Travel in Thekkady & Periyar

Thekkady is the base for the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, in the Cardamom Hills of eastern Kerala. Three of our fifteen India trips stop here, and all three build the stop the same way: two nights, one full day in between, then the road down to Alleppey and a houseboat. None stays longer, and no other trip in the catalogue reaches it — not in India, not in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan or the Maldives.

What is scheduled is short and specific. A boat trip on Periyar Lake, carrying the same caveat in all three itineraries: depending on the water level. That is not small print. Periyar is a reservoir, the level drops, and the boats can stop running. A walk along the sanctuary boundary — and the day notes say it plainly, outside the park rather than in it. An afternoon drive through the spice hills with a stop at one plantation, to see how tea, pepper and cardamom are grown. And an evening demonstration of Kalaripayattu, the Keralan martial art, one of the oldest in India.

Here is the part worth reading twice. Periyar is a tiger reserve, and not one of the three itineraries names a single animal you will see — not a tiger, not an elephant, not one species across three trips. There is no jeep safari at Periyar. There is no guided trek inside the park, no bamboo raft, no night patrol, none of the reserve's own walking programmes. The lake boat is the only scheduled part of the stay that goes inside the park at all. If a game drive is the reason you are looking at Kerala, the only real safaris we run in India are at Ranthambore in Rajasthan, on India – from North to South: two of them in one day, and both are shared — a jeep for up to six people or an open canter bus for up to twenty.

The three routes arrive differently. South India – Exotic World (11 days, from EUR 1,570) drives over from Madurai on day 7, after a morning at the Thirumalai Nayakka Palace and the flower markets, and puts the boat on the lake that same evening. Day 8 is the full day: the boundary walk in the morning, the spice hills in the afternoon, Kalaripayattu after dark. Day 9 leaves for the backwaters.

India – from North to South (14 days, from EUR 1,840) comes at it from the coast. It flies Jaipur to Kochi on day 8 — a domestic flight, written into the itinerary and included in the price — spends day 9 in Fort Cochin, then climbs through the Cardamom Mountains on day 10. Same evening boat, same shape on day 11. This is the trip that starts with Delhi, the Taj Mahal on day 3 (closed on Fridays), Ranthambore and Jaipur, so Thekkady lands two thirds of the way through.

The diversity of South India (25 days, from EUR 2,860) also comes from Madurai, on day 8, but runs the stop in reverse: Kalaripayattu on the arrival evening, the lake boat the following morning, then the boundary walk and the spice hills. It is the only one of the three that names its Thekkady hotel — The Elephant Court, patio room, two nights. On the other two the hotel is set when you book, from the Standard, Deluxe, Superior and Executive tiers. There is no five-star tier on any of our trips.

All three leave the same way, down out of the hills to Alleppey and onto a converted rice boat for one night on the backwaters. There is no railway to Thekkady and no airport; every arrival and departure here is by road, in your own vehicle with your own guide. Every trip is private and guided, a German-speaking guide is included, there are no fixed group departures, and international flights are not included.

One last thing, because Kerala pages elsewhere blur it: the tea you see here is in the Periyar spice hills. None of these three itineraries go to Munnar. If Munnar's estates are the picture in your head, say so before you book.