Athirapilly & Munnar – 4 Days of Waterfalls and Hills

This four-day trip combines Kerala's most spectacular waterfall with the cool tea hills of Munnar. Your driver meets you at Kochi airport or Ernakulam railway station for the two-hour drive to Athirapilly. The road heads north and then east, through the green countryside of central Kerala, past rubber and nutmeg plantations, and into the foothills of the Western Ghats, where the forest grows thicker and the air cooler.

Athirapilly lies on the Chalakudy River, at the edge of the Sholayar forest ranges, and it's often called the Niagara of India. Check in close to the falls, then walk to the viewpoint where the Chalakudy River pours about 24 metres over a wide rock face into the forest. In the monsoon and the months after, the falls are at their most powerful, a thundering curtain of white water more than 80 metres wide that fills the gorge with mist and rainbows. In the dry season, the river divides into several separate streams, still beautiful as they tumble over the black rock.

Take the path down towards the base to feel the spray and hear the roar. The walk takes about 15 minutes each way, down a series of steps and paths through the forest, and at the bottom you can stand on the rocks and look up at the full height of the falls, with the spray cooling your face and the roar of the water filling your ears. It's an unforgettable sight, and you'll understand why filmmakers love it: the falls have appeared in many Indian films, including the famous waterfall scenes in Baahubali.

A few kilometres upstream, the Vazhachal falls cascade over a series of rocks. Vazhachal is gentler than Athirapilly, a broad, sloping cascade where the river rushes over wide rock shelves, surrounded by thick forest, and it's a lovely, peaceful place to sit and watch the water. Along the road between the two, look out for the smaller Charpa falls, which tumble right beside the road in the rainy season.

The forests around Athirapilly are among the richest in Kerala, home to elephants, lion-tailed macaques, Nilgiri langurs and all four species of hornbill found in South India, including the great hornbill, with its enormous yellow bill. Birdwatchers come here from all over the world, and even a short walk in the early morning or late afternoon can reveal hornbills, barbets, drongos and kingfishers.

Visiting hours end in the late afternoon, so you'll have a quiet evening at your hotel among the trees. Many hotels near Athirapilly are set in forest or plantation grounds, with views of the river or the hills, and the evening is wonderfully peaceful, filled with the sounds of birds, insects and running water.

Athirapilly is also an important place for conservation. The Chalakudy River valley is one of the last remaining low-elevation riverine forests in the Western Ghats, and its forests form a vital corridor for elephants moving between the Parambikulam and Pooyamkutty forests. The river is home to many species of fish found nowhere else, and the forests around it shelter lion-tailed macaques, one of the rarest monkeys in the world, with their silver manes and black coats. Local communities, including the Kadar tribe, who have lived in these forests for centuries, help protect the area.

For dinner, try some of the local favourites at your hotel: Kerala fish curry with rice, beef or chicken fry, appam with stew, or a vegetarian meal with avial, thoran and sambar. Thrissur, the district you're in, is known as the cultural capital of Kerala, home to the famous Thrissur Pooram temple festival, when dozens of caparisoned elephants parade before huge crowds, accompanied by drummers and fireworks, every April or May.

Tonight, enjoy the peace of the forest. Many hotels near the falls are surrounded by trees and plantations, and the sounds of the river and the night insects make a soothing lullaby.

If you're travelling in the monsoon, from June to September, Athirapilly is at its most dramatic, with the river in full flood and the forest dripping green; from October to January, the falls are still full and the weather is pleasant. In the hot months, from March to May, the flow is lower, but the forest is quieter and it's easier to walk down to the base. Whenever you come, it's one of the great natural sights of South India.

Welcome to Kerala; tomorrow, the hills await.

Keep a little cash handy for entry tickets and parking.

Included today: pick-up at Kochi airport or railway station, private car to Athirapilly, visits to Athirapilly and Vazhachal falls, hotel at Athirapilly.

Good to know: drive about 2 hours. Entry tickets at the falls are paid locally, and the falls usually close around 5 PM. The path to the base can be slippery, so wear shoes with a good grip; swimming is not allowed.

