We (We were only two, me and my wife) visited Kerala in first week of August 2017. And as it is off season, we enjoyed more, less crowd , less queues etc.
Day 1 Kochi airport to Munnar
Kochi airport 8:30am
We left Airport at 9-9:15am to Athirapally Waterfall (1.5-2 hour max)
You must visit Athirapally Waterfall (Same as in Bahubali Movie), and that too from bottom, u have to walk upto 1.5-2kn roundtrip , but it is worth to go down & enjoy waterfall.
Apprx duration at waterfall : 45-60min minimum including walking time.
Ticket : 80/- for two
Wear sports shoes for comfort shorts, as you will get wet at downside due to massive force of water.
From Athirapally Waterfall , we continued our journey to Munnar. On the way, we visited few more waterfalls (Charpa waterfall, Vazhahal waterfall) & spice garden.
There are lots of Spice garden on the way, Ur driver will take you to the garden where he has repo. Ticket for spice garden was 200/- for two. They had elephant ride too for 400/- per person, which I didn’t find worth for price unless you never had an elephant ride.
Spices also available there but I find rate costly there, you can check in Munnar town also, you might find them at reasonable rate in town.
We reached Our resort in Munnar At around 5pm.
Day 2 Munnar
We left at around 9:30am from our resort for Munnar sightseeing.
First at Eravikulam national park , we bought no waiting tickets from their nearby office and then went there. Ticket for no waiting 100/- for two and additional ticket at park 180/- for two. (only ticket you need if you don’t mind waiting in queue, in off season and if you have time, u don’t need to buy additional no waiting ticket)
From car drop point, they will take you in bus, and bus will drop at one point and from there you need to walk and return to pickup point same as drop point.
We didn’t find any animal on the way , you have to walk a lot there. View is awesome and if you like trekking, it is good. Don’t expect animals though.
From there, we visited KTDC tea museum . Entry ticket is 250/- for two. I didn’t find it worth. They won’t even give you different tea for tasting in this ticket. And in sarcastic way, they will advertise their tea. You can buy tea from there if any good offers , else buy from outside. It was buy three get one free offer when we visited. We bought 4 tea of 100gm each for 210/- total.
Then we visited photo point (You can get printed photos for 20-30/- per copy at these points and have memories outside Ur mobile phone pictures as well) ,echo point, Mattupatty dam on the way, Kundala dam,Pothenmedu view point. There is boating also at dam but it was raining when we visited and boating wasn’t available. You can visit munnar town in the end and then return to hotel. We returned to our resort by 5-6pm.
Day 3 Munnar
We had Bird watching on day 3 in between 7-8am in our resort, that was also sort of trekking, from resort down to the top road, walking on small path in between plantations and bushes. Great experience.
Our driver was insisting much to do Jeep Safari to punmudi dam (hanging bridge, Attukal water fall etc on the way) or to Kolukkumalai. Punmudi dam one is 4-5 hours and Kolukkumalai might take whole day. Punmudi dam cost 2500-3000/- and Kolukkumalai 4000/- per Jeep. But I think you can get even in lesser rate, these are the rates I was provided. And if you have another group or couple, you can share Jeep and save money. Else for just Safari, 4000/- isn’t worth , u will get similar view everywhere. Munnar is natural place and anywhere u will njoy, no need to go to these places by safari for 4000/- bucks. I read reviews and almost everyone was telling same, so we didn’t have his Jeep Safari.
Our driver also insisted to visit dream land or wonder valley adventure park. I liked dreamland but we already visited many adventure parks before, so we skipped that as well. If you have e time and like adventure and haven’t visited any adventure park like Della adventure , Lonavala, you should visit dreamland. Entry ticket is apprx 800/- per person.
I think drivers are getting some commission for this Jeep Safari, dream land etc, as almost all drivers insist passenger to go there. So be smart enough to make Ur own choice. Don’t get misguided by driver.
So we didn’t visited dreamland or Jeep Safari on day 3, instead we have more fun with other activities. Our resort has extra activities like Yoga-meditation, Tea tasting, Bird watching , Plantation hike walk to river side and Tea garden walk to Attukal waterfall. Tea tasting and yoga wasn’t available unfortunately during our 3 night stay as owner of the resort arrange these activities and he was out of Munnar due to some personal reason.
