Cycle South India - Tamil Nadu to Kerala

This 13-night cycling tour with Explore Worldwide begins on the southeast coast in Puducherry, once Pondicherry, where French colonial villas and Tamil markets crowd streets lined with trees. After a gentle stretch to the experimental community of Auroville and a look around the town’s French Quarter, the route moves inland through Tamil Nadu’s rice fields, village life and Chola dynasty temples, including the enormous Brihadeeswarar, best seen at sunset.

Cycling days are interspersed with a tasty Chettinad cooking demonstration and visits to tile makers and flower markets among local towns. Crossing into Kerala, the terrain climbs into the Western Ghats with plantations of tea, cardamom and spices before descending to houseboats that cut a slow path across the 900km backwater network. The final days follow waterways and coastal villages to the historic trading port of Fort Kochi, framed by Chinese fishing nets and Dutch palaces.

Cycling distances vary from flat backroads to hill climbs with around 3 to 6 hours of riding most days. Accommodation shifts from heritage hotels to a family-run homestay to a houseboat, offering a chance to feel everyday rhythms in southern India without rushing through the sights.

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These are the places the trip visits, in order. Explore Worldwide publishes the day-by-day itinerary on its own site.