Kerala 8 Days Itinerary: Guruvayur to Alleppey Houseboat

Your driver meets you at Kochi airport or Ernakulam railway station with a warm welcome, and within minutes you're heading north on the highway towards Guruvayur, about two and a half hours away. It's an easy, scenic first drive. The road runs through the flat, fertile country of central Kerala, past paddy fields shining with water, coconut groves, banana plantations and small towns where shops spill out onto the pavement. You'll pass whitewashed churches with tall facades, mosques with green domes and temples with sloping copper roofs, often within sight of one another, a reminder of how closely Kerala's communities have lived together for centuries.

Unlike most Kerala itineraries, which visit Guruvayur on a day trip, this one lets you stay the night in the temple town itself, and it makes all the difference. You have time to settle in, rest after your journey and experience the temple at the quieter hours, in the evening, when the lamps are lit, or before dawn, when the first darshan of the day takes place.

The Sri Krishna Temple is the heart of the town and one of the most revered places of pilgrimage in South India, often called the Dwarka of the South. Here, Krishna is worshipped as Guruvayurappan, a child-like form of the god, and devotees believe that the idol was worshipped by Krishna's own parents. Legend says that when the city of Dwarka was lost beneath the sea, the idol was rescued by Guru, the teacher of the gods, and Vayu, the god of the wind, who installed it here with Shiva's blessing; the town's name joins their two names together.

In the evening, the temple is at its most magical. As dusk falls, the deepasthambham, the great brass lamp tower in front of the temple, and thousands of small oil lamps along the walls are lit, and the whole temple glows gold against the darkening sky. The air fills with the beat of drums, the call of conch shells and the scent of camphor, jasmine and sandalwood, and the chanting of devotees rises from the courtyards. If you'd like to join the darshan, wear the traditional dress the temple requires: a mundu without a shirt for men, and a saree or a long skirt with a blouse for women. Entry is for Hindus only, but everyone can watch the life of the temple from the streets around it, which are alive with flower sellers, lamp makers and stalls selling sweets, devotional pictures and brass vessels.

Before or after the temple, visit Punnathur Kotta, an old palace compound a few kilometres away that is now home to the temple's elephants. For generations, devotees have offered elephants to Guruvayurappan, and today, dozens of them live here, under the care of their mahouts, among tall shady trees. Watch quietly from the paths as they're bathed in the pond, scrubbed with coconut husks, fed great bundles of palm leaves and taken for their daily walk. You'll also see the statue of Guruvayur Keshavan, the most famous of the temple elephants, who served the temple for more than fifty years and is still remembered with deep affection by the people of Guruvayur.

If you have time before sunset, drive about 15 minutes to Chavakkad Beach, a quiet stretch of sand where a river meets the Arabian Sea, and local families come to stroll and watch the sun go down. Fishermen pull their boats up on the sand, and you can watch the colours of the sky change over the water.

For dinner, try the simple vegetarian food of the temple town: crisp dosas and idlis, a banana-leaf meal with rice and several small curries, and, to finish, a sweet paal payasam, a creamy rice pudding cooked slowly in milk. Many hotels in Guruvayur cater for pilgrims and serve only vegetarian food, so it's a good chance to try Kerala's excellent vegetarian cooking.

If you'd like to join the first darshan of the day, the temple opens at 3 AM with the Nirmalyam ritual, when devotees see the deity before it's bathed and dressed for the day. Queues form well before then, especially at weekends and on auspicious days, so ask at your hotel the evening before about the best time to go.

Guruvayur is busiest on weekends, public holidays and auspicious wedding days, and quieter on weekday afternoons and evenings. Whenever you go, the warmth and devotion of the place stay with you, and it's a meaningful way to begin a journey through Kerala.

Included today: pick-up at Kochi airport or railway station, private car to Guruvayur, hotel in Guruvayur.

