[Indian Ranger]

Hi Friends,

I am planning for a vacation from 13th August to 21st August. I wish to drive to each of these places and accompanying me would be my wife and 2 daughters aged 5 and 2.5 years and i am the lone driver :( and my ride is The Fiesta.

The Plan is like this:

13 Aug Bangalore to Madurai - Night Stay
14 Aug Madurai to Alleppy - Night Stay
15 Aug Alleppy Stay (possibly cover cochin to show the ships to my daughters. They have never seen one till date)
16 Aug Alleppy to Munnar - Night Stay
17 Aug Munnar sightseeing
18 Aug Munnar to Kodai - Night stay
19 Aug Kodai - Night Stay
20 Aug Check out and leave for Bangalore

Need help in narrowing down the places to visit in each of this location.

From Madurai to Alleppy, will be taking NH220, Theni, Kumily, Kumbam and then reach the destination. Do not plan to cover Thekkady on the way. Plan to reach by 2pm by leaving early.

At Alleppy:
I am not sure of the rain god blessing us, hence has not planned for the house boat. Hence booked at Dazzle Dew | Mahindra Homestays for 2 nights.

What are the places we can cover on 14th and 15th. we have to check-out on 16th and check-in at Munnar by 12pm hence will not get much time to do anything on that day.

At Munnar:
stay is for 2 night and 3 days which could be extended for the 3rd night also. Totally depends on the places left over to see. Can we pack the visit to Thekkedy also in these days? or later?

Will be staying at grand plaza

From Munnar onwards we do not have any hotel bookings and have kept the itinerary completely flexible to ensure we do not miss anything. Kodai visit is a must though.

Please suggest since this entire route is new for all of us.

Thanks in advance.

Luv,
Manjunath

[SCORPION]

You could try Kumarakom on the 15th. Houseboats are fun even in the monsoons. You could try one even from Alleppey, if you dont want to drive to Kumarakom.

Thekkady will be way off course by the time you reach Munnar. Your best bet, if you really want to try Thekkady, is on your way from Madurai to Alleppey. There is nothing much to do in Thekkady if you are just visiting for a day. If you are gonna stay inside, it makes a difference.

The drive from Munnar to Kodai is quite good, passing through wildlife sanctuaries most of the way. Munnar, Chinnar,Udamalpet, Palani and then Kodai. The Anaimudi peak is soemwhere enroute and they have a dam with a crocodile bank, if I remember correctly.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by Indian Ranger

15 Aug Alleppy Stay (possibly cover cochin to show the ships to my daughters. They have never seen one till date)

Since you have 2 days for Alleppey + Cochin, I would suggest you go to Alleppey on Day 1, come to Cochin on Day 2 and then travel to Munnar from there.

Things you can visit in Cochin - Most of the sightseeing locations are in West Kochi, where the olden days port town was :-

- Matancherry Dutch palace (now converted into a museum)
- Jewish shopping market, Matancherry (lots of things you can shop for here)
- 500 year old churches Santa Cruz Basilica and St. Francis church (built by Vasco da gama)
- Fort Kochi beach, very close to the church area. This place is popular for watching Chinese Fishing Nets in action. Try to visit in the morning/evening time to watch this
- Cherai beach in Vypeen island

Ideal plan for me would be Alleppey on day 1, Cochin on Day 2 and Cochin-Munnar on day 3. However, since you have booked the Alleppey resort for 2 nights, you can keep Alleppey as your base. Cochin is just an hour's drive from Alleppey (60km) and you can easily zip in your fiesta, visit all the sightseeing locations at Kochi by afternoon - evening and head back to Alleppey to your resort.

At Alleppy:
I am not sure of the rain god blessing us, hence has not planned for the house boat. Hence booked at Dazzle Dew | Mahindra Homestays for 2 nights.

What are the places we can cover on 14th and 15th. we have to check-out on 16th and check-in at Munnar by 12pm hence will not get much time to do anything on that day.

At Alleppey, there are 2 main tourist destinations worth visiting, in the order of importance -

- Alleppey backwaters - (Vembanad lake) Ask anyone for directions to 'Finishing Point' when you reach Alleppey. This is something similar to a bus terminal for Houseboats! You can park your car here and hire a boat for 3-4 hours to take a leisurely cruise, if you don't have time. If you want to stay overnight on the boat this is still possible to negotiate with the boat owners after reaching there. Remember, bargaining is the key

- Alleppey beach - This is also a pretty nice hangout place for a few hours. Expect it to be overcrowded since you are going on 15th Aug

In Alleppey, there are other temples and forts you can visit if you have time, but I would still vote for spending more time on the backwaters instead

[ampere]

Madurai-Theni (NH49) is a decent 2L.

