A guide on Kerala tour planning10 May 2013, 11:05

Dear all,

Thought of sharing an article written for tourists who are in the planning stage of Kerala tour.

This tour planning guide is written to have an in-depth understanding of all the points to be known/taking care during planning stage of a great Kerala experience.

• Before going with any details, finalize number of days you can spend in Kerala.

• If leave from office is not the major concern, have an understanding of different tourist spots and as per your interests freeze number of days you can spend in Kerala. Finalize on arrival and departure dates in both cases

• You can book tickets upto Cochin or to Trivandrum. Cochin is advisable at most of the times and book upto Trivandrum only if the first destination is Kanyakumari or Kovalam. For Wayanad you may book upto Calicut

• If you are booking bus, book upto Ernakulam as Cochin is also known as Ernakulam. For train ERN or ERS is the code for Ernakulam and for flight COK. Note cochin airport is 20km away from city

• Try to reach cochin as early as possible to cover maximum tourist spots

• Before booking return trip, finalize the Itinerary as you can have the option of return from Trivandrum if last destination is Kovalam or Kanyakumari and Calicut if last destination is Wayanad

• A small understanding of major tourist places would help you to decide on this

South Kerala or Central Kerala

• Cochin – Most of the time you land here, do cochin sightseeing on same day or you can do this on last day

• Munnar – Munnar is a hill station, 135km from cochin

• Thekkady – Periyar wild life sanctuary is at Thekkady. You have the options of adventurous activities/eco-tourism activities here

• Alleppey/Kumarakom – Houseboat cruise is at Alleppey or Kumarakom, you can even have a resort stay here

• Trivandrum- Capital of Kerala

• Kovalam - Beaches

• Kanyakumari – Try to visit this place if you have enough time

• Athirapilly Vazhachal – Water falls

• Cherai – A good beach near cochin

• Guruvayoor – The famous Sree Krishna temple is at Guruvayoor

Northern Kerala

• Wayanad, another famous tourist spot in Kerala is at Northern part of Kerala

Planning an Itinerary

List the places you like from above list and go through each destination in detail from below post. An itinerary can be prepared successfully once you finalize places of visit, number of nights at each destination and total number of days you can spend in Kerala.

Cochin:

This used to be the place you land in Kerala, most of the times. A full day cochin tour is worth doing and go for it if you have enough days to spend in Kerala. Move towards next destinations like Munnar, Thekkady, Alleppey if you are short of time and do cochin sightseeing on last day

1. Munnar is 4.5hrs drive from Cochin, Thekkady is 5hrs drive, Alleppey is 2hrs, Guruvayoor 2hrs and Athirapilly vazhachal is also 2hrs from cochin

2. If your first destination is Kovalam or Kanyakumari try to land at Trivandrum itself or a hectic travel of 6 to 7hrs is not advisable from Cochin

3. If you are planning for Houseboat on day of arrival itself, make sure you reach Alleppey by 12Noon itself, which means you need to arrive cochin maximum by 9AM

4. If your arrival is in evening, say after 4PM try to stay at cochin itself and move to next destination next day. You can get good hotels near to airport or railway station and can save on travelling cost also

5. If your stay is at cochin itself on day of arrival, and if you are reaching early morning make sure necessary arrangements are done and prior information is passed on. Most of the hotels has check in time 12Noon, on request hoteliers may allow for early check in depends on availability. But make sure this is communicated properly

Munnar:

Munnar is a must see place if you are in Kerala. The place has excellent climate through out the year.

For Munnar trip, make sure you have minimum of 2 night stay, rushing with 1 night stay is not a good idea for Munnar trip.