Good to know: drive about 2½ hours. Entry to the Sri Krishna Temple is for Hindus only, and the dress code is strictly followed; phones and cameras aren't allowed inside. Special darshan tickets, if you want them, are paid at the temple. Breakfast on arrival day isn't included.

If you went to the dawn darshan, return to your hotel for a rest and breakfast. Otherwise, take a slow morning walk around the temple streets as the town wakes up: pilgrims in white heading to the temple, flower sellers threading strings of jasmine and marigold, and the smell of fresh coffee and hot vadas from the tea shops.

Then drive about two hours south-east to Athirapilly. The road passes through Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala, a lively city built around a great open ground on a low hill, the Thekkinkadu Maidan, at the centre of which stands the Vadakkunnathan Temple, one of the oldest temples in Kerala, dedicated to Shiva. Every year in April or May, the ground hosts Thrissur Pooram, the most spectacular temple festival in Kerala, when dozens of elephants decorated with golden caparisons face each other across the square, and hundreds of drummers and trumpeters play for hours on end, ending with a huge display of fireworks. Your driver can stop for a short look at the temple's walls and the great ground, or you can continue straight on.

Beyond Chalakudy, the road follows the Chalakudy River upstream into the forest, and the air becomes cooler and greener. Then, suddenly, you hear it: the deep roar of Athirapilly Falls, Kerala's biggest waterfall. Here, the Chalakudy River, wide and powerful after its journey from the Anamalai Hills, plunges about 24 metres over a broad rock face in several great streams into a deep pool below, sending up clouds of spray that catch the sunlight in rainbows. It's often called the Niagara of India, and though it's much smaller, the comparison makes sense when you see the falls in full flow after the monsoon, when they spread right across the cliff in a single thundering curtain of white water.

From the entrance, a paved path leads through the forest to a viewpoint at the top of the falls, where you can watch the river gathering speed before it plunges over the edge. Then follow the steep path of steps down through the trees towards the base of the falls, about a kilometre each way. The walk takes about 20 minutes down and a little longer back up, but it's worth it: from the bottom, you see the full height and width of the falls, feel the spray on your face and hear the roar of the water echoing off the rocks. Wear shoes with a good grip, as the steps can be wet and slippery. The falls have appeared in many Indian films, including the epic Baahubali, and you may well recognise the scene.

A few kilometres upstream, the Vazhachal falls are completely different: rather than a single drop, the river tumbles in wide white cascades over a long slope of black rock, surrounded by dense forest. Along the road between them, the little Charpa falls pour straight down beside the road during the monsoon. The forests of Athirapilly and Vazhachal are some of the richest in Kerala, and they're among the few places in India where four species of hornbill can be seen: the great hornbill, the Malabar pied hornbill, the Malabar grey hornbill and the Indian grey hornbill. You might also see lion-tailed macaques, Nilgiri langurs, Malabar giant squirrels and, with luck, elephants crossing the road at dusk.

Arrive by lunchtime, as the falls close to visitors in the late afternoon. Then spend the evening at your hotel near the falls, many of which are set in the forest beside the river, with gardens full of birds and the sound of the water in the background. As darkness falls, the forest comes alive with the sounds of crickets, frogs and night birds, and you'll sleep soundly in the fresh, cool air.

Athirapilly is beautiful in every season, but it changes character through the year. In the monsoon, from June to September, the falls are at their most powerful, a roaring wall of water that fills the whole valley with mist. From October to January, they're still full and the weather is pleasant, and in the dry months, from February to May, the river shrinks into several separate streams, gentler but still lovely, and the forest is easier to explore. Whenever you visit, keep to the marked paths and viewpoints and stay well away from the edge of the rocks and the river, as the currents are strong and the rocks are slippery.

Included today: private car from Guruvayur to Athirapilly, hotel near Athirapilly, breakfast.

Good to know: drive about 2 hours. Entry tickets to the falls are paid locally. The falls are at their fullest from June to October, and the path to the base may close after very heavy rain. Bring a light rain jacket or a change of clothes if you plan to go close to the spray.

