Best holiday options in Kerala

Kerala is the best holiday destination in India. The options for a holiday in Kerala are plenty. If you need to stay in a place with cool climate in Kerala then choose from the best Hill Stations in Kerala: Munnar, Ponmudi or Wayanad. You can opt to stay in the best backwater resorts in Kerala in Kumarakom and enjoy the best Ayurveda massages Kerala can offer, right in the premises of these top class backwater resorts in Kerala in Kumarakom. These luxury backwater resort hotels have private houseboats which you can hire and start the houseboat cruise right from the jetty of the Kumarakom luxury hotels. If you like beaches, then Kerala has some of the best beaches in India, even better than Goa Beaches. The best beach hotel resorts in Kerala can be found at best Kerala beaches at Kovalam, Varkala, Bekal and Cherai.

What is the best time to visit Kerala

The best time of year to visit Kerala is during the winter months. Kerala Weather is pleasant, especially during the winter months from December till end of February when it is quite cool and is the high tourist season of Kerala. Kerala Monsoon Season from June till middle of August has heavy rains and many tourists come during the Kerala Monsoons Season to enjoy the rains and for Ayurvedic treatment during Monsoons. Ayurveda treatment during Monsoon rains are most effective.

Top Kerala tourist spots

On this page we will present some of the important places of Kerala with short descriptions and a link to the dedicated page where full details are given. We will start with Cochin or Kochi, the main Airport of Kerala, and most probably where you will be landing in Kerala.

Cochin or Kochi in Kerala

Cochin is the English name of the original name Kochi. The Greater Cochin City includes Fort Cochin or Fort Kochi, Mattanchery, Kakkanad, Thrikkakara and Ernakulam. Cochin is the Headquarters of Ernakulam district in the State of Kerala. Historically Kochi became prominent after the world famous ancient port Muziris or Patanam, now called Kodugallur, was destroyed by flooding of the river Periyar in 1340 AD. While the flooding buried Muziris with sand, the river opened up a new estuary in Kochin and created the port of Kochi or Cochin, which has been dubbed as 'Queen of Arabian Sea'. ............... More

Cool Hill Stations in Kerala

The hill stations are high up in the Western Ghats of India with cool mountain air which is absolutely pollution free. You live in the middle of ever beautiful green surroundings. The best cool hill stations of Kerala are as follows:

About Munnar in Kerala

Munnar is a hill station in Kerala located on the Western Ghats. Munnar Town is at a height of over 2000 Meters (6500 ft) above mean sea level. The average temperatures in Munnar is between 5 °C (41 °F) and 25 °C (77 °F) in winter and 15 °C (59 °F) and 25 °C (77 °F) in summer. The nearest Airport to Munnar is the Cochin International Airport which is 140 Km from Munnar. Munnar is famous for its Tea Estates and had been the summer resort of the English colonists for more than a hundred years. There are plenty of hotels and homestays in Munnar where you can have an enjoyable holiday. ..........More about Munnar Hotels and Homestay or ..........More about Munnar weather

Boat ride on Thekkady Lake in Kerala

Thekkady in Kerala State has the Mullaperyar Dam built in 1895. The 117 year old Masonry Dam built across Peryiar River has a large catchment area which forms the beautiful Thekady Lake. The forests around Thekkady Lake have large herds of elephants, deer, tigers, gaur bisons and different species of Monkeys. These wild animals come to the Thekkady lake shores to have a drink of water, especially during the summer months.

Many tourists take day long boat rides in the Thekkady Lake to catch a glimpse of these wild animals in their natural habitats, watching them closely in the safety of a boat a few meters away from the animals. Several resort hotels are there around the Thekkady Lake for tourists to spend a relaxing time. The area around Thekkady was made into a National Park called Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary for the protection of the Tiger population.

Kerala Ponmudi Hill Station

Kerala Ponmudi Hill Staion is at a height of 3600 feet or 1100 meters above sea level and is a cool not so crowded hill station in Kerala. Ponmudi Hill Station in Kerala is about 40 miles or 65 km from Trivandrum the capital of Kerala. There are not many tourist attractions to visit in Ponmudi Kerala. There are some well marked trails for hiking and a deer park. The Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary, the Peppara Dam on the Karamana River are close by. The nearest railway station to Ponmudi is Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) Railway Station and the nearest airport to Ponmudi is Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) International Airport.

About Wayanad in Kerala

Wayanad is a District of Kerala and is famous for its natural mountain sceneries. The capital of Wayanad district is Kalpetta and is 50 miles or 80 Km. from the nearest Airport of Kozhikode (Calicut). Wayanad is well connected by roads, Ooty is 175 km from Kalpetta and Mysore is 140 km from Kalpetta. Some very good hotels are there in Waynad district at very good rates. ........More

About Vagamon in Kerala

Vagamon is a cool hill station in Kerala about 1100 Meters above Sea level and has a cool climate with the temperature between 10 and 23 °C during a summer. National Geographic Traveler has Vagamon on their list of the '50 most attractive places to visit in India'. The landscape of Vagamon is mostly grass covered gently sloping hilly areas. Vagamon is about 65 km from Kottayam and about 110 Km from Cochin International Airport.

