Kerala 5 Days Itinerary: Munnar, Thekkady & Alleppey

Your Kerala journey begins at Kochi airport or Ernakulam railway station, where your driver is waiting to greet you. Within minutes you're on the road in a private air-conditioned car, heading east towards the Western Ghats, the long wall of green mountains that runs down the western side of India. This is the classic first trip to Kerala, and today's drive is the perfect introduction: in around four hours, you travel from the humid coastal plains to the cool, misty tea country of Munnar.

The first part of the journey takes you through the busy towns and green countryside of central Kerala. Coconut palms tower over tiled-roof houses with neat front gardens, roadside shops sell everything from tender coconuts to plastic buckets in every colour, and you'll pass churches, temples and mosques, often within a few hundred metres of one another, a sign of how peacefully Kerala's many communities live side by side. Kerala is one of the most literate and educated states in India, and you'll see children in smart uniforms walking to school and newspapers being read at every tea shop.

Beyond Kothamangalam, the road begins to climb. You cross the Periyar, Kerala's longest river, at Neriamangalam on an old stone arch bridge, built in the 1930s by the Maharaja of Travancore and still carrying traffic today. From here, the plantations change as you gain height: first rubber, with its tall, straight trees and little cups collecting white latex, then cardamom and pepper, growing in the shade of the forest, and finally, as you near Munnar, tea.

Along the way, you stop at two waterfalls that tumble right beside the highway. Cheeyappara Falls cascades down the rocky hillside in a series of steps, and after the monsoon it roars white through the green forest, throwing up a fine spray that cools the air. A little further on, Valara Falls drops into a deep, wooded gorge, and you can watch it from viewpoints along the road. Monkeys often gather at both spots, hoping for a snack, so keep your food out of sight. Small stalls sell tender coconuts, spiced tea, roasted corn and fresh fruit, and it's a lovely place to stretch your legs.

You'll also stop at a spice garden, where a guide walks you through the plants that made Kerala famous across the ancient world. Here you'll see black pepper, the "black gold" that brought Arab, Chinese, Portuguese and Dutch traders to these shores, climbing up the trunks of trees; cardamom, the queen of spices, growing low in the shade; and cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, vanilla, coffee and many others. Your guide will let you crush leaves and smell them, and explain how each spice is grown, harvested and dried. The shop at the end is a good place to buy fresh, high-quality spices at fair prices.

As you climb higher, the first tea gardens appear, and the landscape is transformed. Tea bushes, trimmed to waist height, cover every slope in soft green rows that follow the curves of the hills, with narrow paths winding between them and silver oak trees planted here and there for shade. The air is cooler, fresher and scented with eucalyptus, and the views stretch across valley after valley.

You reach Munnar by mid-afternoon. The town sits 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 leased these hills from the local ruler and cleared the forests to plant tea, and Munnar became their favourite retreat from the heat of the plains. Today, the tea estates still cover the hills for kilometres in every direction, and the climate remains cool all year round.

The rest of the day is yours to settle in and enjoy the cool air. Have a cup of tea on your balcony, take a short walk around your hotel's garden, or simply relax after the journey. In the evening, Munnar town has small shops selling tea, spices, homemade chocolates and woollens, and simple restaurants serving Kerala and North Indian food.

Get a good night's sleep: tomorrow you'll be up early for Eravikulam, and Munnar's mornings are often the clearest and most beautiful part of the day, with mist lifting slowly off the valleys as the sun rises over the hills.

If you arrive early enough, ask your driver to stop at one of the viewpoints just outside town, where the tea estates spread out below you in every direction.

Included today: pick-up at Kochi airport or railway station, private car to Munnar with stops at Cheeyappara and Valara waterfalls and a spice garden, hotel in Munnar.

Good to know: drive about 4 hours. Breakfast on arrival day isn't included. The spice garden visit is free, but the guide may expect a small tip. Evenings in Munnar can be cold from November to February, so pack a warm layer.

