Kerala Travel Guide: Ultimate 2-Week Itinerary for a Road Trip Holiday

Thiruvananthapuram (1-3 days)

We booked a highly rated homestay in Fort Area. It makes temple visit walking distance. the homestay was a disappointment and we changed after 1 day

1. Padma Temple

   1. The temple is absolutely amazing. We loved it.
   2. Strict dress code for temple entry. Dress available at all gates for around ₹200
   3. Check temple timing & main shrine pooja timings as it determines how crowded it will be.
   4. Popular local joint for breakfast lunch –

2. Palace

   1. Palace is adjacent to the temple. Not as popular but we enjoyed it. The architecture is very different from what we have seen in historical buildings in other parts of India.
   2. Check timings

3. Park

   1. Beautiful park with a beautiful meuseum building at center. The meuseum from the inside is not very impressive. Small zoo in the premises as well. It is more of a local spot.
   2. The roads around have many main Kerala insititutes housed in old building making it nice locality to just walk around.

4. Kovalam

   1. Some tourists prefer to stay in Kovalam to enjoy beach. We opted to stay in Trivendrum to experience their normal life. After visiting Kovalam, we did not regret our decision.
   2. We went by auto. Charged ₹200. Nice beach walks. Good Sunset. Not too crowded for an Indian beach.
   3. Lots of foreigner tourist who were also staying in the 100s of resorts along the beach. Lots of eateries. Typical touristy vibes. Somehow we did not enjoy the food & vibes here.

5. Food

   1. Amma’s Kitchen for traditional kerala sadhya experience
   2. Delicious shawarma’s available easily. Tender Coconut milk shake. Super yum.
   3. Villa Maya if you are rich

6. Accommodation in Thiruvananthapuram

   1. We stayed in homestays & airbnbs. One was disappointing, the other one was great. Things did not expensive here and 2-3000 budget can get you good rooms.

7. Local Transport in Thiruvananthapuram

   1. Ola, Uber are easily available here.
   2. Even without apps, taxi and auto are friendly and do not overcharge.

Munroe Islands (1-3 days)

1. Reaching Munroe Island

   1. We rented a scooter from Thiruvanantapuram for 5-6 days at 1500 per day. Roads in Kerala are beautiful & traffic is not so bad. We went to Munroe island and varakala and roamed everywhere in between on 2 wheels and enjoyed it a lot.
   2. It is a beautiful, quaint backwater village. The backwaters are super clean & there are no houseboats
   3. We roamed around on traditional boats, kayaks, bicycle, scooter.

2. Accommodation & Food in Munroe Island

   1. Decent homestay with 2 rooms. The area around is huge. Food is home cooked and amazing. Run by a family, and the host is very very helpful.
   2. Had home made coconut oil here. Fresh todi. Traditional fish.

Varakala (1-3 days)

1. Reaching Varakala

   1. Took the same scooter to Varakala. The roads are beautiful. Traffic not so stressful. Which makes it a good deal.

2. Accommodation & Food in Varakala

   1. A decent airbnb with multiple rooms. Beach was a 2 minute walk.
   2. The main Varakala cliff was about 20 minute walk along the beach.
   3. The cliff has lots of fancy eateries, cafe full of tourists. We tried multiple eateries here but somehow nothing was worth mentioning. One of those places where tourists are for granted and quality gets compromised, not on purpose. But it is just not the top priority.
   4. We tried traditional breakfast in the main town, and that was pretty good. We went there multiple times.

3. Things to do In Varakala

   1. Varakala is known for surfing. We saw people surfing on multiple beaches during both morning & evening.
   2. We went for scooter rides along the beach road exploring multiple beaches. It was very beautiful.

Kochi (1-2 days)

1. Reaching Kochi

   1. We took a train to Kochi. Trains are good in Kerala. Clean, On time, and not overcrowded.
   2. Taxi was a haggle from station to fort kochi despite ola, uber etc. Welcome to big city.

2. Accommodation & Food in Kochi

   1. Hundreds of decent options in fort Kochi. Go as per your budget, and google ratings. You won’t go wrong, unless it is just a bad day.
   2. Do note, these are all old buildings – 200-300 years old. Rooms can be slightly on the small, darker & less airy here. But we are not complaining.
   3. The food in fort kochi was mind blowing. Unlike Varakala, wherever we stopped, whatever we ate, what lipsmacking delicious.
   4. Early morning street vendor breakfast to neapotalian pizza cafes

3. Things to do In Kochi

   1. We spent lazy days here exploring fort kochi on foot and scooter. The Chinese fishing nets, jew town, Churches and so on.
   2. We rented a scooter for our next leg to Munnar, and rode in and around fort to wherever we liked. We enjoyed it.

Munnar

1. Reaching Munnar

   1. We left Kochi on a scooter and reached Munnar in around 3-4 hours. We rode slow, took multiple stops & pictures.

2. Accommodation & Food in Munnar

   1. Munnar is again, very touristy and you get all kinds of hotel options based on your preference. We believe it is difficult to go wrong if you do proper research. We stayed in an airbnb which was a bit far from Munnar. It was very quiet, the room was nice and had very good views. For 2000 per night.
   2. Somehow, we could not find great food options here. Coming from Kochi we had very high expectations. But the restaurants & eateries, whatever we could find, were made for tourists and tailored for their pallettes. They missed Kerala real taste.

3. Things to do In Munnar

   1. Scooter is a a boon here. The roads are narrow here, and due to hoards of tourist vehicles, main roads are slow or jammed. Two wheelers are unstoppable though.
   2. We went about in every direction we could. Top station, tea garden, dams, sunset points, sunrise points. We did it all.
   3. But what we enjoyed the most here was riding on roads with surreal scenery & landscapes in the background. It was magical.

Wishlist

This was an unplanned 15 day, slow paced trip in Kerala. We left few places for our next trip. Here is our research & plan for places we would like to visit.

Thekkady

1. Reaching Thekkady

   1. We

2. Accommodation & Food in Thekkady

   1. M

3. Things to do In Thekkady

   1. Sc

Alleppey / Kumarakom

1. Reaching Alleppey / Kumarakom

   1. We

2. Accommodation & Food in Alleppey / Kumarakom

   1. M

3. Things to do In Alleppey / Kumarakom

   1. Sc

Wayanad

1. Reaching Wayanad

   1. We

2. Accommodation & Food in WayanadM

3. Things to do In Wayanad

   1. Sc