On first day itself you have lot of sightseeing spots, small water falls on the way to Munnar and normally you reach Munnar by evening if you enjoy everything on the way. Second full day is required to cover complete Munnar

While booking hotels in Munnar, make sure the location is as per your preferences. Munnar has good hotels with in the radius of 30km from city

If you are a person who with to stay in city, book accordingly or if you would like to enjoy the nature book a hotel little away from city

If the hotel is not in city, always have food/shopping and move to hotel. Driving back from hotel to city in the night is not advisable and you may find it difficult to drive with fog and terrain of roads

Second day can be dedicated for Munnar sightseeing and can cover most of the places. If you really want to relax extend one more day

Next destinations from Munnar can be Thekkady, Alleppey or Cochin. Moving to Kovalam from Munnar is not a good idea as travelling time would be minimum 10hrs

If you are planning to move to cochin to catch return flight/train try to leave atleast 6hrs in advance from Munnar

Thekkady: The famous Periyar wild life sanctuary is at Thekkady. Thekkady has lot of adventurous activities and eco tourism activities. There are lot of actvities like Kathakali, Martial arts, Magic, Musical fountain, elephant shower, elephant bath, tribal dance, spice tour at Thekkady. You can do Ayurveda massage also. Must do is to go for boating at Thekkady along Periyar river. You may be able to watch wild animals during this boating.

Wild life sanctuary, Mullaperiyar dam and wild animals can be seen only during this boating and you do not have the option of using your vehicle.

To book ticket for boating either you need to be in queue or need to do advance booking. At present normal ticket cost 150/- per person and advance booking at 500/-. For advance booking you may contact Lake palace hotel at Thekkady. Boat timings are at 7.30AM, 9.30AM, 11.15AM, 1.45PM and 3.30PM, boating is for 1.5hrs. If you are not an adventurous person a one night stay is sufficient and go for 2 night stay if you want to experience adventurous activities or to take rest or to do above activities in a relax mood.

Adventurous activities like Gavi tour which includes jeep safari, trekking, bamboo rafting etc. can be done. You can even go for nature walk, night patrolling at Thekkady.

Once Thekkady sightseeing is completed you have the option of moving to Cochin, Munnar, Alleppey, Madurai (Tamil Nadu), Kodaikkanal. Direct drive to Kovalam from Thekkady is not a good idea due to hectic travelling

Alleppey Houseboats: Houseboats at Alleppey is a one time life experience. You can take either full day 21hrs cruise or morning cruise for 5 to 6hrs depends on your time and preferences. A full day cruise normally includes lunch, dinner, tea, snacks and breakfast and the food is prepared inside boat itself. Check in time for full day cruise is at 12Noon and check out at 9AM next day. Until mentioned note that for A/C boats A/C operates only from 9PM to 5.30AM. During the cruise ask them to anchor the boat in middle of lake for some time to enjoy the beauty of lake. During night boat will be anchored only near to shore and can not drive from 6PM to 7AM. You will watch paddy fields, canals, backwaters during this trip

Resorts at Alleppey/Kumarakom: You can have option of resorts also at Alleppey for relaxation. You can even go for a morning cruise during this stay and can enjoy Alleppey beach in the evening. Try to select this resort as per your interest, some resorts will be swimming pool, pedal boat and can do fishing also

From Alleppey you can plan Kovalam, Kanyakumari, Thekkady, Munnar, Guruvayoor, Cochin

Varkala: Varkala is in between Alleppey and Trivandrum and has clean beach. This place is good for those who want to relax

Trivandrum/Kovalam: At Trivandrum you can visit the famous Sree Padmanabha swamy temple, Museums, art gallery, Zoo etc. While visiting temple make sure you carry required dress to get inside. Temple timings are between 5 to 11 in morning and 3 to 6 in evening. You may stay at Kovalam after Trivandrum sightseeing and at Kovalam you can enjoy beaches and make sure you have atleast 2 night stay here so that first day can be dedicated for Trivandrum sightseeing and second at Kovalam. You may even visit Poovar during your stay at Kovalam.

If your last destination is Trivandrum /Kovalam try to book return ticket from Trivandrum else you need to drive back to Cochin which takes minimum of 7hrs by road and you normally stop for food/rest in between. Books return ticket accordingly.

