High Ranges & Backwaters3 days / 2 nights
Munnar
Colonial Kochi, the misty tea hills of Munnar and a houseboat cruise through the Alleppey backwaters — the soul of Kerala in three unhurried days.
from €49ppView itinerary
Coastal city
Kochi — Private Tuk-Tuk Tour, Heritage Walk + Kadamakudy
2 days / 1 night · from €49 per person
Duration2 days / 1 night
Best seasonYear-round
Group size2 – 6 travellers
PaceActive but easy
Kochi was a spice port long before it was a city, and Portuguese, Dutch, British, Jewish, Arab and Chinese traders all left something behind on this small peninsula. Day one is a private tuk-tuk tour with a local guide — Chinese fishing nets, St. Francis Church, Santa Cruz Basilica, the Dutch Palace and Jew Town — with pickup and drop-off from your hotel, the airport or the cruise terminal. Day two swaps colonial streets for water: sunrise over the island paddy fields of Kadamakudy, the mangroves of Mangalavanam, and a slow finish on Cherai beach.
Highlights
- Private tuk-tuk tour of Fort Kochi with an English-speaking local guide
- Chinese fishing nets, St. Francis Church and Santa Cruz Basilica on foot
- Dutch (Mattancherry) Palace murals, Paradesi Synagogue and the Jew Town spice lanes
- Sunrise over the island paddy fields and fishing stakes of Kadamakudy
- Mangalavanam mangroves and the calm sands of Cherai beach
- Street-food tasting and an evening Kathakali performance
Your route
- Hotel, airport or cruise terminalAir-conditioned pickup anywhere in Kochi, then straight into your private tuk-tuk.
- Fort KochiChinese fishing nets, Princess Street, St. Francis CSI Church and Santa Cruz Basilica.
- Mattancherry & Jew TownDutch Palace murals, Paradesi Synagogue and the spice and antique lanes.
- Marine Drive & KathakaliSunset over the harbour, then a backstage-and-stage Kathakali performance.
- Kadamakudy islandsSunrise over paddy fields and Chinese nets, breakfast with a local family.
- Cherai beach & drop-offWhere the backwaters meet the Arabian Sea, then transfer to your hotel, airport or next stop.
Day by day
- Day 1 · Morning
Private tuk-tuk tour of Fort Kochi
We collect you from your hotel, the airport, the railway station or the cruise terminal and hand you over to your own tuk-tuk and local guide for roughly five hours. You'll stop at the Chinese fishing nets, walk the colonial lanes and cafés of Princess Street, and visit St. Francis CSI Church — India's oldest European church, where Vasco da Gama was first buried — and the Gothic interiors of Santa Cruz Basilica. Bottled water, fuel, tolls and taxes are all covered.
- Day 1 · Afternoon
Mattancherry, Jew Town and Kathakali
The tuk-tuk continues to Mattancherry Palace, the Dutch Palace, for its Ramayana and Mahabharata murals, coronation throne and royal portraits. From there it's a slow wander through Jew Town — the Paradesi Synagogue with its Belgian chandeliers and hand-painted Chinese floor tiles, then godowns still fragrant with cardamom, pepper and ginger. We break for a street-food tasting, watch the sun go down from Marine Drive, and end with a Kathakali performance where you can watch the make-up being applied before the show.
- Day 2 · Sunrise
Kadamakudy islands
An early start out to the Kadamakudy cluster of islands, fifteen kilometres and a world away from the city: mirror-flat water, prawn-farm bunds, Chinese nets tipping into the channels and paddy fields that flood with the tide. Breakfast — puttu, appam and strong Kerala coffee — is with a family who fish these waters.
- Day 2 · Afternoon
Mangalavanam, Cherai and onward
Back in the city we walk the boardwalk at Mangalavanam Bird Sanctuary, a mangrove pocket in the middle of Kochi with 30-odd resident and migratory species, with an optional stop at the Gallery of Contemporary Indian Art on Durbar Hall Road. The day finishes north on Vypeen Island at Cherai beach, where the backwaters and the Arabian Sea meet, before your transfer to the hotel, airport or your next Kerala stop.
What's included
Included
- Private tuk-tuk tour with an English-speaking local guide (approx. 5 hours)
- Hotel, airport, railway station or cruise-port pickup and drop-off
- Fuel, tolls, taxes and bottled water throughout the tuk-tuk tour
- Air-conditioned private transfers on day two, including Kadamakudy and Cherai
- One night in handpicked, comfortable accommodation with breakfast
- Street-food tasting and Kathakali performance tickets
- 24/7 on-the-ground support from our Kerala team
Not included
- International flights to and from Kerala
- India e-visa fees
- Travel insurance
- Monument and museum entry fees
- Lunches, dinners and personal expenses unless listed
- Tips and gratuities (always optional)
Gallery
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