Suggest a itinerary Kerala in July 2012

Dear IMers,
I am planning a 5N/6D tour in Kerala in mid July 2012. I shall start from Trivandrum, and end at Cochin. My budget is arround 15K and the places I want to cover are Kovalam, Munnuar, Allepey, & Kumarakom. The arrival & departure are fixed but the places to be covered are flxible.

Please suggest
1. An itinerary for the travel.
2. Should I book hotels beforehand or on-spot? (This provides more flexibility of plan changing)
3. Lots of other questions I am going to ask afterwards which will strike in my mind later on. They may b simple, please don't get annoyed.

Thanks in advance.

on arriving at Kovalam
Day 1,2-spend 2 nights at Kovalam beach ( you may do a day trip to Kanyakumari)
Day 3- Alleppey to Kumarakom houseboat cruise with overnight stay on board houseboat
Day 4, 5 - Proceed to Munnar and stay 2 nights
Day 6 - check out from Munnar and if time permits you do sight seeing at Fort Cochin , Tripunuthara palace , marine drive etc

you can be flexible about this , since it is low season you can book on arrival

but check out various stay options in your budget and find the hotels contact details

@NeenuRaj Thanks a ton for your reply, and I am wishing if you can help me some more about my journey as I have very little knowledge about it.

Can you give some idea about the communication available between 1. Kovalam to Kanyakumari 2. Kovalam/Kanyakumari to Alleppy 3. Alleppy to Munnar 4. Munnar to Ernakulam. Is bus service available & comfortable during July?

An overnight stay on board houseboat is costly as I found in IM that a day travel is same as overnight stay. What do you suggest?

Thanks in advance

Thanks Anupamkhan,

if you are planning to take bus service , then it is available between all these places

fr Kanyakumari there are buses available from Trivandrum bus station . to reach Trivandrum bus station from Kovalam it takes approx 30 minutes

From Trivandrum if you dont get a direct kanyakuamri bus while you arrive at the station , get on to a Nagarcoil bus ( i think you have buses every half hour to this place ) from Nagarcoil 9 In Tamilnadu ) you get buses to Kanyakumari . You might take 3 - 3 & 1/2 hours to reach kanyakumari from Trivandrum depending on the buses

but if you are planning a day trip from Kovalam , start very early from Kovalam so that you get time to visit sightseeing places in Kanyakumari

In july you should expect rains , so the travel might take a bit longer that expected

it is doable by bus in a day ( Kovalam - Kanyakumari - Kovalam ) but you have to plan it accordingly . i would also add that if you want to see Kanyakumari sights, then Travancore palace, sushindram temple all in a day , the most comfortable option would be hiring a CAB from Kovalam

simlary between Kovalam and Alleppey , bus are possible and plenty . You need to reach the main bus stand in Trivandrum to get buses to Alleppey . The service is very frequent and i am sure you wouldnt have problem in this stretch . it takes 4 & 1/2 hours depending on the time of the day

the other option is to look for train, The railway station in Trivandrum is situated just opp to the bus station.

from Alleppey to Munnar , there is one bus service available ( morning ) , that is directly to Munnar , it takes approx 8 Hours for that journey by bus

again in July if it rains when you travel , all these might take more time than said here

if your budget permits , it would be good to have a CAB for your tour of Kerala or may be for the trip from Alleppey to Munnar and drop to Cochin railway station / Airport

yes ! a day cruise on houseboat in Alleppey would cost approx INR 4500-5000 for two people with lunch and tea , from 11 AM to 5 PM , in july

and cruise with overnight stay would cost INR 5500 with all meals( 12 noon check-inand 9 AM chekc-out the next day )

with a budget of 15K , you can do kerala tour with a hired cab , accommodation in budget hotels in Kovalam( 2 nights), Munnar ( 2 nights) Allepey hotel ( 1 night ) , and day cruise in alleppey backwaters in a shikkara or motor boat ( this is cheaper and it would cost only INR 300 per hour for the boat )

if you opt for a cab from Alleppey to Munnar and drop to Cochin , you could even include Houseboat stay in that budget , in July

Thannk you a lot Dear Neenuraj...you have answered all of my posted queries and I think it will do great. I am working on these and shall back to you again if more question rises. Thanks for your support.

Thanks Anupam

Do write back if you have more queries

I am driving down to Kerala 5th to 15th July 2012.
Budget is arnd 18k for a couple. Not sure whether I should be booking hotels in advance or search for one there itself! Lil worried whether I would be able to search for hotels there as it might be raining heavily in July.

I am planning 2 days at Trivandrum, 1 at houseboat and 3 nights at Munnar.
My overnight hault while going will be around Mangalore and arnd Shimoga while returning.

no need to book in advance .july is offseason
but will be good to have a list of places to stay

but if you are arriving late at your destiantions , i would suggest you to book for your first night atleast!

Dear Anupam

In July be prepared for the monsoons as it would be raining mostly. it is kind of off season here. its not a problem at all to find accommodation during this season as all the locations you have mentioned have lots of hotels. Moreover beaches like kovalam and Varkala won t be crowded. you can use the Volvo city bus services at Trivandrum for going to kovalam if you are not looking for taxis. From Trivandrum to Alleppey take a train. Timings I ll give you if you tell me when you intend to leave Tvm. It takes 2 - 3.5 hrs by train (depending on the Train). Alleppey - kumarakom (boating)Kumarakom-Munnar-Cochin take a taxi.