South India Honeymoon Tour for NRIs

Some couples arrive from the wedding venue by car, others take a domestic flight from Delhi, Hyderabad or Mumbai after the reception, and a few land from abroad and hold their functions afterwards. We plan around all of these. Our driver meets you at Kempegowda International Airport, at a railway station or straight at your family home, and takes you to your hotel in Bangalore. If you need to leave a suitcase of wedding outfits and jewelry somewhere safe, we can arrange for it to stay in the hotel locker or be couriered back to your relatives, so you travel light from here on.

We keep the remaining hours of day one empty on purpose. After weeks of mehndi, sangeet, pheras and photographers, most newly married couples simply want to sleep without an alarm. We request a quiet room away from the lift and, where the hotel allows, a small welcome touch in the room such as fresh flowers and a handwritten card from our team. Room service, a long shower and a phone switched to silent are all the plans you need. If you feel like company later, the hotel concierge can book a table at one of the city's many rooftop restaurants.

For couples who do want to step out, Bangalore is a relaxed city in the evening. The weather sits in the mid-twenties Celsius for much of the year, which is a welcome change from the heat of the plains. Church Street and the lanes off MG Road are full of bookshops, cafés and craft breweries, and walking there feels nothing like the crowded wedding markets you may have just come from. Your driver is on call, but tonight there is no fixed program, no guide and no family. Just the two of you and the first evening of your South India honeymoon tour for NRIs. Overnight in Bangalore.

There is no breakfast deadline worth worrying about this morning. Around midday, your driver takes you to Bangalore Palace, which the Wodeyar rulers put up in the 1880s of Mysore and designed with turrets and battlements that recall Windsor Castle. An audio guide leads you through the courtyard, the ballroom and the rooms lined with old family portraits and hunting trophies, and the grounds are spacious enough to walk without feeling hurried. Couples often use the lawns for a few relaxed photos in casual clothes, a nice contrast to the formal wedding album. Photography inside requires a separate camera ticket.

In the afternoon, a short drive brings you to Cubbon Park, a 300-acre green space in the middle of the city where bamboo groves, flowering trees and old colonial buildings such as the red State Central Library sit side by side. Weekday afternoons are quiet, with joggers and a few students reading under the trees. If you prefer, your driver can instead take you to one of the city's specialty coffee roasters, where baristas explain how beans from the Karnataka hills you will see later in the week are graded and roasted. Either way, the day stays light and unhurried.

By late afternoon you are back at your rooms for a couple's spa session that we book ahead for you, usually a 60 to 90 minute treatment in a shared room. After a long run of ceremonies, a good massage is often the most welcome gift of the whole trip. Dinner tonight could be a South Indian meal at a well-known local restaurant, where the dosas are crisp and the filter coffee comes in a brass tumbler, or something international if you have had your fill of wedding food. Tomorrow the hills begin, so a sensible bedtime helps. Overnight in Bangalore.

After breakfast you leave the city on the Bangalore–Mysore expressway, which has made this drive much faster than it was a few years ago. The road passes sugarcane fields, coconut groves and the small town of Maddur, famous across Karnataka for a crisp onion fritter called the Maddur vada. Your driver knows the roadside places that make it fresh, and a stop for one with a cup of tea is almost a local ritual. Traffic leaving Bangalore can be heavy before ten, so a mid-morning start is often both easier and calmer for two people who are still catching up on sleep.

About 20 km short of Mysore, the road crosses onto Srirangapatna, a river island where Tipu Sultan held court until the British siege. A local guide shows you the remains of the fort walls, the marker where the sultan died during the final assault, and Daria Daulat Bagh, the warm-weather retreat whose teak walls are covered in painted scenes of battles and court life. The Ranganathaswamy Temple here is among the oldest in the region, and non-Hindu guests may walk its outer corridors. The visit takes around two hours, with time for fresh sugarcane juice by the river.

