Tempo Traveller on rent in Kochi

Most Kerala holidays begin at Cochin International Airport and most of them involve more people than a car can hold: parents, cousins, a tour group from the office. A Tempo Traveller in Kochi carries the whole party from the arrivals kerb to the tea estates of Munnar, the cardamom hills of Thekkady and the houseboat jetties of Alappuzha without anybody being left in the second car. RutzIndia.com rents Force Travellers in 12, 17, 20 and 26-seat versions with a chauffeur, for a single transfer, a city day or a full Kerala circuit.

Kochi Tempo Traveller price and tour examples

Kochi uses the national base rate card. The table turns it into the Kerala trips groups actually book.

The billed distance is the larger of what you drive or 250 km for each calendar day, which is why a relaxed houseboat trip costs the same as a busier one. Night allowances of Rs 1,500 per night, toll plazas, parking, and a Tamil Nadu permit if you cross into Kodaikanal or Valparai are extra at actual cost. GST at 5% is added to the vehicle fare. See the fare rules for the detail.

What each van size costs per kilometre and per day

Kerala tours are almost always multi-day, so Kochi groups care about three rates: the kilometre charge, the least they will be billed on any touring day and the chauffeur's overnight allowance. Here they are for every van, with a Kochi-to-Kodaikanal three-day trip as the worked example. That trip runs about 620 km over the Western Ghats but bills 750 km at the daily floor.

For Kodaikanal, add two overnight allowances, the Tamil Nadu tourist permit bought at the border, tolls and parking, and GST at 5% on the fare.

Some Kochi days are long but local: a cruise-ship shore day, a wedding that starts with a church service and ends with a reception at Bolgatty, or a conference with an evening dinner cruise. For those we offer a 12-hour block of 120 km. The arithmetic is the full-day fare plus half of it again, plus 40 kilometres at the van's per-km rate: roughly Rs 32,370 Pay Now to Reserve in a Traveller, Rs 44,580 Pay Now to Reserve in an Urbania and Rs 68,400 Pay Now to Reserve in a mini bus, before tax.

Five van sizes and the Kerala roads they suit

Kerala's roads reward shorter vans. Coastal highways are busy and hill roads to Munnar, Thekkady and Vagamon twist constantly. Every Traveller we run from Kochi has the same high roof, ceiling air vents, reclining seats and a covered roof rack; what changes is the length behind the driver.

9 seats: honeymoon groups and senior tours

Kerala draws many retired couples and multi-generation families. A cabin fitted with only nine large recliners, in the 12-seat body, gives them legroom for four-hour hill drives at the ordinary Traveller rate. The smoother alternative is the 10-seat Force Urbania.

12 seats: the Munnar-Thekkady workhorse

For the classic circuit, this is the size we send most. Ten travellers, their suitcases in the boot and the houseboat day bags on the roof, and a body short enough for the Munnar hairpins and the car park at Eravikulam. Layout options are compared on our 12-seater Tempo Traveller page.

17 seats: office tours and church groups

Parish groups heading to Velankanni or Malayattoor, and Infopark teams on a Vagamon offsite, fit neatly into seventeen seats. The 17-seater manages the hills but leaves less room for bags, so luggage goes on top.

20 seats: wedding guests and cruise excursions

Twenty seats move a hotel's worth of wedding guests between Marine Drive and a venue in Kumbalangi or Kumarakom, or a cruise group from Ernakulam wharf to Fort Kochi and back before the ship sails. On the flat these vans are ideal.

26 seats: college tours on the coast

The longest Traveller is best on the coastal routes to Alappuzha, Kovalam and Varkala, where the roads are wide and parking is plentiful. For hill circuits with more than twenty people, two 12 or 17-seaters or a mini bus on rent travel better, and very large parties can compare our bus rental options.

Standard cabin, maharaja cabin or Urbania

The standard Traveller, with bench-style reclining rows, is what most Kerala tours use and what the rates above assume. A maharaja cabin swaps the benches for fewer, deeper chairs; when one is free on your dates it carries no extra per-km charge. The Force Urbania is a different vehicle altogether, built on a modern platform with a lower floor and far less body roll on bends, and it costs Rs 102 a kilometre or Rs 27,000 Pay Now to Reserve for a Kochi city day. On a Munnar-Thekkady circuit with elders on board, the Urbania is the one we would choose for our own families.

More Kerala trips from Kochi, with a budget per van

These add to the circuits in the first table. The final column is a budget figure: the fare, 5% GST on top, and the lowest and highest overnight allowance. Tolls, permits, parking, boats, hotels and entry tickets are on top of that.

Groups crossing into Karnataka for Coorg or Mysore can hand over to our Bangalore Tempo Traveller team for a Bengaluru finish, and one-way car drops anywhere in the south are on our one-way taxi page.

