Kerala itinerary, day by day

From the old spice port of Kochi to a houseboat on the Alleppey backwaters, the tea estates of Munnar and the cliffs of Varkala: the map, what is worth booking, everything that costs nothing, and where to sleep at three budgets.

🗓️ 7, 10 or 14 days📍 4 stops☀️ Best time: October to March

Alleppey · Photo Pritam Sengupta / Pexels

Route map (numbers = order of the stops).

Kerala in 7 days

3 stops · 18 things to do · ≈ 400 km

1Kochi (Cochin)

Days 1-2

A spice port traded through by Arabs, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and British in turn. The cantilevered Chinese fishing nets on the Fort Kochi shore are its emblem.

🎟️ Worth booking

Old Kochi and the Chinese nets, guidedHalf day · from €20
Fort Kochi and Mattancherry on foot, from the fishing nets to the spice warehouses and the Dutch Palace.
Book on GetYourGuide →
A Kathakali performanceEvening · from €12
Kerala's classical dance drama, where the story is told through gesture and eyes, with the make-up applied in front of the audience beforehand.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The Chinese fishing nets · Fort Kochi, its colonial lanes and galleries · The Paradesi Synagogue and Jew Town · The seafront at sunset

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Zostel Kochi (€12 a night) · Mid-range: Brunton Boatyard (€130 a night) · Luxury: Taj Malabar Resort (€260 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Restaurant Chef Pillai Kochi ↗ ★ 4.7 · 16729 reviews
Canvas Restaurant & Pizzeria ↗ ★ 4.7 · 2247 reviews
Kochi Kapital Kafe ↗ ★ 4.7 · 1249 reviews
Club House Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.7 · 599 reviews
Fort House Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.7 · 297 reviews

Photo Ravi Kant / Pexels

🚗 Car · 1h30 · 60 km

2Alleppey and the backwaters

Days 3-4

Alappuzha sits on a maze of lagoons, rivers and canals running parallel to the coast, best seen from the deck of a houseboat.

🎟️ Worth booking

A night on a backwater houseboatNight on board · from €120
A night aboard a kettuvallam, a converted rice barge, with a cook on board and the boat moored at dusk.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Canoe through the narrow canalsHalf day · from €15
A small boat goes where the houseboats cannot, down village canals barely wider than the hull.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The backwaters and the paddy fields · The villages along the water · Alleppey beach and its lighthouse · Sunset over the sea from the clifftop cafés

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Palmy Residency (€22 a night) · Luxury: Purity at Lake Vembanad (€260 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

South Theory ↗ ★ 5 · 170 reviews
The Ocean Kitchen ↗ ★ 4.9 · 275 reviews
Sea Bites Homely Food ↗ ★ 4.9 · 121 reviews
Lake Side Pavilion ↗ ★ 4.8 · 683 reviews
Namaste Tiffins ↗ ★ 4.8 · 390 reviews

Photo Pritam Sengupta / Pexels

🚗 Car · 3h · 160 km

3Varkala

Days 5-7

A beach at the foot of red laterite cliffs, with a temple town behind it and ayurvedic centres along the clifftop path.

🎟️ Worth booking

Yoga class above the sea2h · from €15
An early morning class on the clifftop, facing the Arabian Sea before the heat sets in.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Boat trip along the coastHalf day · from €25
A morning at sea off the cliffs, with dolphins often seen in season.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The cliff and the beach below · The temples · Sunset over the sea from the clifftop cafés · The sacred springs

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Zostel Varkala (€12 a night) · Mid-range: Gateway Varkala (€85 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Cyra Cafe ↗ ★ 4.7 · 267 reviews
Cafe Sarwaa on the cliff ↗ ★ 4.6 · 4729 reviews · €€
Buzz and Breeze Cafe ↗ ★ 4.6 · 122 reviews
Cafe Trip is Life ↗ ★ 4.5 · 2888 reviews
Sree Vinayaka Pure Veg Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.5 · 1588 reviews · €€

Photo Shalender Kumar / Pexels

Kerala in 10 days

4 stops · 24 things to do · ≈ 600 km

1Kochi (Cochin)

Days 1-2

A spice port traded through by Arabs, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and British in turn. The cantilevered Chinese fishing nets on the Fort Kochi shore are its emblem.

