Kerala Tourist Places: The Best Places to Visit in Kerala

Kerala is often called “God’s Own Country”, and anyone who has travelled its length soon understands why. A narrow strip of land running down the southwest, or Malabar, coast of South India, Kerala is hemmed in by the Arabian Sea on one side and the folded, forested hills of the Western Ghats on the other. Within that narrow band sits an astonishing variety of landscape and experience: languid backwaters threaded with palm fringed canals, misty tea and spice hills, golden and cliff backed beaches, historic port towns layered with Arab, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and British influence, and a culture that has stayed distinctly, proudly its own. Add to this Kerala’s reputation as the home of authentic Ayurveda, its exuberant temple festivals, its extraordinary food, and a high literacy rate and general ease of travel that make it one of the more relaxed corners of the country, and it is easy to see why Kerala is regularly named among India’s most loved destinations. This overview is meant as a starting point, a guide to the places and experiences that make up a Kerala trip, so that you can begin to piece together your own route through the state.

The Backwaters: Kerala’s Signature Experience

If there is one experience that defines Kerala for most visitors, it is the backwaters, that labyrinth of lakes, lagoons, canals and rivers running parallel to the coast. Alleppey, or Alappuzha, is the traditional hub, sometimes nicknamed the Venice of the East for its network of waterways lined with coconut palms and small villages. This is where most travellers board a houseboat, a converted kettuvallam or rice barge, for a slow overnight or day cruise past paddy fields lying below sea level, church spires, toddy shops and villagers going about daily life on the water’s edge. A little further inland, Kumarakom sits on the shore of Vembanad Lake, Kerala’s largest, and pairs backwater cruising with a well known bird sanctuary, drawing herons, cormorants and migratory species through the cooler months. Beyond the houseboats, it is worth taking time for a quieter canoe or shikara ride through the narrower canals, where the pace drops right down and village life comes into close view. Every August, the backwaters host the Nehru Trophy snake boat race, when long, low chundan vallam, crewed by scores of paddlers, race down the Punnamada stretch near Alleppey to a roar of drums and applause; if your dates line up, it is a memorable sight. Most visitors find that a day or two given over entirely to the backwaters, with no fixed agenda beyond watching the water go by, becomes one of the most treasured parts of a Kerala trip.

Hill Stations and Tea Country

Kerala’s stretch of the Western Ghats rises steeply from the coastal plain into cool, cloud wrapped hills, and this hill country is every bit as essential as the backwaters. Munnar is the best known of them, a former British hill station turned tea capital, where road after road winds through impossibly tidy tea gardens rolling over the hills, punctuated by waterfalls, viewpoints and the occasional herd of Nilgiri tahr. Wayanad, further north, has a wilder character, a plateau of forest, spice and coffee plantations, waterfalls and wildlife, along with the Edakkal Caves, whose ancient rock carvings hint at how long these hills have been inhabited. South of Munnar, Thekkady, also known as Kumily, is built around the Periyar Tiger Reserve and the cardamom hills that surround it, a good base for spice plantation visits alongside the wildlife watching. Smaller, less visited hill retreats such as Vagamon, with its rolling meadows and pine forests, and Ponmudi, closer to Thiruvananthapuram, offer a quieter, greener alternative for travellers wanting hill scenery without the crowds. Together these hills produce much of Kerala’s tea, coffee, cardamom, pepper and other spices, and a couple of nights up in the cool air is a welcome contrast to the humidity of the coast.

The Beaches

Kerala’s stretch of Arabian Sea coastline is lined with beaches, and each has its own character. Kovalam, just south of Thiruvananthapuram, is the most established, a crescent of sand backed by a red and white lighthouse and a promenade of cafes, a good introduction to Kerala’s beach life. Varkala is the more dramatic of the two, its beach sitting beneath red laterite cliffs topped by a long clifftop promenade of restaurants and shops, a longstanding favourite with backpackers and sunset watchers alike, and home to the sacred Janardanaswamy Temple. Marari, or Mararikulam, near Alleppey, is quieter and more low key, a fishing village beach with palm groves and a scattering of resorts, better suited to travellers wanting to unwind rather than socialise. Up in the north, Bekal has a different draw altogether, a large sea facing fort with sweeping views along the coast, while Cherai, close to Kochi, offers an easy, family friendly stretch of sand within reach of the city. Wherever you choose, the coastline shares the same ingredients: palm groves swaying behind golden sand, fishing boats pulled up on the shore, and the Arabian Sea rolling in steadily below.

