Kindly suggest an itinerary for Kerala visit in end August 2012

Dear IMers,

I am planning a 7 Nights & 8 Days tour of Kerala starting 20th August 2012 along with my wife and 6 years old kid.

I shall start from Tirupathi (Andhra Pradesh)by train and ending in Cochin/big city(We are planning to take a flight to Dubai from there).

I read some IM Threads on Kerala and i am interested to visit the following places:

Allepey (House boat night stay);Kumarakom;Munnar ;Thekkady;Kovalam ; varkala(or any other beach) ;Cochin

Please suggest:

1. Is End august good time to visit Kerala?
2. An itinerary for the travel(by Train) starting from Tirpathi(Andhra Pradesh).
2. We want to stay in decent mid-range hotels or in some home-stay kind of guest houses/resorts etc. Should I book hotels beforehand or on the spot ?( Considering i am travelling with my wife and a small kid).
3. What should be my budget (w/o tickets)?

I am flexible with the places to visit based on suggestions and since i am travelling with family,i am open to hire a cab if its required.

Pls help me to finalise the trip with your valued inputs & suggestions.


Thanks in advance.

AK.

hi ,your itenary for kerala is good . august is not a bad time either .but the climate is very bad .hot and humid . december/jan should be the best time climate wise .
accomadation is never a worry in kerala .you get hotels and home stays for great rates .i think 3500 to 4000 dhs (based on rooms with rent of 2500 inr per day ) should be enough .

Arun , thanks for the information . even munnar will be hot and humid during end august?

yeah my budget is around AED 4000/-. Now i am having 2nd thoughts regarding the Kerala... i cannot change the dates ...so may be i should plan my holiday in Kashmir or some where in hill station in Himachal/north?

Dear Royalbob,
Kerala is fresh and green after the monsoon rains in June July.
August is a good time to visit Kerala according to me

Do expect rain , but not as heavy as it is in June and july
The summer months in Kerala are March, April, may

1. End of August is a good time to visit Kerala
2. Arrive at Cochin and depart from Trivandrum
3.August is not peak season , you gets rooms easily
but i would suggest you to book the hotel at your first destination. rest of the stays and destination you can book and fix it once you are here
4. INR 2500 per day is a good budget for August you get accommodtion in 2 star hotels in that range

for 7 nights / 8 days let me suggest you the plan below

Day 1, 2 - Munnar hill station
Day 3- Thekkady
Day 4- Kumarakom lake side stay
Day 5- Houseboat at Alleppey
Day 6,7 - Kovalam beach
Day 8- Depart from Trivandrum ( Kovalam beach to Airport is just 1/2 an hour)

do hire a CAB for the trip , to be comfortable in travelling and doing at your own leisure

each destination is 3-4 hours travelling time . so it is ideal to have a cab hired

NeenuRaj,i appreciate your input. Since i am planning to visit Kerala from Tirupati(Andhra Pradesh)its near and comfortable for me. Little bit of rain is good for me,i enjoy that and the fresh greenary post monsoons!!I am only worried about the heat and humidity ,since i am visiting with my wife and a small kid. and i am coming to Kerala to escape the very hot dubai summer

So can you suggest me from which place i should start my holiday in Kerala.I don't mind hiring a cab for the trip.I want to visit Cochin,Aleppy,Tekkady and Munnar!!I am flexible with the places to visit. I want to do a 7 Nights & 8 days trip.My budget is around INR 50,000/-(Excluding tickets)

Please take your time and kindly advice.Thanks in advance.

i would suggest the below order for your holiday for 7 nights / 8 days
Day 1, 2 - Munnar hill station
Day 3- Thekkady
Day 4- Kumarakom lake side stay
Day 5- Houseboat at Alleppey
Day 6,7 - Kovalam beach
Day 8- Depart from Trivandrum ( Kovalam beach to Airport is just 1/2 an hour)

i suggested your arrival in Cochin and departure from Trivandrum
you can also do it in the reverse order , based on availibility of tickets

as i assume that is the time when lot of people return back to middle east after their holiday here

Munnar and Thekkady is amazing after these monsoon rain
adn it is not hot in Kerala in August , as i said our summer months in March , april , may where the mercury touches 37-38 in the places i listed ( except munnar and thekkady)

you could google for mean temperatures for August and confirm it yourself

with a budget of INR 50000, you could easily get 3-4 star rated accommodation , cab hire and an A/C Houseboat , if you would like to do a houseboat stay

NeenuRaj, You are fast, thank you very much. You have answered most of my questions.Now i am clear about the starting and finishing points.I shall hire a cab and book my hotel at my first destination i,e in Cochi and Munnar? Can i proceed to Munnar directly after getting down from my train at Cochin?

I will do some more study on the types of accommodations available in my budget in Munnar and Kumarakom and revert back to you for more advise.


Thanks again for your valuable guidance.

Next state north perhaps??? Karnataka offer's a lot.

if you are arriving at Cochin before 4 PM , i would suggest you to head to Munnar directly rather than spending a night in Cochin

if you are arrival time is after 5 PM then beter stay at Cochin the first night , as the drive to Munnar is around 4 & 1/2 hours during evening time and with traffic , so you would be arriving very late

you miss the scenary as well as might be tired a bit after the train journey and afterwards the night journey to Munnar

you would get 3 - 4 star accommodation in every places in the budget you have mentioned , it is lean season so you get that advantage as well

all the best !
do write back if you have any further queries

Yes.we would like to do a house boat overnight stay(Preferably a/c)

Like you mentioned , a lot of Kerala expats return to Dubai after holidays in the end august so i have to make sure our flight tickets are available from Cochin/Trivendrum to Dubai.

So now i will work on our flight and train bookings .Then i will post my itinerary here and revert back to you on hotel accommodations advise and for other suggestions.

Thank you once again for all the advise and help!

Thanks and Regards,

AK.