About this trip
This nine-day route runs from Tamil Nadu's temple towns down into the hills and backwaters of Kerala, covering two very different sides of South India. You start in Chennai before heading south through Mahabalipuram, Madurai and Tanjore, then cross into Kerala for tea-covered hills and quiet water channels.
Along the way there's a good mix of history and landscape — ancient rock-cut monuments, a Chola-era temple, a working spice plantation, and a night on a backwater houseboat. The trip ends in Kochi, a port city shaped by centuries of Portuguese, Dutch and British trade.
It's a guided, sightseeing-heavy tour that can be arranged privately or for families, with transport, guides and monument entrances included throughout.
What you'll do
- Visit Marina Beach and Fort St George in Chennai
- See the rock-cut Five Rathas monuments at Mahabalipuram
- Attend the evening Arti ceremony at Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai
- Walk through Chettinad village and see the Vrihadeshwar Shiva Temple at Tanjore
- Take a jeep safari and visit a spice plantation in Periyar
- Cruise the Alleppey backwaters by houseboat and explore Kochi's Chinese fishing nets and Mattancherry Palace
- Departures are guaranteed even for a single traveller
- Can be booked as a private or custom family tour
- Partially guided, with a set itinerary covering a lot of ground in nine days
Worth it if you value exceptional drivers, quality hotels, and authentic cultural immersion. Think twice if you're a solo traveller hoping for group dynamics or want shops within walking distance.
- Drivers consistently exceptional: Mugesh, Pandi, Venkey all praised for skill, knowledge, cheerfulness navigating chaotic traffic.
- Hotels first-class throughout, some exceeded expectations on location and beauty; Kerala particularly stunning and different from Northern India.
- Small groups mean no co-traveller interaction; with only 2 people, driver too focused on road for chat about sights.
- Long drive to Kumarakom worth it only if staying 2 nights; short stays make journey feel disproportionate.
Distilled from real traveller reviews on TourRadar — we don't edit out the bad bits.
The same-vibe trips, side by side — price, value per day, and how each is moving. Only we can lay two operators' trips out honestly.
Sorted by fit — never by who paid. Price moves and availability come from our own daily tracking.
Getting there
Opens Trip.com, pre-filled — one-way so you can book your return whenever. Prices & booking shown there.
Where to stay
A night before your tour in Chennai (Madras) · 20 Jul – 21 Jul
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