Start the day early with a walk in the hotel's gardens or along the river, when the birds are at their most active and the morning light filters through the forest. Hornbills often fly over the river in the early hours, and you might hear their loud, whooshing wingbeats before you see them. After breakfast, set off for Munnar. Today is the longest drive of the trip, about six hours with stops, but it's a journey of constantly changing scenery, from the forests of the river valley through the farmland of the plains and up into the mountains of the Western Ghats.

The first part of the drive takes you back towards Chalakudy and then south through Angamaly and Perumbavoor, busy market towns surrounded by rubber plantations, paddy fields and coconut groves. Rubber is one of Kerala's most important crops, and as you drive, you'll see the tall, straight trees planted in long rows, each with a small cup tied to its trunk to catch the white latex, which is tapped early in the morning, rolled into sheets and hung up to dry.

At Kothamangalam, the road begins to rise towards the hills. Nearby is the Thattekad Bird Sanctuary, named after Salim Ali, India's most famous ornithologist, who described it as the richest bird habitat in peninsular India. Then you cross the Periyar River at Neriamangalam on a handsome stone bridge from the 1930s, and the road begins its long climb into the mountains, winding up through thick forest with sharp hairpin bends and wide views back over the plains.

Stop at the Cheeyappara waterfall, which tumbles down a hillside in a series of steps right beside the road, and at the Valara falls, which plunge into a deep, forested gorge. After the monsoon, both are spectacular, and there are stalls nearby selling tea, fresh fruit and roasted corn. Have lunch around Adimali, a busy market town in the hills, where small restaurants serve Kerala meals of rice, fish curry and vegetables, or flaky porotta with spicy curries.

Then visit a spice garden, where a guide will show you how Kerala's spices grow: pepper climbing up the trunks of tall trees, cardamom with its pods clustered at the base of the plant, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, vanilla, cocoa and coffee. You'll learn how these spices have been traded from Kerala for more than two thousand years, drawing merchants from Rome, Arabia, China and Europe, and you can buy fresh spices to take home.

The first tea estates appear as you approach Munnar in the late afternoon, and they're an unforgettable sight. The hills are covered with tea from top to bottom, the bushes clipped into neat, rounded rows that follow every curve of the land, with silver oaks and eucalyptus trees rising above them and tea pickers moving slowly along the slopes. The air is cool and fresh, and mist often hangs over the higher ridges. Munnar sits at about 1,600 metres, where three mountain rivers meet, and was developed by British planters in the late 19th century.

Check in to your hotel and spend a quiet evening enjoying the cool mountain air. Many hotels in Munnar look out over the valleys, and there's nothing quite like sitting on your balcony with a cup of fresh Munnar tea as the mist rolls in over the hills and the lights of the tea estates appear one by one.

Munnar's town centre is small and friendly, built around a busy junction where the three rivers meet. If you'd like to stretch your legs after the long drive, take a short walk to the market, where stalls sell fresh vegetables grown in the hills, such as carrots, cabbages and beans, along with fruit, flowers, tea and spices. Then head back to your hotel for dinner.

Before bed, check the weather and plan your clothing for tomorrow. Mornings at Eravikulam can be cold and misty, especially from November to February, so a warm layer, a light rain jacket and comfortable walking shoes are a good idea, along with sunscreen and a hat for when the sun breaks through. Get a good night's rest: tomorrow starts early.

It's been a long day of travel, but one full of variety, from the hornbills and waterfalls of Athirapilly to the tea gardens of Munnar, and tomorrow you can enjoy the hills at a gentler pace.

Sleep well under a warm blanket, with the window open to the sounds of the hills.

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

Good to know: drive about 6 hours with stops. The hill road has many bends, so if you're prone to motion sickness, sit in front. Lunch is at your own cost. Evenings in Munnar can be cold from November to February.

