Travel in Kochi

Kochi is on three of our fifteen India routes, and on all three it is a single guided day. It is also the same day each time: Fort Cochin on foot, Mattancherry Palace, the Paradesi Synagogue in Jew Town, the tomb of Vasco da Gama in St Francis Church, the Chinese fishing nets along the harbour front, the spice and antique markets behind them, and a Kathakali performance in the evening. The three itineraries describe it in almost identical words. Choose between them on the route around Kochi, not on Kochi itself.

A fourth trip names Kochi and never visits it. Travel component: Marari, five days from EUR 400, uses the airport only — a staff member meets you on arrival and drives you to the beach at Mararikulam, and five days later drives you back for your flight. No old town, no guide day, no city. It is left off the list below for that reason.

The three that do stop arrive differently, and that is the real difference between them. India from North to South, 14 days from EUR 1,840, flies you in: a Jaipur to Kochi domestic flight on day 8, written into the itinerary and included in the price. It is the hinge between the Golden Triangle half and the Kerala half. Day 9 is the Fort Cochin day, day 10 drives on to Thekkady through the Cardamom Mountains, and on day 14 you return to Kochi International Airport to fly home. South India Exotic World, 11 days from EUR 1,570, puts Kochi last: you step off the Alleppey houseboat on the morning of day 10, drive up, spend the day in the old town, and fly out the next morning. The diversity of South India, 25 days from EUR 2,860, reaches Kochi mid-route on the afternoon of day 11 after lunch on Marari beach, gives it all of day 12, then drives on to Coimbatore. It is the only one of the three that names hotels: The Dutch Bungalow, heritage bungalow, two nights.

What is not here matters as much. The backwater houseboat is not a Kochi trip — you board at Alleppey, roughly 60 kilometres south, and on two of the three the boat comes before Kochi rather than after. The Kerala tea hills are not here either: none of our fifteen India tours goes to Munnar, and the plantation visit on all three of these is at Periyar, in the spice hills above Thekkady. There is no beach day in Kochi; the beach is Marari, and on the 25-day route also Goa. The Kochi-Muziris Biennale is not built into any itinerary. If you are travelling in a Biennale season and want time in the venues, say so when you enquire rather than assume.

Two closing days are worth planning around. Mattancherry Palace closes on Fridays, and the synagogue in Jew Town closes on Fridays and Saturdays. Nothing in the three itineraries pins the Kochi day to a weekday, so if the synagogue is the reason you are going, raise it at the enquiry stage and the day can be set around it. The same problem shows up in the north on India from North to South, whose itinerary already flags that the Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays. On that route the Ranthambore day is also two safaris, morning and afternoon, and both are shared: a jeep for up to six or an open canter bus for up to twenty, depending on availability.

All three trips are private and guided, with no fixed departure dates. A German-speaking guide, breakfast and 24-hour contact throughout are included on all three, and international flights are not. The two shorter routes also list hotel accommodation and a bottle of water on arrival as included. The 25-day route lists both as not included, even though it names a hotel for every night — check that line on your quote before you book. Rooms across the catalogue are Standard, Deluxe, Superior and Executive. There is no five-star tier.