Need Advice on Kerala Tour

[zoomingbhat]

Hi all,we are planning a class trip to Kerala from Bangalore.

Rough Details:

No of persons:30~35
No of days:4(Totally in Kerala)
Places Planning to cover:Munnar,Idukki,Kochi,Alleppy,Trivandrum,Koval lum Beach,Kanyakumari and Back.

We plan to leave Bangalore by evening and reach munnar or any places you suggest the next morning.So our 1st day start here.
And plan to leave Kanyakumari on 4th day evening and reach bangalore the next day morning.

Please Give in your valuable suggestion along with BUDGET places to stay and preferable places of having food.(Friends are threatening saying you get only Non-Veg in kearala so food will be a problem.)

Awaiting Earliest Reply
Regards,
Zoomingbhat

[laluks]

4 days is too less for Kerala :(

From Bangalore if you leave by 10PM, you can reach Munnar early morning. Munnar will take a day to complete, if its just seeing and going on. You can see a waterfall there, a tea factory, go to a sanctuary where the endangered Nilgiri Thar lives, and some good view points.

You can stay here overnight or move to thekkady and stay for the night. Morning go to periyar wild life sanctuary, take a boat ride, enjoy good lunch at KTDC hotel, and go to Kumarakom. Kumarakom is a good place with backwaters and if possible try house boats - 35 is a crowd. Don't know if all can have one. Leave to Cochin by next day afternoon.

Roam around in Cochin- marine drive, fort kochi where you have chinese fishing nets in the evening sunset time. There is an old church there. Stay overnight and leave to alleppy next day. Backwaters, evry where, sea too. Called venice of the east. Leave to triavndrum by evening. stay overnight at Trivandrum. next day visit kovalam,napiers mueseum, Padmanabha swami temple and leave to kanyakumari by evening. reach kanyakumari for sunset if possible. Else see sunrise next day, visit vivekanada rock and wind up by after noon and start back to bangalore via Madurai Salem Hosur.

I guess this ended up more than 4 nights and also this if done back to back it'll be so tiresome and you will be in your bus mostly...So drop Alleppy,trivandrum and kanyakumari and start back from Cochin to bangalore...

[kphilip]

why dont you come through wayanad from bangalore???Thats one hellowa place to be explored..

[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by zoomingbhat

Hi all,we are planning a class trip to Kerala from Bangalore.

Rough Details:

No of persons:30~35
No of days:4(Totally in Kerala)
Places Planning to cover:Munnar,Idukki,Kochi,Alleppy,Trivandrum,Koval lum Beach,Kanyakumari and Back.

We plan to leave Bangalore by evening and reach munnar or any places you suggest the next morning.So our 1st day start here.
And plan to leave Kanyakumari on 4th day evening and reach bangalore the next day morning.

Please Give in your valuable suggestion along with BUDGET places to stay and preferable places of having food.(Friends are threatening saying you get only Non-Veg in kearala so food will be a problem.)

Awaiting Earliest Reply
Regards,
Zoomingbhat

4 days are inadequate to cover all your places. Here's a tentative plan, depending on budget, willingness to travel thro. night and transport, you'd be able to stretch it. This year you're lucky, most inbound charters to Kerala are cancelled due to increased airfares and economic slowdow as reported by friends who operate tours. Still you'd have to book in advance where you're going to stay the night.

Day1: Arrive at Cochin early morning, sight seeing. Don't do lots of back water cruise, you'd be able to do that in Aleppey. Check in to hotel / doemetry depending on budget for the night.

Day 2: 5 am (I think) bus from KSRTC, Kochi, to Munnar, reach around 12 noon. Sight seeing, transporto for 35 people would be difficult, suggesst you book into a hotel and do a package deal for transport also.

Day 3: Early leave for Aleppey,reach there around noon, do back water rides, sight seeing etc., (nothing else to do there) catch a bus to Kanyakumari late evening, reach Kanyakumari early next day morning.

Day 4: Kanyakumari sight seeing, catch train @ 4 PM.

If you have your own transport, you'd be able to liverage time and perhaps include Trivandrum / Kovalam also, but that would be travelling through the night on most days.

You should increas one more day, your plan would become more comfortable.

There are other alternative too, skip Aleppey, go spend that day in Trivandrum etc.,

Hope this helps,

--Ramky
=====

[clevermax]

Even 4 days will be all travel, no sight seeing for the list of places that you've mentioned. Remove kanyakumari and then you'll have some breathing time.