🎟️ Worth booking

Old Kochi and the Chinese nets, guidedHalf day · from €20
Fort Kochi and Mattancherry on foot, from the fishing nets to the spice warehouses and the Dutch Palace.
Book on GetYourGuide →
A Kathakali performanceEvening · from €12
Kerala's classical dance drama, where the story is told through gesture and eyes, with the make-up applied in front of the audience beforehand.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The Chinese fishing nets · Fort Kochi, its colonial lanes and galleries · The Paradesi Synagogue and Jew Town · The seafront at sunset

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Zostel Kochi (€12 a night) · Mid-range: Brunton Boatyard (€130 a night) · Luxury: Taj Malabar Resort (€260 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Ravi Kant / Pexels

🚗 Car · 4h · 130 km

2Munnar

Days 3-4

A hill station at around 1,600 metres in the Western Ghats, where tea bushes cover every slope the British planters could reach.

🎟️ Worth booking

Tea estate and tea museumHalf day · from €15
From the picking on the slopes to the rolling and drying in the factory, then a tasting.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Eravikulam National ParkHalf day · from €25
Grassland at the top of the hills, home to the Nilgiri tahr, a mountain goat found nowhere else. The park closes every February and March for the calving season.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Tea estates from one horizon to the other · The viewpoints over the Western Ghats · The waterfalls · The mountain lakes

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Zostel Munnar (€13 a night) · Mid-range: Tea Valley Resort (€85 a night) · Luxury: Windermere Estate (€180 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Parakkat Spice Merchant Restaurant - Munnar ↗ ★ 4.8 · 4908 reviews
MUNNAR SAMRUDHI RESTAURANT ↗ ★ 4.7 · 3478 reviews
Top Station Multi Cuisine Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.7 · 1174 reviews
MUNNAR MESS ↗ ★ 4.7 · 308 reviews
Grand Spices Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.7 · 272 reviews

Photo Harsh Chikhalia / Pexels

🚗 Car · 4h30 · 170 km

3Alleppey and the backwaters

Days 5-6

Alappuzha sits on a maze of lagoons, rivers and canals running parallel to the coast, best seen from the deck of a houseboat.

🎟️ Worth booking

A night on a backwater houseboatNight on board · from €120
A night aboard a kettuvallam, a converted rice barge, with a cook on board and the boat moored at dusk.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Canoe through the narrow canalsHalf day · from €15
A small boat goes where the houseboats cannot, down village canals barely wider than the hull.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The backwaters and the paddy fields · The villages along the water · Alleppey beach and its lighthouse · Sunset over the sea from the clifftop cafés

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Palmy Residency (€22 a night) · Luxury: Purity at Lake Vembanad (€260 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Pritam Sengupta / Pexels

🚗 Car · 3h · 160 km

4Varkala

Days 7-10

A beach at the foot of red laterite cliffs, with a temple town behind it and ayurvedic centres along the clifftop path.

🎟️ Worth booking

Yoga class above the sea2h · from €15
An early morning class on the clifftop, facing the Arabian Sea before the heat sets in.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Boat trip along the coastHalf day · from €25
A morning at sea off the cliffs, with dolphins often seen in season.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The cliff and the beach below · The temples · Sunset over the sea from the clifftop cafés · The sacred springs

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Zostel Varkala (€12 a night) · Mid-range: Gateway Varkala (€85 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Shalender Kumar / Pexels

Kerala in 14 days

4 stops · 24 things to do · ≈ 600 km

1Kochi (Cochin)

Days 1-3

A spice port traded through by Arabs, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and British in turn. The cantilevered Chinese fishing nets on the Fort Kochi shore are its emblem.