Today you discover the best of Munnar, the most famous hill station in Kerala. After breakfast, start at 9 AM at Eravikulam National Park, the jewel of the Munnar hills. The park protects a high plateau of rolling grassland and patches of dense shola forest, and it's the main stronghold of the Nilgiri tahr, a sturdy, short-horned mountain goat found only in the Western Ghats. In the 1970s, only a few hundred survived; thanks to careful protection, the population here has recovered, and today you're almost certain to see them.

A park bus takes you up the winding road from the entrance gate to the Rajamalai section, and from there you walk along a paved path that curves across the hillside. The tahr graze calmly on the slopes beside the path, sometimes just a few metres away, and the young ones play on the rocks. Behind them rises Anamudi, at about 2,695 metres the highest peak in India south of the Himalayas, often wrapped in cloud. The views from the path, across the green valleys and tea estates far below, are some of the finest in Kerala.

Next is the Tea Museum, which shows how leaf becomes tea, with a tasting at the end. Set in a working factory, it tells the story of tea in Munnar through old photographs, tools and machines, including a heavy tea roller from the early 20th century. You'll learn how the leaves are plucked by hand, withered to soften them, rolled to release their juices, fermented to develop their flavour and colour, and then dried and sorted into grades. At the end, taste the different teas and buy some to take home.

After lunch, drive out to Mattupetty Dam, about 13 kilometres from town. Its long lake lies in a fold of the hills, its calm blue-green water reflecting the forest and grassland around it, and wild elephants are sometimes seen grazing along the shore. Close by is Echo Point, where you can shout across the water and hear your voice bounce back clearly from the hills on the far side; children love it, and so do most adults. Then stop at Kundala Lake for a pedal boat. The lake is held back by Kundala Dam, said to be one of the first arch dams in Asia, and it's surrounded by eucalyptus and tea, with cherry trees along the banks that bloom pink in spring. Gliding across the still water with the hills rising around you is a wonderfully peaceful way to spend an hour.

End the day at Pothamedu viewpoint or the Botanical Garden as the light softens over the estates. Pothamedu, a few kilometres from town, offers sweeping views over tea, coffee and cardamom plantations, and the hills glow gold in the late afternoon sun. The Botanical Garden, run by the forest department, is a pleasant place to stroll among flowers, ferns and trees from the hills, with a small pond and play area.

In the evening, enjoy dinner at your hotel. Many hotels in Munnar serve Kerala dishes alongside North Indian and Continental food: try Malabar parotta with a spicy curry, or kappa, boiled tapioca, with fish curry, a Kerala favourite.

If you have more time or energy, Munnar has plenty more to offer. Top Station, on the border with Tamil Nadu, has dramatic views down into the plains, and on clear mornings, the valleys below are filled with a sea of clouds. Lockhart Gap, on the road towards Thekkady, is a dramatic viewpoint where the hills fall away steeply into the valley, and Attukal waterfall, a short drive from town, is a lovely spot for a walk after the monsoon.

Munnar's tea estates are more than just scenery: they're home to thousands of families, many of them descendants of workers who came from Tamil Nadu generations ago. As you drive through the estates, you'll see their neat rows of houses, small temples and schools tucked among the tea. Most of the estates are now run by a company in which the workers themselves hold shares.

The weather in Munnar can change quickly, from bright sunshine to drifting mist in minutes. 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 day, as the tea gardens fade softly into the clouds.

Back at your hotel, rest well. Tomorrow you head south through the cardamom hills to the forests of Thekkady.

Included today: Munnar sightseeing by private car, breakfast.

Good to know: Eravikulam opens at 9 AM and usually closes for a few weeks in the early part of the year for the tahr's calving season; entry tickets are paid locally. The Tea Museum is closed on Mondays. Learn more on our Munnar tour packages page.