We have plantation walk to riverside from our resort. Our resort sent guide along with us for this walk. And this was not at any extra cost too, included in resort activities. It was the most memorable thing during our stay at Munnar. Included nature walk, trekking, photography, river visit etc. We walked in between trees, plantation, bushes, narrow path, up and down, I can’t describe it but it was best experience.
Then we had rest in afternoon , in evening, we visited Attukal waterfall.
There was actually tea garden walk 1.5-2 km one way and then Attukal water fall. Road is quite narrow and dangerous, one small bridge also one the way. Our driver was very good, instead of dropping us midway and let us walk this long, he took us almost upto the Attukal waterfall. It was beautiful, experience from tea garden walk to Attukal waterfall. Then we visited Munnar town and ayurvedic spa center. Regarding spa, check rooms and facilities before you book. They do bargain as well. I suggest to get it done at resort if available and good. Outside it is around 1500/- full body ayurvedic massage per person ,if you have good bargaining capacity, you can get even for lower upto 1000-1200/- per person.
Day 4 Munnar To Kumarakom
We checked out our resort at around 9:30am and left for kumarakom. the way, you will have some waterfalls and spice gardens, Chocolat factory etc. You can buy chocolates, cocca powder, spices, tea etc.
You can select stay either on kumarakom or Alleppey. If you want to have an experience in houseboat, Alleppey is good. In rainy season , houseboat isn’t good option, so we opted for resort. Another thing with house boat is, you will get stucked inside, can’t have any leisure and activities, no luxurious room as well. So You can book houseboat only for daytime 3-4 hours also .
Both Alleppey and kumarakom, you can have backwater cruise, almost all hotels provide one hour evening backwater cruise complimentary.
We reached kumarakom at around 3pm. You have to enjoy inside the resort in kumarakom or Alleppey, no activity other than backwater cruise and bird sanctuary in kumarakom. Our resort was wonderful, so we enjoyed inside resort.only and had one hour complimentary backwater cruise.
Day 5 Kumarakom to Verkala beach to Poovar island
We checkedout and left from kumarakom at around 9:30am and reached verkala beach at around 1:00pm, 30-40min at verkala beach and left to Poovar island. Reached poovar island resort at around 4pm.
If you are visiting Kovalam beach as well, I think you can skip verkala beach . If you have e excess time, then you can visit verkala beach, can plan one night stay at verkala too. beach is very good, but you will get saturated in the end of beaches and water in Kerala. So I suggest if visiting Kovalam, you can skip it and save the time.
After reaching the resort by boating and checking in, it was almost 5pm. We found 2 more couple while check in at resort and did extra one hour boating with them, which included sightseeing like mangroves, elephant rock, floating restaurant, church etc inside the water. Boat was arranged by our resort , 1250/- per hour per boat, so in 3 couples we shared it and it costed 400/- per couple to us.
*Drivers insist passenger for boating from other place as well, don’t get trapped in this, it will even cost u more (1500-2500/-) and for that u have to get outside by boating from resort and then by car to their pickup point , so better to book it from Ur resort directly.
We njoyed inside resort activities after boating.
Day 6 Poovar island to Kanyakumari day trip
We left for Kanyakumari at around 11am and reached by 1:30pm, visited Vivekananda Rock (it is beautiful, wind is so powerful, u will be amazed by wind and view both) by fairy ride (36/- for two, if you r going in peak season and rush, u can buy special ticket So u don’t have to stand in long queue) Triveni Sangam, Gandhi memorial , temple, sunset point (must visit even if you don’t plan to stay till sunset) etc. I recommend you must visit Kanyakumari if you are going to Kovalam or Poovar and if you have some extra day, you can even stay there.
On the way from Kanyakumari to Poovar island, we visited one temple suchindram, 15-20min from Kanyakumari. I strongly recommend not to visit this temple with wallet, so if you visit it, go without Ur wallet. From the entry point to every 100mtr, total 6-7 times, you will be asked 100-150/- in name of God from local people inside the temple.
