Kerala Tour
Kerala in eight days, at a human pace.
Fort Kochi’s five-century-old fishing nets, Munnar’s tea hills at 1,600 m (5,250 ft), the spice forests of Thekkady and a night afloat on the backwaters — one car, one driver, your own pace. We arrange it from our office in Himachal and stay your single point of contact; the best months are October to February.
- 8 days Kochi · Munnar · Thekkady · backwaters
- Oct – Feb the months we recommend
- Private car one driver for the whole trip
- 20% deposit full refund within 48 h
What does a Kerala tour look like for a first-time visitor?
A classic Kerala tour takes 7–10 days in a private car with a driver: Fort Kochi (1–2 nights), the tea hills of Munnar at 1,600 m (2 nights), Thekkady’s Periyar Tiger Reserve (2 nights) and a night on a houseboat in the backwaters near Alappuzha, ending back at Kochi airport. Go between October and February. Suzu Travels arranges it with a US-dollar quote; a 20% deposit locks your dates.
The route: a loop from Kochi, hills first, water last
Kerala’s three international airports are Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode; many visitors fly into Kochi, and this loop starts and ends there. We go up to the hills first, while you are fresh, and keep the slow houseboat night for the end.
Kochi → Munnar (119 km / 74 mi from the airport) → Thekkady → Alappuzha backwaters (125 km / 78 mi from Thekkady) → Kochi airport (83 km / 52 mi). Official road distances; hill roads are slow, so we plan half-days for each drive.
Eight days in Kerala, day by day
A sample we build from. Swap a night, add a beach, or join it to the Golden Triangle — the quote changes, the pace stays human.
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DAY 1Arrive Kochi
Your driver meets you at Cochin International Airport (name, photo and car number shared with you before the trip). Drive to Fort Kochi, 10 km (6 mi) from Ernakulam town, and settle in. If you land early: a walk to the Chinese fishing nets at sunset.
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DAY 2Fort Kochi and Mattancherry
A day on foot and by car: the Chinese fishing nets at Vasco da Gama Square, St. Francis Church — India’s oldest European church — Santa Cruz Basilica, Mattancherry Palace and the Jewish Synagogue. In the evening, a Kathakali performance (we book the seats; arrive early to watch the make-up).
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DAY 3Kochi → Munnar
About 119 km (74 mi) from the airport side of the city, climbing through rubber and spice country into tea. Munnar sits at 1,600 m (5,250 ft) where three rivers meet; tea was first planted here in 1880. Afternoon walk among the tea bushes; nights can be close to freezing in winter — pack a layer.
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DAY 4Munnar: tea, tahr and the high road
Eravikulam National Park (97 sq km / 37 sq mi), home of the endangered Nilgiri tahr, beneath Anamudi, at 2,695 m (8,842 ft) the highest peak in South India. A tea-estate visit to see how the leaf becomes your morning cup. The rare Neelakurinji flowers here only once in twelve years — ask us whether your year is one.
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DAY 5Munnar → Thekkady
A half-day drive through the cardamom hills to Thekkady, at 900–1,800 m (2,950–5,900 ft). The slopes grow cardamom, pepper, vanilla, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, tea and coffee; a spice-garden walk in the afternoon explains what you have been smelling all day.
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DAY 6Thekkady: Periyar Tiger Reserve
The reserve covers 777 sq km (300 sq mi) of forest around a 26 sq km (10 sq mi) lake. A two-hour boat trip, arranged by the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation, is the classic way to watch elephants, gaur, sambar and otters from a safe distance; March and April give the best chances as animals come to the water. Tigers are rarely seen — we never promise one.
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DAY 7Thekkady → the backwaters, houseboat night
125 km (78 mi) west, about 3 hours, to Alappuzha — “the Venice of the East”. Board a kettuvallam, a traditional rice barge rebuilt as a houseboat with bedrooms, a living deck and a kitchen; your crew cooks lunch, dinner and breakfast on board. The boat moors for the night on the backwaters, a 900 km (560 mi) network of canals, rivers and lakes around Kuttanad, one of the few places in the world below sea level.
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DAY 8Backwaters → Kochi airport
Breakfast on the water, then about 83 km (52 mi) and 2 hours to Cochin International Airport. Flying on to Delhi for the Golden Triangle, or home? We plan the departure time around your flight, with a margin.
