Munnar · Thekkady · Alleppey · 4 nights / 5 days · honeymoon
Kerala Hills & Backwaters — 4 Nights
The short version of Kerala, and the one most people should book. Two nights in the tea hills at Munnar, a night in the spice country at Thekkady, and a night on an Alleppey houseboat with every meal cooked on board. Your own car and driver the whole way, from Kochi airport and back to it.
Photos
Highlights
- Two nights in Munnar — tea estates, Mattupetty Dam, Echo Point and the drive itself
- Periyar at Thekkady: the lake boat, and a spice plantation walk in the evening
- A full night on a deluxe Alleppey houseboat, with lunch, tea, dinner and breakfast on board
- A private air-conditioned car and driver for all five days
- Breakfast every morning, and every toll, permit and parking fee already paid
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 1 — Kochi to Munnar
Land at Kochi, meet your driver in the arrivals hall, and start climbing. It's about four hours and the last ninety minutes are the good part — the road goes up through tea, and if it's raining the whole valley turns grey-green. Cheeyappara and Valara waterfalls are on the way and worth stopping for. Check in and don't plan anything for the evening.
Day 2 — Munnar, all day
Tea estates, Mattupetty Dam, Echo Point, Kundala Lake, and the Tea Museum if the weather closes in. Eravikulam National Park if it's open — it shuts for a few weeks each year for the calving season and your driver will know the current position. Munnar is a place you look at rather than a place you do things in, which is rather the point of it.
Day 3 — Munnar to Thekkady
Three to four hours across to the spice belt. Afternoon at Periyar — the boat on the lake is the standard thing and it's genuinely good early or late, much less so at midday. A spice plantation walk in the evening, and a Kathakali performance if you want one.
Day 4 — Thekkady to Alleppey, and onto the houseboat
Four hours down out of the hills to the backwaters. You board around noon and the boat moves slowly through the canals for the rest of the afternoon. Lunch on board, tea as it gets dark, dinner, and then you moor somewhere quiet for the night.
Day 5 — Alleppey to Kochi, and home
Breakfast on the water, disembark around nine, and drive to Kochi for your flight. If you have a late one there's time for Fort Kochi — the Chinese fishing nets, the Dutch Palace, and a coffee somewhere on Princess Street.
Included
- Hotels for every night of the trip, on twin sharing, with breakfast each morning
- A private air-conditioned car with a driver for the whole trip — every transfer and every sightseeing stop
- Your driver is with you 8am to 8pm each day
- One night on a deluxe Alleppey houseboat, a 20-hour cruise with lunch, evening tea, dinner and next morning's breakfast cooked on board
- All toll charges, interstate permits, parking fees and driver allowance
- All applicable taxes on the above
- A single point of contact in Delhi before, during and after the trip
Not included
- Flights or trains to and from the start and end points
- Lunches, dinners and snacks, unless a meal is listed in the inclusions
- Entrance fees at monuments, parks, boat jetties and viewpoints — these are paid at the gate
- Personal expenses: tips, laundry, phone calls, room service, porterage
- Optional activities, and any upgrade you decide to take on the day
- Travel insurance
- Anything not written into the inclusions list above
Best time to go: September to March for clear skies; June to September is the green season — wet, dramatic and much cheaper
Things to carry
- · Photo ID for every traveller, including children — hotels ask for it at check-in
- · A light rain jacket or a compact umbrella
- · One warm layer: hill station evenings drop to 12–15°C even in summer
- · Walking shoes with grip, not new ones
- · Mosquito repellent
- · Any regular medication, plus motion-sickness tablets if you are prone to them — the ghat roads have a lot of bends
- · A power bank; charging points on the houseboat are limited
Cancellation policy
More than 30 days before departure: we retain ₹3,000 per person and refund the rest. 30 to 15 days before departure: 25% of the package cost. 14 to 8 days before departure: 50% of the package cost. 7 days or less, or no show: 100%.
Houseboat nights, festival dates and a few resorts carry stricter terms of their own. If any part of your booking is on non-refundable terms, we tell you in writing before you pay anything — it will never be a surprise at the cancellation stage.
Refunds go back to the account you paid from, within 7 to 10 working days of the cancellation being confirmed.
Flight tickets, once issued, follow the airline's own rules and are refunded only to the extent the airline refunds us.
More questions, answered
- Are flights included?
- No. The price covers everything on the ground from the moment you land to the moment we drop you back. We can book your flights alongside the package if you'd rather have one invoice — just say so when you enquire.
- Is the car ours for the whole trip?
- Yes. Same car, same driver, from arrival to departure. It isn't a shared coach and it isn't a series of separate transfers. Your driver is with you 8am to 8pm each day.
- What if there are four or six of us?
- The price drops per head, and not by a little. The car and the driver cost the same whether two people are in it or six, so a group of six pays roughly a third less each than a couple does for exactly the same trip. Tell us your group size and we'll send the real number.
- Can we change the hotels?
- Yes, within reason. Tell us what you want and we'll price it. The categories on this page are the ones we hold rates in, but we're not locked to a fixed list.
- How do we pay?
- Part now to confirm the booking, the balance before you travel. You get a proper GST invoice, not a WhatsApp message with a UPI ID.
- Is the houseboat air-conditioned?
- The bedrooms are, usually from about 9pm to 6am when the generator runs. The deck and the dining area are open to the air, which is the entire point of being on the boat. Premium and Luxury boats have better air conditioning and better bathrooms — the upgrade is around ₹2,000 to ₹4,000 per couple.
- Four nights — is that enough for Kerala?
- For the hills and the backwaters, yes. What you're leaving out is the coast. If you want a beach at the end of it, look at the 6-night version, which adds two nights at Kovalam.