On NH220 from Theni via Kanjirapalli, do check status of Monsoon,
Pretty much all highways in Kerala get flooded in these times.

So is the case of NH49 from Cochin to Munnar via Muvattupuzha/Kothamangalam/Adimali

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by Indian Ranger

Hi Friends,

I am planning for a vacation from 13th August to 21st August. I wish to drive to each of these places and accompanying me would be my wife and 2 daughters aged 5 and 2.5 years and i am the lone driver :( and my ride is The Fiesta.

Manjunath

a) Do thekkady on the way to Munnar as you plan to touch Kumily. All you need is two hours for boat ride in the lake. With small kids, night trekking etc is ruled out. Thus there is no need to do day trip from Munnar to Thekkady.

b) A cruise in house boat is a must even if you are not staying there overnight in it. It is fun. It is beautiful when it rains. Pls don't miss it. Kids will love it.

Originally Posted by SCORPION

Thekkady will be way off course by the time you reach Munnar. Your best bet, if you really want to try Thekkady, is on your way from Madurai to Alleppey. There is nothing much to do in Thekkady if you are just visiting for a day. If you are gonna stay inside, it makes a difference.

. Do Thekkady on the way to Munnar.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Since you have 2 days for Alleppey + Cochin, I would suggest you go to Alleppey on Day 1, come to Cochin on Day 2 and then travel to Munnar from there.

- Matancherry Dutch palace (now converted into a museum)
- Jewish shopping market, Matancherry (lots of things you can shop for here)
- 500 year old churches Santa Cruz Basilica and St. Francis church (built by Vasco da gama)
- Fort Kochi beach, very close to the church area. This place is popular for watching Chinese Fishing Nets in action. Try to visit in the morning/evening time to watch this
- Cherai beach in Vypeen island

- Alleppey beach - This is also a pretty nice hangout place for a few hours. Expect it to be overcrowded since you are going on 15th Aug

In Alleppey, there are other temples and forts you can visit if you have time, but I would still vote for spending more time on the backwaters instead

with Karthik.

Keep a day for Alleppey and a day for Cochin. Walk around the Jewish Synagogue for antiques - i am not saying you to buy it for obvious reasons unless you have fat wallet!! Just go into one of the large antique shop - i dont remeber the name - and they have a nice sea side restaurant where you can have nice view of ships and sip coffee.

Since you have kids, let them try the chinese fishing nets at the Jetty. The ever smiling fishermen will allow you to do it for a small tip. Kids will enjoy pulling the rope.

Cochin is a sea food paradise. If you love sea food these are the places you should not miss.

a) Brunton boatyard's History reatuarant - though expensive, worth every paise!!

b) If you are looking for excellent cake and coffee in a Portuguese laid back setting go to Kashi Art Cafe in Fort Cochin.

c) Grand pavillion restuarant of Grand Hotel on MG Road for excellent authentic kerala food

Beaches in August wil not be great and sea will be rough. Pls do not allow kids to play in deep waters. It is dangerous.

At Munnar, pack a picnic lunch and drive to a nice place for a picnic. You should do Kodai and check if you have accomadation in Villa Retreat or Hill Country or Club Mahindra.

Roads through out are excellent. Enjoy the drive and trip.

[hvkumar]

Aug 13 is the day of the Nehru Trophy snake boat race and it will be crazy crowds and security bandobast in Alapuzha around which the race is held. A great spectacle no doubt, but you need to make arrangements in advance and also tackle high road traffic, restrictions, etc. Are you sure you want to be in Alapuzha at that time?

Why don;t you cover in Madurai-Kodai-Munnar-Alapuzha order which is more logical and does not involve any retracing your route? From Alapuzha, you can take the NH47-NH7 back to Bangalore via Kochi.

[Indian Ranger]

Originally Posted by SCORPION

You could try Kumarakom on the 15th. Houseboats are fun even in the monsoons. You could try one even from Alleppey, if you dont want to drive to Kumarakom.

Thekkady will be way off course by the time you reach Munnar. Your best bet, if you really want to try Thekkady, is on your way from Madurai to Alleppey. There is nothing much to do in Thekkady if you are just visiting for a day. If you are gonna stay inside, it makes a difference.

