This 6-day Kerala tour package from RutzIndia.com covers five nights by private car with a single chauffeur: Fort Kochi, Munnar's tea country, Thekkady and the Periyar lake, then the Alleppey backwaters and back to Cochin airport. The car is charged per kilometre, with 250 km a day as the floor.
Why six days is the balanced Kerala loop
Most first visits to Kerala are built around three pictures: tea hills, a houseboat and a wildlife lake. Six days is the shortest itinerary that fits all three without a single day longer than about five hours in the car. Munnar gets two nights so you see it in the morning light, Thekkady gets one night and the first boat of the day, and Alleppey gets the long, slow afternoon on the water that is the whole point of going.
It is the length we suggest to families with school-age children, to overseas visitors who want Kerala as the southern chapter of a wider India trip, and to couples who would rather see four places properly than six in a blur. If your leave is tighter, the 5-day package drops Thekkady and runs Munnar straight to Alleppey. If you have one more day and want a beach, the 7-day route continues south and ends at Trivandrum.
Thekkady and the Periyar lake, done properly
Thekkady is really the forest gateway at Kumily, a spice-trading town on the Tamil Nadu border. The reason to come is Periyar Tiger Reserve: a reservoir lake with drowned trees standing in it and forest running down to the shore on every side. Tigers are rarely seen. What you are likely to spot from the boat are elephants, gaur, sambar, otters and a great many water birds, and the odds are best on the first departure after the gates open, while the water is still and the animals are at the edge.
That is why the plan has you sleep in Thekkady the evening before and has the chauffeur at your hotel very early. Boat seats are limited and sold by the reserve, so check the official site for current timings and online booking before you travel. Beyond the boat, the reserve's eco-tourism programme runs guided nature walks, bamboo rafting and longer treks, and the plantations around Kumily offer walks through cardamom, pepper, coffee and vanilla.
The road, section by section
- Kochi to Munnar (about 130 km). Flat through Perumbavoor and Kothamangalam, then a long climb from Neriamangalam through forest and waterfalls to the hills. Narrow hairpins above Adimali, best driven in daylight.
- Munnar local day (60 to 70 km). Eravikulam in the morning, then Mattupetty, Kundala and Echo Point along the Top Station road. Afternoon mist is common from June onwards.
- Munnar to Thekkady (about 90 km). The prettiest leg, and slower than the distance suggests, because the road follows the ridge south through Pooppara and Nedumkandam. Allow three hours or a little more.
- Thekkady to Alleppey (about 140 km). Down from the hills via Vandiperiyar and Kuttikkanam, past the tea and rubber of Peermade, then across Kottayam district to the water. Most of the descent is on a wide, well-graded national highway.
- Alleppey to Kochi and the airport (about 90 km together). Flat coastal highway; allow extra time for Kochi's late-afternoon traffic.
Chauffeurs fill up before each hill section, stop for tea every couple of hours on the longer days and keep ghat driving to daylight wherever the schedule allows. Tolls on this loop are few, and they, along with parking at the lake and the viewpoints, are passed on at actual cost.
Beds along the route
Kochi: Fort Kochi for character, with heritage hotels and homestays in old Portuguese and Dutch-era houses, or Ernakulam for convenience and business-class hotels.
Munnar: town-edge hotels for easy access, or estate resorts in the side valleys for views and silence. Plantation bungalows and tree-house stays exist in both Munnar and Thekkady for anyone who wants something different.
Thekkady: resorts cluster along the road into the reserve at Kumily; the handful inside the forest boundary are booked months ahead in the season.
Alleppey: a houseboat for the night, or a lakeside resort at Punnamada or Kumarakom. Houseboats stop cruising and moor at sunset, so a late arrival from Thekkady wastes most of the experience; the chauffeur aims to deliver you by early afternoon.
Our travel desk books hotels and houseboats through BookingWorldwide.net and quotes them in writing alongside the car.
Seasons, closures and festival weeks
October to March is dry season across the whole loop and the busiest period; the week from Christmas to New Year is the peak for houseboats, Munnar and Thekkady alike. In February and March, Eravikulam normally closes for the Nilgiri tahr calving season. April and May are hot on the plains but still pleasant in the hills, which makes them a sensible choice for families on summer holidays. The south-west monsoon from June brings discounts, rain-washed hills and Kerala's traditional Ayurveda season, but landslips can close ghat roads for hours and the Periyar lake can be choppy. August adds the Nehru Trophy boat race on Punnamada lake and, in August or September, Onam, and both fill Alleppey's houseboats. Kerala Tourism publishes an official events calendar that is worth a look before you fix dates.
Picking the car for a six-day hill-and-water trip
- Two travellers: a sedan is ample, with room for two big cases.
- Three or four: an Ertiga is the budget option; an Innova Crysta is the one we recommend for the Munnar and Thekkady ghats because of its ride and legroom.
- Five to seven, or senior travellers: an Innova Crysta, or a Fortuner if you prefer an SUV.
- Eight to twelve: a Tempo Traveller from Kochi.
Every car in the fleet is within four model years of age.
Stretching or shrinking the loop
Six days is also a good base to build on. Add a night at Vagamon, the meadow-and-pine plateau that sits just off the Thekkady to Kottayam road; add Kumarakom for a quieter backwater stay than Alleppey; or continue out of Kerala entirely. From Kumily the road east drops into Tamil Nadu towards Madurai, and our 8-day South India package combines temples and hills. If you are flying in from Bangalore, the packages from Bangalore page shows what fits a long weekend.
Paying for the car and booking it
The fare table is computed, not quoted. The car is billed on the higher of the trip's actual driving, about 565 km here, and 250 km per calendar day, which for six days is 1,500 km. The table multiplies that by each class's rate: Rs 72/km for a sedan, Rs 84 for an Ertiga, Rs 114 for an Innova Crysta, Rs 170 for a Fortuner and Rs 160 for a Tempo Traveller. Add the driver's night allowance (Rs 3,000 a night), tolls and parking at cost, and 5% GST. Because the minimum sits well above the planned driving, detours inside that margin cost nothing more.
Reserve in the booker with card or UPI, and ask for a GST invoice if you are travelling for work. Cancelling more than 72 hours before pickup is free; after that the charge is 10% inside 72 hours, 50% inside 48 hours and the full fare inside 24 hours or on a no-show, as set out on the cancellation policy page.
