LOCAL SEAFOOD
Order karimeen pollichathu wrapped in banana leaves or sear-fried kingfish at local beach shacks along the Malabar coast.
Kerala.
ASIA-PACIFIC/INDIA/10.8505° N, 76.2711° E
Wander through the dawn fog on a Malabar spice wharf and you hear wooden hulls bumping against stone quays before you see the water. The land narrows between the Arabian Sea and the sheer escarpment of the Western Ghats, packing brackish lagoons, tidal canals, and cardamom hills into a corridor barely a hundred miles wide. Days turn on fresh coconut, Toddy shops frying pearl spot fish, and the slow chug of wooden ferries.
Last updated 5 Sept 2026
Field notes
Photographs · Wikimedia Commons© OpenStreetMap
What Kerala is about
Twelve ways to read the region. Pick a town below and you can turn any of these into a timed 1, 2 or 3 day plan.
SPICES & PLANTATIONS
Walk the terraced slopes of Idukki and Wayanad where farmers cultivate green cardamom, black pepper, and nutmeg.
WATERWAY TRANSPORT
Board the state water transport ferries from Alappuzha to Kottayam for a slow, unvarnished look at daily canal life.
SACRED ARCHITECTURE
Study timber-framed temples, the sixteenth-century synagogue in Mattancherry, and Syrian Christian churches along the coast.
PERFORMING ARTS
Watch the elaborate face-painting and percussive storytelling of Kathakali and nocturnal Theyyam rituals in Kannur.
TEA CULTURE
Trace century-old tea trails around Munnar, rising early to catch workers picking fresh leaves across Kolukkumalai.
REGIONAL COOKING
Tear into lacy fermented rice appam with coconut-milk vegetable stew or spicy Malabar parotta with slow-braised beef roast.
AYURVEDIC TRADITIONS
Learn how centuries-old herbal medicine traditions and medicinal oil treatments are maintained by traditional practitioners.
WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES
Scan the lakeside forests of Periyar and Wayanad for wild Asian elephants, gaur, and Malabar giant squirrels.
COASTAL FORTS
Walk the laterite ramparts of seventeenth-century Bekal Fort and historic Dutch ramparts in Fort Kochi above the surf.
PRODUCE MARKETS
Browse the morning vegetable auctions in Chalai Bazaar in Thiruvananthapuram for plantains, tapioca, and betel leaf.
HANDLOOM WEAVING
Observe artisans working wooden shuttle looms in Balaramapuram to weave cream cotton kasavu sarees with golden borders.
Where to go in Kerala
The bases worth booking. Each one has its own field guide with 1, 2 and 3 day itineraries.
- 01
- 02
- 03
- 04Varkala
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM / INDIA
Watch dramatic sunsets from red laterite cliffs above the Arabian Sea.
- 05Kozhikode
KOZHIKODE / INDIA
Sample legendary Malabar biryani and halwa along bustling historic bakeries.
- 06
- 07
- 08
- 09Thiruvananthapuram
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM / INDIA
Explore grand Travancore architecture, royal palaces, and bustling bazaars.
- 10Mararikulam
ALAPPUZHA / INDIA
Unwind on quiet fishing beaches and watch daily coastal village routines.
- 11
What to do in Kerala
Flanked by the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea, Kerala moves at the rhythm of the tides and the plantation harvest. Days start early with hot chai and steaming appam, transitioning from canal ferries in Alappuzha to shaded spice trails in Idukki. It suits travellers who appreciate slow overland transit, complex coastal spices, and unpretentious regional hospitality over breakneck sightseeing itineraries.
When to go to Kerala
December through February brings dry, warm days and cool hill station nights. The southwest monsoon hits with full force from June to August, bringing heavy rain that drenches the coast and fills the waterways, while March to May turns humid and hot.
Getting around Kerala
Indian Railways connects coastal hubs like Kochi, Kozhikode, and Thiruvananthapuram efficiently along National Highway 66. For hill stations like Munnar, hire a private car or board state KSRTC buses; public passenger ferries remain the cheapest way across backwaters.