Home » Tour Packages » Backwaters of Kerala

Duration: 8 nights / 9 days

Day 1: Cochin

Arrival at Kerala

Arrive Cochin and transfer to Hotel. Afternoon proceed for city tour of Cochin which includes Jewish Synagogue, Mattancherry Palace etc.

Overnight at Hotel.

Day 2: Cochin - Munnar

Breakfast at hotel. In the morning depart for Munnar (approx.4 hours journey), enjoying the scenic beauty & the marvelous waterfalls, high mountains with the low flying clouds passing by.

Arrive Munnar and check in at hotel. Munnar is situated at the confluence of three mountain streams - Mudrapuzha, Nallathani & Kundala. 1600 meter above sea level this hill station was once the summer resort of the erstwhile British Government in South India. Sprawling Tea plantations, picture book towns, winding lanes, and holiday facilities make this a popular resort town. Among the exotic flora found in the forests and grasslands here is the Neelakurinji. This flower which bathes the hills in the blue every twelve years, will bloom next in 2006 AD. Munnar also has the highest peak in South India - Anamudi, which towers over 2695 m. Anamudi is an ideal spot for trekking.

Overnight at Munnar.

Day 3: Munnar

Morning proceed for Munnar sightseeing after breakfast. Move through the tea gardens spread like a green carpet over hundreds of kilometers. Lush green hills all around - a place difficult to describe. Very low population and moved away from the city pollution makes Munnar a special destination.

Sightseeing includes Raja Malai, a top peak of Munnar where you can see Neel Thar (mountain goats), Muttuputty dam and the Indo Swiss project. You can also enjoy boating in the Lake. Overnight at Munnar.

Day 4: Munnar - Thekkady

Breakfast at hotel. Proceed for Thekkady - drive through tea estates, spice gardens and wild forests. Arrive Thekkady after a memorable drive of approx. 4 hours. Check in at hotel.

In the evening visit Kumily market to buy the best spices available. Overnight at Thekkady.

Day 5: Thekkady - Kumarokom

In the morning proceed to Kumarakom after breakfast. Arrive at Kumarakom, after a journey of approx. 5 hours enjoying the beauty of the traditional Keralian houses.

An enchanting backwater destination, Kumarokom offers visitors many other leisure options. Boating and fishing facilities are available at Kumarokom. Holiday packages on the houseboats, traditional Kettuvalloms, are an out-of-this-world experience at Kumarokom.

Check in at Hotel. Overnight at Kumarakom.

Day 6: Kumarokom

Morning go for boat cruise in the lake. Afternoon will be at leisure. Overnight at hotel.

Day 7: Kumarokom - Kovalam

Morning drive to Kovalam, the international beach Resort with full of Coconut trees.

Kovalam is an internationally renowned beach of Kerala, with three adjacent crescent beaches. Kovalam has been a favorite haunt of tourists, especially Europeans, since the 1930s. A massive rocky promontory on the beach has created a beautiful Bay of calm waters ideal for sea bathing. The leisure options at this beach are plenty and diverse - sunbathing, swimming, herbal body toning massages, special cultural programs, Catamaran cruising etc.

Evening enjoy the beach. Overnight at Hotel.

Day 8: Kovalam - Kanyakumari - Kovalam

Day excursion. Breakfast at hotel.

Full day excursion to Kanyakumari, Enroute visit Padmanabhapuram Palace and Suchindram Temple. At Kanykumari visit Vivekanada rock.

Drive back to Kovalam in the evening.

Day 9 : Kovalam - Home

Breakfast at hotel. Transfer at leisure for flight

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Duration: 5 nights / 6 days

Day 1: Abroad - Chennai - Covelong

Arrive Madras International airport.

On arrival, the guest will be met by our representative and directly proceed to Covelong (43 kms/1 hr)

Upon arrival at hotel the guests will be provided with the traditional Indian welcome consisting of aarti-tikka and garlands with non-alcoholic welcome drink.

Overnight at hotel.

Day 2: Covelong

Fullday sightseeing tour of Kanchipuram and Mahabalipuram.

