of
Tea country, a spice plantation, a private houseboat night on the Vembanad backwaters, and Fort Kochi — planned for grandparents and children together.
Duration
6D / 5N
Group size
2 – 18 travellers
Best time
September – March
Difficulty
Easy — short drives, lifts in every hotel
Kerala is the easiest state in India to travel with family, and this itinerary leans into that. No driving day is longer than four hours, every hotel has a lift, and the sightseeing is looking at things rather than climbing them.
Munnar's tea estates, a Thekkady spice plantation walk and a Periyar lake boat, then the part everyone remembers: a private houseboat on the Vembanad backwaters, with a cook on board and the whole boat to yourselves.
We end at Fort Kochi — Chinese fishing nets, the Jewish quarter, a Kathakali performance where the make-up is applied in front of you. Vegetarian and Jain meal requirements are confirmed with each property before you travel.
Every day of the trip, with the hotel, the meals and the sightseeing written out. Nothing here is hidden behind a login.
Airport pick-up and the climb to Munnar, stopping at the Cheeyappara and Valara waterfalls and a roadside spice stall. Check in by mid-afternoon; evening free in the tea gardens around the hotel.
Mattupetty dam and the echo point, Kundala lake, and the Tata Tea Museum with a working factory walk-through. Afternoon at Eravikulam National Park for the Nilgiri tahr, weather and season permitting.
A three-hour drive to Thekkady. Afternoon spice plantation walk — cardamom, pepper, vanilla and clove — followed by the Periyar lake boat at 16:00, the best slot for elephant sightings.
Drive down to Alleppey and board a private houseboat at noon. The afternoon is spent moving slowly through the Vembanad backwaters past paddy fields and village jetties. Lunch, tea and dinner are cooked on board; the boat moors overnight.
Breakfast on the boat, disembark at 09:00 and drive to Kochi. Afternoon at Fort Kochi — the Chinese fishing nets, St Francis Church, the Dutch Palace and Jew Town. Evening Kathakali performance, arriving early for the make-up.
Breakfast, checkout and transfer to Kochi airport — allow ninety minutes from Fort Kochi.
The second list matters as much as the first. Read it before you compare our price with anybody else's.
One private AC vehicle and one driver for all six days. Roads in Kerala are good and the longest leg is under four hours, which is the point — this is an itinerary built around not spending the holiday in a car.
Vembanad Lake
India's longest lake; the houseboat's whole world
Eravikulam National Park
Nilgiri tahr; closed Feb–Mar for calving
Periyar Tiger Reserve
The 16:00 lake boat has the best sightings
Fort Kochi
Chinese nets, Dutch palace and a 1568 synagogue
Tata Tea Museum
A working factory, not a display case
Kuttanad
Farming below sea level, seen from the water
4.8
141 verified ratings
The bars show the 2 written reviews published for this package. A review can only be left by someone who completed this booking, and it is checked before it appears.
Sunita Menon
Ahmedabad · travelled November 2026
We travelled with my mother-in-law who is 79 and my daughter who is six. Every hotel had a lift, no drive was over four hours, and the Jain food was confirmed at each property before we arrived — I did not have to explain it once. The houseboat was the whole trip for the children.
George Thomas
Delhi · travelled February 2026
We saw a herd of elephants at the water's edge about thirty minutes in. The earlier boats reportedly see much less. Eravikulam was shut for calving season when we went — it is in the exclusions, but I would have liked it flagged when we booked the dates.
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