Leave Munnar around 9 AM for a scenic three-to-four-hour drive through cardamom hills to Thekkady. This is one of the most beautiful drives in Kerala, winding along mountain roads past tea estates, cardamom plantations, small villages and stretches of forest, with views opening up across the Western Ghats at every turn. The region you pass through, the Idukki district, produces most of India's cardamom, and you'll see the low, leafy plants growing in the shade of tall trees, with workers gathering the green pods by hand. Your driver can stop for photographs, a cup of tea or a look at a cardamom estate along the way.

Thekkady lies on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, at the edge of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, one of the most famous wildlife sanctuaries in India. The reserve covers a large area of hills, evergreen forest, grassland and lake, and it's home to elephants, gaur (Indian bison), sambar deer, wild boar, otters, lion-tailed macaques, Nilgiri langurs, more than 300 species of birds and a small population of tigers. At its heart lies Periyar Lake, created in 1895 when the British built the Mullaperiyar Dam across the Periyar River to carry water east to the dry plains of Tamil Nadu. When the valley flooded, the trees were left standing in the water, and their bare, silvery trunks still rise from the lake, a beautiful and slightly eerie sight.

The afternoon is the highlight of any Thekkady tour package: a boat ride on Periyar Lake inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve. As the boat glides across the still water, the forest rises on both sides, and you watch the banks for wildlife. Herds of elephants often come down to the water to drink and bathe, especially in the dry months, and you may see gaur grazing on the grassy slopes, sambar deer at the water's edge, otters playing in the shallows, and kingfishers, cormorants, darters and herons fishing from the dead tree trunks. Tigers are very rarely seen, but just knowing they're out there in the forest adds to the thrill.

In the evening, choose a Kathakali performance, a Kalaripayattu martial-arts show, a spice plantation walk or an Ayurvedic massage. Kathakali is Kerala's classical dance-drama, in which performers with spectacular green, red and white make-up and enormous skirts and headdresses tell stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata through expressive eye movements and hand gestures; arrive early to watch the actors apply their make-up, which takes hours. Kalaripayattu, one of the oldest martial arts in the world, is a breathtaking display of leaps, kicks, sword and shield fights, and fire, performed in a small arena by firelight. A guided walk through a spice plantation shows you how pepper, cardamom, cinnamon and many other spices are grown, and an Ayurvedic massage, using warm herbal oils, is the perfect way to relax after a day on the road.

The little town of Kumily, next to Thekkady, is the best place in Kerala to buy spices, with dozens of shops selling cardamom, pepper, cloves, vanilla, tea and coffee straight from the surrounding plantations. Its main street is lively in the evenings, and it's a pleasant place to wander before dinner.

If you'd like to see more of the forest, the reserve offers eco-tourism activities run by trained guides from local tribal communities, who know the jungle intimately: guided nature walks, bamboo rafting on the lake and longer treks. These have limited places and need to be booked in advance, so ask us before you travel if you'd like to add one.

Thekkady's forests are also wonderful for birdwatching. Look out for the great hornbill, with its huge yellow casque, the Malabar grey hornbill, the brilliant Malabar trogon and the racket-tailed drongo, which can mimic the calls of other birds. Even from your hotel garden in the early morning, you'll hear the jungle waking up around you.

Tonight, enjoy dinner at your hotel. Many of Thekkady's resorts are set among spice gardens, with open-air restaurants, and the evening air is cool and fragrant with cardamom and pepper.

Thekkady also has a special place in Kerala's history. The Mullaperiyar Dam, which created Periyar Lake, was built by the British engineer Colonel John Pennycuick, who, the story goes, sold his own family's property in England to finish the work when funds ran short. In the farming villages of Tamil Nadu that the dam's water still irrigates, he is remembered as a hero, and his statue stands in several towns. Standing beside the lake today, it's hard to imagine that this peaceful stretch of water and forest was created by people more than a century ago.

Included today: private car from Munnar to Thekkady, hotel in Thekkady, breakfast.

Good to know: drive 3–4 hours. The Periyar boat ride, cultural shows, spice walk and Ayurvedic treatments are optional and paid locally. Boat tickets are limited and sell out early in the season, so your driver will help you book. See more in our guide to Thekkady tourist places.

