I thought I'd do the decent thing and report back on my fairly recent trip to Kerala - planned through advice from TA community. As usual you guys gave me some good advice.
We travelled to Kerala in December just before Christmas - with my wife and 2 kids (8 & 11yrs old). We also visited Goa and Mumbai.
It was the first time to India for the kids but we needn't have worried they loved it.
As for the Kerala leg of our holiday we flew into Cochin from Goa. We arranged this part of our trip from a local travel agent sourced by posting my trip requirements on the Kerala government tourist website. Got lots of quotes and suggestions finally decided to go with Peacock Holidays. Exchanged emails over a period of over a month to sort out an itinenery. Mr Nishad , tour manager from Peacock was great although I was worried because I’ ve never booked with a foreign based agent before. I didn’t have to pay all the money upfront which gave me some comfort. They organised the hotels, car and driver and sightseeing, airport pick up in Cochin and drop off in Trivanderam
The itinenery we finally agreed was
Cochin 3 nights - good for shopping, other things (St. Francis Church, Chinese fishing Nets , Portuguese Museum, Dutch Palace, Jewish Synagogue, etc), Marine drive and trip into the countryside to see the waterfalls and plantations, great sea food. Cochin has an Ayurvedia centre too were you can get a free consultation if you are in for that sort of thing.
Stayed at Sealord hotel included room and breakfast. Not great hotel but value for money and central location, good food in the restaurant , excellent management staff and cheap rates. Nice breakfast set us up for the day.
Kumarakom -2 nights backwaters resort. Peace and tranquility away from the hustle and bustle that is India. Try and stay on a houseboat if you can. Even half a days boat trip in time for sunset is fantastic.
Stayed at Paradise Resort right by the lake
Kovalom – 4nights. 5hrs drive from Kumarakom. Stayed at Soma Palmshore great private secluded beach. But public beach by lighthouse was a disappointment too crowded and too touristy. South Goa was much better but it depends on what you’re looking for. Must say good sea food restaurants – with Kingfisher beer in a mug.
Sea was a bit rough so be careful with the tides
Spent time on beach, visit to Trivanderam – botanical gardens, Veli Tourist village, Museum, and some more shopping.
We had the services of a driver , Mr Gopi – he was great, spoke English well and looked after us . Very professional and trustworthy. We chose a Toyota Innova people carrier vehicle with a/c which was large enough for our luggage and for us to sit in comfort.
Mr Nishad the tour manager even took the trouble to meet us and asked us if our trip was okay and if we had any problems. He was always available on the phone if we needed to discuss anything.
I decided against going to Munnar and Thekkady because I thought it would be too much travel on the road for the kids but in hindsight it would have been fine because the roads in Kerala are generally very good
We booked the internal flights ourselves from the Cleartrip website Goa to Cochin and Trivanderam to Mumbai. Couldn’t be simpler.
We had a great time, kids loved it. Kerala is a great destination because of the variety of places to visit – cities, backwaters, countryside Let me know if you need any info in planning your trips!
Regards
Vivek07