And, Kanyakumari is not in Kerala!

Getting only non-veg will be somewhat true in Muslim dominated districts like Malappuram (In North Kerala). Rest of the places will have good vegetarian hotels.

[joecherian]

why don't you try the rail tourism package from Indian Railways ?

Book India's Best Rail Tour Packages, Holiday Packages, Hotels, Cab's, Buddhist Train, Fairy Queen, Bharat Darshan, Hill Charters

Seems to have good packages covering Kerala...

[zoomingbhat]

Thank You for your prompt reply guys.We cant extend as getting permission from all 30 student houses is difficult.
Ramkya sir We are booking an ac rajahamsa bus on contract basis.So we will be travelling throughout by bus.

Tentative Ideas from friends
Leave bangalore by evening and reach munnar by morning
Day 1 Starts here.We check in a room for all the morning chaos.
Do munnar sightseeing(please help me in this),And leave for any nearby destination for overnight stay(as munnar will be expensive i guess).
Day 2:We plan to cover Kochi and Alleppey.
Day 3 and Day 4 not decided.
We leave to bangalore on Day 4 night from kanyakumari and reach bangalore next day morning or afternoon

Suggestions please,along with must visit places in these region

[ak916]

If everyone in the group is more interested in checking off names of places they have "seen" then 4 days is enough for all the places mentioned. Mobilising such a large group and making sure everyone is ready for the next leg of the journey or ready to have dinner/breakfast etc will be really time consuming. what i mean to say is you cannot expect to complete a simple thing like breakfast in 10 mins. for such a large group, they are generally 1 hour affairs... so consider that when planning to cover many places

If you want some relaxed sight seeing then as suggested above, drop Kanyakumari from your plan. you can opt for this...

One good option would be to travel to the furthest place on your planned trip first. so that you are closer home and get back soon (cos everyone will be tired and would hate a long ride home)

So head straight to Kovalam beach which is about 700 kms from Bangalore.

Day 1: sight seeing in Kovalam... (just chill out on the beach... lazy afternoon to after sun down)... Overnight at kovalam
Day 2: Head to Kochi which is around 200 kms away. Stop at Alleppey. there is nothing much to see here really. Plan a drive by.. i.e dont stay overnight cos this place is expensive. The houseboats is more or less ruled out cos of the size of your group. Other than the sea n the sand, there are temples/churches of some importance here. nothing else. finish up your lunch and you will reach kochi by around sun down. Visit cochin harbour and take a trip in one of the large tourist boats.
overnight here.
Day 3: tour kochi... see the dutch palace, jew temple, churches, cherai beach and just before sundown, head to munnar. reach munnar in time for dinner. overnight here

day 4: sightsee munnar and head back to blr in the night.

I know of some hotels here but wont really advise you. do some searching on google and travel portals. and remember to bargain hard...

[speedzak]

Day 1: Munnar.
Visit a tea factory, beautiful views at top station, waterfalls and nilgiri tahr sanctuary.
Leave for Cochin by 5pm and reach Cochin for the night. Plenty of good dormitory/room/hotel options available for accommodation. Bijus, Saas tower, Mareena etc.. are famous for bulk bookings.

Day 2: Cochin & Alleppey.
Start very early. Atleast 7am!
Do a city tour first. Shipyard, Marinedrive, nearby islands, harbour, ports etc.. (just a drive thru before the traffic hogs you down) Visit Mattancheri, jewtown, synagogue, fortcochin, chinese fishing nets, museums and head to Alleppey after lunch (atleast by 3pm).
Go for a backwater cruise in a motor boat (some can accommodate upto 100, get a 50seater). Return after sunset and push to Trivandrum.
Good, affordable hotels available for the night near the railway station/bus stand area.

Day 3: Trivandrum.
Visit museums, zoo, aquarium, fishing harbour, Kovalam, tourist villages etc.. (Keep Kovalam for last as you can then drive on to Cape Comorine).
Good affordable hotels available. TTDC Hotel Tamilnadu is on the beach with dormitory and room accommodations.

Day 4: Kanyakumari.
Wake up before sunrise!
Visit Vivekananda rock, salt farms, beaches and ofcourse; some good shopping to do!
Pack up as early as possible and drive back to Bangalore by 5pm atleast via Madurai, dindigul, Karur, Salem...