Kochi (Cochin): History and Culture

Few Indian cities carry their history as visibly as Kochi. Fort Kochi, the old quarter, is where that history is most tangible, a compact peninsula of narrow lanes, colonial mansions and quiet churches shaped in turn by Arab traders, the Chinese, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British, along with a long established Jewish community. Walk along the waterfront and you will find the iconic Chinese fishing nets, cantilevered structures still worked by hand at the water’s edge, while St Francis Church, reputedly one of the oldest European built churches in India, and the Dutch Palace with its Kerala mural paintings speak to the centuries of trade that passed through this port. Jew Town, with its spice warehouses and antique shops leading to the small but beautifully kept Paradesi Synagogue, is another highlight, and the whole quarter is scattered with galleries, cafes and boutique stays, especially lively during the Kochi Muziris Biennale, when contemporary art takes over the old warehouses and courtyards. Across the harbour, Ernakulam is the working, modern half of the city, with the shopping, restaurants and transport links that keep Kochi functioning as Kerala’s commercial capital. Between the two, Kochi offers arguably the richest single dose of culture and history anywhere in the state.

Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum): The Capital

Kerala’s capital, Thiruvananthapuram, more commonly known as Trivandrum, sits at the southern end of the state and tends to see fewer leisure travellers than Kochi, which is part of its appeal. Its centrepiece is the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, a Vishnu temple of extraordinary wealth and history, its gopuram rising over the old city, and one of India’s most significant temples, even though entry to the inner sanctum is restricted to Hindu worshippers. The Napier Museum, with its striking architecture and collection of historical artefacts, and the nearby gardens round out a city that rewards a day or two of unhurried exploring. With Kovalam beach only a short drive away, Trivandrum works well as a southern gateway into Kerala, a first or last stop that pairs easily with the beaches nearby.

The North: Malabar

North of Kochi, Kerala takes on a different, less touristed character, often referred to as Malabar. Kozhikode, or Calicut, was once one of the great trading ports of the Indian Ocean, the place where Vasco da Gama first landed in India, and today it is known as much for its food as its history, its Malabar biryani and street snacks drawing visitors on their own merit, alongside a pleasant, unhurried beach. Kannur, further up the coast, is the heartland of Theyyam, the extraordinary ritual art form in which performers, elaborately costumed and painted, are believed to embody deities during nightlong ceremonies at village shrines, a world away from performances staged purely for visitors elsewhere. Kannur also has its own quiet beaches and forts, while Bekal Fort and the Kasaragod area, right at Kerala’s northern tip, close out the region with more coastline and a slower pace again. Malabar rewards travellers willing to go a little further off the well worn Kochi to Alleppey to Munnar circuit.

Wildlife and Nature

Kerala’s share of the Western Ghats, one of the world’s great biodiversity hotspots, makes it a genuinely good wildlife destination as well as a scenic one. The Periyar Tiger Reserve at Thekkady is the best known, its central lake and surrounding forest home to elephants, gaur, several deer species and, elusively, tigers, best explored on a boat ride or guided forest walk. Wayanad’s wildlife sanctuaries, part of the wider Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, offer similar forest and grassland habitat with a good chance of elephant sightings. Further south, Silent Valley National Park protects one of the last substantial stretches of untouched tropical evergreen forest in the Western Ghats, a haven for rare primates and birdlife and a special destination for serious naturalists. For sheer spectacle, Athirappilly Falls, near Thrissur, is Kerala’s largest waterfall, a broad curtain of water crashing over a rocky escarpment that has made it a favourite filming location and earned it comparisons to Niagara. Together these places make the case that Kerala’s appeal runs well beyond its beaches and backwaters, deep into some of India’s richest forest landscape.