After breakfast, begin the longest drive of the trip, about six hours with stops. The road runs east through rubber plantations and then climbs into the hills, past the Cheeyappara waterfall and a spice garden where you can see pepper, cardamom and nutmeg growing. Tea estates cover the slopes as you reach Munnar in the late afternoon.

The journey takes you through some of Kerala's most varied countryside. Leaving Athirapilly, you pass through the farmland of central Kerala, with its paddy fields, coconut groves and small towns, and then cross the Periyar River before climbing into the Western Ghats. The rubber plantations of the foothills, with their tall, straight trees, give way to cardamom and pepper forests, and the air becomes cool and fresh. Stop for lunch at a roadside restaurant serving Kerala meals, and take your time at the viewpoints along the way.

At the spice garden, a guide shows you how Kerala's famous spices grow: pepper vines climbing up the trees, cardamom growing low in the shade, nutmeg fruits splitting open to reveal the red mace around the seed, and cinnamon, cloves, coffee and vanilla. Cheeyappara waterfall, tumbling down the hillside in a series of steps beside the road, is a lovely place to stop and stretch your legs.

As you near Munnar, the tea gardens begin, covering the hills in soft green rows, and the views open up across valley after valley. You reach Munnar in the late afternoon. Check in, relax with a cup of fresh tea, and watch the mist roll into the valleys as the light fades.

The spice garden is also a good place to learn about Ayurveda, Kerala's ancient system of natural medicine, which uses many of these plants in its oils and remedies. Your guide will explain how turmeric, ginger, pepper and other spices are used to treat everyday ailments, and you can buy herbal oils, soaps and spices at the garden shop.

The road to Munnar also crosses the Periyar River, Kerala's longest river, which flows down from the Western Ghats to the Arabian Sea. At Neriamangalam, an old stone arch bridge built in the 1930s by the Maharaja of Travancore still carries traffic across the river, and the view from it, of the wide river flowing through the forested hills, is beautiful.

Munnar sits at about 1,600 metres above sea level, where three mountain streams meet, and its name means "three rivers" in Malayalam. In the late 19th century, British planters cleared the forests here to plant tea, and Munnar became the heart of a great tea-growing region, known as the High Range. Today, the estates cover the hills for kilometres in every direction, and the town is one of the most popular hill stations in India, loved for its cool climate and peaceful atmosphere.

After the long drive, relax at your hotel. The evening is cool, so wrap up warm, enjoy a cup of fresh Munnar tea, and watch the mist settle into the valleys as the sun goes down. If you'd like to go out, the town has a small market and shops selling tea, spices, homemade chocolates and warm shawls. Then enjoy a quiet dinner and an early night, ready for a full day of sightseeing tomorrow.

The drive also gives you a good look at everyday life in Kerala. You'll pass schoolchildren in smart uniforms, women in colourful saris on their way to market, men in white mundus chatting outside tea shops, and the brightly painted buses that race along Kerala's roads, often decorated with film stars and religious pictures. Kerala is one of the most literate states in India, and you'll see small libraries, reading rooms and bookshops even in little villages.

As you climb into the hills, the rubber plantations give way to cardamom, and you may see farmers drying the green pods on mats outside their homes. Higher still, the tea begins, and the hills are covered in soft green rows from the valley floors to the ridgetops, with tall silver oak trees standing above them. Tea pickers, many of them women, move slowly along the rows with baskets on their backs, plucking only the youngest leaves by hand. It's one of the most beautiful working landscapes in the world.

Munnar's mornings are especially beautiful, so if you can, wake early tomorrow and step out onto your balcony to watch the mist lift slowly off the valleys as the sun rises over the hills.

The drive is long, so carry water and snacks, and ask your driver to stop whenever you'd like a break or a photograph.

Included today: private car from Athirapilly to Munnar with stops at Cheeyappara waterfall and a spice garden, hotel in Munnar, breakfast.

Good to know: drive about 6 hours with stops. Lunch is at your own cost. Evenings in Munnar can be cold in winter.

