First, one night in Kochi
Taj Malabar Resort & Spa, Cochin
Kochi · Resort · Luxury★★★★★
Taj Malabar sits where the Kochi backwaters meet the sea. Heritage teak rooms, a waterfront pool and Ayurvedic spa on our Kerala tours.
1 nightStop 1 of 6
Luxury Accommodation11 NightsLuxuryBackwaters
Kerala Photography Journey — Luxury
Route
Enquire About This JourneyKochi → Wayanad → Munnar → Thekkady → Kumarakom → Varkala
PricingEnquire for rates
Chapter Two — Where You'll Stay
6 Real Stays, In Order
Handpicked along your own route — not a hotel chain repeated city to city.
Next, 3 nights in Wayanad
Taj Wayanad Resort & Spa, Kerala
Wayanad · Resort · Luxury★★★★★
A 2023 Taj resort above Banasura Lake in Wayanad, with waterfront cottages, plunge-pool villas and an Ayurveda-led spa in the Western Ghats.
3 nightsStop 2 of 6
Next, 2 nights in Munnar
Scenic, Munnar - IHCL SeleQtions
Munnar · Resort · Luxury★★★★★
Scenic, Munnar is an IHCL SeleQtions hotel above the tea gardens. Balcony rooms, plunge-pool villas and plantation walks on our Kerala tours.
2 nightsStop 3 of 6
Next, 2 nights in Thekkady
Spice Village – A CGH Earth Experience
Thekkady · Resort · Premium★★★★
A CGH Earth spice-garden resort on the edge of Periyar Tiger Reserve in Thekkady, with cottages, pools, and Ayurveda spa.
2 nightsStop 4 of 6
Next, 2 nights in Kumarakom
Kumarakom Lake Resort
Kumarakom · Resort · Luxury★★★★★
A 25-acre heritage resort on Lake Vembanad with meandering-pool villas, a dedicated Ayurveda centre and Kerala cooking, on our Kumarakom tours.
2 nightsStop 5 of 6
Finally, one night in Varkala
Gateway Varkala – IHCL SeleQtions
Varkala · Resort · Luxury★★★★★
An IHCL resort on the Varkala cliff, every room with a balcony, a pool with a sunken bar and a Green Leaf certified Ayurveda centre.
1 nightStop 6 of 6
Chapter Three — Activities & Sightseeing
The Real Stops Along the Way
10 of your 12days — the full day-by-day plan follows below.
Day 2 · Kochi → Wayanad
Kochi to Wayanad — Up the Thamarassery Pass
The drive to Wayanad takes about four and a half hours and climbs the whole second half. The road up from the coast turns nine tight hairpin bends through the Thamarassery pass. Rubber gives way to coffee, then to forest. Wayanad is Kerala's only plateau, held high in the Western Ghats. By the time you reach the resort the air is cool and the light is going.
Day 3 · Wayanad
Wayanad — Wildlife Sanctuary & Edakkal Caves
A dawn jeep safari through Muthanga or Tholpetty, booked through the forest department. Elephant, gaur and deer are the usual sightings; tiger and leopard are here and rarely seen. Later you climb to the Edakkal Caves, two rock shelters on Ambukuthi hill. Their walls are cut with carvings that are thousands of years old, some among the oldest in India. The last stretch is a steep set of stairs and iron ladders.
Day 4 · Wayanad
Wayanad — Chembra Trail & Banasura Sagar
The morning is a guided walk on Chembra, the district's highest hill, past a small heart-shaped lake said never to dry. Numbers are capped each day and the upper section is often closed for weather or fire risk. The afternoon is Banasura Sagar, the largest earthen dam in India. Its reservoir has flooded the low hills into islands, and a speedboat runs out among them. The Banasura ridge stands behind the whole scene.
Day 5 · Wayanad → Munnar
Wayanad to Munnar — Across the High Ranges
This is a long transfer, six to seven hours, and a scenic one. The road drops off the Wayanad plateau, crosses the low country, then climbs again into the high ranges. Coffee and forest turn to cardamom and then to tea. Munnar sits at around 1,600 metres, in a bowl of estates first planted in the 1880s. You arrive in the late afternoon with the tea light at its best.
Day 6 · Munnar
Munnar — Tea Estates & the Old Plantation Machinery
Munnar is tea, and has been since the 1880s. Spend the morning walking a working estate with a planter who can explain what you are looking at. The Tata Tea Museum houses the original rollers and a functioning miniature factory. Afternoon at Mattupetty Dam and Echo Point.
Day 7 · Munnar → Thekkady
Munnar to Thekkady — Along the Cardamom Hills
Three and a half hours south through the Cardamom Hills. The road is good and the views are constant. You can smell the plantations before you see them. Thekkady sits on the edge of Periyar Tiger Reserve, so the last stretch runs through genuine forest.