After breakfast, drive to Eravikulam National Park, about 15 kilometres from Munnar, and be there for the opening at 9 AM, when the first park buses start running. Eravikulam is the most popular place in Munnar, and the number of visitors each day is limited, so an early start makes all the difference. The bus carries you up a narrow road through the tea estates to Rajamala, where a paved walking path leads along the hillside through the grasslands.

Eravikulam was set aside to protect the Nilgiri tahr, a sturdy mountain goat found only in the southern Western Ghats. Once hunted almost to extinction, the tahr now thrive in the park, which holds the largest population in the world, and they're completely at ease with visitors, grazing beside the path and climbing the rocks above. The park covers a high plateau of rolling grassland and shola forest at an average height of about 2,000 metres, and its highest point, Anamudi, at about 2,695 metres, is the highest peak in South India. On a clear morning, the views from the path are magnificent, stretching across the plateau to the distant ranges and down to the tea estates in the valleys below, and as the mist drifts across the slopes, the landscape changes from minute to minute.

Look out, too, for the Neelakurinji, a shrub that grows across these hills and flowers only once every twelve years, turning the slopes a beautiful blue-violet. Even when it isn't in bloom, the grasslands are full of wild flowers, butterflies and birds, including the Nilgiri pipit and the white-bellied shortwing, found only in these mountains.

Next, visit the Tea Museum, set in one of Munnar's old tea factories, where you can learn about the history of tea in the High Ranges, from the arrival of the first British planters in the 1880s to the present day. Old photographs show how the forests were cleared and the first estates planted, and you'll see the machines that were used over the years, including an old rolling machine and the parts of a railway that once carried tea down from the hills. Then watch a short demonstration of how fresh green leaves are processed: withered to reduce their moisture, rolled to release their juices, left to oxidise, which turns them from green to copper, and then dried and sorted into grades. End with a tasting of the finished tea, and pick up a packet to take home.

In the afternoon, drive along the Mattupetty road, one of the most beautiful drives in Munnar. Stop at viewpoints over the estates, where the tea bushes roll away into the distance, and at Mattupetty Dam, whose long lake is set among green hills. The area is home to a dairy farm set up in the 1960s with Swiss help, where cattle graze on the grassy slopes, and wild elephants sometimes come down to drink at the water's edge in the evening. At Echo Point, call out across the lake and hear your voice ring back from the far shore.

Further on, Kundala Lake is a peaceful reservoir surrounded by eucalyptus and tea, with a graceful arch dam at one end. Hire a pedal boat or a shikara for a slow turn on the water, or simply walk along the shore and enjoy the quiet. In spring, the cherry trees around the lake bloom pink and white.

Return to Munnar as the light softens over the hills, and spend the evening exploring the town's small market, where you can buy tea, spices, homemade chocolates and warm shawls. For dinner, try a hearty Kerala meal or a bowl of hot soup to warm you up in the cool mountain air.

Munnar has a quiet charm that rewards slowing down, so if you'd rather skip a sight or two, your driver will happily adjust the day. Many travellers like to spend an hour simply walking along the narrow paths between the tea bushes, where the only sounds are birdsong and the chatter of the tea pickers, or sitting at a roadside tea stall watching the clouds drift across the hills.

As evening falls, the temperature drops quickly, so keep a jacket handy. Tomorrow, you'll head south through the spice hills to Thekkady, so enjoy your last night in the tea country.

Whatever the weather, Munnar's hills are beautiful: bright and clear after rain, soft and mysterious in the mist, and golden in the late-afternoon light.

Ask your driver about his favourite viewpoints, too; most drivers know a few quiet spots of their own.

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 and boating are paid locally. The Tea Museum is closed on Mondays. See our Munnar tour packages for more ideas.