When to go: two monsoons and a short, perfect winter
Kerala has two rainy seasons, not one. Kerala Tourism’s own guidance, in plain words:
October – February: go
Kerala Tourism calls November–February the peak season with pleasant weather, October–February the best time for houseboat cruises, and November–February the pleasant months in Munnar and Thekkady. December–February are the mildest days on the coast.
June – September: the big monsoon
The south-west monsoon arrives in June and brings most of the year’s rain — Munnar’s region averages 275 cm (108 in). Green and dramatic, but the UK Foreign Office warns of flash flooding and landslides that can occur with limited warning during the monsoon.
October – November: the second monsoon
The north-east monsoon brings rain in October and November. Showers are usually shorter; we build October trips with a flexible day.
March – May: hot and humid
Coast and midlands sit at 25–36 °C (77–97 °F) and the humidity peaks. The hills stay cooler — Thekkady reaches about 30 °C (86 °F) in April–May — and it is the best season for wildlife at the Periyar lake.
What the houseboat really is
A kettuvallam — “kettu” dwelling, “vallam” boat — was a cargo barge: jack-wood planks tied together with coir rope and sealed with a resin of boiled cashew kernels, carrying up to 30 tons of rice and spices from Kuttanad to the port of Kochi. When trucks took the cargo, the boats took guests. Today a houseboat has one to three furnished bedrooms with modern toilets, a living deck and a kitchen; most are poled along the canals, some have a small engine. Alappuzha alone has as many as 500 of them, so the boat you get matters.
We book boats with proper safety equipment and a crew that cooks on board; the exact boat, check-in and check-out times are confirmed in your quote (typically a lunchtime check-in and a late-morning check-out). Expect quiet: the boats moor for the night, and the sound is frogs and water.
What's included — and what isn't
Included
Private air-conditioned car and the same English-speaking driver for all 8 days, fuel, tolls, parking and state taxes; 6 hotel nights with breakfast in the tier you choose; 1 houseboat night with all meals on board; airport pick-up and drop.
Not included
International and domestic flights, the India e-Visa, entry tickets (Eravikulam, the Periyar boat, museums, Kathakali), lunches and dinners off the boat, tips. We can pre-book the tickets and the Kathakali seats in the same quote.
Cars
Sedan for 2–3 travellers, SUV for 4–6, a minibus for groups. The hill roads to Munnar and Thekkady are narrow and winding — we use SUVs there for families.
How Kerala is run
Our team runs North India from Himachal; in Kerala we arrange the car, hotels and houseboat with local operators we have worked with and stay your single point of contact from the first message to the airport drop. Who you deal with is a registered travel agent with a real office, not a marketplace.
Practical notes for Kerala
Visa
Apply yourself for the India e-Visa at the official site indianvisaonline.gov.in — beware look-alike sites that charge extra. We are not a visa agency; our e-Visa guide walks you through it.
Safety, from the UK Foreign Office
Avoid travelling at night. Be cautious in tourist areas, where scammers, pickpockets and ticket touts target foreign nationals. Women travelling alone: avoid isolated areas, including beaches, at any time of day. On the coast there are strong currents and most beaches have no flags or lifeguards. Your driver, our office WhatsApp number and daytime drives are how we plan around this.
Health
Consult your doctor or an official travel-health site (CDC, NHS Fit for Travel) before you go; Kerala Tourism advises travel insurance. Munnar nights can be cold in winter; the coast is humid all year — carry water, sunscreen and insect repellent.
Culture
Dress modestly at temples, churches and mosques; ask before photographing people. English is common in tourist areas. Tipping is not mandatory; your quote tells you what is customary for the driver and the boat crew.
Kerala with the Golden Triangle — the classic two-week India
Many first-time visitors join these 8 days to a Golden Triangle tour: Delhi, Agra and Jaipur in the North for 4–6 days, then a flight to Kochi for the green South. The two halves feel like different countries, which is the point.
If you prefer one car for the whole of North India instead, see how our private car with driver works, or start with a Taj Mahal day from Delhi.
Prices
The 8-day Kerala tour is quoted on request: it depends on the hotel tier, the houseboat category, the car and the month. You receive a day-by-day plan with a US-dollar total and what it covers before you pay anything.
| Option | From | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Kerala — 8 days / 7 nights (this itinerary) | on request | Private car and driver throughout, 6 hotel nights with breakfast, 1 houseboat night with meals, airport transfers; tickets and Kathakali on request |
| Golden Triangle — 4 days (Delhi, Agra, Jaipur) | from US$299 | Per person, two sharing: private air-conditioned car and driver, hotels with breakfast, airport pick-up and drop, local guides at the main monuments |
Prices are per person in US dollars, indicative for the season shown, and confirmed on your quote. Taxes included; international flights excluded.
