Kerala has always been a safe destination for any breed of travellers, and there is no difference for it when it comes to a single lady traveller. As tour operators we often come across this question of safety for solo female travellers, this is primarily because there have been many instances where foreign travellers have come across different safety concerns during their course of the journey and this has evidently come up in different public forums and international media.
For a solo female traveller, more than safety it could be an uncomfortable experience, especially when you are on a budget, using public transport and travelling alone, there could be instances of starring, getting followed for a while, asking to take photos together, scamming or trying to ask for money. But I can very well tell you that you will not find all of these in Kerala.
The below is a bit long video where a Claire talks about their uncomfortable experiences traveling the popular Golden triangle circuit, which involves Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, they also travelled to Ladakh, nothing much is mentioned about Ladakh, but I can assume that they might not have faced anything of that sort in Ladakh, and they might have very much had a great time in Ladakh. The video is embedded from their Youtube Channel - Rhett and Claire, the comments section is horrible with even Indian ladies not recommending to travel alone in India. Please don't stop here, keep reading the blog....
Kerala is one among the state in India and there might be no particular differentiation for Kerala when we talk about India as a whole from a foreign traveller perspective. But there is a clear difference when we take the case of each state of India in particular, specially when it comes to law and order of each different state. Kerala could be considered one of the safest state in India, particularly for tourists. The people of the state are approachable, friendly and are ready to go that extra mile to be helpful to foreign travelers. I sense that they get some kind of satisfaction doing this.
The following is a video from Allison Anderson, from her Youtube channel, who travelled in Kerala in 2023, her experiences are more about the her Kerala holiday, but she travelled alone, she got the travel organised through a Kerala tour tour operator supported by Kerala tourism and she was traveling alone. The video is amazing, but I would urge you to read about the comments.
Some of the reasons for this helpful attitude could be because of better upbringing, higher literacy rates, less broken families and stronger law enforcement. Education is considered super important and people are aware that, it is only through education a better future could be built up for themselves and everyone. Though families struggle, the number of broken families are less and the family inculcates strong values towards upbringing of better citizens. All of the above factors together with a good law enforcement mechanism in place makes it a safe haven for solo lady travellers.
At Green Earth trails for 2023, we were happy and lucky to organise Kerala holiday for fourteen solo lady travellers. The kind of feedback we received from our guests has been amazing. The number one reason for such beautiful feedback is the attitude, knowledge and discipline of our drivers. We as a company strongly believe that your driver is the most important factor, a driver can either make or break your holiday. For us they are some of the core assets for the smooth and efficient organising of our Kerala tours. Most of our drivers are graduates, and they can communicate well in English. Their knowledge of the destinations, routes and places of interest will definitely add to the richness of our guest's experience.
For a single lady traveller, landing up in a new city where you know no one could be uncomfortable, talking to strangers could be hard, there might be days where you go talking to not even a single person and you literally eat each of your meal all alone, all of it could be part of single travelling saga. But there are good sides to it as well for whoever wants to have all of it because of various reasons. But for Kerala, you will have a completely different experience.
Poverty and a larger uneducated population who are least aware about basic human behaviour and manners might be an outcome of the absence of education. But I can tell you, India is changing, but it will take time to see the difference, probably decades. India is the most diverse country on the planet, it was all merged together as India. What you see in the North might be different from what you see in the South, what you see in the East might not be the same in the West. Nevertheless these videos and statements are true and uncomfortable, however it should not give an perspective that India as a whole is the same way.
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