Our Memorable Family Trip to Kerala 2016 | Plan Your Trip to Kerala




If you are planning a Trip to Kerala, I suggest you to go through details below. This is written after my memorable trip to Paradise on earth Kerala and truly Gods own country. This article will definitely help you in deciding/Planning your trip. We enjoyed 6N/7D at kerala and i have included all the details:

Kerala:

Kerala is known as Gods own country. Every where you will see greenery. Kerala is all about nature and natural beauty. Kerala is one of the best tourist destinations of India, with backwaters, beaches, Ayurvedic tourism and tropical greenery as its major attractions. People in Kerala speaks Malayalam and English.Kerala is situated on the southwestern coast of India, a country in South Asia. This tropical paradise enjoys a unique topography with Arabian sea, a part of the Indian Ocean on the west and the Western Ghats on the east.

Distance:

The distance of Kerala from Pune is 1123 Km.

Recommended Min and Max stay:

I would say you need minimum 4 days and maximum 8- 10 days as there are plenty of options to see. It all depends how you want to plan things.

Route and Time taken to Travel:

There are 3 mode of transport:

By Air: Pune to Cochin or Pune to Trivandrum
By Train : Pune to Ernakulam(Cochin)
By Car/Bus

Best Places we Visited in Kerala:

  1. Cochin
  2. Athirappilly
  3. Munnar
  4. Thekkedey
  5. Kumarakom
  6. Alleppey

Details of Kerala Trip:

Day 1 – Cochin:

We started from Pune around 9 AM and and reached Pune Airport. Flight was scheduled at 11.00 AM. Flight was on-time and we reached  Cochin Airport by 2 PM. Our cab was ready outside airport and so did not had to wait there.

We had a lunch/snacks in one restaurant on the way.Cab  Driver (Jayesh) was very friendly and could speak English and understand hindi which was plus. There are lot of places to visit in Cochin but we visited below places:

  • Museum/Art Gallery (Private) Entry Fee 100/- per head.
  • Dutch Palace (Open till 4:30 PM)
  • Chinese fishing nets
  • St Francis Church
  • Cochin backwater

Stay in Hotel near Ernakulam railway station.

Day 2 – Athirappilly:

Got ready by 8 AM and had nice south Indian Breakfast. Had a walk around for a while and then checked out from Hotel. We started from Cochin around 9: 30 AM towards Athirappilly . Cochin to Athirappilly  is around 80 Km and takes around 2.5 hrs.

Athirappilly is South India’s most beautiful waterfall with amazing natural beauty. It’s famous for the ever green forest covered with and a rocky upper part in the river for bathing and other activities. Athirappilly is the most favorite song shooting location for Bollywood and other south Indian movies.

First we visited the charpa waterfall. We need to buy tickets to get in. There is entry gate and you need to walk around a KM to reach to waterfall. Bit difficult for senior citizens as we need to walk done as well. As it was holiday week, there was lot of crowd and so long queues every where and had parking issues.  From there other water fall -Vazhachal falls is 6-7 km’s away.

We had light  lunch around 3: 45 PM and checked -in to hotel around 4: 30 PM.




Day 3 – Munnar:

Today after nice breakfast we checked out from hotel and started towards Munnar, the most praised paradise like hill station of Kerala.

Munnar is approximately 150 KM from Athirappilly and takes around 4 hrs to reach Munnar. Its lays like a typical green painting with thousands of acres tea plantations hugged by the mist of Western Ghats & Cool foggy climate throughout the year makes Munnar is really a heaven of Kerala.

On the way you can enjoyed the view of Cheeyappara and Valara waterfalls. No ticket here and they are on the road side. No walk needed.

Then we stopped at Wooden Art gallery and Spice Garden. Both were private and you can buy as you like. For explaining spice plant information they charge around 100/- per person. We reached Munnar around 1 PM.

After reaching Munnar, there are multiple options available like Jeep Safari, Adventure Park and site seeings. We decided to spend time in Adventure park. Ticket was 600/- per person and there were different activites to enjoy like Rope way, monkey jumping, Slope climbing, Bicycle, Scooter Mirror house, Horror House, 3 -D show , Climbing on Tree etc.

Munnar is also famous for home made chocolates and they cost you around 1200/- per KG.

In the evening we went to Kerala Martial Arts show from 6 – 7 PM. They charge 200/- Per person.

From there we went to Hotel and stayed overnight.

Day 4 – Munnar:

Today after breakfast, we started towards Eravikulam National park; where the endangering NilgiriTahr is conserved. There was huge queue there for ticket as well as Buses that takes you to national park due to holiday week. While going we had a photo session in tea plantation.

We reached there around 10:30 AM and came back around 3 Pm.

After that we went to see Mattupetty Dam; a beautiful place to visit. You can also go to Kundala Lake- a natural lake with recreational facilities like boating and having excellent view of Western Ghats as well as the ever green forest surrounded with.  Also visit Eco point and tea plantations.

After seeing Dam we had refreshing snacks and started back . While going we visited the rose Garden on the way. We heard about strike next day and so decided to go back to Hotel so that we can leave early next day.

Day 5 – Thekkedy:

We started early around 2: 30 AM towards Thekkady. Thekkedy is around 120 KM and takes around 3.5 hours to reach. We checked-in to Hotel around 6 AM and took rest for couple of hours. Then we got ready, had nice breakfast and went for Elephant ride. It was nice 20 mins ride.

We also bought Musical fountain ticket for evening show. 150/- Per person

In the afternnoon we went for boat ride in the Periyar River flowing through the Tiger Reserve which will bring rare opportunities to watch wild animals roaming in their natural habitat very closely. You can very often find Wild elephant, Bison, Deer, different types water birds etc.

Day 6- Kumarakon:

After breakfast we started towards Kumarakon. On the way we stopped at Tea factory. It was good experience to learn tea processing.

Kumarakom bird Sanctuary is the major attraction nearby for the nature lovers as its located on the shore of main lake with several water birds and migrating birds. We reached there around 2 PM. We need to walk through the sanctuary for 1 Km and come back.

While walking we saw Birds, tortoise, snake and Monitor Lizards. Later we went back to resort and leisure time.

Day 7 Alleppey House boat:

We started early around 6:30 AM towards Alleppey to board the world known Traditional Style Kerala Houseboat. It was memorable backwater cruise through the beautiful lagoons for 2.5 hrs. From there we started towards Cochin airport and reached around 1:30 PM.

From Cochin we had flight at 3:25 and reached Pune around 6:30 PM.

Some tips for your journey/Suggestions for Kerala Trip:

Kerala Trip Hotel details:

  1. COCHIN – CASTLE ROCK (http://www.castlerockhotels.in/)
  2. ATHIRAPPILLY – AYUR SOUKYAM (http://ayursoukhyam.com/)
  3. MUNNAR -GREAT ESCAPES (http://www.germunnar.com/)
  4. THEKKADY -GRAND THEKKADY (http://www.grandthekkady.in/)
  5. KUMARAKOM -KERALA PALACE (http://www.somakeralapalace.com/)

Approximate Cost of Kerala trip from Pune:

  • Stay and cab cost: 30 k to 40 K ( 2 people + kid on sharing basis).
  • Plane ticket: 3K to 5 K per person (one Way)
  • Entry tickets: 1.5 K per Person
  • Other : 2K

 

!!!Happy Journey!!!