The Epic South Indian Trail - 15 days by Green Earth trails

The above five days Kerala tour is a private tour program and is 100% customizable, you can add or remove the number of days, change the accommodation option for particular destinations, add or remove the number of people traveling. All this is possible and we can work out revised quotes for the respective customization required.

The above Kerala tour price is per person based on two adults traveling together. Essentially you need to double the price for a couple. In case if you have more than 2 people and require additional rooms, we recommend you to get in touch with us and get a customised quote.

Five days is ample to visit the popular destinations of Munnar (2 nights), Thekkady (1 night) and the Kerala backwaters (1 night houseboat). Provided you have a morning arrival flight and evening departure flight from Kochi. We have observed that 4 nights and 5 days is what guests are comfortably ready to allocate for Kerala travel and that is the reason why this is the most popularly sold Kerala tour for us.

Cochin, this five days Kerala tour is a round trip, meaning the arrival and departure is from same place. The program is curated based on an arrival flight before noon and a departure flight by evening from Cochin International Airport.

The five days Kerala tour proposal has four different price options. These options are based on the type of hotels incorporated in the program. The multiple price options allow you to have the flexibility to choose the appropriate price for you.

The best time to visit Kerala is from August to May, because during June and July you have the South West monsoon. The monsoon season is considered to be an off season, you can expect around 15% to 20% reduction in Hotel prices. August and September is a great time, transition from Monsoon to Winter. However the weather has been changing over the years due to various global reasons, we had less rains in June and July and more rains in August and September in 2023.

This is a popular Kerala tour program and we have incorporated the best prices for all the services included in the program. There are lot more things included in the program than what is mentioned. When it comes to negotiations, something starts to drop out of them. This affects the overall experience of the program and hence we do not encourage price negotiation for these Kerala holiday programs.

No, entrance ticket at places of interest and activity tickets are not included in the price. In this Kerala holiday program, we have incorporated multiple places of interest. We have not considered the entry fee at these places, this is primarily because different guests have different choices and some of them skip some places. In that case if it convenient and comfortable to pay as you enter places of interest.

Yes, the driver is going to be the same person for the entire Kerala tour. The driver or the vehicle change only if there is an emergency or reasons of personal nature. They stay overnight in the cars and have basic amenities at the hotels to take care of their needs to use the toilet and bathrooms.

The vehicle is available from morning 8 am to evening 6 pm. However the drivers are generally accommodative and flexible if you would like to go somewhere a bit late in the evening or early morning. However it is not advisable to go very late, drivers do a crucial job and hence ample rest and sleep is very much important.

Yes, all drivers understand and speak English. Even if they are not fluent in English, they can communicate in English. Most schools in Kerala are English medium schools, we learn everything in English. However some of them might not be fluent in English, this is because we use our native language Malayalam for our daily conversations. Which means, not just drivers, everyone here in Kerala understands and can speak in English.

In Kerala tourist cab drivers are not chauffeur cum guides. They can take you to places of interest and give you a brief about the place. However they are not trained or does not have the license to guide at places of interest. Instead there are licensed guides who can guide and talk a lot about places of interest, which is an additional chargeable service.

The car is considered to be on disposal based on the Kerala tour itinerary. The vehicle service is priced with an expected running kilometer from airport to airport, and hence deviations are permissible only for extra charges. The vehicle will be available from 9 in the morning until 5 in the evening.

Most roads throughout the high ranges are two lane roads. They are tarred roads, however you can find potholes here and there. The roads towards the high ranges are winding road and there are possibilities of body rolls at turns and winding roads. The drivers take it slow, but since guests are not used to the terrain, there are possibilities of dizziness or even vomiting. Things get better as you reach the desired destination.

Munnar and Thekkady are hill stations and generally do not require air conditioning. However you might have seen AC rooms in Munnar and Thekkady in some of our Kerala itineraries. Since 2020, lot of hotels in Munnar and Thekkady have been adding air conditioning to their rooms. This is because during summer (March to May) it tends to become relatively humid and hot. Climate change is happening and we have to be serious about it.

The ideal time to start the sightseeing tour of Munnar is 8 AM just after the breakfast. You can drive up to Eravikulam National Park, and come down to the town center after the visit. After an early lunch drive towards top station where enroute you visit Blossom park, Mattupetty dam, Kundala Lake, Echo Point, and finally Top Station. You return to the hotel of stay by evening, and it would be a long day. You tend to miss places if you do not start the sightseeing tour of Munnar as early as 8 AM.

