Help for itinerary Kerala and Karnataka

jackie66

Hi,
We fly to Delhi on Jan 19th and will spend 3 weeks in Rajasthan. Now that we have planned that part of our trip, we are now looking at our next part, which is 4 weeks in the south. I have searched the IM forums and must admit, I am now utterly confused.
We would like to keep our itinerary reasonably flexible. Our ideas are to spend some time relaxing on a beach, experiencing the sights and smells of Kerala, trekking and of course a backwater trip. Ideally we don't want to spend too much time in very touristy areas and we love the countryside.
We would like some help with best ways of geting from place to place and any ideas of places we have missed, which should be part of our itinerary.
So here is our itinerary so far:

Kochi- 3 days
Bus to Allepey- 2 days for overnight backwater trip. ( Any suggestions for interesting backwater trips that avoid the main tourist routes?)
Varkala -3-4 days
Munnar- 3 days
Wayanad - 3 days
Hampi- 2 days
Gokarna 3 days
Mumbai to fly back to Delhi

We have left lots of flexibility here.
Is this the most logical route or not?
What could we fit in en route?
We certainly need help with best forms of transport for getting to these places.
We would like to stay in homestays. Has anyone any good onesto recommend in these places?

Many thanks

kksivan

HI Friend
Your kerala itenary is nice ! But there is some confusion about the direction of the journey! Kochi is middle of kerala and varkala is south of kerala and MUNNAR is east of kerala and rest ALL WAYNAD, HUMBI MYSORE ARE FAR NORTH AND OUT OF KERALA..

Small logic from my side
Come to trivandrum airport and travel north via munnar back to aleppy kochi and north

rebeccam

3 days is too long in Kochi, IMHO.

snonymous

I would suggest Kochi – 2 days, then move to Cherai beach on Vypeen island across the harbour, instead of Varkala which is much further south.

After Allepey, go to Periyar sanctuary for a few days [periyartigerreserve.org] skipping Wayanad. Spend some days in Munnar, from here go via Marayur [also nice to stay a couple of days] to Coimbatore from where you can get train connections to Hampi.

From Hampi it will be closer to get to Goa than to Gokarna, if you want another beach area, and you can skip Mumbai altogether and fly back to Delhi from Goa.

If you have the time and inclination, you can visit Belur and Halebid before going to Hampi, these are exquisitely carved ancient temples from the Hoysala period.

Depending on your budget, you can use buses, trains and private taxi between places. You will find homestay recommendations in the Hotels section. In Karnataka state, you can also stay in moderately priced, safe and well located state run chain of Hotel Mayura.

For more information on some of the above places, please skim through http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...3220/tpod.html

snehansu-love2travel

The trip requires some adjustments in the Kerala part. Try to use Google/Yahoo maps to get the driving directions then you will know there are some adjustments needed.
e.g.
When you go south you should also visit Thekkady(Periyar Tiger Reserve).
After Wayanad Kerala(3 days may be more - but in leisure travel that is fine) Hampi in Karnataka is quite far away. Perhaps the journey can be broken up with Mysore/Bangalore(or maybe Belur/Halebidu) in between like this.

Varkala(start -Tiruvanathapuram)-> Alleppy -> Thekkady(Periyar) -> Munnar -> Cochin(Kochi) -> Wayanad

Then
Wayanad -> Mysore/Bangalore(or maybe Belur/Halebidu) -> Hampi -> Gokarna

Number of Days at each place is a point to decide on what you like.
Alleppy - backwaters
Thekkady - forest
Munnar - hill station + forests
Cochin - sea side port city
Wayanad - low hill station
Mysore - old heritage city-lots of places to see
belur/halebidu - temple towns
hampi - ruins of vijaynagar empire + temples
gokarna - beach/sea side town



Have a nice stay.

http://snehansu-love2travel.blogspot.com

jackie66

Thank you so much for that info, it was really helpful. We have already booked our flights to Kochi, so we cant start off further south.
Is it possible to take a one-way backwater trip from Allepey towards Kollam?
We did not intend to go to Periyar, as we are already going to the bird sanctuary at Keoladeo and the Tiger Reserve at Ranthambore in Rajasthan.
If we want to go to Munnar, would it be better to return to Allepey or Kochi or can we find transport from Varkala or nearby?

Our itinerary would therefore be:
Kochi- Allepey- Varkala-(Allepey??)- Munnar-Mysore-Wayanad-Belur-Halebidu-Hampi-Gokarna.
Is this doable? Is this route mainly by buses or are there suitable trains?
What would then be the nearest airport to return to Delhi?

Sorry to ask so many questions

snehansu-love2travel

Umm .. I got a bit confused ..
Savior is http://in.maps.yahoo.com ( just give from here to where)
Kochi->50 kms via NH 47 -> Alleppy
Alleppy -> abt 120 kms -> Varkala
Now Varkala is far south. To go to Munnar I see there are shortcuts by state highways. But to make it easy.
Varkala -> 150 kms -> Kochi > 120 kms -> Munnar

Now there is another problem going from Munnar to Wayanad(also depends where in Wayanad)
The simplest way will be
Munnar -> 120kms -> Kochi -> 150 kms -> Kozhikode-> 50 kms ->
Kalpetta(wayanad)

Then

Wayanad -> 150 kms -> Mysore
Mysore -> 150 kms -> Belur/Halebid(May be you have to go to Hassan/Chikmagalur)
Belur/Halebid -> Hospet (for Hampi)
Hampi -> Gokarna

So your travel will be like this




Mysore
/
/
Kozhikode ----------> Wayanad
|
|
|
Kochi -----------------> Munnar
|
|
|
Varkala

Note: There are alternate routes also so consult the locals during your visit.
From Gokarna I think nearest airport will be in Goa to fly to Delhi.(forgive me for the bad diagram . Do consult the maps and lookout for NH- National Highways & SH - State Highways. )

ramsblore

I think you can give Wayanad a miss, since you are doing the wild life safari anyway. So after your kochi-alleppey-munnar-varkala, you could go direct to Mysore and then do the Karnataka circuit before flying back from Goa.

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