Kanyakumari: If you are travelling upto Kovalam/Trivandrum try to spend one night at Kanyakumari also so that you can see sunset and sunrise. Kanyakumari is 90km from Kovalam and is at the southern tip of India

Guruvayoor temple: Guruvayoor is where the famous Sree Krishna temple located. This place is 80km from cochin towards north west. This temple has an elephant sanctuary also where you can see more than 60 elephants.

Athirapilly Vazhachal water falls: This place is 70km from cochin and is the biggest water falls in Kerala. If you have enough time in Kerala, do consider visiting this place also

Cherai Beach: A beach 30km from cochin

Wayanad: Wayanad is 300km from Cochin towards north. If this is your first destination try to book ticket till Calicut. You should have 3 night stay if you are planning Wayanad and book return ticket from Calicut if this is your last destination in Kerala. Wayanad to cochin would take approximately 8hrs.

With above details you should be able to decide on destinations to be covered and number of nights required at each place. Go through below routing, skip those places you don’t want to visit and prepare your Itinerary with ease.

For Cochin pick up

1. Cochin – Munnar (135 km) –Thekkady (110 km) –Alleppey resort (160 km) – Alleppey Houseboat –– Cochin (80 km)

2. Cochin – Munnar (135 km) – Thekkady (110 km) – Alleppey resort (160 km) – Alleppey Houseboat – Varkala (80km) – Kanyakumari (150km) – Trivandrum/Kovalam (90km) – Cochin (230km)

3. Cochin –Alleppey resort (80 km) – –Alleppey Houseboat –– Kanyakumari (210 km) –– Trivandrum/Kovalam (90 km) –– Cochin(230 km)

4. Cochin –– Munnar (135 km) –– Thekkady (110 km) –– Alleppey resort(160 km) –Alleppey Houseboat –– Cochin (80 km) –– Guruvayoor(90 km) –– Athirapilly vazhachal (140 km) –– Cochin(70 km)

5. Cochin –– Wayanad (300 km) –– Cochin(300 km) –– Munnar (135 km) –– Thekkady (110 km) –– Alleppey resort (160 km) – Alleppey Houseboat –– Varkala (80 km) –– Kanyakumari (150 km) –– Trivandrum/Kovalam (90 km) – Cochin (230km)

If arrival is at Trivandrum

6. Trivandrum/Kovalam –– Kanyakumari(90 km) –– Varkala (150 km) –– Alleppey Houseboat (80 km) –Alleppey resort –– Thekkady(160 km) – Munnar– (110 km) –– Cochin(135 km)

Selecting Vehicle: select vehicle depends number of people travelling and luggage. Indica is good only if maximum of 3 people are travelling. If more than 3 people are travelling India will not have space to carry luggage as this vehicle does not have boot space and getting vehicle with carrier is difficult. Climbing the hills with 4 people will be difficult for a vehicle like Indica. Try Indigo if you want better luxury and Tavera is suggested if 4 or more people are travelling. Inova can be opted for better luxury. If number of people travelling is more than 7 go for traveller and you can get traveller with 12, 14, 17, 19 seats and for groups 27 seater, 35 seater and 49 seater vehicles are also available

Luggage/Cash/ID card: Carry minimal ornaments and luggage. You find lot of ATM everywhere and carry minimum cash with you. Do carry ID card of every person who travels and ID card is required at the time of check in to hotels.

I hope this article helps you in planning your Kerala trip and to decide the itinerary.

mportant Tips for Kerala Tour Packages

02 February 2012, 22:21

My goal is to make this thread a very rich resource when it comes to touring Kerala in the best possible way. I have listed round 10 tips that we have gained over the years of experience and this should help any prospective traveller who wants to visit Kerala , especially if you are touring for the first time. If you have also visited Kerala and there are some tips you want to add please feel free to add.

1.Please don't organise the houseboat trip on the first day of your arrival unless you are reaching before 10 AM.

The houseboat trip starts at 12 Noon and the boats anchor at 5:30 PM which means that you have very less time for cruising in the backwaters.If you want to enjoy this houseboat cruise to the maximum, it is better to arrive by 12 Noon in Alleppey or Kumarakom . If you are coming by 2 PM and is opting for a houseboat cruise on the same day by the time you reach the boarding point, the cruise will be over and it will be a rather forgettable experience instead of the unforgettable lifelong memory that you would have craved for.