Start at Eravikulam National Park when it opens at 9 AM and take the park bus up to the grasslands, home of the Nilgiri tahr, a mountain goat found only in these hills. Visit the Tea Museum to see how tea is made and taste a fresh cup. In the afternoon, drive the Mattupetty road to Mattupetty Dam, Echo Point and Kundala Lake, and finish at a viewpoint as the light fades over the estates.

Eravikulam is the jewel of the Munnar hills, a high plateau of rolling grassland and shola forest around Anamudi, the highest peak in South India. The tahr, sturdy and short-horned, graze calmly beside the walking path, and the views across the valleys are breathtaking. The Tea Museum tells the story of Munnar's estates, from the British planters of the 1880s to the present day, and shows the whole process of turning fresh leaf into tea. Mattupetty's lake, Echo Point and Kundala Lake are the classic afternoon drive, with tea gardens on every side and a chance to take a pedal boat on the still water.

The park bus takes you up a winding road to the Rajamalai section, and then you walk along a paved path that curves gently across the hillside. The tahr are sturdy, short-horned animals with thick brown coats, and the older males have a pale saddle on their backs. They were once hunted almost to extinction, but under careful protection they've recovered well, and today they're so used to visitors that they graze calmly beside the path, sometimes just a few steps away. Watch the young ones playing on the rocks, and look out across the valleys to Anamudi, at about 2,695 metres the highest peak in India south of the Himalayas. The park is also famous for the Neelakurinji, a shrub that flowers only once every twelve years, turning the hillsides blue; the next great flowering is expected around 2030.

At the Tea Museum, set in an old factory, you'll see how tea came to Munnar in the 1880s, when British planters cleared the forests and brought workers from Tamil Nadu to plant and pick the tea, through old photographs, documents and machines. Then watch fresh green leaves being withered, rolled, oxidised, dried and graded, and taste the result, bright and brisk from the high, cool slopes. The shop is the best place to buy fresh tea to take home.

In the afternoon, the Mattupetty road winds through some of Munnar's loveliest scenery. Mattupetty Dam holds back a long, calm lake surrounded by grassland and forest, where wild elephants sometimes come down to drink, and the Indo-Swiss dairy farm nearby keeps herds of cattle on the green slopes. At Echo Point, call across the lake and hear your voice return from the hills. Kundala Lake, surrounded by eucalyptus and tea, is perfect for a pedal-boat or bamboo-raft ride, and in spring, cherry trees bloom pink along its banks.

As the light fades, stop at a viewpoint above the estates, where the low sun turns the tea gold and the shadows of the silver oaks stretch across the slopes. In the evening, enjoy dinner at your hotel; many Munnar hotels light a fire on cool evenings, and a hot cup of tea by the fireside is the perfect end to the day.

If you have extra time, Munnar has more to explore. Top Station, about an hour's drive away on the border with Tamil Nadu, is the highest point on the road and offers dramatic views to the plains far below, often over a sea of clouds in the early morning. Pothamedu viewpoint, just outside town, looks out over tea, coffee and cardamom estates, and the Blossom Park and Botanical Garden are pretty places to stroll among flowers. Munnar's homemade chocolate shops are hard to resist, with bars and truffles flavoured with cardamom, pepper and coffee.

Munnar's weather can change quickly, from sunshine to drifting mist within an hour, and light showers are common after the monsoon. Carry a light jacket and an umbrella, and wear comfortable shoes for the walk at Eravikulam; the mist often makes for the most beautiful photographs of the trip.

Then return to your hotel for a relaxed final evening in the hills, and pack for tomorrow's drive back to the coast and your journey home.

Keep a little cash handy for entry tickets, boating and small purchases, as some places don't accept cards. If you'd like to take a pedal boat or a bamboo raft on Kundala Lake, tickets are bought at the jetty.

Included today: Munnar sightseeing by private car, breakfast.

Good to know: Eravikulam usually closes for a few weeks early in the year for the tahr's calving season; entry tickets are paid locally. The Tea Museum is closed on Mondays. See our Munnar tour packages for more ideas.