Permits when a Kerala tour crosses a border

A van registered in Kerala pays no entry tax inside the state. The moment a tour turns towards Kodaikanal, Valparai, Ooty, Madurai, Rameswaram or Kanyakumari it enters Tamil Nadu, and towards Coorg or Mysore it enters Karnataka. Each of those states charges an entry levy on tourist vehicles, collected at the check post. We pay it on the day and bill it back at exactly the receipted amount; the fee rules are the states' own and are published on the national transport portal, Parivahan.

Where in Kochi we collect from

Our chauffeurs pick up across the city and the airport belt:

• Old Kochi: Fort Kochi, Mattancherry, Jew Town, Thoppumpady, Willingdon Island
• Ernakulam city: MG Road, Marine Drive, Kadavanthra, Panampilly Nagar, Thevara, Kaloor, Palarivattom, Vyttila, Edappally
• Tech and suburbs: Kakkanad, Infopark, SmartCity, Kalamassery, Tripunithura, Maradu
• North and airport: Aluva, Angamaly, Nedumbassery, Kalady
• Islands and beaches: Bolgatty, Vypeen, Cherai, Kumbalangi

City pickups near Kochi Metro stations can be convenient for office groups; the Kochi Metro line runs from Aluva through Edappally and MG Road towards Tripunithura.

Inside the van

The van is cleaned before each duty and carries a first-aid box, an extinguisher and belts for every seat, with charging points along most rows. On houseboat days the roof rack is covered, because Kerala showers arrive without warning in almost any month. Please keep wet swimwear and umbrellas in bags. Food on the hill drives should be light and dry; motion sickness on the Munnar bends is common and the chauffeur will stop whenever someone asks. No smoking or alcohol in the vehicle.

NRI families and long-stay visitors

Many of our Kochi bookings come from Malayali families living in the Gulf, the UK and North America, home for a wedding, a house-warming or the summer. They typically land at CIAL with a lot of luggage, need a van for the first and last days, and a car in between. Our NRI car hire in India page explains how to book from abroad and pay by card, and a monthly car rental with driver arrangement suits families staying six weeks or more.

Cochin airport and Ernakulam pickups

Cochin International Airport (COK) at Nedumbassery is about 30 km north of Ernakulam's MG Road and roughly 40 to 45 km from Fort Kochi, typically 60 to 90 minutes depending on traffic on the Aluva and Kalamassery stretch. The airport transfer of Rs 10,740 Pay Now to Reserve covers 40 km, so most Ernakulam hotels are inside it and Fort Kochi adds a few kilometres. The chauffeur tracks your flight and meets the group at arrivals with a name board; waiting is free for 60 minutes after an international landing, common here with Gulf flights, and 30 minutes after a domestic one, then billed at the hourly rate. CIAL publishes terminal and parking guidance on its official website.

Other common pickup points:

• Ernakulam Junction (South) and Ernakulam Town (North) stations: main-line trains from Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi.
• Aluva station: closest to the airport and handy for groups heading straight to Munnar.
• Willingdon Island and the cruise terminal: for ship passengers on shore excursions; tell us the ship name and berth.
• Hotels in Fort Kochi, Mattancherry, Marine Drive, Kakkanad and Bolgatty.

For couples and families of four, our Kochi airport taxi page has sedan and Innova fares.

Cochin airport transfer fares by destination

Because CIAL sits north of the city at Nedumbassery, it is closer to Aluva and Angamaly than to Fort Kochi. The Rs 10,740 Pay Now to Reserve transfer covers up to 40 km; each kilometre after that is Rs 78.

Groups flying in for a Munnar start skip the city entirely: from CIAL the van heads east through Perumbavoor and Kothamangalam, and the day is billed as the first day of the tour rather than as a transfer.

A cruise-ship shore day in Kochi

International and coastal cruise ships berth at the Ernakulam wharf on Willingdon Island, and passengers often have seven or eight hours ashore. A Traveller with a chauffeur is the simplest way for a group to use them. We meet the group at the terminal exit, head first to Fort Kochi for the Chinese fishing nets, St Francis Church and the Santa Cruz Basilica, cross to Mattancherry for the Dutch Palace and Jew Town, then either take lunch in a heritage hotel or drive out to a backwater village at Kumbalangi for a canoe ride. The chauffeur plans the route backwards from the all-aboard time and keeps an hour's cushion; traffic on the Venduruthy and Thoppumpady bridges can be unpredictable. An 8-hour day at Rs 19,500 Pay Now to Reserve usually covers it; the port's security rules for vehicles at the terminal are set by the Cochin Port Authority, and the chauffeur carries the paperwork the gate asks for.

