Mr & Mrs Simon DunphyYour Kerala Journey

Land Cochin 02:45, private transfer to Fort Kochi, then rest and recover.

♥Why we love it — Your driver is waiting when you land, so the 02:45 arrival is somebody else's problem.

An easy wander to the Chinese fishing nets and the seafront, and sunset by the water.

♥Why we love it — The cantilevered nets are still worked by hand at dusk — the classic Kochi silhouette.

A classical dance-drama or martial-arts performance in one of the old town's small theatres.

♥Why we love it — Arrive early and you can watch the performers apply their own make-up.

St Francis Church, Santa Cruz Basilica and Mattancherry (Dutch) Palace.

♥Why we love it — St Francis is the oldest European church in India — Vasco da Gama was buried here first.

Jew Town and the Paradesi Synagogue with its spice lanes, then the street-art walls and heritage cafés on Princess Street.

♥Why we love it — The synagogue floor is laid with hand-painted Cantonese tiles — no two the same.

Cross the harbour the way locals do, on the new electric Water Metro or an old public ferry.

♥Why we love it — The cheapest harbour cruise in India, and the views are the same.

Scenic climb from Kochi, around 3.5–4 hours.

♥Why we love it — The road ladders up through spice plantations and roadside waterfalls — the views start long before you arrive.

Check in at Misty Wonders, then an afternoon at leisure — infinity pool, private jacuzzi, valley sunset and a tea-garden stroll.

♥Why we love it — The infinity pool looks straight down the valley. Best at golden hour.

Pre-dawn jeep to the world's highest tea plantation for sunrise above the clouds.

♥Why we love it — Sunrise from 7,900 ft with the cloud layer below you — the showstopper of the whole trip.

!Good to know — A very early start and a bumpy ride on unmade track. Swappable with the Top Station day if you would prefer a later start.

The vintage tea factory, Lockhart factory and Lockhart Gap viewpoint.

♥Why we love it — Kolukkumalai still processes its leaf on 1930s British machinery.

Back by early afternoon, with the spa and pool to follow.

Mattupetty Dam and lake, Echo Point and Kundala Dam.

♥Why we love it — Kundala's water mirrors the hills perfectly on a still morning.

The Top Station viewpoint, Rose Garden and Photo Point.

♥Why we love it — On a clear day you can see all the way down into the Tamil Nadu plains.

The working tea factory at Mattupetty.

♥Why we love it — Green leaf to black tea, start to finish, in one building.

A farming village of terraced vegetable and fruit plots, high above Munnar.

♥Why we love it — Strawberries and passionfruit growing at 6,000 ft.

Eravikulam National Park for the Nilgiri Tahr plus the tea museum in the morning.

♥Why we love it — The Tahr here are famously unbothered by people — they walk right past you.

Spa and pool through the afternoon.

A valley where wild elephants come down to the river most evenings, by way of several waterfalls.

♥Why we love it — Wild herds, not a sanctuary — no fences and no guarantees.

India's only natural sandalwood forest, alongside megalithic dolmen burial sites.

♥Why we love it — The dolmens are around 3,000 years old and almost entirely unvisited.

!Good to know — A long day out — the drive alone is most of it.

Transfer from Munnar, around 3–4 hours.

Afternoon spice-plantation tour through cardamom, pepper and vanilla.

♥Why we love it — You will never look at supermarket cardamom the same way after smelling it fresh off the vine.

An evening Kalaripayattu martial-arts and Kathakali show in Kumily.

♥Why we love it — Kalaripayattu is reckoned to be the oldest surviving martial art in the world.

Early Periyar Lake boat safari for elephants, deer and birdlife.

♥Why we love it — The drowned forest stumps are eerie at first light — and that's where the elephants come to drink.

!Good to know — The first boat of the day is the one worth taking; it fills quickly.

Into the reserve on foot or on a bamboo raft, with a local guide.

♥Why we love it — The only way to get inside the reserve rather than looking at it.

The Elephant Junction interaction.

The spice bazaar in Kumily town.

♥Why we love it — The best place on the trip to buy cardamom and pepper to take home.

A cascade and a viewpoint looking out over the Tamil Nadu plains below.

Descend to the backwaters, around 3 hours, and check in at the lakeside hotel.

Afternoon at leisure by the pool.

A sunset shikara cruise on Vembanad Lake.

♥Why we love it — A shikara is small enough to slip into the narrow canals a houseboat can never reach.

The bird sanctuary on the edge of the lake, at dusk.

♥Why we love it — Egrets, herons and darters coming in to roost, all at once.

Morning at the resort before you board.

Board your private air-conditioned houseboat around noon. Cruise the Kuttanad backwaters and canals watching village life and paddy fields drift by.

♥Why we love it — Kuttanad farms below sea level — you cruise along above fields that sit lower than the water you're on.

Sunset on the deck, all meals aboard, and an overnight moored on the water.

♥Why we love it — Moored in the dark with nothing but frogs and water — the quietest night of the trip.

Leave the houseboat mid-morning.

Transfer down the coast to Kovalam, around 4–4.5 hours. Check in to your sea-view stay.

The first evening on the sand, as the light goes.

♥Why we love it — The red-and-white Vizhinjam lighthouse turns the whole crescent of sand gold at dusk.

A late start — nothing before you are ready.

The three crescents in a row — Lighthouse Beach for the cafés, Hawa Beach next door, and quieter Samudra at the northern end.

♥Why we love it — Three quite different beaches, all within a twenty-minute walk of each other.

A spiral stair to the gallery, looking down the length of the coastline.

♥Why we love it — The best view in Kovalam, and hardly anyone makes the climb.

The great Dravidian temple at the heart of Trivandrum, with Kuthiramalika Palace beside it.

♥Why we love it — One of the wealthiest temples in the world, and still very much a working one.

!Good to know — Strict dress code — a mundu for men, a sari or long skirt for women. The inner sanctum is open to Hindus only.

The Napier Museum with its painted Indo-Saracenic interior, in shaded public gardens.

♥Why we love it — The building outshines the collection — worth going for the ceiling alone.

A traditional treatment at one of the beachfront centres.

A first lesson on the sand at Lighthouse Beach.

South along the coast to Poovar, where a mangrove channel opens onto a golden sandbar.

♥Why we love it — One of the few places in Kerala where river, lake and sea all meet in one spot.

An eighth-century rock-cut shrine above the working fishing harbour.

♥Why we love it — A 1,200-year-old cave temple that most visitors drive straight past.

The long empty stretches south of the headland.

♥Why we love it — Fifteen minutes from Kovalam and almost nobody on it.

Nothing scheduled. Spa, pool and beach.

♥Why we love it — By day fifteen you will have earned it.

Sunsets — the reward for the earlier active days.

Drive to the airport zone, around 5.5–6 hours, with a relaxed lunch stop en route.

A short detour to Athirappilly Falls.

♥Why we love it — Kerala's widest waterfall — the one you've seen in the films.

!Good to know — Adds a couple of hours to an already long driving day.

Last-minute shopping before the flight.

Check in to the airport hotel and an early night before the flight.

04:05 departure from Cochin International.

!Good to know — A 04:05 departure means leaving the hotel around 01:30.