5 Days Itinerary Kerala

Hey fellas! Hope you all are doing great in your lives but at the same time making sure to be happy ! Planning a trip once in a while is really important as it deviates your mind away from the hustle of office/work/college and lets you discover a different side of yourself . Now you could be either of the type who loves to explore ( aka me ) and literally exhausts oneself so much but no complains cause you love it ! and the second type is the one who literally takes the holiday as a holiday and decides to relax and sleep the entire time! :p

So incase you are confused on what to do and how to plan a holiday to Kerala but don’t know how to go about it, worry not I have got you covered!As it was my first time there I will be posting about places you should visit as  first timer and will hopefully try to get you covered nicely!

Some tips to keep in mind when you pack:

• Carry a hat/sunglasses due to the excessive heat .
• SUNSCREEN!!! ( The most important if you want to come back without a sunburn).
• Cotton clothes so you can roam around easily.
• Mosquito Repellent (for the houseboat )
• Make sure you stay HYDRATED the entire trip.
• Don’t forget to make some beautiful memories!

Incase you do not wish to read further but just want an itinerary just tap the link given 🙂 here here here!!!  ——->>>> Kerala Itinerary

There are many ways to get to Kerala by Air , Road or Trains . Now I am going to leave that part up to you to google as I had planned our trip from Goa so the routes will be different for every individual . We took a flight from GOA at night and landed in Kochi , now you could also land in Trivandrum but it was pretty far from all the places we had planned of seeing , so maybe next time!

DAY 1:

We freshened up and left for Alleppey the morning after arriving in Kochi ,so as to enjoy our day in the backwaters. Alleppey is around 2-3 hours away from the Kochi airport and so we reached the boarding point of the boats around noon .We had booked an entire day/night in the houseboat as it is definitely on one of the to do lists when in Kerala . So once we had got into it , they greeted us with some juice and snacks but mind you the weather was so hot that we were literally melting and they had a policy that you could use ac only from night 9 till morning 6 so initially it did get quite hot and it was so damp and sticky i decided not to put on any makeup and chose to wear an easy breezy dress. So as the boat moved we could see the beautiful coconut trees lined on either side of the river with the lush green paddy fields along with a few locals houses . It was quite a peculiar view as i had never come across one like this before . For lunch we were served with some local delicacies and it was really yummy , after that the boat continued to move until we reached the end of the Periyar river which is said to be the longest river in Kerala so it was pretty cool spending so much time in it! Around 6 in the evening the boat halts at their respective stops and then we literally had nothing to do at all, it was quite a bummer cause i so wasnt prepared for it plus the humidity was still crazy. We got down the boat and decided to walk around a bit as our legs felt jammed , which actually turned out to be a good decision . We walked for around 2-3 kms and came across the local houses and as it was evening time, in every house they had the “sandhya”/ evening prayers as you say ,going on and it was actually pretty amazing to watch this cause they did it differently . We walked down abit more till we came across few tiny kiosks to buy some food and then walked back to the boat. For dinner we were served another set of local food and it was indeed delicious apart from being very spicy and soon after we decided to sleep because the checkout time was at 9 am in the morning and i really badly wanted to get a few shots in the backwaters as i couldn’t the entire day due to bad lighting but i didn’t find much luck the next morning either,but hey at least i got to enjoy the view !

DAY 2:

Anyways we woke up early(rather we had to !) , just sat in the verandah of the boat for sometime to soak in the beauty surrounding us and after having a really nice breakfast we checked out of the boat.  We then left for Munnar which took us another whooping 6 hours to reach plus the traffic extending that to 2 hours more , so our day 2 practically went completely in travelling itself and the thing in Munnar is that everything closes at 5 as it’s a hill station and after that its no point to do anything , so we just decided to chill on the hotel roof top and watch the sunset , the good thing was the weather which was actually really breezy and cool , but it lasted only for that one night lol !

DAY 3:

Day 3 was all about going around and visiting various places over here . And most important thing guys do not forget to put your sunscreen on , i forgot to apply it on my arms and they were literally burnt for the next 4-5 days :/ So yea we started off by visiting the Attukal waterfalls , i mean yea everyone says it’s really beautiful but also its summer so i don’t know what i was expecting but there wasnt much water and it was really really hot , and the road to the waterfall is a really bad one so make sure you prefer going in the jeep cause there is no coming back if you take a big car and go as its more of a trekking road . After spending some time getting some pictures and stuff we sat to have some lemon soda to kill the thirst at the waterfalls itself , it was this cute little shop owned by one local family and they were really very sweet and friendly! So after having literally 2-3 glasses of lemon soda each of us we left to visit the tea gardens . So Munnar is completely filled with tea gardens everywhere around and you can literally just get down and take a few shots anywhere and that was exactly what we did but the heat omg , by now i was damn sure March wasnt the right time to visit at all . We then went ahead to visit the Mattupetty dam and omg omg omg it was so scenic! The green waters just gave me such Leh-Ladakh vibes , i mean i have never been there but it looked so much like the pictures. There are a lot of tourist attractions over here like boating, horse riding and they have their own tiny amusement park kind of a thing.We then had some masala Maggi at a local shop and then while heading back to the hotel we visited a flower garden which in my opinion wasnt that great so you can skip it! We reached the hotel back around 4:30pm  and took a nap and then went to watch the Cultural shows . you can either do it in Kochi or Munnar . First one was a kathakali performance put up by some local artists which went on for an hour and then another one hour show of Kalarikshetra which was all about the sword fighting tradition and martial arts which was originally started in Kerala . It was a pretty amazing show and incase you visit Munnar do visit these cause anyways everything closes at 5 so you could spend your evening trying to gain some knowledge and entertainment at the same time!  So that pretty much summed up our entire day in Munnar! Incase you are a fan of adventures you could check up few man made adventure parks that are made ( just google it!) and you also get fresh chocolates made over here!

