SOUTH INDIA · INDIA
Backwaters, tea hills and temple towns.
Kerala’s houseboats and the Munnar tea estates, the Dravidian temples of Tamil Nadu, the palaces of Mysore and the forts of the Deccan. The whole of the south, one tour at a time.
Only here
Three things you can’t do anywhere else.
Boat trips, city tours and day trips exist the world over. Sleeping on the Kerala backwaters, walking the Munnar tea mountains and climbing the great Dravidian temples belong to the south of India alone.
Only in Kerala
Sleep on the backwaters
Nowhere else turns a rice barge into a hotel. The kettuvallam houseboats of Kuttanad drift through 900 kilometres of palm-lined canals and lagoons behind the coast, past villages you can only reach by water. You eat the day’s catch on deck and moor for the night where the only sound is the paddles.
- 1 Cochin: Backwater Village Eco Boat Cruise with Lunch
- 2 Full Day Backwater Village Punting Boat Cruise
- 3 5 Days Luxury Kerala Tour with Houseboat Experience
The high ranges
Walk the tea mountains
Above the coastal heat the Western Ghats climb into Munnar, where the hills are combed with tea to the ridgeline at 1,600 metres. Estates a century old still pick by hand, the factories still roll the leaf, and the morning mist sits in the valleys below the viewpoints. Cool air, deep green and a brew at the source.
- 1 Munnar Tea Trail Tour with Factory Experience ( By Munnar Info)
- 2 Munnar Tea valley Tour ( By Munnar Info)
- 3 Munnar Tea Plantation Walk with Sunset View (By Munnar Info)
Tamil country
Climb the temple towns
The south kept its temples when much of the north lost theirs. The Dravidian gopurams of Tamil Nadu rise in tiers of carved, painted gods over towns like Madurai and Kanchipuram, and the shore temples of Mahabalipuram were cut from raw granite 1,300 years ago. These are living temples, not ruins.
- 1 Best of Mysore, UNESCO Somnathpur Temple & Srirangapatna Day Tour
- 2 Tipu Palace + Koté Vishnu + Fort + KR Market + Jain Temple = Bengaluru Pété Walk
- 3 Bangalore: Palace, Temples, Fort & Markets Walking Tour
Start with the standout
The one more travellers book than any other.
If you only have a day and want to see how the south actually moves, start right here.
The classics
South India’s Most Popular Tours
The backwater cruises, the Munnar tea trails, the Kochi tuk-tuks and the temple towns. The days most travellers come south for.
Where to begin
The experiences a South India trip is built around.
The backwaters, the tea hills, the tuk-tuk city tours, the temple trails, the home-kitchen cooking classes and the long Kerala loops. The handful of days most trips are planned around, and the best way to do each.
The big decision
How to do the Kerala backwaters.
It is the south’s signature day, and there are three very different ways to spend it. Pick by how much time you have, and whether you want to stay the night out on the water.
The spice coast
Eat your way through the south.
This is the home of the dosa, the banana-leaf meal and proper filter coffee. Crisp Kerala fish curry, fiery Chettinad from Tamil Nadu, Hyderabadi biryani slow-cooked under its lid, and the spice gardens that started the whole trade. Street-food walks and home-kitchen cooking classes get you to the table.
Read the guide: the best food tours in South India →The high ranges
Where the land climbs into tea.
Two hours inland from Kochi the coastal heat breaks and the Western Ghats rise into Munnar, ridge after ridge combed with tea and wrapped in morning mist. Walk the estate paths, ride out to the viewpoints, and watch the cloud pour over the gaps below you.
Munnar & the tea hills →Palaces & forts
Palaces, forts and the Deccan.
The southern kingdoms left their mark in stone: the lamp-lit Maharaja’s palace at Mysore, the ruined boulder-city of Hampi, and the hilltop fort of Golconda above Hyderabad with its whisper-perfect acoustics. Guided heritage tours read the history back into the walls.
- 1 Experience Bangalore – City Tour, Authentic Food & market (Food/Culture/History)
- 2 Georgetown heritage walking tour in Chennai about the founding of Chennai
- 3 Kochi Tour Guide -A Heritage walking tour in Fort kochi and Mattancherry !
By pace
Pick your day, by pace.
The south runs at every speed. Slow on the water and in the tea gardens, busy through the temple towns and street markets, and properly active up in the high Western Ghats.
Slow and easy
Drift through the backwaters.Houseboat nights in Kuttanad, lazy village canals, long lunches on the water and cool tea-garden mornings in the hills.
City pace
Temples, forts and street food.Tuk-tuk and walking tours through Fort Kochi, Madurai and old Hyderabad, cooking classes and the temple towns of the plains.
Up and active
Into the Western Ghats.Valley treks above Munnar, spice-hill walks, early wildlife mornings and the long climbs into the high tea country.
The auto-rickshaw
The whole city, three to a tuk-tuk.
The auto-rickshaw is how the south actually moves, and the half-day tuk-tuk tour has become Kochi’s most-booked experience: Fort Kochi and the Chinese fishing nets, the spice markets, the laundry yards and the lanes of Mattancherry, with a driver who knows every shortcut. Faster than a coach, closer than a car.
See all 51 tuk-tuk tours →By place
Pick a city to start from.
Kochi for the backwaters and the fishing nets. Munnar for the tea hills. Chennai for the temples and the coast. Bengaluru for the gardens. Mysore for the palace. Hyderabad for Golconda and the biryani.
By activity
Or pick how to spend the day.
A houseboat if you want the water slow. A tuk-tuk if you want the city fast. A temple trail, a cooking class, a street-food walk, or a trek up into the hills.
Plan it
One week in the south.
First time? Here is a week that takes you from the Kerala coast up into the tea hills and across to the Tamil temple towns, without a wasted day.
Just added