After an early breakfast, leave Munnar and drive south for about three to four hours to Thekkady, on the edge of the Periyar Tiger Reserve. The road runs through the heart of the Cardamom Hills, past tea estates, cardamom plantations and small hill towns such as Pooppara and Nedumkandam. Cardamom grows best in the shade of the forest, so here the land is covered with tall trees, beneath which the cardamom plants grow in dense, leafy clumps. If you're travelling during the harvest season, from about August to February, you'll see green pods laid out to dry outside homes and small factories along the road. This area grows most of India's cardamom, and the Spices Board holds cardamom auctions at Puttady, not far from the road.

If you'd like a short detour, Ramakkalmedu, near Nedumkandam, has wide views from a windswept ridge over the plains of Tamil Nadu far below, and a large statue of a Kuravan and Kurathi, figures from local legend, looking out over the edge. Wind turbines line the ridge, turning in the strong, steady breeze.

Arrive in Thekkady around lunchtime and check in to your hotel. Thekkady and Kumily, the town next to it, sit right on the border with Tamil Nadu, at the gateway to the Periyar Tiger Reserve, one of India's best-known wildlife reserves. The reserve covers about 925 square kilometres of forest, grassland and hills around Periyar Lake, and it's home to elephants, gaur, sambar deer, wild boar, otters, lion-tailed macaques, Nilgiri langurs, more than 300 species of birds and a small population of tigers.

In the afternoon, take the boat ride on Periyar Lake, the best way to see the reserve. The lake was created in 1895 by the Mullaperiyar Dam, built across the Periyar River by the British engineer John Pennycuick to send water to the dry plains of Tamil Nadu, and the trunks of drowned trees still stand in the water, where cormorants and darters sit spreading their wings. As the boat glides along the winding arms of the lake, watch the forested shores for wildlife. Elephants are often seen coming down to drink and bathe, especially in the dry months from February to May, and gaur, sambar deer and wild boar graze in the open grassy clearings. Kingfishers, hornbills and fish eagles are common.

Boat rides run at set times through the day, and tickets can sell out in the busy season, so it's worth booking in advance or arriving early. The early-morning and late-afternoon trips are usually best for wildlife.

Back in Kumily, explore the spice shops along the main street, piled high with cardamom, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, tea, coffee and homemade chocolates. In the evening, watch a performance of Kathakali, Kerala's classical dance-drama, with its striking make-up and elaborate costumes, or Kalaripayattu, the ancient martial art of Kerala, with its leaps, kicks and sword fights. Or take a guided walk through a spice plantation, where you'll see cardamom, pepper, coffee and vanilla growing side by side.

The Kerala Forest Department also runs a range of eco-tourism activities in the reserve, including nature walks, bamboo rafting and jungle treks, led by guides from the local communities. These need to be booked in advance, so let us know if you'd like to add one. After dinner, enjoy the cool, quiet night, with the sounds of the forest all around.

Periyar has been protected since the days of the Maharajas of Travancore, who declared the forests around the lake a game reserve in the 1930s, and it became one of India's first tiger reserves under Project Tiger in 1978. Today, it's known for its community-based eco-tourism, which employs people from the local villages, including tribal families who once depended on the forest for hunting and gathering, as guides, trackers and forest watchers. Their knowledge of the forest is remarkable, and they're the best people to show you its secrets.

Thekkady is pleasant for most of the year, with warm days and cool evenings, so bring a light jacket for the early-morning boat ride and the night. For the boat ride and any forest walks, wear muted colours, carry binoculars and water, and keep your voice low; the quieter you are, the more you're likely to see. Sightings of animals can never be guaranteed, but the forest, the lake and the birdlife are beautiful whatever you see.

It's a day that shows you a completely different side of Kerala, a land of forests, spices and wildlife, quite unlike the tea hills you've just left behind.

Sleep well, lulled by the sounds of the forest.

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

Good to know: drive 3–4 hours. The boat ride, shows and plantation walk are optional and paid locally. More ideas in our guide to Thekkady tourist places.