Kanchipuram - known as the Golden City of a Thousand Temples, is one of the oldest towns in India. It is famous for both its temples, many of them remarkably well preserved and for its hand-woven silks. Kanchipuram is one of the seven sacred cities of India and it is the only one associated with both Shiva and Vishnu. Visit Ekambareshwar Temple, Kailashnath Temple, Kamakshi Temple, the Vaikunthaperumal Temple, all built in the 7th and 8th centuries. With a weaving tradition dating back to the Pallava era (when silk was the royal cloth), Kanchipuram is justly famous for its particularly fine silk saris, embellished with stunning patterns. Visit the local homes of the weavers and watch them create magic out of silk thread into saris.

Mahabalipuram - This is a small, quiet seaside resort with a unique 7th-century Shore Temple, a lovely beach and some of the most beautiful rock-cut temples in the world. Situated on the shore of the Bay of Bengal, Mahabalipuram was already a famous seaport in the 1st century AD. This, town was a workshop for temple building. Visit the seven pagoda-style shore temples, lashed by the waves of the sea and the seven rathas or temple chariots, a group of monolithic monuments & animal figures carved out of solid rock, the earliest known examples of Dravidian architecture. They were constructed in a single century-long burst of creative enthusiasm, starting in the reign of Narasimhavarman 1 (AD 630-68). End the visit by photography of the beautiful Shore temples at sunset.

Dinner and overnight at hotel.

Day 3: Covelong - Pondicherry

After breakfast drive to Pondicherry (162 kms/4 hrs)

Pondicherry, which was up until the 1950s, a far-flung outpost of the French maritime empire. It is so different from the rest of Tamil Nadu that one feels that one has entered another country! This busy coastal town is divided roughly into two: the old White Town of elegant French houses, restaurants & administrative buildings and the Black Town west of the canal where India takes over again.

Tour of Pondicherry - visiting Botanical garden, Eglise De Sacre Coeur De Jesus and Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Later visit township of Auroville or the city of Dawn. Designed by a French architect Roger Arger, it is an entirely new concept in education and urban living. Dinner and overnight at hotel.

Day 4: Pondicherry - Tanjore

After breakfast drive to Tanjore (177 kms/4 ½ hrs)

Upon arrival at Tanjore - check into hotel.

Afternoon sightseeing tour of Tanjore - was the capital of the Chola Empire from the tenth to the fourteenth centuries. A Chola king, Raja Raja Chola, who held the throne from 985 to 1016, built the greatest of the empire's 74 temples, the Brahadeeswarar, with its soaring tower over the inner sanctum. This tower rises more than 62 meters (200 feet). On its dome rests a single block of granite weighing 80 tons.

Dinner and overnight at hotel.

Day 5: Tanjore - Trichy - Madurai

After breakfast drive to Madurai (190 kms/5½ hrs) enroute visiting Trichy

City tour of Trichy - visit the 'Rock Fort Temple' which rises abruptly to a height of 273 ft. A steep staircase cut into the rock leads upto the Fort. At the first level are the remnants of a huge hall blasted into ruins in 1772. The next storey is the Mathrubhuteshwarer Shrine dedicated to Shiva. Finally at the top of the hill, the 'Uchhi Pillayar Koil' - a Ganesh Temple offering a commanding view of the city.

Thereafter continue drive to Madurai

Upon arrival at Madurai - check into hotel.

Evening visit of the Meenakshi temple - Leave the hotel for the temple by cycle rickshaws. At 9 PM, attend the night ceremony at the temple. This is a ceremony that takes place every evening when the temple bronze of Lord Shiva is carried to the bed chamber of Parvati. The procession is accompanied by religious prayer and temple music.

Dinner and overnight at hotel.

Day 6: Madurai - Periyar

Morning city tour of Madurai visit the Meenakshi temple one of the biggest temple complexes in India - 46 ft. long by 790 ft broad built in the 17th Century. It is a rectangular twin shrine: the southern temple dedicated to Meenakshi (the consort of Shiva) and the other to Shiva. It is Madurai's greatest landmark - a file city within a city: the complex includes a bazaar that bustles from dawn to nightfall. The high point of the Meenakshi temple is Hall of a "Thousand Pillars", built in the 16th C which is as great a work of structural engineering as it is of art. Also visit the palace of Tirumala Nayak which is an example of the architectural mastery of the Nayaks - a blend of Hindu and Saracen architecture. It's enormous roofed arcade supported by 48 foot high stoned pillar still stands.

After breakfast drive to Periyar (177 kms/5 hrs)

Upon arrival at Periyar - check into hotel

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