After breakfast, drive down from the hills to Alleppey, now officially called Alappuzha, about four hours away. The road descends through spice and rubber plantations, past small towns and churches, and out onto the flat, green lowlands of Kuttanad, where the backwaters begin. The change in the landscape is striking: the cool, forested hills give way to endless paddy fields, coconut groves and shining canals, and the air becomes warm and humid again.

Alleppey is the gateway to the Kerala backwaters, a vast, interconnected network of lakes, rivers, lagoons and canals that stretches for hundreds of kilometres along the coast. Its canals, bridges and waterside houses led a British viceroy, Lord Curzon, to call it the "Venice of the East", and for centuries it was a busy port, trading in spices and coir, the strong fibre from coconut husks used to make rope and mats. The region of Kuttanad, around Alleppey, is one of the few places in the world where rice is grown below sea level, in fields reclaimed from the lake and protected by earthen dykes.

Check in to a resort beside the backwaters and spend the afternoon by the pool or on the lawn watching the boats go by. Many of Alleppey's resorts are set right on the water's edge, with gardens of coconut palms and hammocks, and from your terrace you can watch houseboats drifting past, canoes loaded with coconuts or fish, and ducks paddling along the canal. It's a wonderfully relaxing change of pace after the hills.

In the evening, walk on Alleppey Beach, a long sweep of golden sand lined with palms, where the ruins of an old 19th-century pier stretch out into the Arabian Sea. The beach is a favourite place for local families to gather at sunset, and vendors sell roasted peanuts, ice cream and spicy snacks. Nearby, the red-and-white striped lighthouse, one of the oldest on the Kerala coast, can be climbed for a view over the town and the sea.

Or add a two-hour shikara ride through the narrow canals for village life up close. A shikara is a small covered boat, much smaller than a houseboat, which can slip into the narrow waterways where the big boats can't go. You glide past village homes with tiled roofs and little gardens, past churches and temples, past women washing clothes and children waving from the banks, and past paddy fields where egrets and herons wade in the shallows. In the golden light of the late afternoon, it's one of the most peaceful and memorable experiences in Kerala.

For dinner, try the local speciality, karimeen, the pearl spot fish found in the backwaters, marinated in spices and fried, or cooked in a banana leaf as karimeen pollichathu. Prawns, crab and duck roast are also favourites, and vegetarians will love a traditional Kerala meal of rice with avial, thoran, sambar and pickles.

Want a night on the water instead? Swap the resort for a private houseboat, with lunch, dinner and breakfast cooked on board, and spend the afternoon cruising through the backwaters before mooring for the night.

Alleppey is also famous for its snake boat races, held during the monsoon season. The best known is the Nehru Trophy Boat Race, held every August on Punnamada Lake, when long, narrow wooden boats, each rowed by around a hundred oarsmen chanting traditional boat songs, race across the water before huge cheering crowds. Even outside the racing season, you may see the great boats resting in their sheds along the canals.

The backwaters are also a wonderful place to see birds. Look out for kingfishers of several kinds, flashing blue and orange as they dive, purple herons standing still in the shallows, darters with their long snake-like necks, and Brahminy kites circling overhead. In the paddy fields, flocks of egrets follow the farmers as they work, picking up insects disturbed by the ploughs.

As night falls, the backwaters grow quiet. Sit on your terrace and listen to the frogs and crickets, watch the lights of the houseboats moored across the water, and enjoy the warm, still air of the coast.

If you'd like to go further, a short drive takes you to Marari Beach, a quieter, palm-fringed beach north of Alleppey, where fishermen launch their boats from the sand and the water is calm enough for a gentle swim in the dry season. It's a lovely alternative to the busier town beach.

Alleppey is also a good place to buy coir products, from doormats and rugs to baskets and small souvenirs, made from the fibre of coconut husks, an industry that has employed thousands of families in the region for generations.

Included today: private car from Thekkady to Alleppey, backwater resort in Alleppey, breakfast.

