Kerala: Houseboat and Hills

Highlights

• A private houseboat with cook and crew
• Munnar tea estates and Top Station
• A sunset on the Alleppey backwaters
• Kathakali and Kalaripayattu in Kochi

Is it right for you?

Seniors

Possible for seniors, with care: The houseboat and estate walks are gentle, though the road up to Munnar is a winding multi-hour drive

Getting around

Little walking

Setting

Indoors and outdoors

Time of day

Morning, Afternoon, Evening

Pickup

Hotel pickup included

From the operator's and venue's own published information. Tell your captain about anyone's mobility, age or food needs and we confirm the details for your date.

The story

Your journey outline

Each stage can cover one or more days. Tell us what you would change; your final itinerary is agreed before booking.

1. Stage 01 Day 1 — Kochi

   Land at Kochi and go to Fort Kochi, which is the old European quarter: Dutch and Portuguese houses, a church first raised in 1503 and among the oldest built by Europeans in India, and the cantilevered Chinese fishing nets on the waterfront that are lowered and raised by counterweight. A Kathakali performance in the evening, where the make-up starts an hour before the story does.

2. Stage 02 Day 2 — Backwaters

   South to Alleppey and board the houseboat, a converted rice barge with a bedroom, a deck and a crew of three including a cook. The afternoon is channels: paddy fields below water level, coir villages, and church spires. You moor for the night somewhere quiet and eat fish bought off a boat.

3. Stage 03 Day 3 — To Munnar

   Off the boat after breakfast and inland, climbing through the ghats to Munnar. The road gains about 1,600 metres and the landscape changes completely, from backwater flat to tea-covered hillsides cut into contours. The temperature drops by ten degrees, which after the coast is a relief.

4. Stage 04 Day 4 — Tea

   A tea day. An estate walk among the bushes with a picker explaining what two leaves and a bud actually means, the factory to see withering and rolling, and Top Station in the afternoon for the view across into Tamil Nadu, which is usually cloud and occasionally spectacular.

5. Stage 05 Day 5 — Home

   Down through the ghats to Kochi for the flight home. Four nights, one of them floating, and the discovery that Kerala's hills and its backwaters are about four hours and a completely different holiday apart.

Know before you go

• Houseboats stop cruising at sunset by law and moor overnight — that is the good bit
• Munnar is genuinely cold at night from December to February
• The ghat road to Munnar is winding; take something if you get carsick
• Monsoon from June to August is beautiful and wet, and much cheaper

Policies

Why book with Travelers Clan

• Your own itinerary. This is a starting point — we agree your route and pace before booking.
• Paperwork guidance. Visa requirements and applicable taxes confirmed in your quote.
• Clear payment terms. Deposit and cancellation conditions set out before payment.
• Know your support. Your final plan confirms local contacts and any guide or trip-captain services.