Culture, Ayurveda and Food

Kerala’s culture is as distinctive as its landscape. Kathakali, the classical dance drama with its elaborate costumes, painted faces and expressive hand gestures, is probably the best known performing art, while Theyyam, concentrated in the Malabar north, is wilder and more ritual in character. Mohiniyattam, a graceful, lyrical solo dance form, and Kalaripayattu, reputed to be one of the oldest martial arts in the world, add further layers, and it is well worth catching a live performance or demonstration if you can. Kerala is also widely regarded as the true home of Ayurveda, and genuine Ayurvedic centres, offering everything from short relaxation massages to longer therapeutic treatment programmes, are found throughout the state, with the monsoon months traditionally considered the best season for serious treatments. The festival calendar adds another dimension: Onam, Kerala’s great harvest festival held around August or September, brings the elaborate sadya feast, intricate pookalam flower carpets outside homes, snake boat races and the colourful Pulikali tiger dancers, while Thrissur Pooram, held at the Vadakkunnathan Temple, is one of India’s most spectacular temple festivals, with rows of magnificently caparisoned elephants and thunderous percussion ensembles. Food deserves its own mention entirely, from the banana leaf sadya with its many small dishes, to appam with vegetable or meat stew, Malabar biryani in the north, coconut rich fish and prawn curries, the delicately flavoured karimeen or pearl spot fish, puttu with kadala curry for breakfast, beef fry, and endless variations on banana chips, alongside traditional toddy shops and Kerala’s famously strong filter coffee and tea. Coconut, in one form or another, finds its way into almost everything.

Planning Your Trip and Getting Around

Kerala is refreshingly compact and easy to travel around, especially by Indian standards. The three main gateways are the international airports at Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, and a good coastal railway line links most of the major towns, backed up by reasonably reliable road connections. A classic first time route strings together a stretch of backwaters, a hill station, a beach and Kochi, and this combination alone gives a genuine sense of the state’s range within a relatively short trip. The temptation, given how much there is to see, is to try to pack in too much, but Kerala rewards the opposite approach. Distances are short, the pace of life is unhurried, and the best experiences, drifting on a houseboat, walking through a tea estate, watching the sun go down from a clifftop, are ones that ask you to slow down rather than rush on.

Best Time to Visit Kerala

The most reliable window for visiting Kerala runs from around September or October through to March, when the landscape is at its lushest following the monsoon and the weather settles into warm, largely dry and increasingly pleasant conditions, cooler still up in the hills. The southwest monsoon itself, roughly June to September, brings heavy and sustained rainfall, and while it is not the easiest season for sightseeing, it is traditionally considered the best time for serious Ayurvedic treatment, and many travellers genuinely love the atmosphere of a Kerala monsoon, the deep green landscape, dramatic skies and quieter roads. Onam, falling in August or September, is a wonderful time to be in Kerala regardless of the weather, when the whole state seems to be celebrating. Summer, from around April to May, is hot and humid on the coast and best avoided there, though the hill stations stay noticeably cooler and remain a pleasant option even at that time of year.

Kerala earns its nickname. It is a green, gentle, unhurried world of backwaters and beaches, tea scented hills, historic port towns, living festivals and a food and wellness culture that rewards lingering. Whatever combination of these places you choose, and however long you have, Kerala tends to leave visitors wanting to come back and see more of it, and it remains an essential, deeply rewarding part of any wider journey through South India.

Explore Kerala destination by destination

• Munnar – tea-carpeted highland hills
• Wayanad – green hill district and wildlife
• Varkala – the red cliff beach town
• Kochi – the historic port city
• Alleppey – the houseboat backwaters
• Thekkady – Periyar wildlife and spice hills
• Kannur – theyyam, forts and quiet beaches
• Athirappilly – the Niagara of India
• Kumarakom – backwater bird village
• Bekal – the great sea fort of the north

Planning around your appetite or the calendar? See our full guides to Kerala’s famous food and Kerala’s festivals.