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South India Special — 7 nights through Cochin, Thekkady and Kumarakom.
This one costs more per night than our other Kerala weeks, and it is worth saying why rather than hoping you do not notice. There are three bases instead of six, so you unpack and stay put: Cochin for the old town, then Spice Village at Thekkady and Coconut Lagoon at Kumarakom, both 5-star properties the supplier names, which is unusual enough that we are happy to print it. A yoga session and a massage are included at each of the two, and there is a full day cruise with lunch on the Kumarakom backwaters.
What you give up is ground covered. There is no houseboat night and no run down to the far south, and after the drive to Thekkady on day three you are never more than four hours from where you slept. What you get instead is time: two afternoons at leisure, a boat safari on Periyar Lake, a spice plantation, and a day on the water that ends where it started. If your idea of a holiday involves repacking a suitcase every second morning, book one of the other two. If it does not, this is the one.
One private car and driver, three bases and four drives. The longest leg is five and a half hours up to Thekkady.
Most itineraries give Mattancherry and Jew Town a hurried morning before a drive. Here you have the full day, which is enough to look properly at the painted palace walls, the hand-painted tiles on the synagogue floor and the two old churches, and still stop for a long lunch. The streets are flat and shaded, which helps.
The lake was made by flooding a valley and the trunks of the drowned forest are still standing in it, which makes for a strange and quiet hour on the water. Keep an eye on the banks. In the afternoon you walk a spice plantation where cardamom, pepper and cloves grow under shade, and the smell does most of the explaining.
A full day cruise from Kumarakom out onto the biggest lake in Kerala and back into the canals, with lunch served on the boat. The banks narrow until you are passing through people's gardens at walking pace. Then you come back to the same room, which is the whole idea of this itinerary.
A yoga session, a massage, and then a free day at Coconut Lagoon on the edge of the lake. No drive, no monument, no early start. It is the clearest difference between this itinerary and a tour that covers more ground.
November to February is the pick, with March still comfortable. Thekkady is noticeably cooler than the coast all year. April and May are hot and humid, and the monsoon runs June to September.
Arrive Cochin
Met at the airport and driven to the hotel, with rooms from 1400. Nothing planned, which is how the first day of a long-haul holiday should read.
Cochin
A guided day in the old town: the Dutch Palace at Mattancherry with its painted Ramayana walls, the synagogue at the end of Jew Town, St Francis Church, where Vasco da Gama was first buried, and Santa Cruz Basilica. It is a walkable set of streets, and with a whole day you can do it slowly and sit down for lunch properly.
Cochin to Thekkady
180 km / 5.5 hrs
The one long drive of the week, inland and uphill into the Cardamom Hills. Check in at Spice Village and spend what is left of the day there; the air at this altitude is a noticeable improvement on the coast.
Thekkady
A boat safari on Periyar Lake, where the dead standing trees mark the valley that was flooded to make it, and the banks are worth watching for elephant and gaur. In the afternoon, a spice plantation: cardamom, pepper and cloves growing in the shade. Your included yoga session and massage fit around the two.
Thekkady to Kumarakom
140 km / 4 hrs
Back down to the water and into Coconut Lagoon at Kumarakom, on the edge of Vembanad Lake. A yoga session and a massage are included here, and the rest of the day is at leisure.
Kumarakom
A full day cruise on the backwaters with lunch served on board - out onto Vembanad, then into the narrower canals where the banks are close enough to see what is being cooked for somebody else's lunch. You are back at the same hotel by evening.
Kumarakom
Your second yoga session and massage, and then a free day. This is the day people tell us afterwards they would not give up.
Kumarakom to Cochin airport
90 km / 2.5 hrs
A two and a half hour drive to Cochin for the flight home. Give us your timings and the driver will set off accordingly.
We price the land arrangements and your flights together, then come back with one number. No deposit is taken on the call and nothing is booked until you say so.
Prefer to talk? Call 0203 668 2943 and ask for the India tours desk, or message us on WhatsApp.
No - this is a land-only price covering the hotels, the car and driver, transfers, the Periyar boat, the Kumarakom day cruise with lunch, the yoga and massage sessions and the city guiding. We quote UK flights separately so we can fit the airline and airport to you.
Yes. British passport holders need an Indian visa before travel and most apply online for the e-visa. The application is yours to make; we will give you the hotel and itinerary details the form asks for. Allow a few weeks.
Because of where you sleep and how little you move. It works out at roughly GBP111 a night against about GBP65 on the other two, and what that buys is two named 5-star properties, three bases rather than six, four included spa and yoga sessions, and a day cruise with lunch. If the per-night figure matters more than the rooms, the shorter Kerala week is better value.
No. This itinerary has a full day cruise from Kumarakom with lunch on board and then returns you to the hotel, so you keep the same room all week. If a night on a rice barge is the thing you came for, look at our other two Kerala itineraries instead.
One yoga session and one massage at each of Thekkady and Kumarakom, four in total, arranged at the hotel. They are included in the price, booked at the property once you arrive, and no experience is needed for the yoga. Anything beyond those four sessions is payable locally.
Humid at Cochin and Kumarakom for most of the year, and noticeably less so up at Thekkady, which sits in the hills. December to February is the easiest stretch; April and May are hot and sticky, and the southwest monsoon runs roughly June to September. Mosquito repellent for the evenings is not optional on the backwaters.
Prices shown are the supplier’s published “from” price for the land arrangements only, per person on a twin-share basis, and vary by date, hotel grade and party size. International flights are quoted separately. The route map is an illustration of the order of stops, not an accurate map. Patel Travel is ATOL 74904 and IATA accredited. Tours are operated by our ground partner in India; your confirmation will state who is responsible for your booking.
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