Best holiday beaches in Kerala

These are the best holiday beaches in Kerala

Kovalam Beach in Kerala

Kovalam, the best beach in Kerala, is also Kerala's most famous beach. Kovalam is beleived to be the first tourist spot in Kerala to be recognized internationally, and which started the tidal wave of Tourism to Kerala. Kovalam has a 17 Kilometer (10.5 Mile) Beach in the form a Crescent. The Sea at Kovalam being shallow upto about a Kilometer into the sea from the shoreline and the tides being low, is the most ideal setting for a relaxed swim in the sea. There are 3 sections of the Beach, divided by natural rocky outcropping into the sea. The three sections of Kovalam Beach are known as the Lighthouse Beach, Main Beach or Leela Beach or Samudra Beach and the Hawa Beach.

Varkala Beach in Kerala

Varkala Beach in Kerala is near Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) the Capital of Kerala. The distance from Trivandrum to Varkala Beach is about 30 miles or 50 Kilometers and about 25 miles or 40 Km from Quilon or Kollam city of Kerala. There are two beaches, Papanasam Beach and Tiruvambadi Beach in Varkala close to each other. You can get to Varkala by helicopter since there is a helipad in Varkala. Near Varkala Beach there are many Ayurveda Massage centers where you can have a relaxing Ayurveda medical massage. Papanasam beach in Varkala has now become the most popular beach in Kerala with tourists visiting Kerala. Varkala has a railway station called Varkala Sivagiri Railway station and the nearest airport is in Trivandrum.

Alleppey Marari Kerala Beach

Marari Beach is about 10 miles or 16 km from Alleppey Town and is a convenient beach for those who would like to combine a house boat trip in the backwaters off Alleppey and also experience one of the the great Kerala beaches. The Marari Beach Resort is the best place to go if you want to enjoy the pleasures of a nice Kerala Beach and also the house boat cruises in Alleppey.

Cherai Beach near Cochin Kerala

The Cherai beach is close to Cochin, the place most tourists land in Kerala at the Nedumbasserry Cochin International airport. Cherai beach is on Vypeen Island the long stretch of an island adjoining the city of Cochin and now connected by road to Ernakulam in Cochin. Cherai Beach is about 6.5 miles or 10 Km long and the facilities on the beach are good.

Bekal Fort Beach in Kerala

Bekal Fort is a massive fort built on the beach of the small town of Bekal near Kasaragod at the northern end of Kerala. It is well preserved and the largest fort anywhere in Kerala. The beautiful beach near the Bekal fort is known as Bekal Fort Beach and has been developed as a beach Resort by the Bekal Resorts Development Corporation (BRDC). Bekal Fort and Bekal Beach is fast emerging as an important Tourist Spot in Kerala and has been selected for as a 'Special Tourism Area' by the Government of India.

Hire a Houseboat in Kerala to see Backwaters of Kerala

No visit to Kerala can be complete without the experience of a Houseboat trip on Kerala Backwaters. These are the places for the best backwater locations in Kerala. We have a dedicated page for Houseboats on Kerala backwaters.

Kumarakom Backwater resorts in Kerala

Kumarakom in Kerala is the perfect backwater resort. Small islands joined together by narrow roads are like a chain of beads, make up Kumarakom on the Vembanad Backwaters of Kerala. The famous Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary is situated here. Kumarakom owes its beginnings to an Englishman, Alfred George Baker, who in 1847 reclaimed about 500 acres of land from the Vembanad Backwaters to cultivate rice and land to plant coconut trees. He built a house for himself called the 'Baker House'. The Bakers lived in the house until 1962 and it was then deserted. The Taj Group of Hotels bought the house and made it into the luxury Hotel, The Taj Garden Retreat, Kumarakom now considered the best Backwater Resort in Kerala.

Getting into Kumarakom by road is easy from Cochin (75 Km / 47 Miles) and from Kottayam (16Km / 10 Miles). You can also take a boat from Alleppey (Mohamma)

Alleppey Houseboats of Kerala

The best place to hire a Houseboat in Kerala is in Alleppey, where they have about 500 backwater hoseboats for hire. Since there are so many of these traditional thatched Kerala houseboats, the housboat hire rates in Alleppey are also good. There are many sorts of houseboat trips like day trips and overnight houseboat trips. We have a dedicated page for Houseboats on Kerala backwaters.

Best Hotels in Kerala

Here we are giving the links to some of the best hotels in Kerala in and around famous tourist spots in Kerala. Please make use of the direct links to get some of the best hotel deals in Kerala through the world's leading hotel booking site Booking.com

Compare Hotel prices in Kerala and book online

The map below from Booking.com is super helpful to compare Hotel rent in Kerala. These Hotel prices in Kerala are updated every hour by the world's No.1 hotel booking website www.Booking.Com and you can be assured of the best Kerala Hotel rates. The map is also very useful even if you just want to compare hotel prices in Kerala. Please make use of the Kerala Hotels map from Booking.com below.

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Search tool for Hotels

You can use the following tool from Booking.com to search select and book hotels in Kerala or India or anywhere in the world

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