chinese fishing nets at sunset
- Kathakali performance, with the make-up beforehand
Fly to Bengaluru, drive to Mysore
Fort Kochi to Cochin International Airport (COK), fly to Bengaluru (BLR), then drive to Mysore
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Mysore
- Drive about 4.5 h
The second longer day, about four and a half hours on the road in two halves. By road, Kochi to Mysore is about nine hours through the Wayanad hills, and there is no quick direct train, so we fly.
Morning
Early risers can walk back to the fishing nets at first light, when the crews lift them. After breakfast we drive to Cochin International Airport, about an hour and a quarter, for a flight of about an hour to Bengaluru. Your guide flies with you and a Karnataka vehicle meets the group.
Afternoon
We stop for lunch on the road and then take the Bengaluru to Mysuru expressway, about three to three and a half hours from the airport, passing the toy-making town of Channapatna, famous for its lacquered wooden toys. We reach Mysore in the late afternoon.
Evening
On Sundays and public holidays the palace is lit with thousands of bulbs in the evening, and your guide will take anyone who wants to go.
Included
- Flight from Kochi (COK) to Bengaluru (BLR) with a checked bag
- Lunch on the way to Mysore
Easier option: Sleep in rather than visit the nets at dawn; the group leaves for the airport after breakfast.
More active option: A dawn walk to the Chinese fishing nets with your guide before breakfast.
Free time: Evening free in Mysore
Activity: Checked bag allowance on domestic flights is lower than on long-haul; we confirm it with your flight.
Chamundi Hill and Mysore Palace
Chamundi Hill, Mysore Palace and the Devaraja Market
- Breakfast and dinner
- Stay in Mysore
- Drive about 1 h
We drive up Chamundi Hill at about 7:30 am, before the pilgrim queues build, to the Chamundeshwari Temple and the view over the city. On the way down we stop at the Nandi bull carved from a single rock in the 17th century, about 5 m tall and garlanded every day. At 10 am we are at the gates of Mysore Palace as it opens. The present palace was finished in 1912 for the Wodeyar maharajas, and its marriage pavilion, stained-glass ceilings and carved silver doors are best seen before the school groups. Shoes come off inside.
Afternoon
Lunch and the middle of the day are free. In the late afternoon we walk through the Devaraja Market, one of the oldest in the city, among piles of flowers, betel leaves, incense and bright kumkum powder.
Evening
In the evening we gather for a farewell dinner.
Included
- Chamundi Hill, the Chamundeshwari Temple and the Nandi bull
- Mysore Palace at opening
- Devaraja Market walk with your guide
- Farewell dinner
Easier option: Drive up and down Chamundi Hill and see the Nandi from the road.
More active option: Walk down the stone stairway from the temple to the Nandi and on to the foot of the hill, about 1,000 steps; the van meets you.
Free time: Lunch and early afternoon free
Srirangapatna and home from Bengaluru
Mysore to Srirangapatna, then Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR)
- Breakfast
- Drive about 4 h
We leave Mysore at about 8 am. Twenty minutes away, Srirangapatna sits on an island in the Kaveri River and was the capital of Tipu Sultan until he died defending it in 1799. We visit the Ranganathaswamy Temple, where Vishnu reclines on a serpent, and the Gumbaz, the domed mausoleum Tipu built for his parents, where he is also buried, its doors inlaid with ivory. Then it is about three hours on the expressway and the ring road to Kempegowda International Airport, arriving at about 2 pm, with a break on the way. Your guide sees you to departures and checks your flight before saying goodbye. Book a flight leaving after about 5 pm.
Evening
If you would like more time, we can add a night in Bengaluru at the end.
Included
- Ranganathaswamy Temple and the Gumbaz in Srirangapatna
- Drop-off at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR)
Easier option: For an earlier flight we go straight from Mysore to the airport.
Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 5 pm.
- Chennai1 night
- Pondicherry2 nights
- Thanjavur2 nights
- Madurai1 night
- Thekkady1 night
- Munnar2 nights
- Kerala backwaters (houseboat)1 night
- Fort Kochi1 night
- Mysore2 nights
- Bengaluruend
- Overnight stop
- Day trip
- By boat or train
Wildlife and weather: November to February is the dry, cooler season across most of the route. The northeast monsoon can still bring heavy rain and occasional cyclones to the Tamil Nadu coast in November and early December. Wildlife at Periyar is never guaranteed: elephants, gaur and sambar come to the lake shore, and birds are the surest sighting. Eravikulam usually closes from about February 1 for the Nilgiri tahr calving season.