From temple, we returned to Poovar island resort by evening and njoyed stay.
Day 7 Poovar island to Kovalam and trivendrum tour
In the morning, 10am, we visited beach from poovar island resort, u have to reach to beach by boating, 5min from resort island. It is awesome. We stayed there for 30-40min, you can spend more time also there. But we left as we needed to checkout and go to Kovalam and trivendrum.
We checked out poovar island resort at around 11:30am and went directly to trivendrum (one hour from poovar). Visited temple from outside and went to zoo. Art gallery, museum everything is nearby zoo, same location. We just visited zoo only, it was very good. Lots of animals and birds. Ticket for zoo 40/- for two. You can buy banana chips from trivendrum market.
Then we went to Kovalam from trivendrum and checked into resort and Kovalam. (30min from trivendrum) Visited Hawa beach and light house beach. You can go top to the Light house and have best view from top of all beaches. Ticket is 20/- per person and 10/- for mobile camera. All Beach are awesome.
You can go to trivendrum again in the night for dinner or njoy inside resort and have dinner there.
Day 8 : Kovalam to trivendrum airport
We checkedout and reached airport by 9:20am.
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We skipped thekaddy in Kerala on purpose because all my friends who visited told we can skip it and added extra days in Munnar/poovar-kovalam and visit Kanyakumari instead. If you have extra days, u can visit thekaddy as well. But in Thekaddy, nothing except wildlife sanctuary (no much animals as per review), spice garden (already in Munnar), kaththak (we weren’t interested), elephant ride (can have in Munnar, but I think here is would be more fun).
Most memorable things during our trip –
Floating Cottage at Poovar Island Resort, Boating at poovar island, Athirapally Waterfall from downmost point and Plantation hike walk to riverside from our resort Kaivalyam Retreat in Munnar, Vivekanand Rock at Kanyakumari
Resorts during our stay :
1. Kaivalyam retreat, Munnar
Luxury suite room, u can opt for duplex tree house as well.
We liked it due to location in between tree and mountain, plantation walk to riverside, (tea tasting and yoga etc would be good experience as well , but unfortunately not available during our stay), Jacuzzi in.kuxury suite room & unlimited Ur choice items in dinner from their menu, pure vegetarian and duplex tree house seems good as well.
Alternative Resort u can check :
Don’t book any hotel in town book hotel in between trees and mountain, with good view, check location of resort before you book.
Mountain club resort, Tall trees resort, spice tree resort (quite costly) etc.
2. Eastend lakesong resort, Kumarakom
Vembanadu room (highest category is vembanadu, u can select any from vembanadu or asthamudi room)
Liked due to awesome view inside resort, country canoe inside resort, cycling & excellent hospitality.
Alternative Resort u can check :
Lake palace resort, Alleppey, Pool villa at citrus back water resort, Alleppey, Vivanta by Taj, kumarakom
Kumarakom lake resort, Kumarakom and Zuri, kumarakom is best but quite costly.
3. Poovar island resort , Poovar
Floating cottages (Ayurvedic suite cottages seems good as well, but no option for floating cottage, u must stay there for atleast one night)
Awesome resort, u will feel like you r in Mauritius. Lots of activities, beach, boating, great view, floating cottages etc.
Alternative Resort u can check :
I don’t recommend anything else lake than poovar island resort, floating cottages by if it is not available u can check , Estuary island resort.
4. Uday samudra beach resort, Kovalam
Atria room category (Book only sea view room, atria is pool and garden view)
Breakfast was good at Uday samudra. We were disappointed with this resort as it wasn’t up to the mark compared with other resorts we stayed in other locations. I suggest to find alternative and better resorts in Kovalam, if u have to choose between poovar and Kovalam, choose poovar only. If u have time, u can stay at poovar and Kovalam both.
Alternative Resort u can check :
Turtle on the beach, Leela , Vivanta by Taj
Our Tour Operator : (Gave best rates, I posted his review separately on Google & Facebook, chk that if u want)
Best India holiday Pvt Ltd
Mr.Babu Joseph
+91 94474 22551
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