kerala
 

We are planning a 5-6day trip to kerala...all the itineraries seem to include periyar and Munnar..are they a must see? we did a Kenyan safari last year so wildlife viewing isn't a priority for us..can someone please suggest an itin? thanks in advance...

Hi,

5-6 days? I'm amazed that there are any tours of Kerala for such a sort duration. And they all "seem to include Periyar and Munnar". Makes you wonder what else they cram into that tiny time frame.

Anyway, I assume you will already be in India, or somewhere close by. Yes?

Hope so.

Cochin (Kochi) is a wonderful place with buildings and cultural traces left by the Portugese, Dutch and British.

There is even an old synagogue (if it's still there!!).

You can walk the streets of old Cochin and smell spices on the air.

Then a trip on the "backwaters" is generally seen as a "must do". You can/could do this as a way of getting from A to B - from Cochin to Allepey (takes a whole day) - or you can do it more as an outing. You can do it, I believe, as a sort of liveaboard - or you can arrange to stay in a houseboat/hotel.

I liked Trivandrum too. Or there is the beach at Kovalum and the amazing wooden palace south of Trivandrum (sorry can't remember the name).

Why not fly to Kochi, spend 2 full days. Then do the backwaters thing - maybe a houseboat stay and a tour. Then take the train to Trivandrum for fun - you should take a train if you going to India at least once!!) and fly back. Don't know if you can fly back. Yours to research.

Just tossing out ideas, seeing as nobody else has yet.

chimani...

Thanks!...yes we will already be in India..and are flexible with adding a day at most...I didn't clarify...we would like to spend 5-6 days in Kerala..however all the itins I see are 8 plus days and include Periyar and Munnar...so I was wondering if we skip them do we miss a lot...or perhaps add Periyar and make it 7 days...yes we can fly back to Delhi from Trivanderum..taking the train is a wonderful idea and will definitely look into it...thanks!

Ditto the suggestion of chimani to visit Cochin, and try the backwater cruises. If you decide to move south to Trivandrum, an excellent stopover enroute is Kumarakom. It is a bird sanctuary near a lake, with fabulous hotel resorts, including one on an island which can only be reached by a boat ("Coconut Lagoon"). Munnar is a very pretty town up on the hills. You may want to skip Periyar.

chimani and indiancouple
thanks for your suggestions...
here is what we have so far..

cochin 2 nts brunton boatyard
kumarakom 1 night coconut lagoon
house boat 1 night.
kovalam 2 nights travancore heritage

we thought we can stay at kovalam and go into trivandrum to sightsee...and fly to del from there.

I am still trying to add munnar if i possibly can...any other place to experience a spice plantation?

i have a question re internal flights in india...should i just go online and book them myself or are similar low fares possible from an agent...
and if i do it online what are the rules re changes...

Thanks for all the suggestions...

Re. internal flights to India. Just book online, preferably directly on the airlines's websites.

Sites like makemytrip.com may give you cheaper fares but the routing and timings are often sub-optimal.

Agree with the previous poster; go ahead and book online. Another online booking site is www.cleartrip.com ; some of the low cost carriers in India do not go through travel agents, so you will not find their fares with any agent. With online bookings, depending upon the type of ticket you purchase, changes may not be possible, or may be a bit expensive. So firm up your flight schedules and avoid changes.

agtoau and indiancouple

i am assuming i can book on these sites even though i am not a resident of india?..a quick look at them makes me suspect you have to be a resident ..i am a bit wary of submitting my credit card number and then not getting a booking confirmation...hope i am wrong..thanks again

You don't have to be a resident. On Kingfisher at least the charges are the same regardless of residency status.

Bookings made through websites of the reputed domestic carriers in India are safe and you should experience no problem. In fact, they are overly cautious. For instance, reservations with international credit cards had been temporarily suspended some months ago by a couple of airlines because of a fraud alarm. Second, they will ask you to present your credit card at the time of check-in for confirmation.