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Before you book
Right for you?
Good for you if you want
- Travellers who want the temples of Tamil Nadu and the green of Kerala on one trip
- A first trip to South India with the logistics handled and no sleeper trains
- People interested in architecture, bronzes, food and living religion
- Solo travellers who want a small group and a clear single price
Not for you if you want
- A beach holiday: there is no beach stay on this route
- Travellers who find barefoot temple visits or crowds uncomfortable
- Step-free access: temples, palaces and the houseboat all have steps and uneven stone
- Wildlife safaris: Periyar is a lake and forest visit, not a tiger safari
Book flights after we confirm your seat.
13 nights
Where you'll stay
Your hotels are named in your trip confirmation.
- Chennai1 night
- Pondicherry2 nights
- Thanjavur2 nights
- Madurai1 night
- Thekkady1 night
- Munnar2 nights
- Kerala backwaters (houseboat)1 night
- Fort Kochi1 night
- Mysore2 nights
One price
What's in the price
Included
Accommodation
- 13 nights: 1 in Chennai, 2 in Pondicherry, 2 in Thanjavur, 1 in Madurai, 1 in Thekkady, 2 in Munnar, 1 on a houseboat on the backwaters, 1 in Fort Kochi and 2 in Mysore
- Central hotels of 3-star-plus standard or better, named when we confirm your dates
- Rooms shared, or your own for a supplement
Transport
- Pick-up at Chennai International Airport (MAA) and drop-off at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR)
- Our own air-conditioned vehicle and driver for the group in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and in Karnataka
- Flight from Kochi (COK) to Bengaluru (BLR) with a checked bag
- Overnight houseboat from Kumarakom to Alleppey
- Forest department boat on Periyar Lake and the park bus at Eravikulam
Your guide
- A See Sight Tours guide with the group from arrival in Chennai to departure from Bengaluru
- Local site guides where required, a forest guide at Periyar and an estate guide in Munnar
Activities
- Mylapore walk and the Kapaleeshwarar Temple in Chennai
- The Shore Temple, the Pancha Rathas and Arjuna's Penance in Mamallapuram
- White Town, the Tamil Quarter and the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry
- The Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram
- Gangaikonda Cholapuram
- The Brihadeeswarar Temple, Thanjavur Palace and its art gallery in Thanjavur
- A bronze-casting workshop in Swamimalai
- The Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram
- A Chettinad mansion in Kanadukathan and an Athangudi tile workshop
- The Meenakshi Amman Temple, its night ceremony, the flower market and Thirumalai Nayak Palace in Madurai
- Spice garden walk and kalaripayattu in Thekkady
- Periyar Lake boat in the Periyar Tiger Reserve
- Eravikulam National Park (Top Station when the park is closed), a tea estate walk and the Tea Museum in Munnar
- Houseboat cruise on Vembanad Lake and the Kuttanad canals
- Mattancherry Palace, the Paradesi Synagogue, St Francis Church, the Chinese fishing nets and Kathakali in Fort Kochi
- Chamundi Hill, Mysore Palace and the Devaraja Market in Mysore
- The Ranganathaswamy Temple and the Gumbaz in Srirangapatna
Meals
- 13 breakfasts
- 8 lunches: Mamallapuram, on the Chola road, Chettinad, on the road to Thekkady, Munnar, the houseboat, Fort Kochi and on the way to Mysore
- 3 dinners: welcome in Chennai, on the houseboat and farewell in Mysore
Not included
- International flights to Chennai and from Bengaluru
- India visa
- Travel insurance
- Meals not listed
- Drinks
- Tips for your guide, drivers and the houseboat crew
- Optional activities, such as Ayurvedic treatments and the Auroville visit
- Camera fees at sites that charge them
- Personal expenses
Extras
- Room of your own
- CAD 490 (estimated price)
When you can go
Dates and prices
Pick your start date when you request to book. We check that date and confirm it in your quote.
Prefer to travel without a group or guide? Ask us about arranging hotels, transport and city tours for you to travel independently.