Kerala wedding guest vans

Christian, Hindu and Muslim weddings in Kochi each follow their own timetable, but guest logistics look similar: relatives flying in from the Gulf over several days, hotels on Marine Drive or near the airport, and a church, temple or auditorium some distance away. For about 70 guests a common plan is:

The total is about Rs 1,09,440 Pay Now to Reserve before GST and parking. The couple's own car can come from our national wedding car rental range.

Ayurveda retreats and wellness groups

Kerala's Ayurveda resorts, many between Kochi and Thrissur and along the coast towards Alappuzha and Kovalam, host groups for week-long or fortnight-long programmes. Treatment schedules mean guests rarely want to travel much, so the van's job is usually an airport arrival, a mid-stay sightseeing day and a departure. Share the resort name and check-in time; many retreats are down narrow lanes where a 12-seater is the practical limit.

Our Kochi chauffeurs

Chauffeurs on our Kochi vans hold commercial passenger licences, are police-verified, and speak Malayalam, English and usually Hindi or Tamil. They know the Munnar and Kumily ghats, the ferry and bridge routes around the islands, and the parking rules at the houseboat jetties. They do not drink on duty, keep to the limits for passenger vans on the NH66 and NH85, and stop whenever a passenger asks.

Munnar, Thekkady and Alleppey by Traveller

The classic Kerala circuit is made for a group van. Here is the version our chauffeurs drive most weeks, and the reason each leg takes as long as it does.

1. Kochi to Munnar, about 130 km, four to five hours. The road climbs from Kothamangalam through Neriyamangalam and Adimali, past the Cheeyappara and Valara waterfalls. Munnar's hairpins are fine for a 12 or 17-seater; a 26-seater is slower but manageable.
2. Munnar local day. Eravikulam National Park for the Nilgiri tahr (closed for a few weeks in the calving season, usually February to March), Mattupetty dam, Echo Point and the Tata tea museum.
3. Munnar to Thekkady, about 90 to 100 km, three hours through cardamom estates to Kumily and the Periyar reserve for the boat ride and spice plantation walks.
4. Thekkady to Alleppey, about 140 km, four hours down to the backwaters, where the houseboat takes over for the night.
5. Alleppey to Kochi, about 55 km, or straight to the airport.

Over five days the actual distance is around 600 km, but the daily minimum sets the bill at 1,250 km: Rs 97,500 Pay Now to Reserve in a Traveller, plus four night allowances. For a longer version with Kovalam or Varkala, or the details of houseboat and resort choices, see our Kerala tour by car page; the Kerala Tourism site is the best official source for festival dates and park timings.

Fort Kochi and the city in a day

Fort Kochi's charm lies in lanes that were laid out long before anyone imagined a 26-seat van, so the day is planned around drop points. The chauffeur leaves the group near the Chinese fishing nets on the beach road, where the fishermen haul the cantilevered nets in the morning, and collects them later near Mattancherry. In between: St Francis Church, the Santa Cruz Basilica, Princess Street's cafés, the Dutch Palace, the spice warehouses of Jew Town and the Paradesi Synagogue, which keeps its own opening days, so check before you go. The Kochi-Muziris Biennale, when it runs between December and March, spreads art venues across the old warehouses.

A half-day package of Rs 11,700 Pay Now to Reserve covers Fort Kochi and Mattancherry. A full day at Rs 19,500 Pay Now to Reserve adds Marine Drive at sunset, a ferry hop to Vypeen, and either Cherai beach, about 30 km north, or Lulu Mall and Kakkanad for the office crowd.

Athirappilly, Cherai and other day trips

Athirappilly, often called Kerala's Niagara, is about 70 km from Kochi and closer to the airport, so many groups visit it on arrival day. The van parks at the forest department lot; the viewpoint is a short walk and the path down to the base of the falls is steeper. Vazhachal falls is a few kilometres further along the same road into the Sholayar forest. Because the round trip from Ernakulam is around 150 km, it is billed as one touring day at Rs 19,500 Pay Now to Reserve. Cherai beach on Vypeen island, Kumbalangi's village backwaters and the Hill Palace museum at Tripunithura are shorter outings that fit a half-day or full-day city package.

Corporate, cruise and wedding groups

Kochi's business hub at Infopark and SmartCity in Kakkanad generates steady van work for team outings and client visits, with GST invoices raised in the company's name. Cruise passengers docking at the Ernakulam wharf on Willingdon Island often book a Traveller for a shore excursion; share the all-aboard time and the chauffeur plans the day backwards from it. Destination weddings at the backwater resorts in Kumarakom and on the Alappuzha side need guest shuttles from the airport and between hotels; the desk usually suggests one Traveller on airport duty and others on venue loops.

