Two people on a boat on the Kerala backwaters at first light

Kerala · 7 Days

Kerala Backwaters & Ayurveda

Fort Kochi, then three nights on the Kumarakom backwaters with an overnight houseboat. Two clifftop nights at Varkala close it, with time for Ayurveda.

Day by Day

7 Days, In Full

This is the slow, restorative version of Kerala. It starts in Fort Kochi, then gives three full nights to Kumarakom: the bird sanctuary, the village canals by country canoe, and an overnight on a private houseboat. The second half moves south to Varkala, the one place on this coast where cliffs meet the sea. Two nights on the clifftop leave room for a proper course of Ayurveda rather than a single token session. It is the route we book most for honeymooners and for anyone who wants water, not monuments.

Kochi

Arrival in Kochi — Fort Kochi & the Spice Quarter

Your driver meets you at Cochin airport. The road runs out to Fort Kochi, where four centuries of trade left their mark on one small peninsula. Walk the lanes on foot. St Francis Church, the Dutch Cemetery, the godowns of Jew Town still stacked with ginger and pepper. Evening is free for a Kathakali performance if you want one.

A wooden boat on the backwater near Kumarakom

Kochi → Kumarakom

Kochi to Kumarakom — Onto Lake Vembanad

The drive south from Kochi takes about an hour and a half. It runs through Vaikom, past churches, paddy fields and long stretches of water. Kumarakom is a set of islands on the eastern side of Lake Vembanad, Kerala's largest lake. You arrive in time for lunch and an afternoon on the water. The lake sunset, seen from a resort jetty or a slow country boat, is the first fixed point of the trip.

Kumarakom

Kumarakom — Bird Sanctuary & Village Canals

An early start for the bird sanctuary, a former rubber estate of about fourteen acres on the lake shore. Herons, egrets and darters nest here, and in winter the migratory ducks arrive. Later a country canoe takes you into the village canals, too narrow for a houseboat. You pass coir-making, duck farming and school children rowing to class. The afternoon is free for the resort or a second slow boat as the light drops.

A Kerala houseboat moored against a palm-lined bank on Lake Vembanad

Kumarakom

Kumarakom — Overnight Houseboat on Vembanad

You board a private houseboat in the late morning. These are built on the frame of the old rice barges, with a bedroom, a deck and a cook aboard. The Kumarakom side of the lake is quieter than the Alleppey routes. Lunch and dinner are Kerala home cooking, fish bought from a passing boat. The crew moors for the night against a bank, and it is properly dark and quiet. You come off after breakfast.

A palm-fringed beach on Kerala's southern coast near Varkala

Kumarakom → Varkala

Kumarakom to Varkala — Down the Coast

The drive south is about four and a half hours. It leaves the backwaters behind and picks up the coast road towards Thiruvananthapuram. Varkala is the one place in southern Kerala where cliffs meet the sea. You arrive at a clifftop hotel with the afternoon free. The path along the cliff edge, with its cafes and the long drop to the beach, is the first walk to take.

Varkala

Varkala — The Cliff, the Temple & Papanasam Beach

A slow morning along the clifftop path, with the springs in the laterite pointed out along the way. The Janardanaswamy temple above the beach is old enough that its age is guesswork; non-Hindus can see the grounds. A short way inland, Sivagiri holds the tomb of the reformer Sree Narayana Guru. The afternoon is on Papanasam Beach, where a stretch stays quiet by custom for funeral rites. Sunset is back on the cliff.

Varkala

Varkala — Ayurveda & Departure

The morning is free for a treatment at a Green Leaf certified centre, or a last walk on the beach. Varkala's cliff cafes do a long breakfast well. The drive to Thiruvananthapuram airport is about an hour; the railway station is ten minutes away for a train north. Your driver times the transfer to your departure. This is the usual last stop on a southern Kerala trip.

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luxury · 6 Nights