🎟️ Worth booking

Old Kochi and the Chinese nets, guidedHalf day · from €20
Fort Kochi and Mattancherry on foot, from the fishing nets to the spice warehouses and the Dutch Palace.
Book on GetYourGuide →
A Kathakali performanceEvening · from €12
Kerala's classical dance drama, where the story is told through gesture and eyes, with the make-up applied in front of the audience beforehand.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The Chinese fishing nets · Fort Kochi, its colonial lanes and galleries · The Paradesi Synagogue and Jew Town · The seafront at sunset

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Zostel Kochi (€12 a night) · Mid-range: Brunton Boatyard (€130 a night) · Luxury: Taj Malabar Resort (€260 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Ravi Kant / Pexels

🚗 Car · 4h · 130 km

2Munnar

Days 4-6

A hill station at around 1,600 metres in the Western Ghats, where tea bushes cover every slope the British planters could reach.

🎟️ Worth booking

Tea estate and tea museumHalf day · from €15
From the picking on the slopes to the rolling and drying in the factory, then a tasting.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Eravikulam National ParkHalf day · from €25
Grassland at the top of the hills, home to the Nilgiri tahr, a mountain goat found nowhere else. The park closes every February and March for the calving season.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Tea estates from one horizon to the other · The viewpoints over the Western Ghats · The waterfalls · The mountain lakes

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Zostel Munnar (€13 a night) · Mid-range: Tea Valley Resort (€85 a night) · Luxury: Windermere Estate (€180 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Harsh Chikhalia / Pexels

🚗 Car · 4h30 · 170 km

3Alleppey and the backwaters

Days 7-9

Alappuzha sits on a maze of lagoons, rivers and canals running parallel to the coast, best seen from the deck of a houseboat.

🎟️ Worth booking

A night on a backwater houseboatNight on board · from €120
A night aboard a kettuvallam, a converted rice barge, with a cook on board and the boat moored at dusk.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Canoe through the narrow canalsHalf day · from €15
A small boat goes where the houseboats cannot, down village canals barely wider than the hull.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The backwaters and the paddy fields · The villages along the water · Alleppey beach and its lighthouse · Sunset over the sea from the clifftop cafés

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Palmy Residency (€22 a night) · Luxury: Purity at Lake Vembanad (€260 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Pritam Sengupta / Pexels

🚗 Car · 3h · 160 km

4Varkala

Days 10-14

A beach at the foot of red laterite cliffs, with a temple town behind it and ayurvedic centres along the clifftop path.

🎟️ Worth booking

Yoga class above the sea2h · from €15
An early morning class on the clifftop, facing the Arabian Sea before the heat sets in.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Boat trip along the coastHalf day · from €25
A morning at sea off the cliffs, with dolphins often seen in season.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The cliff and the beach below · The temples · Sunset over the sea from the clifftop cafés · The sacred springs

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Zostel Varkala (€12 a night) · Mid-range: Gateway Varkala (€85 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Shalender Kumar / Pexels

Hotel prices are per room per night, activity prices per person, checked when written. Some links are affiliate links (Booking, GetYourGuide): we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

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Good to know before you go

🍽️ What to eat

Dosa: a thin, crisp pancake of fermented rice and lentils, served with sambar and chutney.
Idli: soft steamed rice cakes, the standard southern breakfast.
Kerala curry: fish, prawns or vegetables cooked in coconut milk with curry leaves.
Sadya: a vegetarian feast served on a banana leaf, eaten with the right hand.
Filter coffee: strong South Indian coffee with hot milk, poured from a height to froth it.

⚠️ What to avoid

Drink sealed bottled water only, and eat food that is hot and freshly cooked.
Cover shoulders and knees at temples, and take your shoes off at the door. Some temples admit Hindus only.
Agree the auto-rickshaw fare before you get in, or use Uber or Ola.
Plan around the monsoon: heavy rain from June to September, and again in October and November.

Plan this trip

📒 The free printable Kerala guide→ 🗓️ Best time to visit Kerala, month by month→ 🎟️ What to book before you go→

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