Mysore comes into view by mid-afternoon, and your base is a heritage hotel, many of which occupy old guesthouses and mansions built by the royal family or their officials. If today is a Sunday or a public holiday, plan to be at Mysore Palace a little before seven, when close to 100,000 bulbs come on at once and outline the whole building in gold for around 45 minutes. On other evenings, a stroll around the lit-up palace walls or a quiet dinner in the hotel garden is a gentle alternative. Before you turn in, your guide runs through what the optional temple morning involves. Overnight in Mysore.

For many NRI families, a newly married couple visiting a temple together is an important step, and parents are often happy to hear it has been done. If that matters to you, your driver takes you up Chamundi Hill soon after dawn, when the queues are short and the air is cool. The Chamundeshwari Temple at the top is dedicated to the patron goddess of the Mysore royal family, and couples can join the line for darshan, offer flowers and receive a blessing from the priest. Modest clothes are expected. On the way down, you pass the huge black granite statue of Nandi carved from a single rock in the 17th century.

Back in town, a local guide takes you through Mysore Palace, whose present stone building replaced a timber one lost to fire in 1897. The Indo-Saracenic building mixes Hindu, Mughal and Gothic details, and its highlights include the Kalyana Mantapa wedding hall, roofed with peacock designs in colored glass, and the Durbar Hall with rows of carved pillars. Since you have both just been through an Indian wedding, the hall where Wodeyar royal marriages were held tends to raise a few smiles. Footwear goes into a deposit counter first, and cameras stay in the bag once you are indoors.

The afternoon is free. Some couples spend it at the hotel pool, while others ask the driver to drop them at Devaraja Market, where flower sellers string jasmine garlands by hand and stalls sell the colored kumkum powder piled in neat cones. Mysore is also known for its silk, its sandalwood products and its rich ghee sweet, Mysore pak, which makes a good gift to send back to your in-laws. In the evening you might walk through the old streets near the palace or simply eat in. There is no rush to do everything. Overnight in Mysore.

After a slow breakfast, you drive west toward the Western Ghats. The plains begin to give way to rolling, wooded country, and within an hour or so the car turns into Bylakuppe, a large Tibetan community whose first families arrived as refugees around 1960. Inside the Namdroling Monastery, three gilded Buddha figures rise almost 18 meters behind the altar, while novices hurry past with their books. Anyone may enter, and a few quiet minutes inside the main hall is a calm counterpoint to the noise of the past few weeks.

Nearby cafés serve Tibetan momos and thukpa noodle soup, which makes an easy lunch before the final stretch. From here, the road climbs gently into Coorg, or Kodagu in local usage, a hill district of coffee, pepper and small rivers in the hills of southwestern Karnataka. The Kodava people who live here have their own martial traditions, dress and cuisine, and even their own style of wedding, which your driver may describe with some pride. Pork curry with kachampuli vinegar and rice dumplings called kadambuttu are local specialties worth trying at least once during your stay.

Your home for two nights is a plantation resort or a private estate bungalow surrounded by coffee bushes and tall shade trees. Many of these properties have rooms with private sit-outs or plunge pools, and we ask for the most secluded room available at your category. The evening is entirely yours. As the sun goes down, the hills turn blue-grey and the temperature drops enough for a light sweater, especially from December to February. Ask the staff to light a small bonfire or bring hot chocolate to your verandah. There is no phone signal in some corners, which few couples mind. Overnight in Coorg.

Mornings in Coorg start with birdsong and mist that slowly lifts off the valley. After breakfast, a planter or naturalist from the estate leads the two of you on a private walk through the plantation. You see robusta and arabica bushes growing under silver oak and jackfruit trees, pepper vines climbing the trunks, and, in the cooler months from December onward, the berries turning red before the harvest. The guide explains how the cherries go from picking to drying yards and sorting tables, and the walk usually ends with a fresh cup brewed from the estate's own coffee. It is slow, shaded and very peaceful.

