A private houseboat
Your own crew and cook, overnight.
03 / INDIA
ScrollKerala Backwaters
Where the river sets the pace.
Best timeOct – Mar
Ideal duration7 – 10 days
ClimateTropical, monsoon Jun – Aug
CurrencyIndian rupee
Visae-Visa required
01 / WHY GO
Kerala moves at the speed of a rice barge. Palms lean over the water, kingfishers flash past, and dinner is whatever came out of the canal that morning.
Spend a night aboard a private kettuvallam, wander the spice markets of Fort Kochi, then climb into the tea hills of Munnar. Finish with a few unhurried days of Ayurveda on the coast at Varkala.
02 / HIGHLIGHTS
Moments worth the journey.
Fort Kochi on foot
Chinese nets, spice warehouses, art.
Munnar tea estates
Walk the ridges at sunrise.
Kathakali backstage
Watch the make-up go on.
Ayurveda in Varkala
Clifftop treatments by the sea.
Ways to see it.
A LOCAL TIP“Take the village canoe, not the big boat. The canals get narrow, and that is where people actually live.”
NEXT DESTINATIONLadakh