Boating at Periyar National Park can be booked online at https://www.periyartigerreserve.org. The boating is for 1.5 hours and there are five time slots available - 7:30 am, 9:30 am, 11:15 am, 01:45 pm and 03:30 pm. Most sighting happen during the 7:30 am and 3:30 PM rides. There are shuttle bus services from the parking place in Thekkady to the National Park, no private vehicle is allowed inside the Periyar National Park, Thekkady.

In Munnar, the temperature during day is pleasant and manageable, however temperature drops down drastically by night and hence it is advisable to carry winter clothes, or at least a sweater. Thekkady is relatively less cooler and does not require any winter wear. However during the months of December and January, the peak of winter you would definitely require winter wear.

Thekkady is primarily known for spice plantations and the Periyar National Park. Activities at Thekkady include spice garden tour, activities at Periyar National Park (including boating safari at lake periyar), Elephant rides, Kalaripayattu show, Kathakali dance performance, Jeep safaris to off road tracks and to the outskirts of Periyar National Park (however Jeep safari is not possible in 5 days Kerala itinerary due to time constraints).

The Cochin sightseeing tour involves two places, Fort Kochi and Mattancherry. Both are parts of old Kochi, the heritage part of the city. Visit the St. Francis Church (first European church in India), and the Chinese fishing nets. At Mattancherry visit the Dutch Palace, Jew town and the Paradesi Synagogue. Distance between Fort Kochi and Mattancherry is 2 kilometres.

The houseboat is a traditional rice barge with a house built on top of its large hull. It will have a living space, a dining space, private bedrooms with attached toilets and a kitchen. The houseboats are popularly found in the Vembanad backwaters accessible by Alleppey and Kumarakom. Most houseboats in Kerala operate from Alleppey.

The houseboat stay included in the program will be a private houseboat exclusive for you. Only the guests and the houseboat crew will be there on board the houseboat. There are shared houseboats in Alleppey which are available at lesser prices, however we do not encourage this or we never apply this shared concept in our private tours.

One of the crew member will be a cook who will be freshly preparing the food for the guests on board the houseboat. The menu involves local food prepared by local men and will include fish and chicken as non vegetarian preparations. It will be a limited prefixed local menu. The lunch will have rice, curries / sambar, papad & pickle, vegetable preparation, fish fry, chicken curry and finally a dessert or cut fruits. The dinner menu will have rice, chapathi (Indian bread), vegetable curry, papad & pickle, chicken preparation and a dessert or cut fruits. By evening locally made snacks will be served with tea or coffee. Breakfast will be a Keralan breakfast like appam, dosa, puttu (steamed rice flour), along with bread, butter, jam, tea and coffee.

The houseboats primarily cruise along the backwaters, lagoons and canals where guests could see around the backwater life, people, their lifestyle, flora and fauna. The check in is at 12:00 PM and check out is at 0900 AM next day. The cruise starts as soon as the guests board the houseboat. An hour after the cruise, the lunch is served on board. The boat will halt somewhere on the backwater during lunch The cruise resumes until evening 5 PM. The boat is docked from 5 PM till next day morning 8 AM due to government regulations, as fishermen will be casting their nets. You can go for an evening stroll once the houseboat is docked. Dinner is served by night before 9 PM. Lights go off as soon as the guests get into their respective rooms. The crew members stay overnight on board the houseboat. The backwaters look really beautiful by morning Breakfast is served by 0800 AM, during the cruise. Disembark the houseboat - Check out at 0900 AM.

Houseboats have different room configurations. There are one bedroom houseboats and a maximum size of 6 bedroom houseboats. If there is a requirement for more than 3 rooms, we recommend to take multiple boats. The boats become bigger, when the number of rooms are more. Bigger boats will have limitations in going through narrow canals and hence avail multiple smaller boats if you require more than 3 rooms. We recommend to book an exclusive houseboat and avoid using shared houseboats.

All the crew members in a houseboat will be male staff members. They will be staying overnight on board the houseboat. Generally there will be three crew members, a helmsman who navigates the boat, a steward to assist guests, and a cook. The crew members are more for larger Kerala houseboats.