Good to know: drive about 4 hours. The shikara ride and houseboat upgrade are optional and cost extra. See our Alleppey houseboat packages to compare boats.

Enjoy a slow morning by the water: a swim in the pool, a walk along the canal, or breakfast on the terrace as the backwaters wake up around you. Then drive about two hours to Kochi, along roads lined with palms, canals and small towns.

If your flight or train leaves in the evening, spend the afternoon in Fort Kochi, the historic heart of the city. For more than two thousand years, the Kerala coast was one of the great spice-trading centres of the world, and Kochi grew into its most important port after a great flood in 1341 opened its natural harbour. Arab, Chinese, Jewish, Portuguese, Dutch and British traders all came here, and each left something behind, giving Fort Kochi its unique mix of cultures and architecture.

Start at the waterfront to see the Chinese fishing nets, huge cantilevered frames of teak and bamboo that dip into the water and rise again, worked by teams of fishermen using heavy stones as counterweights. They're said to have been introduced by Chinese traders in the 14th century, and they've become a symbol of Kochi. Then visit St Francis Church, built by the Portuguese in the early 16th century and one of the oldest European churches in India, where Vasco da Gama was buried before his remains were returned to Portugal. The nearby Santa Cruz Basilica, with its twin spires, pastel walls and painted ceilings, is one of the grandest churches in Kerala.

Next, head to Mattancherry Palace, also known as the Dutch Palace, built by the Portuguese in the 16th century as a gift to the Raja of Kochi and later renovated by the Dutch. Inside are some of the finest Kerala murals anywhere, vivid wall paintings of scenes from the Ramayana and Hindu legends, in rich reds, yellows and greens, as well as royal costumes and palanquins. Finish in the spice shops of Jew Town, a narrow street where the air smells of ginger, pepper and cardamom, lined with antique shops, boutiques and cafés, close to the Paradesi Synagogue, built in 1568.

Your driver then drops you at Kochi airport or the railway station, with five days of hills, forests and backwaters behind you, and the scent of spices still in the air.

Fort Kochi is also a delightful place to wander on foot or by bicycle. Its quiet streets are lined with old Portuguese and Dutch houses with tiled roofs and wooden balconies, many of them now turned into boutique hotels, art galleries and cafés. Look out for the colourful street art on the walls, the leafy Parade Ground where the Portuguese, Dutch and British once drilled their soldiers, and the old Dutch cemetery near the beach. In the evening, the waterfront fills with families and friends watching the sunset over the harbour.

If you'd like to see a Kathakali performance before you leave, Fort Kochi has several small cultural centres that stage short evening shows, with an introduction to the make-up and gestures beforehand. It's a wonderful way to end a Kerala trip, if your flight is late enough.

Kochi is also a good place for a last Kerala meal. Try a seafood thali, fish moilee, a mild fish curry cooked in coconut milk with a hint of turmeric and green chilli, or a plate of appam with chicken stew. For something sweet, look for payasam, a rich dessert made with rice or vermicelli, milk and jaggery.

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 little carved wooden elephant. Pack spices and tea in your checked luggage, and keep your ID and tickets handy.

Thank you for travelling with Dreamland Vacations. Five days is enough to fall in love with Kerala, and many of our travellers come back for longer, adding the beaches of Kovalam and Varkala, the waterfalls of Athirapilly or a few more nights on the backwaters. We'd be delighted to help you plan your next visit.

As you head to the airport, look back on your journey: the waterfalls and spice gardens on the road to Munnar, the Nilgiri tahr on the slopes of Eravikulam, the tea gardens glowing in the evening light, elephants by the lake at Periyar, the calm of the backwaters at Alleppey, and the Chinese fishing nets of Fort Kochi. It's remarkable how much variety Kerala packs into just five days, and how relaxed you feel at the end of it.

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

Good to know: drive about 2 hours. Mattancherry Palace is closed on Fridays, and the synagogue on Fridays, Saturdays and Jewish holidays. Book a flight that leaves at least 3 hours after you reach the airport. Plan your stop with our Fort Kochi tourist places guide.