Late in the morning, your driver heads for Abbey Falls, reached on foot down a path through a private coffee and cardamom estate near Madikeri. Straight after the rains the flow is heaviest, while in the dry months it is gentler but still pretty. A hanging bridge faces the falls and makes a good photo stop. Lunch can be at a small restaurant in Madikeri town serving Kodava food, or back at your resort if you would rather spend the early afternoon in the pool or simply reading on the verandah. A couple's treatment at the resort spa is easy to arrange.

Toward evening, you head to Raja's Seat, a garden viewpoint at the edge of Madikeri where the rulers of Kodagu are said to have watched the sun set over the ridges of the Western Ghats. On clear days, the light turns the layered hills orange and violet, and local couples and families gather on the benches to watch. Nearby, the old Madikeri Fort and the Omkareshwara Temple, with its unusual mix of Islamic and Gothic styles, are short stops if you have time. Return to the estate for a quiet dinner, ideally on your own verandah. Overnight in Coorg.

This is one of the longer drives of the trip, so the car rolls out soon after breakfast. The road returns toward Mysore and then turns south through Bandipur and Mudumalai, two connected forest reserves where spotted deer, langurs and, with luck, wild elephants are seen from the highway. Forest checkposts close to traffic at night, so an early start also keeps the schedule safe. Expect a coffee halt along the way and a plain, clean lunch place in the Gudalur area. From there the gentler ghat road climbs up into the Nilgiri hills, past tea gardens and eucalyptus groves.

Late in the day you pull into Ooty, officially Udhagamandalam. Sitting well above 2,000 meters, the town is noticeably cooler than Coorg, and evenings between November and February can drop to single digits. Your room is in a colonial-era heritage bungalow or a hillside resort with a fireplace, and we ask the staff to have it lit when you arrive. Dinner is in, with hot soup and perhaps a glass of wine by the fire. After a day in the car, there is nothing more needed tonight. Overnight in Ooty.

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is one of the three hill railways of India listed by UNESCO, and the stretch from Ooty to Coonoor is the best part to ride as a couple. You are dropped at the station in time for the morning train, and the small blue and cream train winds down through tunnels, over bridges and past tea estates where pickers work along the slopes. The ride takes around an hour and a quarter, and the windows on the left side often have the better views. Tickets are booked in advance through official channels, and seats do sell out in peak season, so we reserve them at the time of booking.

At Coonoor, your car is waiting. The town is smaller and quieter than Ooty, and two viewpoints are worth your time. Sim's Park is a Victorian-era terraced garden with old trees and a small lake, while Dolphin's Nose gives a long view over the Catherine Falls and the plains below. On the way back up, you stop at a tea factory to see how freshly plucked Nilgiri leaves are withered, rolled and dried. The tasting room lets you compare black, green and white teas, and a small packet makes a thoughtful gift for parents back home.

Return to Ooty in the afternoon for free time. The Government Botanical Garden, dating from the mid-1800s, is pleasant for a short stroll among its lawns and glasshouses, and the old Stone House nearby is one of the first buildings in the town. Couples who prefer something quieter can ask the driver to take them toward the Doddabetta road for a short walk among the pines. Back at the hotel, a side-by-side Ayurvedic treatment with heated oils is a good way to end a cool day in the hills. Dinner is by the fire, with an early night before tomorrow's drive. Overnight in Ooty.

We will be honest: this is the longest day on the road. There is no easy direct flight from the Nilgiris to Kochi, so the most reliable way is to drive down the ghat road to Mettupalayam, pass Coimbatore and cross into Kerala through the Palakkad Gap, the one natural break in the Western Ghats. Total driving time is about seven to eight hours, depending on traffic. We leave at around eight, stop every two hours for tea or a walk, and have lunch at a decent restaurant near Palakkad. Couples often use the time to sort photos or simply sleep in the back.

If a convenient flight from Coimbatore to Kochi is running on your travel date, we can offer it instead, though the time spent at the airport usually makes it only slightly faster. You arrive in Kochi by late afternoon or early evening and settle into a small heritage property in Fort Kochi, where the old Dutch and Portuguese houses have been turned into small hotels with courtyards and four-poster beds. Dinner is relaxed, ideally fresh seafood cooked in coconut and curry leaves. Overnight in Kochi.