Drive back down to Kochi, about four hours, with a last stop at the Valara waterfall. If your flight or train leaves in the evening, spend the afternoon in Fort Kochi: the Chinese fishing nets, St Francis Church and the spice shops of Jew Town. Your driver drops you at Kochi airport or the railway station.

As you leave Munnar, take one last look at the tea gardens, perhaps from your balcony as the morning mist lifts off the valleys. The drive down to Kochi takes you through cardamom forests and rubber plantations, and the air grows warmer and more humid as you descend towards the coast. Valara waterfall, tumbling into a deep, forested gorge beside the highway, is a lovely place for a final photograph of the hills, and roadside stalls sell tea, coconut water and fresh fruit.

Fort Kochi was one of the great spice ports of the world, where Arab, Chinese, Jewish, Portuguese, Dutch and British traders all left their mark. The Chinese fishing nets, huge cantilevered frames of wood and rope worked by teams of fishermen, are the city's most famous sight, especially at sunset, when the great nets stand silhouetted against the sky. St Francis Church, built in the early 16th century, is one of the oldest European churches in India, and Vasco da Gama was first buried here in 1524. In Jew Town, the old spice warehouses fill the air with the scent of ginger, pepper and cardamom, and the antique shops are full of curiosities from Kerala's past. Nearby, Mattancherry Palace has superb traditional murals, and the Paradesi Synagogue, built in 1568, has a floor of hand-painted Chinese tiles.

Fort Kochi is also a lovely place for a last Kerala meal. Try fish moilee, cooked in coconut milk with turmeric and green chillies, karimeen pollichathu, pearl spot fish wrapped in a banana leaf, or appam with chicken stew, and finish with a sweet payasam. Before you leave, pick up a few souvenirs: spices and tea from Jew Town, a handloom mundu or sari with a golden border, a brass lamp or a carved wooden elephant.

As you head to the airport, look back on your journey: the thundering falls of Athirapilly and Vazhachal, the hornbills of the Sholayar forests, the spice gardens and waterfalls on the road to the hills, and the Nilgiri tahr and endless tea gardens of Munnar. Four days is a short trip, but it shows you a side of Kerala that many visitors miss. Next time, add the backwaters of Alleppey, the spice forests of Thekkady or the beaches of Kovalam and Varkala.

Kochi airport is known around the world as the first airport to run entirely on solar power. Allow plenty of time to get there, as traffic can be heavy in the evening, and keep a little cash handy for parking, entry tickets and small purchases. Remember your driver too: a small tip at the end of the trip is customary and much appreciated.

Thank you for travelling with Dreamland Vacations. Safe travels home, and we hope to welcome you back to God's Own Country soon.

If your flight is early, you can skip Fort Kochi and drive straight to the airport; the waterfalls on the way down still make a lovely last stop. Either way, allow plenty of time for the journey, as the mountain roads are slow and the traffic around Kochi can be heavy.

Kochi itself has a long and fascinating history. After a great flood in 1341 opened its natural harbour, it became the most important port on the Malabar coast, and the Portuguese built the first European fort in India here in the early 16th century, followed by the Dutch and the British. Each left their mark, and today Fort Kochi's quiet streets, old houses, churches and warehouses make it a living museum of Kerala's long history as a meeting place of cultures.

Fort Kochi is also lovely simply to wander. Its quiet streets are lined with old Portuguese and Dutch houses with tiled roofs and wooden shutters, many now turned into boutique hotels, art galleries and cafés, and the walls are bright with colourful street art. The waterfront promenade is perfect for a late-afternoon stroll, as families gather to watch the ships glide in and out of the harbour and the sun set behind the fishing nets. Pack spices and tea safely in your checked luggage, and keep your ID and tickets handy for the journey home.

Remember your hotel check-out time, usually around 11 AM.

Included today: private car from Munnar to Kochi, Fort Kochi if time allows, drop at Kochi airport or railway station, breakfast.

Good to know: drive about 4 hours. Book a flight that leaves at least 3 hours after you reach the airport. See our Fort Kochi tourist places guide.