After breakfast, leave the hills and drive about four hours down to Alleppey, now officially called Alappuzha, on the shores of the backwaters. The road climbs gently through tea estates around Vandiperiyar and Peermade, then descends through dense forest and rubber plantations to Kottayam and on to the flat, watery world of Kuttanad, where paddy fields stretch to the horizon, below the level of the sea, and canals and waterways run alongside the road. It's fascinating to watch the landscape change from cool, forested hills to warm, green lowlands in just a few hours.

Kuttanad, the region you drive through on the way to Alleppey, is one of the most remarkable farming landscapes in the world. Much of it lies one or two metres below sea level, and the paddy fields were reclaimed from the lakes over generations by building mud dykes and pumping the water out. Farmers grow rice here in the dry season, and the whole region is crisscrossed by canals and waterways, which serve as roads for the villagers. Ducks are raised in great flocks on the paddy fields after the harvest, and they help to keep the fields free of pests.

If you're interested in history, ask your driver about a short stop on the way at Kottayam, a town known for its old churches, its publishing houses and its lakes, or at Karumadi, near Alleppey, where a small black granite statue of the Buddha, known affectionately as Karumadikkuttan, has been sitting by the canal for more than a thousand years.

Check in to a resort on the backwaters and spend the afternoon relaxing. Many of Alleppey's resorts are set right on the water's edge, with gardens of palms and flowering shrubs, swimming pools, hammocks and terraces where you can watch the houseboats glide past, the village canoes loaded with coconuts and the fishermen casting their nets. Take a swim, book an Ayurvedic massage, or simply sit by the water with a book and a cool drink.

If you'd like to explore, take a shikara ride, a small covered boat, through the narrow canals, where the big houseboats can't go. You'll glide past village homes, small temples and churches, coir-making yards and paddy fields, and see daily life on the water up close. Alleppey has long been the centre of Kerala's coir industry, making rope, mats and carpets from the fibre of coconut husks, and you may see women spinning coir yarn by hand in the villages.

The resort is also a perfect base for an easy evening walk along the canal bank, where you can watch the sun go down over the paddy fields, the egrets flying home to roost in the palms and the village boats making their way home before dark.

In the late afternoon, drive to Alleppey Beach to watch the sunset. The long, golden beach is lined with palms, and the remains of an old pier, built in the 19th century when Alleppey was one of the busiest ports on the Malabar Coast, still stretch out into the sea. Nearby, the old lighthouse, painted in red and white stripes, can be climbed for views over the town and the coast. In the evening, the beach fills with local families strolling along the sand, eating roasted peanuts and ice cream, and watching the sun sink into the Arabian Sea.

Alleppey is sometimes called the Venice of the East, for its network of canals, and every August, on the second Saturday, it hosts the famous Nehru Trophy Boat Race on Punnamada Lake, when long, sleek snake boats, each rowed by more than a hundred oarsmen, race across the water to the beat of drums and the cheers of huge crowds.

For dinner, try some of Alleppey's specialities: karimeen pollichathu, pearl spot fish marinated in spices and grilled in a banana leaf, duck roast, a Kuttanad favourite, and prawns or crab cooked in coconut and spices, with soft appam or Kerala red rice. Then enjoy the stillness of the backwaters at night, when the houseboats are moored, the lamps glow softly along the shore and the frogs and crickets sing.

However you spend it, today is about slowing down after the hills, and getting ready for the highlight of the trip tomorrow: your night on the backwaters.

Tomorrow, you'll move from the resort to your houseboat, so before bed, pack a small overnight bag with clothes, toiletries, sunscreen, mosquito repellent and a torch. The rest of your luggage can stay in the car with your driver.

Sleep well; tomorrow belongs to the water.

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

Good to know: drive about 4 hours. Shikara rides and Ayurvedic treatments are optional and paid locally. The Alleppey climate is warm and humid, so light cotton clothes, sunscreen and mosquito repellent are useful.

