Munnar · Thekkady · Alleppey · Kovalam · 6 nights / 7 days · beach
Kerala Grand Tour — 6 Nights
Kerala with the coast added. The tea hills at Munnar, the spice country at Thekkady, a night on an Alleppey houseboat, and then two nights at Kovalam to stop moving. You fly into Kochi and out of Trivandrum, so no day is wasted driving back the way you came.
Photos
Highlights
- Two nights in Munnar and a full day among the tea estates
- Periyar lake and a spice plantation walk at Thekkady
- A night on a deluxe Alleppey houseboat with all meals cooked on board
- Two nights at Kovalam — the Arabian Sea, the lighthouse beach, and nothing you have to do
- Fly into Kochi, out of Trivandrum: a one-way route, not a loop
- Private air-conditioned car and driver for all seven days
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 1 — Kochi to Munnar
Land at Kochi and drive up into the tea country, about four hours with the waterfalls at Cheeyappara and Valara on the way. The last stretch is the one you'll remember. Check in and let the evening go.
Day 2 — Munnar, all day
Mattupetty Dam, Echo Point, Kundala Lake, the tea estates, and Eravikulam if the park is open. The Tea Museum is the wet-weather answer and it's better than it sounds.
Day 3 — Munnar to Thekkady
Across to the spice belt in three or four hours. The Periyar boat in the late afternoon, then a spice plantation walk — cardamom, pepper, vanilla, and someone who can tell you what you're looking at.
Day 4 — Thekkady to Alleppey, and onto the houseboat
Down out of the hills to the backwaters, boarding around noon. The boat drifts through the canals all afternoon. Lunch, tea at dusk, dinner, and a quiet mooring for the night.
Day 5 — Alleppey to Kovalam
Breakfast on the water, off the boat by nine, and about four hours south along the coast. You'll be at Kovalam by early afternoon with the rest of the day free.
Day 6 — Kovalam
Nothing scheduled. The lighthouse beach, an Ayurvedic massage if you want one, and Trivandrum forty minutes away if you'd like the Padmanabhaswamy temple and the palace. Poovar and the estuary are a good half-day by boat.
Day 7 — Home
Transfer to Trivandrum airport, about forty minutes.
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 the beach; June to September for the hills at their greenest and the lowest prices of the year
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.
- Why does it end at Trivandrum and not Kochi?
- Because driving back up the coast would cost you a whole day for nothing. Book a Delhi–Kochi flight out and a Trivandrum–Delhi flight back; the fares are usually within a few hundred rupees of a return, and we'll help you find them.
- Is the sea safe at Kovalam?
- Lighthouse beach is lifeguarded and generally fine, but the Arabian Sea has a real undertow and the monsoon months make it stronger. Swim between the flags and take the lifeguards seriously.