The drive from Munnar to Kodai is quite good, passing through wildlife sanctuaries most of the way. Munnar, Chinnar,Udamalpet, Palani and then Kodai. The Anaimudi peak is soemwhere enroute and they have a dam with a crocodile bank, if I remember correctly.

Thank you Scorpion. I will cover Thekkady on the way to Alleppy itself then.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Since you have 2 days for Alleppey + Cochin, I would suggest you go to Alleppey on Day 1, come to Cochin on Day 2 and then travel to Munnar from there.

Things you can visit in Cochin - Most of the sightseeing locations are in West Kochi, where the olden days port town was :-

- Matancherry Dutch palace (now converted into a museum)
- Jewish shopping market, Matancherry (lots of things you can shop for here)
- 500 year old churches Santa Cruz Basilica and St. Francis church (built by Vasco da gama)
- Fort Kochi beach, very close to the church area. This place is popular for watching Chinese Fishing Nets in action. Try to visit in the morning/evening time to watch this
- Cherai beach in Vypeen island

Ideal plan for me would be Alleppey on day 1, Cochin on Day 2 and Cochin-Munnar on day 3. However, since you have booked the Alleppey resort for 2 nights, you can keep Alleppey as your base. Cochin is just an hour's drive from Alleppey (60km) and you can easily zip in your fiesta, visit all the sightseeing locations at Kochi by afternoon - evening and head back to Alleppey to your resort.


At Alleppey, there are 2 main tourist destinations worth visiting, in the order of importance -

- Alleppey backwaters - (Vembanad lake) Ask anyone for directions to 'Finishing Point' when you reach Alleppey. This is something similar to a bus terminal for Houseboats! You can park your car here and hire a boat for 3-4 hours to take a leisurely cruise, if you don't have time. If you want to stay overnight on the boat this is still possible to negotiate with the boat owners after reaching there. Remember, bargaining is the key

- Alleppey beach - This is also a pretty nice hangout place for a few hours. Expect it to be overcrowded since you are going on 15th Aug

In Alleppey, there are other temples and forts you can visit if you have time, but I would still vote for spending more time on the backwaters instead

Thank you Karthikk. Valuable advise there. Surely will consider and plan accordingly.

Originally Posted by ampere

Madurai-Theni (NH49) is a decent 2L.

On NH220 from Theni via Kanjirapalli, do check status of Monsoon,
Pretty much all highways in Kerala get flooded in these times.

So is the case of NH49 from Cochin to Munnar via Muvattupuzha/Kothamangalam/Adimali

Thanks Ampere. Surely will check on the monsoon front.

Originally Posted by Fauji

a) Do thekkady on the way to Munnar as you plan to touch Kumily. All you need is two hours for boat ride in the lake. With small kids, night trekking etc is ruled out. Thus there is no need to do day trip from Munnar to Thekkady.

b) A cruise in house boat is a must even if you are not staying there overnight in it. It is fun. It is beautiful when it rains. Pls don't miss it. Kids will love it.


. Do Thekkady on the way to Munnar.



with Karthik.

Keep a day for Alleppey and a day for Cochin. Walk around the Jewish Synagogue for antiques - i am not saying you to buy it for obvious reasons unless you have fat wallet!! Just go into one of the large antique shop - i dont remeber the name - and they have a nice sea side restaurant where you can have nice view of ships and sip coffee.

Since you have kids, let them try the chinese fishing nets at the Jetty. The ever smiling fishermen will allow you to do it for a small tip. Kids will enjoy pulling the rope.

Cochin is a sea food paradise. If you love sea food these are the places you should not miss.

a) Brunton boatyard's History reatuarant - though expensive, worth every paise!!

b) If you are looking for excellent cake and coffee in a Portuguese laid back setting go to Kashi Art Cafe in Fort Cochin.

c) Grand pavillion restuarant of Grand Hotel on MG Road for excellent authentic kerala food

Beaches in August wil not be great and sea will be rough. Pls do not allow kids to play in deep waters. It is dangerous.

At Munnar, pack a picnic lunch and drive to a nice place for a picnic. You should do Kodai and check if you have accomadation in Villa Retreat or Hill Country or Club Mahindra.

Roads through out are excellent. Enjoy the drive and trip.

Thank you Fauji for the advice. Are you suggesting me to cover Thekkady on my way from Alleppy to Munnar? or during Madurai to Alleppy? Sorry I confused here. coming to food we are vegetarians :( so no sea food but will visit cafe Kashi.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Aug 13 is the day of the Nehru Trophy snake boat race and it will be crazy crowds and security bandobast in Alapuzha around which the race is held. A great spectacle no doubt, but you need to make arrangements in advance and also tackle high road traffic, restrictions, etc. Are you sure you want to be in Alapuzha at that time?

