Paying for car journeys

kugan551

I am planning to travel by hired car from Kochi to Trivandrum, stopping at Alapuzah and Kollam for 1 day each.

Thinking of hiring a car with driver.

1. From where can I book budget car journeys at
a. Kochi? b. Alapuzah c. Kollam

2. Is it better to hire separately for each leg or all together?

3. Is there a rule of thumb for car hire in Kerala?

e.g x rupees per km? Whats x these days?

How much in Indian rupees would the entire journey cost?
Do they charge return fare even if you make a one-way journey?

steven_ber

Hello Kugan and welcome to indiamike.com

Not the info you require, however.....

Traveling by train is just so easy in southern Kerala, turn up, buy a ticket, get on a train, no advance booking required, and the money you'd save could be used to seriously upgrade your hotels.

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Nick-H

Yes... you will save several thousand by doing this trip by train!

You still can then take cars for local trips. Just look out for a travels company, or ask your guest house or hotel to arrange.

snonymous

I agree with Steve and Nick. For your itinerary it would be very much cheaper to take the train - or even say, a bus [luxury buses are also available] on shorter individual legs like TRV to Kollam.

Taxi hire: Indica / Ambassador AC [comfy for 2] approx Rs 1500 per day, Rs2000 - 3000 per day for bigger cars like Tavera / Innova etc. Plus drivers allowance 150 -250 per day.

Yes, they will charge you the return mileage if your drop off point is not the same as where you started from. You can book cars through KTDC at keralatourism.org or through your hotel or through contacts from people here.

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Eastern Mind

It depends on your budget. Car rental is much more convenient, but you have to analyse if its really worth it. They'll pick you up at your hotel. If you say "Stop here," for coconut water, a leak, etc, they will. The single car for the whole trip will be mote expensive, as you have to pay for wait time when you stay somewhere for a day. Three separate cars wouldn't involve this extra fee. Either way, you're paying 'up and down.

tywocky

Hello
I intend to do similar trip but hoping to arrive in ochin from Delhi,(October) from Cochin the next day to Munnar, stay overnight and then go to periyar sanctuary (stay overnight and go to Madurai? stay over night(are there good hotels in Madurai?) From there to Kumarakom and allepey where from take a boat to cochin and hopefully stay 2 nights at the coconut lagoon (all this in 8 days Is this /possible and can this only be done by taxi)
Can one just turn up in Cochin and be able to easily fix a taxi to take you to do all this trip or do you have to book a tour? Will the same taxi driver take you everywhere as I expect to start and end journey in Cochin.
Tywocky.

snonymous

For your itinerary, a taxi would definitely be more convenient and preferable to taking buses [no trains to Munnar & Periyar]. To keep costs down, you could do a combination of taxi and buses but you would have to pay the return taxi mileage in any case, so Im not sure how economical that would turn out to be.

8 days is a bit rushed.

Since you do have a day at Cochin, you can fix the taxi arrangements after you arrive. The same driver would usually be there for the entire [continuous] trip.

No dearth of hotels in Madurai, take a look at the Tamil Nadu forum where there are several threads on the subject. http://www.madurai.com/

tywocky

Thank you snonymous. This has been most informative. I shall certainly arrange taxi when I get there. I think cheaper than going through tour operators Would you agree?

Could you kindly tell me whether 4 star hotels I should book on the internet well in advance or shall I just turn up and I am more likely to get room and competitive prices. I shall arrive in Cochin on probably 9th October and leave cohin on 16th.

Tywocky.

vandy

Hi there,

Use the same driver for all your journey, I suggest you skip
Madurai for another time considering you only have 8 days.

Can you do Madurai after Kerala, you can take train from Cochin
to Madurai and relax on Train.

Booking over the internet can be more expensive.

Car hire is approx 1400 - 1500rps per day ALL inclusive for a
small A/C car like Indica or Indigo.Ambassadors in my opinion
are no good for long journeys.End your car Hire in Kumarakom and
arrange driver to come back in couple of days to pick you up,
this will be seperate fare, approx 800rps Kumarakom - Cochin.

Have heard Coconut Lagoon is very good but is quite expensive.

Check out Hotels section for Hotel reviews.

vandy

BTW, Drivers accom and meals is included in above price.
However it is nice to share the odd lunch with your driver.

snonymous

You need to check when the Diwali school vacations are on, I suspect it is around that time. If so, better to book in advance. You can call them to check on availability and do a phone booking without any down payment.

Taxi fares will be around the same booked directly, or through operator, depending on how well you negotiate!

tywocky

Thank you for that Vandy. [i] want to cover as much of Kerala as I can as two of us are coming ffrom England and one from USA. Not sure when we will get another opportunity. What does BTW stand for?
Tywocky

tywocky

Thank you again Snonymus.

When is Diwali by the way. Where I come from I do not get to know about these festivals.

Tywocky

rajered

BTW is By The Way.

Dilwali is on the 17th of November. But school vacations would start around the 1st week till the end of November.

snonymous

This year, Deepavali / Diwali / Divali runs from Oct 15 to approx. October 19th. Im not sure about when the school vacations commence, many states give 15 days to a month during this period so it is considered a sort of peak season.

santos_g15

My Calendar shows it as October 17.