Day 8 · Thekkady
Thekkady — A Working Spice Plantation
Thekkady grows cardamom, pepper, clove, nutmeg and vanilla, often on the same hillside. A guided walk through a working plantation shows you how each one actually grows, which is rarely what people expect. Buy directly from the estate if you want the good stuff at the real price.
Day 9 · Thekkady → Kumarakom
Thekkady to Kumarakom — Down to the Backwaters
The road down from Thekkady loses altitude quickly through cardamom and rubber. It is about four hours to Kumarakom, on the eastern shore of Lake Vembanad. The change is complete: from cool spice hills to hot, flat, waterlogged country in a single morning. You arrive for lunch and an afternoon on the lake. The sunset from the resort jetty is the thing to be back for.
Day 10 · 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.
Day 11 · 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.
Chapter Four — Day by Day
12 Days, In Full
Every day, start to finish — including the transfers the sightseeing chapter above skipped.
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.
Kochi → Wayanad
Kochi to Wayanad — Up the Thamarassery Pass
The drive to Wayanad takes about four and a half hours and climbs the whole second half. The road up from the coast turns nine tight hairpin bends through the Thamarassery pass. Rubber gives way to coffee, then to forest. Wayanad is Kerala's only plateau, held high in the Western Ghats. By the time you reach the resort the air is cool and the light is going.
Wayanad
Wayanad — Wildlife Sanctuary & Edakkal Caves
A dawn jeep safari through Muthanga or Tholpetty, booked through the forest department. Elephant, gaur and deer are the usual sightings; tiger and leopard are here and rarely seen. Later you climb to the Edakkal Caves, two rock shelters on Ambukuthi hill. Their walls are cut with carvings that are thousands of years old, some among the oldest in India. The last stretch is a steep set of stairs and iron ladders.
Wayanad
Wayanad — Chembra Trail & Banasura Sagar
The morning is a guided walk on Chembra, the district's highest hill, past a small heart-shaped lake said never to dry. Numbers are capped each day and the upper section is often closed for weather or fire risk. The afternoon is Banasura Sagar, the largest earthen dam in India. Its reservoir has flooded the low hills into islands, and a speedboat runs out among them. The Banasura ridge stands behind the whole scene.
Wayanad → Munnar
Wayanad to Munnar — Across the High Ranges
This is a long transfer, six to seven hours, and a scenic one. The road drops off the Wayanad plateau, crosses the low country, then climbs again into the high ranges. Coffee and forest turn to cardamom and then to tea. Munnar sits at around 1,600 metres, in a bowl of estates first planted in the 1880s. You arrive in the late afternoon with the tea light at its best.
Munnar
Munnar — Tea Estates & the Old Plantation Machinery
Munnar is tea, and has been since the 1880s. Spend the morning walking a working estate with a planter who can explain what you are looking at. The Tata Tea Museum houses the original rollers and a functioning miniature factory. Afternoon at Mattupetty Dam and Echo Point.
Munnar → Thekkady
Munnar to Thekkady — Along the Cardamom Hills
Three and a half hours south through the Cardamom Hills. The road is good and the views are constant. You can smell the plantations before you see them. Thekkady sits on the edge of Periyar Tiger Reserve, so the last stretch runs through genuine forest.
Thekkady
Thekkady — A Working Spice Plantation
Thekkady grows cardamom, pepper, clove, nutmeg and vanilla, often on the same hillside. A guided walk through a working plantation shows you how each one actually grows, which is rarely what people expect. Buy directly from the estate if you want the good stuff at the real price.
Thekkady → Kumarakom
Thekkady to Kumarakom — Down to the Backwaters
The road down from Thekkady loses altitude quickly through cardamom and rubber. It is about four hours to Kumarakom, on the eastern shore of Lake Vembanad. The change is complete: from cool spice hills to hot, flat, waterlogged country in a single morning. You arrive for lunch and an afternoon on the lake. The sunset from the resort jetty is the thing to be back for.
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.
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 — 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.
Chapter Five — Terms & Conditions
Straightforward, In Writing
Cancellation windows, refund timing, and rescheduling terms for this journey follow our one sitewide policy — nothing package-specific to dig through.
Read the Return & Refund PolicyChapter Six — Similar Journeys
More of Kerala, Privately
Why Choose Us
The Same Trust, Sized to This Trip
01
Planning, Built Around You
This route was shaped around Kerala's real places, not lifted from a fixed template.
13 years — Brijesh Sharma, Bespoke Itinerary Specialist
02
Handpicked Hotels
Every stay on this trip was chosen in person, not off a ratings page.
6 real stays, 4–5★
03
A Private Fleet, Always Yours
One driver, air-conditioned, for the whole route — no shared shuttle.
Premium sedans & SUVs · One driver, the whole trip
Kashmir to Kanyakumari
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