Be warned that this itenary is a bit tight packed and will be a bit tiring. So, take enough precautions and safety measures. Please expect enough vomiting, nausea etc..
Try and rest at nights to the max and don't waste it by chatting around etc.. if you want to see places.

Have a safe trip!

[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by zoomingbhat

Thank You for your prompt reply guys.We cant extend as getting permission from all 30 student houses is difficult.
Ramkya sir We are booking an ac rajahamsa bus on contract basis.So we will be travelling throughout by bus.

Tentative Ideas from friends
Leave bangalore by evening and reach munnar by morning
Day 1 Starts here.We check in a room for all the morning chaos.
Do munnar sightseeing(please help me in this),And leave for any nearby destination for overnight stay(as munnar will be expensive i guess).
Day 2:We plan to cover Kochi and Alleppey.
Day 3 and Day 4 not decided.
We leave to bangalore on Day 4 night from kanyakumari and reach bangalore next day morning or afternoon

Suggestions please,along with must visit places in these region

As you have your own transport, you can use time to your advantage. As for managing, break it up into groups of 10, 1 leader for group (time keeper if you will), brief the 3 leaders, select one trip leader, the whole thing will go like clock work. Believe me, I've been managing groups for the past 15 years +, this basic discipline and understanding is needed for everybody's sake. If you're an educational gorup, get the authorities to deputize the group / trip leaders. Have a couple of whistles ready

Zak's plan sounds good, he has listed the sight seeing places nicely too. I am suggesting a small variation.

Day1: Reach Munnar, check in (book in advance), sight seeing. Around 4 pm leave for cochin, it would take a bus like yours 6 hrs to reach there, have dinner on the way to cochin, many choices on the Alwaye, Cochin NH, check in to a dormitory (book in advance, take the booking vouchers with you) around 11-12 and crash.

Day2: Start early, go straight to Fort. Cochih, fishing nets etc, and work your way back to the city and wind-off at Bolghaty Palace in the evening.

I don't know if you'd be able to start by 3 pm from cochin to Aleppey, most of the flavor of boat rides available in Aleppey can be had in Cochin, so skipping Aleppey would give you more time in cochin.

Evening around 7/8 PM drive off to Trivandrum, this would mean sleeping on the bus.

Day 3: Reach Trivandrum, get some hotels for the morning rush, hire 4/5 rooms for all 30, bargain for usage of 3/4 hours near the railway station etc., If you have some friends in TVM tell them to fix up the deal face-to-face, fix the terms in advance so you're sure of what you're getting into. Finish Padmanabha temple, Zoo & acquarium (if all are inclined, Zoo will zap at least 3 hours, I would spend more time in Veli, there are some water scooters available still I think) and go to Kovalam, spend the evening there on the beach. Nothing much to do, just chill out. Leave for Cape, about (3 hours by your bus, I guess) 7, reach there 10 and crash. Book there in advance, TTDC is a good choice, book from their Bangalore office.

Day 4: Watch early sunrise, Vivekananda rock, temple and again chill out on the beach. This would give time for people to nap, relax or get some sleep. If you leave around 3/4 PM, next day morning you'd be @ Bangy.

Have a safe trip,

--Ramky
======

[zoomingbhat]

Thank You Guys for your reply.Will plan according to your suggestions.
We have to rest on atleast 3 days,So cant do overnight journey on the days staying in Kerala

[zoomingbhat]

Can We add on Athirapally water falls to this.Where exatly is it?

[pgginish]

Originally Posted by zoomingbhat

Can We add on Athirapally water falls to this.Where exatly is it?

Athirappilly is around 75 km from Cochin.
Athirappilly Falls - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by zoomingbhat

Can We add on Athirapally water falls to this.Where exatly is it?

I don't think that would fit in with your tight plan, you have to detour from Chalakudy left, 40-45 kms I think, inside as you come in and come back same distance, would zap about 7/8 hours off your plan. No way you can add it on your way in, you'd shrink your time at Cochin; on your way back, it would be too dark by the time you hit around Chalakudy.

--Ramky
======

[Mission_Safari]

Originally Posted by zoomingbhat

Can We add on Athirapally water falls to this.Where exatly is it?

You might as well continue to Vazhachal if you are planning to go to Athirampalli. Vazhachal is another 4-5 kms from Athirampalli on the same road.