Pilgrim trips from Kochi

Guruvayur's Sri Krishna temple is about 90 km north; a return is billed as one outstation day at Rs 19,500 Pay Now to Reserve, and the temple's dress code applies. Kalady, the birthplace of Adi Shankaracharya, is close to the airport and easy to combine with an arrival. For the Sabarimala season from mid-November to January, vehicles go to Nilakkal, where the police-controlled shuttle takes pilgrims onward to Pamba; plan an overnight trip and expect heavy traffic around Makaravilakku in January. Our pilgrimage taxi page covers smaller cars to the same temples.

Church pilgrimages: Malayattoor, Velankanni and Edathua

Parish groups are among our most regular Kochi clients. Malayattoor's hilltop shrine of St Thomas, near Kalady and only about 45 km from Ernakulam, draws enormous crowds during the Lenten season and the feast around Easter, when the climb to the top is the heart of the pilgrimage; the van waits at the foot of the hill. Velankanni, the Marian shrine on the Tamil Nadu coast, is a long journey of roughly 500 km each way, and most groups make it a four-day trip with the September feast as the busiest time; that plan bills at least 1,000 km, Rs 78,000 Pay Now to Reserve in a Traveller before GST, plus the Tamil Nadu entry levy and three nights of allowance. Closer to home, the St George's Forane Church at Edathua in Kuttanad and the old churches of Kottayam fit into a single day.

Getting around Kochi at the right time

Kochi's worst traffic sits on the Vyttila, Edappally and Kundannoor junctions and the Seaport-Airport Road, roughly 8:30 to 10:30 am and 5 to 8 pm on weekdays. The Fort Kochi approaches through Thoppumpady back up on weekend evenings. Our dispatchers time departures to miss these windows where possible: a 7:30 am start for Munnar clears Perumbavoor before the market traffic, and a Fort Kochi evening is best enjoyed with the van parked by 5 pm rather than arriving then.

Monsoon, Onam and the Kerala calendar

Kerala's south-west monsoon arrives around the start of June and is heaviest in June and July; ghat roads to Munnar and Thekkady stay open most days but landslips and fog do happen, and the chauffeur will stop if visibility drops. It is also Ayurveda season and hotel prices are lower. Onam in August or September brings family travel, flower carpets and the snake-boat races, including the Nehru Trophy on Punnamada lake at Alappuzha in August. The peak tourist months are December and January, when Travellers, houseboats and Munnar hotels all sell out; book at least a month ahead for Christmas and New Year.

School and college study tours from Kochi

Kerala schools and colleges run study tours through the winter term, and many choose Mysore and Coorg, Kodaikanal or the Kanyakumari-Rameswaram coast. For those trips we ask the institution to name a teacher in charge for each van, carry a printed passenger list and the students' ID cards, and confirm night halts in advance, because the chauffeur's rest is planned around them. Our vans on study tours are within four model years, with seat belts for every student, and the chauffeur keeps to daylight driving on the ghat sections into Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Hill-station hotels and where the van can reach

Munnar, Thekkady and Vagamon resorts are often set on estate roads, some steep and single-lane. A 12-seater reaches almost all of them; a 26-seater may have to stop at the main road while the resort sends its own jeep for the last stretch. When you book, share the resort names and we will check access in advance, so nobody drags suitcases up a tea-garden track at night, and we can warn you in advance if a transfer to the resort jeep is needed. The same applies to Thekkady homestays in Kumily's back lanes and to the lakeside villas at Kumarakom, where the last few hundred metres are often a narrow village road.

Seats, comfort and alternatives

Choose the van by the hardest road on the itinerary, not the easiest. A 12-seat Traveller suits ten adults with luggage on a hill circuit, and its shorter wheelbase makes the Munnar and Kumily bends noticeably calmer for anyone prone to motion sickness; seat those passengers in the front rows and plan a tea stop every ninety minutes or so on the climb. The 17 and 20-seat versions are good for the city and short trips; the 26-seater is best for college tours and corporate groups staying on the flatter coastal roads. The Force Urbania is noticeably smoother on the Munnar climbs and worth the extra for older travellers. Groups of 25 to 35 should compare the mini bus on rent, and parties of six or fewer will save with an Innova Crysta or our car rental with driver in Kochi.

Booking and cancellation

Book through the RutzIndia.com booker or send a multi-day plan to the travel desk. You see the fixed fare before paying by card or UPI, and companies receive a GST invoice. The chauffeur's details reach you the evening before; call us or WhatsApp the desk for changes. Every van is within four model years, air-conditioned and cleaned before each duty.

If you cancel with more than 72 hours to go, there is no charge. Between 72 and 48 hours before pickup we retain 10% of the fare, between 48 and 24 hours half of it, and inside 24 hours or on a no-show the full fare. The full wording is on our cancellation policy page. For shorter city runs by car, the Kochi taxi service is the cheaper option.