Realistic itinerary for Kerala - 2 weeks

~*emz*~

Hi there,

Forgive me, I'm sure this information is posted lots of times, I should probably just search for the information!

Myself and boyfriend are going to Kerala for 2 weeks. We will start in Kovalam and are thinking of heading to Varkala.

We would also like to go to Munnar, which I think means we have to go to Cochin to get a bus and would like to see Cochin anyway.

We intend to get a house boat (where would be the best place to get one?)

And I would very much like to go to a nature reserve and see some elephants.

Does anyone have any recommendation's on any of the above? Does it seem feasible to do all that and relax too?

Lord Average

Reckon thats too much for two weeks!

My advice is to chose either Kovalam or Varkala. They are both nice beaches, but if you want more than beaches then you will have to sacrifice one of them.

Munnar will take a lot of travelling to get to, and if you want wildlife and elephants then Periyar Wildlife Park is definately the place to go (forget the boat and do a one day jeep safari).

If it was me, I would go: Varkala for a few days on the beach, Alleppy to include a 24hr houseboat, and Periyar for the wildlife and plantations. Any more than that and you will get diminishing returns on your relaxation.

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kalbarri

good recommendation lord average!

pundabee

Two weeks is plenty of time to do this. Do the Kovalam thing (throw in some day trips to Thiruvananthapuram), get the train to Varkala, get the train to Kochi, get the bus to Munnar, get the bus to Kumily (for wildlife reserve and elephants), get the bus to Kottayam (seriously consider staying there instead of Alappuzha) and do the boating from there, and train back to Thiruvanthapuram/Kovalam if this is your end destination.

Your itinerary involves 6 days that include travelling and 8 days without travelling. All the travelling can be done before 12 noon, and shouldn't have too much of a negative impact.

~*emz*~

Hmm, thank you both. 2 varying opinions but both equally helpful

Although we are starting in Kovalam, we we very much like to go to Varkala I have to say.

Pundabee - Why do you say seriously consider staying in Kottayam instead of Alappuzha?

pundabee

If you do the route Kovalam (including Thiruvananthapuram), Varkala, Kochi, Munnar, Kumily and back to the coast, it is much easier to get to Kottayam (3½ hours on the bus from Kumily) than it is getting to Alappuzha which will add a couple of hours to those 3½ hours. So, if your purpose for going to this area is to do the backwaters, Kottayam would be a more convenient starting point. Additionally, there are more opportunities for doing other things around Kottayam (big city by Keralan standards) than there is around Alappuzha (small town that is a lot less attractive than Kottayam).

Also, there are plenty of nice homestays in the Kottayam area if you have an interest in this kind of accommodation.

SueJ

Just returned from Kerala two days ago. This time we stayed near Kottayam which is a big dirty, noisy typical Indian city, in which I didn't want to spend too much time on the 'relaxing' part of the trip. However, about 15km away is the small town of Kumarakom which is directly on the East side of the lake, where Alappuzha is on the West.

Kumarakom is much quieter and less commercial than Alappuzha, and suited us much better. Most of the accommodation is pretty upmarket, but there are cheaper places directly on the lake. We stayed at Paradise Resort (www.paradisein.com) but Illikkalam resort also looked good. And if you take a houseboat from here it won't be so much 'houseboat rush hour' as it would in Alappuzha.

And you will defintely gain by the reduced travel time of not going to Allappuzha.

~*emz*~

Thanks for all your advise!

This site is great x

Booradley

Also just returned
We flew into Cochin and stayed 2 nights:
Travelled to Munnar and stayed 2 nights
Went to Alapuzza for one night and then had i night on a house boat from Allepy.
Had 5 nights relaxing in Varkala.
Train to cochin for overnight stay before early flight next day.
We felt we hit the balance of travelling an relaxing, we are a couple in our mid 40s

Boo

kalbarri

one can catch a bus from kumily to trivandrum. its a days trip but i found it convenient. it is a good way if you don't want to come back to the coast. i went on the 8 hour canal trip on the way up to cochin and then stayed in a lovely little place by the waterway,laying back reading, waving to indian travellers on the boats and drinking fresh pineapple juices.

backpakker

my suggestion is to go to Poovar if anyone wants to go to trivandrum ..lovely estuary where beach meets river meets land

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