Kerala - Highlights of South India with Marari Beach Extension

This small-group tour starts in Cochin, where the city’s waterside setting is evident in its old spice markets and the Dutch Palace’s fine murals. From there you travel inland to Munnar, a hill station framed by tea plantations and waterfalls, with its colonial-era charm still visible in some residences.

Madurai follows, with its extraordinary Meenakshi Temple, alive with ceremonies and markets, and the 17th-century Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal palace. The route continues to Thekkady, near Periyar National Park; among the spice plantations you’ll find the plants that have made this area famous for cardamom and pepper. An optional boat trip offers a chance to see local wildlife.

The tour includes an overnight on a traditional houseboat drifting through Alleppey’s backwaters, before returning to the coast for a few days relaxing in the beach village of Marari. There, the rhythm of fishing boats arriving with the day’s catch contrasts with an abundant local eco-system you might glimpse on a naturalist-led walk. The tour follows a steady pace, allowing time to settle in at each stop, and to take in the variety of southern India at a thoughtful, comfortable stretch.

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