Kerala With A Difference
Independent Tour (16 days)

London - Alleppey - Riceboat - Kanam - Munnar - Parambikulam - Sultan's Battery - Calicut - Cochin - London

Kerala is today one of the leading destinations in India. While much has been written about its natural attractions and socio-economic history, there is much that remains unexplored. In this tour we take you to some hitherto unexplored parts of the region while retaining many mainstream sights, albeit with a difference!

Staying in some delightful family homes and estate bungalows the tour offers you a taste of Kerala like no other.
You travel by yourself on a departure date of your choice.

Meal Plan: Full board (Kanam, Kadavu and Kochi on bed & breakfast, lunch on day 15)
Season: Mid-November - April
Clothes: Cottons and a light pullover

Itinerary
Day 1 London-Cochin Fly from Heathrow at midday on an indirect flight, Qatar, Emirates or similar.

Day 2 Cochin-Alleppey Arrive Cochin in the morning and transfer to Alleppey. Stay at Olavipe, a charming family home close to the backwaters, for 2 nights.

Day 3 Alleppey With your host family to explore the nearby ricefields, coir works, temples and life around the backwaters. Alleppey is a major centre for eco-friendly coir products.

Day 4 Riceboat Board a private riceboat for a cruise along the palm-fringed backwaters of Vembanad Lake and its tributaries. Spend the night on board.

Day 5 Kanam Disembark after breakfast for a short drive to Kanam Estate. Stay in the midst of a rubber plantation at Serenity for 2 nights.

Day 6 Kanam At leisure with the opportunity to visit the surrounding spice plantations including pepper, arecanut, nutmeg, cardamom, etc. You can also spend the day with and an elephant and tend to his bath.

Day 7 Munnar Drive to the tea country of Munnar and check into the Talliar Estate, a colonial bungalow in the middle of the estate, for 2 nights. On your way visit the Eravikulam Sanctuary, home to the endangered Nilgiri Tahr.

Day 8 Munnar Visit the nearby tea factory. You can go for a long walk in the estate with picnic by the waterfalls.

Day 9 Sethumada Drive through forest roads, visiting Chinar Wildlife Sanctuary en route, to the border town of Sethumada. Stay at the Banyan Tree, an elegant house in the middle of 4000 acres of coconut groves and agricultural land.

Day 10 Sethumada (Parambikulam) Enjoy an excursion to the nearby Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, home to the leopard, wild elephant, the Indian bison or gaur, sloth bear, spotted deer, sambar, nilgai and a variety of birds. Also enjoy a bullock cart ride through the fields.

Day 11 Sultan's Battery Drive to Sultan's Battery in the hill country of Wyanad. Stay at Tranquil, a guesthouse in the midst of coffee plantations, for two nights.

Day 12 Sultan's Battery At leisure to enjoy the area and its rich birdlife. A visit to the nearby Muthanga sanctuary can be arranged. The resort has an attractive pool and a well stocked bar.

Day 13 Kadavu Drive past the coastal town of Calicut to the Kadavu Resort, overlooking Feroke River. The traditional style resort has good facilities for Ayurveda and offers riceboat cruises on the river. On the way visit a handloom-weaving unit. Handloom in the area is famous and is exported for draperies in the West.

Day 14 Cochin (Kochi) A long drive to Cochin visiting the elephant stables at Guruvayoor en route. Stay at the elegant Malabar House Residency for 2 nights. In the evening enjoy a sunset cruise around the Chinese fishing nets.

Day 15 Cochin Enjoy an auto-rickshaw ride through the old town of Fort Cochin and see the spices bazaar. Visit the sights including the Jewish synagogue, St Francis' Church and the Dutch Palace where murals depict the story from the epic Ramayana. Enjoy a lesson in Kerala cookery in the afternoon and enjoy lunch with your hostess. In the evening enjoy a Kathakali dance performance.

Day 16 London Fly back to Heathrow in the morning, arriving the same afternoon.

What Is Included
The following elements are included in your holiday for group as well as independent travel. For tailor-made holidays/extensions/amendments there can be individual variations.

International flights in economy class from London Heathrow apart from the following tours, which do NOT include international flights: Cambodia Tour, Laos Tour, Singapore Stopover. For upgrades to higher classes and departure from ports other than Heathrow please ask us for a quote. The airport taxes are additional to the holiday price and are subject to change.

Airport taxes are included in your holiday price except for places where they are payable locally directly on departure.

Assisted transfers for all arrivals and departures by air or rail, using a private coach or chauffeur-driven car. In some resorts the hotel may provide a courtesy transfer. For courtesy transfers and arrivals/departures by road assistance may not be available in some places.

Accommodation in the hotels listed, or similar. Unless otherwise specified standard grade rooms are booked. For booking superior rooms or suites please ask us for a quote.

Meals as indicated in the "Meal Plan" with each tour. Most tours have a bed & breakfast arrangement, except in game parks and remote places where full board is provided. Given the wide variety and choice of restaurants in most hotels it is preferable not to be tied down to a fixed meal. It is also more cost effective to have a la carte dining in most hotels.

All scheduled sightseeing including English-speaking guides and entrance fee to monuments and other sites listed in the tour details. 

All scheduled game viewing in game reserves. This is usually in shared jeeps, seating up to five, or a larger open vehicle, seating up to eighteen, accompanied by a naturalist. For booking exclusive jeeps a higher charge may apply. These are subject to availability as only a limited number of vehicles is allowed inside a game park in a day.

All trekking expenses including guide & cook, porters, camping equipment, environment fee and insurance for porters. Sleeping bags are provided but you are welcome to bring your own. When travelling independently the entire retinue is organised just for you.

All internal travel including flights in economy, trains in the class specified, boat cruises - normally using exclusive boats for your private use, and road travel by a private coach or your own chauffeur-driven car. For road journeys spread over many days a daily allowance for the driver to cover for his accommodation and meals is included in your price. Again for such long journeys the vehicle and driver are normally available for local use, within reasonable limits, at each place of halt at no extra cost. When adding extra days to a tour using a car circuit, the cost of retaining the car is also included in your supplementary accommodation costs.

The assistance of our local agents - we have a wide network of tried and tested agents who are on hand to assist you during your travel.

The services of an experienced local tour escort for published group tours with minimum 5 persons. If the number falls below 5 we may still, at our discretion, provide an escort. The escort joins you on arrival and remains with you for the main body of the tour. For some portions of the tour, normally at the end, the accompanying escort may leave you. In such instances local assistance is provided. For example in North India & Nepal the escort remains with you from Delhi through till Varanasi and the Nepal portion is assisted locally.

Prices
Main Tour