Start the morning early, when Fort Kochi is at its quietest. The fishermen are already working the Chinese fishing nets on the beachfront, and the fish auction nearby is in full swing as the night's catch comes in. Walking hand in hand along the shore past old cannons and rain trees, you see why so many couples fall for this small port town. Your guide then leads a short heritage walk past St. Francis Church, the first grave of the Portuguese captain who found the sea route from Europe, and through streets of old Dutch houses painted in pastel shades, many now galleries and cafés.

Late in the morning you head to Mattancherry. The Mattancherry Palace, built in the 16th century and later restored by the Dutch, holds some of the finest temple-style murals in Kerala, including scenes from the Ramayana and a well-known panel of Krishna with the gopis. It is closed on Fridays. Nearby, the Paradesi Synagogue in Jew Town does not open on Fridays, Saturdays or the Jewish holy days, so the order of visits depends on your dates. Between the two, the lanes are full of antique shops and old spice warehouses where you can still smell pepper and dried ginger.

Spend the hot hours dozing at the hotel or lingering over coffee in a converted warehouse café. Around five, a private boat takes the two of you out into Kochi harbor for about an hour. You pass container ships, ferries, fishing trawlers and the green islands of Vypeen and Willingdon, and the sky over the Arabian Sea usually turns orange as you return to the jetty. Dinner tonight could be at a waterfront restaurant, with a table set by the water if you request it in advance. Tomorrow you head for the backwaters and the final night of your trip. Overnight in Kochi.

Breakfast done, the car heads south to Alleppey, the town Keralites call Alappuzha, where you board your private Kerala houseboat. Check-in is around noon, and the boat is yours alone, with a bedroom, a small bathroom, an open sitting deck and normally three crew on board, who handle steering, cooking and mooring between them. We book a one-bedroom boat with an upper deck where available, which gives you a quiet spot away from the crew. Fresh flowers and a decorated bed are standard for honeymoon couples, and a small cake can be arranged if you let us know. The crew greets you with tender coconut water.

The first meal arrives once the jetty is behind you. Expect Kerala rice, a tangy fish curry soured with Malabar tamarind, stir-fried vegetables with coconut and a crisp poppadom. In the afternoon, the boat slides through the waterways of Kuttanad, where rice paddies sit beneath the level of the sea and are protected by narrow dykes. Daily routines play out along the banks: kids paddling to class, women washing pots on stone steps, men selling fresh toddy or vegetables from canoes. Late in the afternoon, you might stop at a small village shop to buy a few king prawns that the cook will grill for dinner.

Kerala rules require boats to halt and tie up as evening falls, so by sunset your boat is tied up in a quiet stretch with only coconut palms and paddy fields around you. Sit on the deck as the light fades and the herons fly home, with chai and banana fritters. Your evening meal comes out by lamplight, and the cook can make the spices mild or hot as you like. After the crowds and noise of an Indian wedding, a night on the water with no one around is the finish most couples remember best from this South India honeymoon tour for NRIs. Overnight on the houseboat.

Wake up early if you can. The backwaters are completely still at dawn, and sipping chai up front while the boat turns back toward the jetty is a fitting last memory. Breakfast is served on board, usually appam with vegetable stew or puttu with banana, and you disembark at the jetty around nine. From there it is roughly two hours by car to Cochin International Airport, or back to your family home if you are spending a few more days with relatives before flying out. Leave enough time for check-in, as international flights from Kochi can be busy.

If your flight to the Gulf, Europe or North America leaves late, we can reserve a few hours in an airport-area hotel or add a night at a beach resort in Cherai or Marari for an extra cost. Over twelve days you have gone from wedding stage to coffee hills, toy train, spice lanes and a houseboat, without a single family obligation on the schedule. When you return to India for your first anniversary, or bring the next generation, we would love to plan the trip with you. Safe travels home.