Enjoy a slow morning at the resort, with breakfast by the water and a last swim, and check out around noon to board your private houseboat. Your crew, usually a captain, a cook and a deckhand, will welcome you with a fresh tender coconut, show you to your bedroom and settle you on the open deck, and then the boat slips away from the jetty for a day and a night on the water.

Your kettuvallam is a traditional Kerala rice barge, made of jackwood planks lashed together with coir rope, now transformed into a comfortable floating home with a curved roof of bamboo and palm thatch, a bedroom with an attached bathroom, a dining area and an open deck at the front. For centuries, boats like this carried rice, spices and coconuts along the backwaters to the port at Kochi; today, they carry travellers through one of the most peaceful landscapes in India.

The backwaters of Kerala are a vast network of lakes, rivers, canals and lagoons running parallel to the coast, fed by the rivers flowing down from the Western Ghats. At the heart of them is Vembanad Lake, the longest lake in India, and the boat first heads out across its wide, open waters, with the shores lined with coconut palms. Then it turns into narrower channels, where you'll see village life carrying on just a few metres from the boat.

Lunch is served on board, freshly cooked by the crew: Kerala red rice, sambar, a vegetable thoran with grated coconut, avial, pickles and pappadam, and a fish curry or a fried karimeen, the backwaters' famous pearl spot fish. Vegetarian meals are always available, and the cooks are happy to adjust the spice levels.

In the afternoon, settle into a chair on the deck and watch the world go by. You'll see women washing clothes on the stone steps at the water's edge, children rowing small canoes to school, farmers working in the paddy fields that lie below the level of the water, protected by dykes, and toddy tappers climbing the coconut palms to collect the sweet sap. Ducks swim in great flocks along the banks, herded by men in small boats, and kingfishers, egrets, herons and cormorants hunt in the shallows. Sometimes the boat passes a floating shop, a village church with a whitewashed facade, or a small temple with oil lamps on its steps.

If you'd like, the crew can stop at a fishermen's landing so you can buy fresh prawns, crab or fish for dinner, which the cook will prepare for a small extra charge. In the late afternoon, tea and snacks are served on deck, often banana fritters or spiced vadas.

The boat moors for the night at about 5:30 PM, as local rules require, so that the fishermen can set their nets safely after dark. As the sun sets over the water, the sky glows orange and pink, and the palms turn to black silhouettes. Lamps come on in the houses along the bank, and you'll hear evening prayers from a nearby temple or church, the chorus of frogs and the soft splash of fish in the water. Dinner is served on board by lamplight, and afterwards, you can sit out on the deck under the stars, enjoying the stillness of the night. The bedroom air conditioning usually runs from about 9 PM to 6 AM.

For many travellers, this is the day they remember most from Kerala. There's nothing to do but watch the water, chat with the crew, read, doze and let the backwaters work their magic. The pace of life slows to the speed of the boat, phones go quiet in the remoter channels, and you begin to notice the small details: the way the light changes on the water, the shapes of the clouds over the paddy fields, the songs of the birds and the sound of a temple bell drifting across the lake.

The crew know these waters well, and many of them grew up in the villages you pass, so don't hesitate to ask them about life on the backwaters, the farming, the fishing, the festivals and the boat races. Their stories are one of the joys of the trip, and a small tip at the end of the cruise is always appreciated.

Whatever you choose to do, it's a day that shows you why the backwaters are the heart of Kerala, and why so many travellers come back again and again.

It's a night under the stars you won't forget.

Included today: breakfast at the resort, private houseboat with lunch, dinner and breakfast on board.

Good to know: bedrooms are air-conditioned at night. Pack a small overnight bag; the rest of your luggage can stay in the car with your driver. Compare boats on our Alleppey houseboat packages page.

Wake early to watch the backwaters come to life. As the mist rises from the water, fishermen paddle out in their canoes, ducks are herded along the banks, and the first village ferries carry passengers to work and school. Breakfast is served on board, perhaps appam with egg curry or puttu with kadala curry, as the boat makes a short morning cruise back towards the jetty. Leave the boat by 9 AM, where your driver will be waiting, and drive about two hours north to Kochi.

