Kerala

Hi guys,

Which are most beautiful places to visit in Kerala?

Most popular destinations in Kerala are Munnar, Thekkady, Thrissur, Alleppey, Kochi, Kovalam, Kannur etc.

HI,
Trying to organise a 65th birthday treat for the wife next March 2013 in Kerala. Will want to stay about 3 to 4 weeks or so. Many many years since I was last in Kerala back in 1976!
Anyone any suggestions of a good base and possible accommodation. Also I guess flihts from UK whilst I am at it!
Thanks in advance of any help.

Pete

Dear Pete,

you can make do a tour of Kerala in 3-4 weeks
arrive at Cochin Airport
Stay at FortCochin - for 4-5 nights
Backwaters of Kumarakom or Alleppey - 4/5 nights
Kovalam or Varkala Beach - for your remaining days

There are other places you could tour
Munnar hill station - 4 hours from Cochin
Thekkady nature reserve - 3 & 1/2 Hours from Kumarakom
From Thekkady you could cover Madurai , kanyakumari and end your trip in Kovalam

by keeping all these destinations in the plan, the following itinerary is suggested

Arrive at Cochin
FortCochin - 3 Nights
Alleppey / Kumarakom backwaters - 4 nights ( 2 nights on board houseboat)
Munnar Hill station - 3 nights
Thekkady Nature reserve - 3 nights
Madurai - 2 Nights
Kanyakumari - 2 Nights
Kovalam or Varkala beach - a week or so
Depart from Trivandrum airport ( 30 minutes from Kovalam)

I am assuming you are in the travel industry out there?

Don't really want to do tooooo much. We are not into a lot of travelling around- we did all that when much much younger. The houseboat sounds a must do thing.

If you are in the travel industry maybe you could let me know waht sort of costs we are looking at. No point looking at itineraries with no costs shown.

many tansk,
Pete

Equally little point in asking if you don't indicate a budget, specific wishes, etc.

I know a good member here stayed in one of the Taj Hotels in Kerala for a few nights not long ago, spoke very highly of it. Cheap it ain't... (Couple of hundreds of Euros a night, if I recall.)

To help people help you, this is always a good guideline: How to get the most out of the Itinerary section. One doesn't need to follow that precise format, but the concept can easily be extrapolated to most any question.

Ok, that's fair enough. Lets say for 4 weeks budget of £1000

You will not be staying anywhere too nice on that budget in all honesty!

Might be best off trying to get a long term rental for a month as a base.

NB

<cross-posted with Nomadic just now>

At some Rs. 3,000/day for two, I guess that would make for what I'd call a fine budget-plus to mid-range'ish holiday, with no daily amenities and non-outlandish creature comforts wanting. Decent rooms, eat and drink to your heart's delight if within reason (and certainly not just in the fanciest of joints touristy or otherwise), not worry about a taxi more or less nor counting your pennies all the time, etc. It would suit me just fine. Don't expect any overly fancy affairs at that rate, though. I suppose even a few nights on a houseboat and such could well come out of this budget, though surely not a month of it; I've never been on one yet, but my understanding is by nature they don't come all that cheaply.

I don't know when you were last in India, but 1976 this decidedly no longer is.

Add to the above that Kerala is probably the most expensive state in India with house boat prices 8000-10,000inr a night!

NB

@NomadicBoo

You are right in a way , about houseboat being expensive at 8000- 10000 / night for a couple, when it is though the top operators

But there are also good , decent and clean ones for INR 6000/per night for a couple ( excluding the time period Dec - Jan)

Dear Pete,

once again drawing your attention to the first part of my message

"you can make do a tour of Kerala in 3-4 weeks
arrive at Cochin Airport
Stay at FortCochin - for 4-5 nights
Backwaters of Kumarakom or Alleppey - 4/5 nights
Kovalam or Varkala Beach - for your remaining days "

The above was my suggestion to your question, of where to base.

Dear Pete,

there are many places with in your budget ( 3000/ day for a couple as pointed out by machadinha )

once you have decided on places of stay / where to base , i hope people could contribute with names of accommodation options

In my experience you get what you pay for when it comes to houseboats, regardless of the operator.

To the OP I would suggest maybe looking at South Goa as well as an option.

NB

You'll realize that is presumably all-included, right, not just the acco.?