Booking terms (20% deposit, 48-hour refund window) are stated once, under Plan it with a local.
Questions travellers ask
How many days do you need for a Kerala tour?
Seven to ten. The classic loop — Fort Kochi, Munnar, Thekkady and a houseboat night near Alappuzha — fits comfortably in 8 days; with 10 you can add a beach or Kumarakom. Fewer than 6 days means skipping either the hills or the backwaters.
When is the best time to visit Kerala?
October to February. Kerala Tourism names November–February as the peak season with pleasant weather, October–February as the best months for houseboat cruises and the hill stations, and December–February as the mildest on the coast. June–September is the big south-west monsoon; October–November brings shorter north-east monsoon showers.
Is a Kerala houseboat worth it?
For many of our guests it is the night they talk about. A kettuvallam is a converted rice barge with bedrooms, a living deck and a crew that cooks on board; it moors for the night on the backwaters. One night is the right amount for most itineraries — the boats are slow by design.
Munnar or Thekkady — which one if I have less time?
Munnar for landscapes: tea hills at 1,600 m (5,250 ft), cool nights and the Nilgiri tahr at Eravikulam. Thekkady for wildlife and spices: the 777 sq km Periyar Tiger Reserve, the lake boat trip and spice gardens. With 6 days we keep Munnar and go straight from there to the backwaters.
Is Kerala safe for foreign tourists?
Kerala Tourism describes the state as generally safe for travellers who stay aware of their surroundings, and the UK Foreign Office’s India advice applies: avoid travelling at night, watch for scammers and touts in tourist areas, and women alone should avoid isolated areas, including beaches. Strong currents make many beaches unsafe for swimming. A private car with the same driver for the whole trip removes most of the day-to-day friction.
How do I get from Kochi airport to Munnar?
By road — Cochin International Airport is about 119 km (74 mi) from Munnar, the nearest airport to it. There is no railway to Munnar (the nearest station is Ernakulam, about 120 km away). On our itinerary your driver takes you up after a day or two in Fort Kochi.
Can I combine Kerala with the Golden Triangle?
Yes, and it is the classic two-week India: Delhi, Agra and Jaipur for 4–6 days, then a flight to Kochi for these 8 days. We quote both halves together and arrange the internal flight.
How much does a Kerala tour cost, and how do I pay from abroad?
The 8-day tour is quoted on request, because hotel tier, houseboat category, car and month change the total; you get a US-dollar quote with a day-by-day plan first. A 20% deposit locks your dates, with a full refund if you cancel within 48 hours of paying; pay by card through Razorpay (international cards accepted) or PayPal, and the balance before the trip.
Tell us your month — we'll plan Kerala around it
Your dates, how many of you, the hotel tier you like and whether you want to add the Golden Triangle or a beach. You get a day-by-day plan and a US-dollar quote, then decide.
We usually reply within 2 hours, 9 am–9 pm IST (UTC+5:30). Email info@suzutravels.com if you don’t use WhatsApp.
Booking: A 20% deposit locks your dates and price. Full refund if you cancel within 48 hours of paying. Pay by card (Razorpay, international cards accepted) or PayPal; the balance is due before the trip.
Your message goes only to the Suzu Travels team in Himachal and is used only to answer your enquiry — we do not sell or share it. Privacy policy.
Keep exploring
Sources
- Kerala Tourism — Munnar (altitude, tea history, Eravikulam, Neelakurinji)
- Kerala Tourism — Munnar location and distances (Cochin airport 119 km)
- Kerala Tourism — Thekkady and the Periyar Tiger Reserve
- Kerala Tourism — Periyar lake boat safari
- Kerala Tourism — Alappuzha, backwaters and the Nehru Trophy race
- Kerala Tourism — the kettuvallam houseboat
- Kerala Tourism — Fort Kochi
- Kerala Tourism — climate of Kerala (two monsoons)
- Kerala Tourism — 20 things to know before you visit
- Alappuzha District Administration — how to reach (road distances)
- UK FCDO — India travel advice: safety and security
- India e-Visa — the only official site
Written by the Suzu Travels team in Himachal Pradesh, India. Facts checked 18 Oct 2026. Prices, visa rules and road conditions change — we re-check this page regularly; ask us before you book.