With an evening flight, there's time to explore Fort Kochi, one of the most interesting historic towns in India. For more than two thousand years, Kochi and the ports around it drew traders in search of spices, and Fort Kochi still bears the marks of the Arabs, Chinese, Jews, Portuguese, Dutch and British who came here. Walk through its quiet, tree-lined streets, past old colonial bungalows, warehouses, churches and cafés, and you'll feel the layers of history all around you.

Start at the waterfront, where the giant Chinese fishing nets stand along the shore. These huge, cantilevered nets of teak and bamboo are believed to have been introduced by Chinese traders centuries ago, and they're still worked by teams of fishermen, who lower the nets into the water and haul them up again using heavy stones as counterweights. Watch them at work, and if you like, buy fresh fish from the stalls nearby and have it cooked at one of the small restaurants.

A short walk away is St Francis Church, built by the Portuguese in 1503 and one of the oldest European churches in India. Vasco da Gama, the first European to reach India by sea, was buried here after he died in Kochi in 1524, before his remains were taken back to Portugal, and his tombstone can still be seen inside. The Santa Cruz Basilica, nearby, is known for its bright colours and painted ceilings.

Then drive to Mattancherry to visit the Dutch Palace, built by the Portuguese in the 16th century as a gift for the Raja of Kochi and later renovated by the Dutch. Inside, its walls are covered with remarkable murals depicting scenes from the Ramayana and the Puranas, some of the finest in Kerala. Nearby, Jew Town is a maze of narrow lanes lined with antique shops, spice warehouses and boutiques, leading to the Paradesi Synagogue, built in 1568, with its floor of hand-painted blue Chinese tiles and its Belgian glass chandeliers. The palace is closed on Fridays, and the synagogue is closed on Fridays, Saturdays and Jewish holidays.

If you're leaving later in the evening, there are plenty of other things to do in Fort Kochi. The Indo-Portuguese Museum, inside the Bishop's House, has a collection of church art from the Portuguese period, and the Kerala Folklore Museum, near Thevara, has a fascinating collection of masks, costumes, sculptures and musical instruments from all over South India. You could also watch a Kathakali performance at one of the cultural centres in Fort Kochi, which hold evening shows, or arrive early to see the performers apply their elaborate make-up.

Fort Kochi is also a good place for last-minute shopping. Jew Town and Mattancherry are full of shops selling spices, tea, antiques, handicrafts, Kerala's white-and-gold kasavu sarees and mundus, brass lamps and Kathakali masks, while the cafés of Fort Kochi serve everything from fresh seafood to cakes and coffee.

Fort Kochi is also full of cafés, galleries and street art, and it's a lovely place for a last meal of fresh seafood or a cup of strong filter coffee before you leave. Your driver then drops you at Kochi airport, about an hour and a half from Fort Kochi, or at the railway station in Ernakulam.

Allow plenty of time for the drive to the airport, as traffic in Kochi can be heavy, especially in the evening, and keep your houseboat and hotel bills, tickets and passports handy. Our team stays in touch until you're home, and we're always just a phone call or a WhatsApp message away.

Looking back on your eight days, you'll have seen almost every side of Kerala: the temple town of Guruvayur, the thundering waterfalls of Athirapilly, the tea hills of Munnar, the forests and wildlife of Periyar, the peaceful backwaters of Alleppey and the historic streets of Fort Kochi. We hope it's been an unforgettable journey, and that you'll return to Kerala again soon.

Safe travels, and thank you for exploring Kerala with us.

Included today: morning cruise and breakfast on the houseboat, private car to Kochi, Fort Kochi if time allows, drop at Kochi airport or railway station.

Good to know: drive about 2 hours to Kochi. Book a flight that leaves at least 3 hours after you reach the airport. See our Fort Kochi tourist places guide.