Places to visit in Kerala
These are the places Kerala trips are built from. Each trip page lists exactly which of them it covers, and a private trip can swap one for another.
- Munnar: Tea estates at 1,600 m, Eravikulam and the Nilgiri tahr, Mattupetty and Top Station; two nights on almost every Kerala trip and the honeymoon half of most of them.
- Alleppey backwaters: The houseboat night: board at noon at Punnamada, cruise the Vembanad lake and the canals past paddy fields and churches, moor at sunset, and step off after breakfast. The one thing every Kerala trip is planned around.
- Thekkady and Periyar: The Periyar lake boat through the tiger reserve, elephants on the bank if you are early, a spice-garden walk and a Kathakali or Kalaripayattu show in the evening; the middle night of the classic circuit.
- Fort Kochi: The Chinese fishing nets, St Francis church, Mattancherry Palace and the Jew Town spice warehouses, walkable in an afternoon at the start or end of the trip.
- Varkala: A red cliff above a long beach with cafes along its top, the Janardanaswamy temple and a calmer sea than Kovalam; the beach most couples choose.
- Kovalam: Three crescent beaches below a lighthouse, 15 km from Thiruvananthapuram airport, with the most resorts on the coast and the easiest flight home.
- Kumarakom: The quieter side of the Vembanad lake, with the bird sanctuary, lakeside resorts and the same houseboats as Alleppey from a less crowded jetty.
- Athirappilly Falls: The largest waterfall in Kerala, 80 m wide in the monsoon, an hour off the Kochi to Munnar road; fullest from July to October.
- Wayanad: Edakkal caves, Banasura Sagar, Chembra peak and Muthanga safaris in the north, six hours from Bengaluru by road; the Kerala that works as a road trip.
- Guruvayur: The Krishna temple near Thrissur, one of the most visited in Kerala, with the elephant sanctuary at Punnathur Kotta beside it; on the temple yatras.
- Marari beach: A fishing village beach 15 km from Alleppey with a handful of resorts and no cliff, cafes or crowd; the quiet alternative for the night after the houseboat.
- Bekal Fort: The largest fort in Kerala, on the sea in the far north near Kasaragod, with a beach below and the film-famous rampart; a stop on a Mangalore or Kasaragod route rather than the classic circuit.
Opening hours and tickets
Houseboats board at noon and return by 9 am the next morning, which is why the Alleppey day is planned around lunch on board. The Periyar lake boat runs in fixed slots from early morning to mid-afternoon and the first boat is the one for wildlife; tickets are sold by the forest department and sell out in season. Eravikulam at Munnar closes for calving, usually February and March. Mattancherry Palace is closed on Fridays and the Fort Kochi Chinese nets are worked in the early morning and at sunset.
What to eat
Appam with stew or puttu and kadala for breakfast, a sadya on a banana leaf at lunch, Kerala parotta with beef fry, karimeen pollichathu on the houseboat, Malabar biryani in the north and toddy-shop fish curry near Alleppey. The houseboat crew cooks every meal on board; resorts in Munnar and Thekkady serve dinner because the towns close early. Banana chips, Munnar tea and spices from Thekkady are the things to carry home.