Kerala is wedged in between the sea and the rocky Western Ghats and boasts of a culturally alive society. With a 98% literacy level, equal rights for women, a successful land re-distribution drive systems God’s Own Country, Kerala has become a must-do destination for most tourists.
Best Tourist Places to Visit in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram or the capital city is the communication hub and Alleppey or Venice of the East backwater trips, and houseboat stays attract a huge number of tourists. The best places to see in Kerala are expanses of paddy fields, lakes filled with water lilies, fishing villages, and quaint chapels. Munnar, a very popular one among the hill stations in Kerala is quite popular for 80,000 miles of tea plantation and aromatic vegetation.
Kumarakom tranquillity accompanied with flora and fauna, authentic Kerala food, backwaters, pleasant weather, and warmth of Keralites offer boating, fishing, cruising, and houseboat stay to the tourists. Wayanad or the land of paddy fields is the greenest Places to visit in Kerala. The place is quite popular for its richness in cultures, unnamed waterfalls traditions, and tribal heritage. Thekkady is a home for elephants, sambars, gaurs, tigers, bison, deer, boars, and lion-tailed macaques. It boasts of exotic wildlife beauty.
Kovalam beaches are famous for their New Year celebrations, water sports like parasailing, Ayurveda treatments. If you want to experience solitude and someplace away from the crowd look out for Vagamon hill station which is adorned with misty valleys and gardens, beautiful dales, meadows, tea plantations etc. Famous Bekal Fort is known for shooting hit movies like Rang De Basanti. Kozhikode architecture, exotic spices, authentic Malabar food attracts a huge number of tourists.
Nightlife in Kerala
There are quite a number of small bars, clubs, and discotheques, that cater to many urban strata of the society. Discotheques in Kerala let you indulge in the vigorous activity of dancing and you go for a drink or two at the bars with snacks before going to bed. Most of the famous tourist places in Kerala have no nightlife. There are luxurious bars and budget-friendly bars too.
Food of Kerala
You can start your day off with Puttu which is a steamed rice-flour special breakfast. Another popular breakfast is appam or Kerala dosa or Tamilian rice pancake. Rice is a fixed or staple part of every Kerala meal and you can inhale coconut milk and can experience mustard seeds, curry leaves, and tamarind in almost all the dishes. Many communities love meat with gusto. The Travancore region is highly influenced by Hindus Kings and serves various pork cuisines. The Malayali food comprises mussels, pork, mutton, beef, sea fish, and fowl which can be curried or fried.
A Malabar Coast cuisine reflects distinct variations of peppers, red chillies, beef, and mutton preparations. Do not miss on Malabari barotha. The pathiri (a type of bread) can be consumed sweet or stuffed with meat. The most famous sweets to taste are pradaman, payasam, and rasam (light pepper water for digestion of your rich meal).Enjoy your drinks like patta charayam and Kallu with hot pickles and boiled eggs. In culinary specialties do not forget to try out jackfruit, yam, and banana chips, avail (a vegetable curry flavored with fresh coconut, green chilies and curd), injipuli (a tamarind and ginger sauce), and delectable curries of chicken.
Hotels in Kerala
From deluxe five-star hotel accommodation to warm and cozy cottages that comes with rooms attached with bathrooms and balconies, Kerala has no dearth of places to stay. At Kozhikode, Kochi, and Thiruvananthapuram you can get high-end and business-class hotels accommodations. For example, Trident Hotel, and Taj Malabar Hotel at Willington Island in Kochi are loaded with luxury and top-notch hospitality that assists business travelers to have the best vacation of their life-time. Accommodations like Kumarakom and Kovalam Beach Retreat assure budget-friendly and comfortable choices. On the backwaters, night can be spend in between Allepey and Kollam, in a rice-boat and spend the day by hiring Kettuvalam wafting green embankments. Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary offers forest rest houses as a budget-friendly option and luxurious accommodations.
Getting around in Kerala
At Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi Helicopter taxis can be hired from the city airports with advanced reservations. Especially if you and your family are planning to heads towards Sabrimala during the festive season, advance reservations of these kinds of taxis become essential. Marine transportation of the state includes sea jets ferry, boats, and houseboats cruise. The port city of Kochi is the main marine transit hub which provides information on various local waterways routes and allows booking of vessels. Express train’s services run in between any two cities and the local train makes few stoppages before final destination resulting in minor delays and few technical snags. Passenger trains are ideal for short-distances and less expensive than express ones. Trains tickets are easily available at every station and are decently priced.
Coaches and buses operated by the State and private operators are budget-friendly options in Kerala. These super-fast and deluxe coaches are perfect for trips to towns and villages. Black and yellow taxis are quite popular in few districts and cabs charged in accordance with the distance traveled and revised fair charges. Keep eye on auto-rickshaws meters and bargain with them on fixed rates.
Best time to visit Kerala
The best time would be between the months of October and March since these are winter months which brings pleasant weather and low humidity climate to explore the scenic beauty. Even though no month in this state experience completely dry atmosphere, but during this time-period the level of wetness is low and the weather is balmy. The months from April to May are normally hot but less humid and from June to August, you can enjoy monsoons. Usually, the winter season stretches from September to March which is the best time to enjoy. Kerala normally does not experience harsh weather conditions in any season, so it’s an all-season round tourist destination for perfect beaches and backwaters vacation.