Before you book
Booking terms
Nothing is charged now. Full terms and the cancellation schedule come with your quote, before you accept.
Business addresses
See Sight Tours Trips (USA): 3172 N Rainbow Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89108, United StatesSee Sight Tours Trips (Canada): 5305 50 Avenue, #1091, Red Deer, AB T4N 4B6, Canada+1-888-961-6584Guest reviews
What guests say
Reviews from guests on our day tours.
Jane
October 06, 2026
5/5
Susan
October 06, 2026
5/5
Tom L
October 05, 2026
5/5
MandL83
October 05, 2026
5/5
Darren O
October 05, 2026
5/5
Good to know
Questions
Prices in these answers apply from Jan 1, 2027. Black Friday offer: 15% off the small-group price for requests received by Dec 1, 2026. From CAD 2,300 per person. Dec 2 to Dec 31: from CAD 2,490. From Jan 1, 2027: from CAD 2,705.
What does the price include?
Thirteen nights in central hotels and a houseboat, 13 breakfasts, 8 lunches and 3 dinners, airport transfers, our own vehicle and driver, the Kochi to Bengaluru flight, your See Sight Tours guide throughout, and every visit in the day plan, including the Periyar boat, Eravikulam, Kathakali, the Paradesi Synagogue and the Meenakshi night ceremony.
How big is the group?
The small-group trip runs with 7 to 12 guests. That keeps everyone close enough to hear the guide in a crowded temple, lets the whole group fit on one houseboat and around one banana-leaf lunch, and means getting in and out of the vehicle takes minutes.
Who leads the trip?
A See Sight Tours guide travels with the group from Chennai airport to Bengaluru airport, including on the flight. Where sites require it, local guides join: forest department guides at Periyar, an estate guide in Munnar and site guides at the larger monuments. We name your guide when your dates are confirmed.
How fit do I need to be?
Moderate. Most days have 2 to 3 hours of walking, often barefoot on temple stone, and two days have about four and a half hours on the road. The Chamundi Hill stairway and the Periyar forest walk are optional, with easier versions on the same days.
Is there a single supplement for solo travellers?
Yes. A room of your own is from CAD 490 more, shown before you book with no surprise later. Solo travellers get the same seat, table and guide time as everyone else. If you would like to share, ask us when you book and we will tell you whether a roommate match is possible.
What should I wear to the temples?
Cover shoulders and knees, and bring socks because shoes come off at every temple and the stone gets hot. Many inner shrines are for Hindus only, men may be asked to remove shirts at Chidambaram, and phones and cameras are not allowed inside the Meenakshi temple. Your guide briefs you on the first evening.
When is the best time to go?
November to February. The heat is lower, the hills are clear and the backwaters are calm. Early November can still bring heavy northeast monsoon rain to Chennai and Pondicherry, and Eravikulam usually closes from February for the tahr calving season, when we visit Top Station instead.
Why fly from Kochi to Bengaluru?
Because the road is about nine hours through the Wayanad hills and the trains are slow or overnight. A one-hour flight plus the expressway to Mysore keeps the day to about four and a half hours of road, in two halves, without a night on a sleeper train.
How is this different from your Kerala trip?
This trip spends its first week in Tamil Nadu temple towns, then crosses Kerala and ends in Mysore. Our Kerala: Backwaters, Tea Hills and Beaches trip is 9 days in Kerala only, with more time on the backwaters and two nights at Marari Beach. Choose this one for temples and architecture.
Do I need a visa for India?
Most visitors do. Many nationalities can apply online for an India e-Visa before travelling. Eligibility for Canadian passports has changed in recent years, so check the official Indian government visa site before you book; we confirm the current rules and the passport details we need when you book.
Can we travel privately or on our own dates?
Yes. Besides the small group, the trip comes as a private trip for your party only, on a date you choose, from CAD 4,870 per person sharing. If you would rather travel independently on your own dates, ask from the dates section and we will quote the same hotels, drivers and guides.
How does booking work?
Pick your start date and request to book. We confirm your place within 24 hours, and no payment is taken until then. Prices are per person sharing a room, taxes included: the small group starts from CAD 2,705, and the final price is confirmed with your dates.
See Sight Tours has been providing travel services across North America since 2006. Operating in 20 cities across Canada and the USA, the company specializes in small group tours that offer personalized, high-quality experiences for travelers.
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