South India Holiday With Kerala Backwaters

Kochi, also known as Cochin, is a port city on India's southwest coast. When you arrive at the Kochi airport, our representative will greet you and accompany you to your hotel before giving you a brief overview of your upcoming visits. The remainder of the day is left free for you.

Explore Kochi with highlight visits to Fort Kochi, the Dutch Palace, St. Francis Church, and the Jewish Synagogue in Jew Town. After that, move to the harbor to watch local fishermen using old Chinese fishing nets to catch fish. In the evening, at an extra cost, you can enjoy Kerala's signature performance of Kathakali, a classical form of dance, drama, and music that is more than 400 years old.

Drive for about 4 hours to Munnar, South India's largest tea-growing region and a popular honeymoon destination. On your arrival, check in and enjoy the remainder of the day at leisure, so you can simply relax or explore the locality around your hotel.

Start your full-day adventure in Munnar. You will stroll through the emerald green tea plantations, which are contoured, clipped, and sculpted like ornamental hedges. No one will return home without tasting or shopping for tea, the essence of Munnar. Just immerse yourself in some of the world's best and most renowned tea estates.

Take a morning drive, about 3.5 hours, to Periyar Tiger Reserve. Check in as soon as you arrive, stroll through the spice plantations with a local naturalist, and learn their various uses in medicine and food. In the late afternoon, enjoy a shared boat ride on Periyar Lake at the heart of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, during which you will have a chance to encounter the wildlife on the bank.

Head for Alleppey by car for about 3.5 hours. After arrival, embark on your houseboat and cruise on the world-famous backwaters of Kerala. Along the way, you will see cashew nuts, coir trade, and coconuts, giving you a chance to observe the Alleppey people's rural lifestyle. Enjoy lunch and dinner on the houseboat and you will feel like being one with nature.

Have breakfast on the houseboat, and then disembark at Alleppey and leave for Kovalam by car (about 4 hours), a beach town by the Arabian Sea.

After arrival, spend the rest of the day at your leisure. A variety of activities are provided for you to choose from such as sunbathing on the beach, swimming, herbal body toning massages, special cultural programs, and catamaran cruising.

Soak up the amazing seascape and relax on the white beaches. There will be no car or guide today, and all is up to you.

A full day of relaxation will give you a further chance to step into Kovalam. You can stay at the hotel, take an excursion to Cape Comorin on the southernmost tip of India, or visit the famous Amman Temple.

It is time to say goodbye to India today. Enjoy a leisurely morning, then our representative will transfer you to the airport in Trivandrum, from where you can connect your flight back home.