2. Kochi is a beautiful city and has a rich cultural heritage, but you will enjoy the sightseeing only if you take and evening flight.

A mix of old colonial houses built by the Portuguese, Dutch and British in these colonial periods line the streets of Fort Kochi which tells us that history is a mute witness that testifies with time and there are added attractions like St Francis Church was built in 1503 by the Portuguese, Santa Cruz Basilica, also built by the Portuguese in the 1500, pre-colonial Chinese fishing nets on the waterfront and so on. If you want to enjoy all these just make a slight adjustment to your itinerary and take an evening flight. One day after checkout from houseboat is good enough to cover most of these attractions. Plan it well to enjoy the same.

3. Reserve two nights for Munnar to enjoy the green tea gardens. One day for hurry burry sightseeing in Munnar will only give you a forgettable experience

Munnar is around 140 kilometers from Kochi and the road to Munnar from Kochi or Coimbatore has windy hills and hairpin curves with a vomitting sensation . What about starting early in a day, reaching Munnar by noon and hurrying back by the evening, You may not enjoy it , right?. That is why you should reserve at least 2 nights in Munnar. Going to Munnar itself will take 1 day as there are some nice waterfalls to take a break in between

kochi and munnar as well. Do your sightseeing on next day so that it is an enjoyable experience overall.Rsereve 2 days/ 2 nights minimum for Munnar.

4. Don't reach the Kochi airport after 4 PM and then proceed to Munnar.

This is another common mistake, If you have reserved for 2 nights in Munnar but you are reaching a flight that reaches Kochi airport after 4 PM and then proceeding to Munnar. If you do this you will miss taking a break at all those nice waterfalls that I mentioned in the above post . So arrive at least by 2 PM and proceed to Munnar

5. You arrive by an international flight at midnight and then proceed to Fort Kochi.

Please understand that Kochi is at least 40 Kms away from the airport and after arriving at an international flight in Kochi airport no point in proceeding to Fort Kochi. Stay at one of the airport hotels and save on your time and take some well needed rest. Proceed to Fort Kochi on the next day.

6.Your last day is in Kovalam and you plan to return from Kochi for the return flight.

No point in driving all the way back to Kochi after sightseeing in Kovalam the previous night. Instead of that plan for a return flight fromTrivandrum and save on the time and enjoy some sightseeing in Trivandrum including palaces and one of the richest temples in India

7.Do not forget to put off your shoes before entering into a temple.

Temple/ Church is a holi place. Please respect the same and do not forget to put off your shoes before entering any holi place like a temple or church. Please respect to the culture and heritage of the land.Whatever season you choose to visit it's wise to bring appropriate clothing, bearing in mind that skimpy outfits not only risk over-exposure to the harmful effects of the sun but also risk offending locals who are devoutly religious and observe strict codes of moral conduct.

8.It's a good idea to learn a few Malayalam words to secure better understanding.

You will smile when you say these Malayalam words below, but people who listen to you will also smile and it is a nice feeling overall if you give it a try :)

Hello

Namasthe / Namaskaaram

How are you?

Sukhamalle?

Fine

Sukham thanne

Water

Vellam

9. Dont pack too much of Kerala in two few days.

An all-in-one trip doesn’t afford any true exposure to what Kerala has to offer . You need to enjoy each experience in Kerala - be it houseboats, elephant rides, colonial homestays in fort kochi, the kathakali show and so many other things. Take a break from life in Kerala and enjoy each of these instead of spending your time inside the cab.

10. Take the complimentary pickup/ drop if you are staying near an airport hotel.

Most of the hotels and especially hotels near airport will offer a complimentary pickup and drop. Save some money and time by opting for these, however do ensure that you book rooms in advance and you tell them about your flight plans as well.

Hope this Helps.

Enjoy your stay in Kerala :) and do let us know if this was helpful.

Cheerz :)

Iris Holidays Team