DAY 4:

This was the day i was most excited for cause we were finally visiting Kochi but alas…the journey was so hectic and long , it took us another 6 hours to reach our hotel and it was such a disappointment as i had already made a plan of what i wanted to do but as it was 6 already and it would be too late to reach anywhere.WHAT A BUMMER!, so we just decided to visit the LULU mall which claims to be the biggest in entire of Asia! So we just spent some time there window shopping cause i didn’t find anything worth buying oh except for 2 baby pots for my succulents lol ! :3

DAY 5:

Finally the most favourite part of the entire trip! Finally we were going to explore Fort Kochi and i couldn’t contain my excitement cause i had seen some really beautiful places on the internet. So we started off  by first visiting the St.Francis Church , its said to be one of the oldest churches over here and even had Vasco Da Gama’s body buried over here until he was taken back to Europe . The interiors are much like the Churches found in Goa but its the detailing on the windows and ceiling that was wonderful . They follow a strict no photo policy so couldnt click one to show you guys!

The next up is the Dutch cemetery , all this comes one after another so you need not change your route ! I didn’t get down to visit it as it was locked that day but then again its just a small cemetery so maybe you could skip it and just see it from the out .

Next was the Chinese Fishing Nets , it was noon and was quite hot but the enthusiastic traveller inside me wanted  to visit these nets as they were the most talked about topic. We were fortunate enough to actually see how the fishes are caught using these nets toh later we realised we had to pay some amount just as a thank you gesture ,but yea do visit it. You could either visit it here or while your on your way to the airport there are many that come on the way and i was lucky enough to see the sunset ones too!

From the fishing nets onwards i would recommend you to just park your car and walk as there are quite a few cafes two lanes down and if you go by car you will surely miss them. The first up is the Princess street and it has the 2 most instagrammable cafes – Forte Kochi : This place is insane ! you have to visit this and make sure you check out the interiors of this place . The food was brilliant and the staff was even more lovely and they really take good care of you . The interiors of the place are just too authentic and give you vibes straight from what Kochi must have looked like when under the Portuguese Colonial rule . The second most talked about cafe is the Fort Bridge View Cafe which is more like a hostel type and if you have a day make sure to spend a night there to soak in some vibes of the place . After this street, next up is this tiny alley that you wont realise until your walking and not in a car, here again I found 2 more cute cafes – 1st up is Kaashi Art Cafe and Oys Cafe . Kashi Art cafe is more like Bodega of Goa and it has these art installations put inside plus also has a small cozy area to just chill and sip some cold coffee . Whereas the other cafe Oys cafe i didn’t have quite a good experience , the lady actually told me if i wanted to take a picture outside her cafe i needed permission from the cops , like WHATTTTTT? anyways it was really rude and i just continued to walk and i was glad i did cause i came across amazing street art done all over the walls and it was just too good to miss! So if you’re visiting Fort Kochi i would HIGHLY RECOMMEND you to visit these 2 lanes in particular if  abstract art/installations/cute cafes with cold coffee excite you as much as they do to me!

Off next we visited the Jew Town Street – it is known as one of the oldest markets in Kochi , but the irony was that i barely found any local shops over here , and almost 90% of the shops were taken over by the outsiders and that was really saddening. You can’t take your car inside so you have to walk around 2 kms and by now everyone was too tired but thanks to my dad for being sporting as he always has been,he agreed to walk with me in this heat just cause he knew how much i love discovering new places and my knack of gaining knowledge about them, so  thanks alot Papa! So we walked till the end of the street and visited the Jew Synagogue , here again there were no cameras allowed but yes as its one of the must visits make sure to visit it and its taken care by a few Parsis who live in the area, its a really old temple of theirs and they have even kept a mini tour on how the Parsis came into Kerala , so do check it out! Then we just strolled down the streets and came across another famous hotel GINGER HOTEL , and when i had googled it, didn’t look that great to me but when i actually visited it i was struck with the beauty of the place . It isn’t just any ordinary hotel , it has kept installations of all the old stone carvings which are at least 100+ years old of various gods/goddesses from the Hindu Mythology and restored and kept it . They also have an amazing view of the entire jetty and if time permits you need to sit down for a cup of tea and enjoy that view . Unfortunately we were running out of time as we had a flight to catch but i was glad i atleast got to visit it! We then headed towards the airport as our flight was in few hours and on the way to the airport make sure to buy dozens of fresh banana chips made freshly in front of your eyes! It was actually such a cool process for someone who had never seen how they were made! I mean if you came to Kerala and didnt buy chips, did you even come to Kerala?

Well ya that’s how my entire trip was and i know i ended up making it so long! Apologies for that , but incase you actually did end up reading till here thank you so much ,it really does mean a lot to me .Travelling and then penning down my experiences is something i have been doing ever since the age of 7 and i thank my parents for inculcating that in me cause now wherever i go , i always have these beautiful memories to look back at when i read and go through my pictures and i love to share it with the world ! I really hope you found this helpful and incase you want to plan a trip to Kerala directly download the personalised itinerary i have made for you!

Some more interiors of the place :

Some more pictures of the interiors of the place :

Lots of Love,

Shriya Pandita