Why don;t you cover in Madurai-Kodai-Munnar-Alapuzha order which is more logical and does not involve any retracing your route? From Alapuzha, you can take the NH47-NH7 back to Bangalore via Kochi.

Thank you HvKumar. Initially the plan was to come back to Bangalore via Waynad, but got changed since Wife wanted to visit Kodai. So thought will visit Alleppy first then munnar and kodai and then back to Bangalore. Coming to snake boat race, i was not aware of it at all and by the time i reach Alleppy it will 14th afternoon. So do you think there still will be the security etc?

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

May I suggest that you first decide the order in which you want to cover the places?

I suggest

Day 1 > Bangalore > Madurai
Day 2 > Madurai > Kodai
Day 3 > Kodai > Munnar
Day 4 > Munnar > Alleppey Early morning to late afternoon; come to Cochin / Ernakulam for overnight stay.
Day 5 & 6 > Ernakulam / Cochin

Take Ernakulam > Bangaloe NH 47 throughout on return; depending on your driving taste, start late evening of day 6 or early morning of day 7.

Depending on your interest, spend extra day at Kodai, Munnar or Alleppey. (above itinerary saves you a day).

There are couple of threads and multiple travelouges on B'lore Munnar, please go go through them. You can go to Kumili / Thekkady from Munnar too.

Since you are vegetarians, I suggest you stay at Dwaraka or BTH at Ernakulam.

[Indian Ranger]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

May I suggest that you first decide the order in which you want to cover the places?

I suggest

Day 1 > Bangalore > Madurai
Day 2 > Madurai > Kodai
Day 3 > Kodai > Munnar
Day 4 > Munnar > Alleppey Early morning to late afternoon; come to Cochin / Ernakulam for overnight stay.
Day 5 & 6 > Ernakulam / Cochin

Take Ernakulam > Bangaloe NH 47 throughout on return; depending on your driving taste, start late evening of day 6 or early morning of day 7.

Depending on your interest, spend extra day at Kodai, Munnar or Alleppey. (above itinerary saves you a day).

There are couple of threads and multiple travelouges on B'lore Munnar, please go go through them. You can go to Kumili / Thekkady from Munnar too.

Since you are vegetarians, I suggest you stay at Dwaraka or BTH at Ernakulam.

Thank you so much for the advice. I will check if i can reschedule my trip based on the suggestions and update.

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by Indian Ranger

Thank you so much for the advice. I will check if i can reschedule my trip based on the suggestions and update.

I strongly advise you to avoid late evening drive on NH 47 while returning and advise you to start early in the morning which will help you cover Cochin - Coimbatore before traffic picks up.

[pypkmsrikanth]

I feel you may have to plan your trip in such a way that you finish TN in the first leg and come back to Bangalore from Kerala, here is a plan from my side.

Day 1 - Bangalore - Kodai
Day 2 - Kodai - Madurai
Day 3 - Madurai - Munnar / Thekkady
Day 4 Munnar / Thekkady - Munnar / Thekkady
Day 5 Munnar / Thekkady - Ernakulam
Day 6 Cover Alleppey Ex Ernakulam
Day 7 Ernakulam - Bangalore

You could use one additional day either in Kodai or Munnar.

[Indian Ranger]

Originally Posted by Fauji

I strongly advise you to avoid late evening drive on NH 47 while returning and advise you to start early in the morning which will help you cover Cochin - Coimbatore before traffic picks up.

Thank you Fauji. I would not prefer driving in the night so this option is ruled out.

Originally Posted by pypkmsrikanth

I feel you may have to plan your trip in such a way that you finish TN in the first leg and come back to Bangalore from Kerala, here is a plan from my side.

Day 1 - Bangalore - Kodai
Day 2 - Kodai - Madurai
Day 3 - Madurai - Munnar / Thekkady
Day 4 Munnar / Thekkady - Munnar / Thekkady
Day 5 Munnar / Thekkady - Ernakulam
Day 6 Cover Alleppey Ex Ernakulam
Day 7 Ernakulam - Bangalore

You could use one additional day either in Kodai or Munnar.

Thanks Srikanth, at this moment i am trying to reschedule based on suggestions from all of you. can consider only if that materializes. Otherwise i am just going to enjoy the way it is right now.