South India Honeymoon Tour Package

Kempegowda International Airport lies well north of Bangalore, and most long-haul arrivals land in the small hours. Our representative is standing at the arrivals exit with your names on a board, and your driver for the whole honeymoon loads the luggage into a private air-conditioned car. The run into the city is around an hour, more at rush hour. If you land before dawn, an early check-in is held for you so you can sleep straight away, and your welcome folder includes a local SIM card option, a day-by-day plan and our emergency numbers.

After a rest and a late lunch, a local guide meets you for a gentle afternoon in the greenest corner of the city. Lalbagh Botanical Garden was started by Hyder Ali in the 1760s and expanded by his son Tipu Sultan, and its 240 acres hold ancient trees, a lake, and a glasshouse built in the 1890s for flower shows. A short climb takes you onto Lalbagh Rock, a slab of gneiss said to be among the oldest rock formations on Earth, with a small watchtower on top. The evening light under the trees makes this one of the calmer places in a busy city of more than ten million people.

In the evening your driver drops you near Church Street and MG Road, where Bangalore's craft breweries, cafés and bookshops spread across a few lively blocks. The city has a long tradition of pubs, partly thanks to its mild climate and its large young workforce, and it is easy to find a quiet rooftop table for two. If you would rather eat South Indian food, your guide can recommend a classic restaurant for crisp masala dosa and filter coffee. Your driver collects you whenever you are ready, as tomorrow's start is not too early. Overnight in Bangalore.

Once breakfast is over, the car takes the new Mysore expressway, a smooth road that brings you to Srirangapatna in about two hours. Surrounded by two arms of the Kaveri, this island town was the seat of Tipu Sultan's power up to 1799, when the British stormed it and he died defending the walls. The highlight is Daria Daulat Bagh, a teak summer residence set in a formal garden whose every wall is painted with battles, processions and portraits of local rajas. Nearby, a stone marker shows where Tipu fell, and the vaulted Colonel Bailey's Dungeon recalls the captives kept there during the wars.

From Srirangapatna the road heads west across the farmland of the Mysore plateau, passing sugarcane, coconut and paddy fields. After Hunsur, around ninety minutes on, you reach Bylakuppe, where the Karnataka government gave land in the early 1960s to Tibetans fleeing their homeland, and where tens of thousands now live, farm and study. The highlight is the Namdroling Monastery, whose Golden Temple holds three gilded statues of the Buddha and two other great teachers, each almost 18 meters tall. Young novices hurry between classes, and if you arrive during chanting, guests may stand silently near the door and listen.

The last hour climbs into the Western Ghats through Kushalnagar and the first coffee plantations, where shade trees hung with pepper vines line the road. You sleep for two nights in a family-run coffee estate bungalow or plantation resort near Madikeri, with rooms that look out over the trees. The owners will tell you about the crops of coffee, pepper and cardamom that keep the estate going and offer a cup of their own roast as a welcome. Supper is a home-cooked Kodava spread, often with bamboo shoot curry and rice dumplings. Overnight in Coorg.

Coorg, also called Kodagu, grows more coffee than any other district in India, and a morning walk through the estate is the best way to understand it. Your host or the estate manager leads you along paths between the bushes, explaining the difference between arabica and robusta, why the plants grow under shade, and how the cherries are picked, pulped and dried. Visit in winter and pickers will be stripping the red cherries by hand, while in March and April the bushes flower white for a few days after the first rains. The walk ends at the drying yard and a small roasting shed, where you taste the estate's coffee.

Later in the morning, your guide drives you to Abbey Falls, a short downhill walk through coffee and spice gardens to a waterfall that pours over dark rocks into a pool. Water levels peak from July to October and drop in the dry months, though the path and the bridge in front of them are pleasant at any time. Afterward you visit Madikeri Fort, whose old palace now houses government offices, and the Omkareshwara Temple, which mixes Islamic-style domes with a Kerala-style roof. Lunch in town is a good chance to try pandi curry, the dark, tangy Kodava pork dish, or a vegetarian plate.

As the afternoon fades, walk out to Raja's Seat, a flower-lined terrace above the valleys that local tradition ties to the royal family's evening leisure. The western view spreads over valleys and blue hills, and the evenings here are cool and fresh. Back at the estate, the hosts have prepared a bonfire dinner for the two of you on the lawn, with grilled meats or vegetables, local rice dishes and a sky full of stars when the weather is clear. Wrap up warmly in winter, as the temperature can drop quickly after dark at this height. Overnight in Coorg.

An early breakfast gets you moving by eight, because this is a long but scenic road day. The route descends from Coorg to Hunsur, then runs south through Gundlupet, where sunflower and marigold fields brighten the landscape in season. Beyond that lies the forest of Bandipur National Park, a tiger reserve that joins Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu and Wayanad in Kerala in a forest belt that elephants roam freely across state lines. The highway through the reserve is open only during the day, with speed limits and no stopping, and the driver keeps a slow pace so you can scan the forest.

Spotted deer, langur monkeys and peacocks are common along the road, and wild elephants are seen fairly often, especially in the early morning and after the rains. On the Tamil Nadu side, Mudumalai Tiger Reserve continues the forest, with tall bamboo and teak trees lining the road. After the forest the road climbs into the Nilgiris through the town of Gudalur and up to the plateau, where tea estates and eucalyptus trees take over. There is a lunch stop at a simple restaurant in Gudalur, and your driver will point out viewpoints where you can stop for photos.

Ooty comes into view in the late afternoon, spread across the hills at more than 2,200 meters. Your hotel for two nights is a colonial-style hill hotel or a cottage resort with gardens, a fireplace in the room and views over the valley. Check in, order a pot of Nilgiri tea and rest after the long day on the road. In the evening you can walk through the hotel gardens or take a short stroll into town to see the old Victorian buildings lit up after dark. Dinner is at the hotel, where Indian and continental dishes are both on offer. Overnight in Ooty.

Today shows you the quieter western side of the Nilgiris, away from the busy town center. After breakfast your guide takes you along the Mysore road to the pine forest, a plantation of tall, straight trees on a slope that runs down to the edge of a reservoir. The ground is soft with needles, and the light filters through in long beams, making it a favorite spot with film crews and photographers. A short walk down the slope brings you to the water, where the reflections of the trees are clearest early in the day, before the wind picks up.

A little further west lies Wenlock Downs, a wide stretch of rolling grassland that once served as a hunting ground for the British. Today it is a quiet place with open views, grazing cattle and the occasional film crew, and the area around the Shooting Point is the best for photos. From there it is a short drive to Pykara Lake, where you can take a speedboat or rowboat out on the water, and to the Pykara Falls, a series of cascades over smooth rocks. Visit after the rains for the fullest flow; in the dry season the pools become calm and clear.

Head back into town by mid-afternoon to rest, or ask your guide to stop at a tea factory and chocolate shop on the way. Homemade chocolate is one of Ooty's specialties, along with eucalyptus oil and Nilgiri tea, all of which make light gifts to carry home. At dusk, the Charing Cross junction and the lanes around it fill with shoppers buying warm woollens and hot roasted peanuts, or you can stay in for a quiet dinner. Since tomorrow brings the most hours on the road, pack tonight and request breakfast at about six-thirty. Overnight in Ooty.

Ooty and Munnar are both hill stations in the Western Ghats, but there is no road between them across the mountains, so the route goes down to the plains and back up again. You leave after an early breakfast, drive down through Coonoor and Mettupalayam to Coimbatore, and then head south to Pollachi, a market town known for its coconut groves and Sunday cattle fair. The full trip takes about eight to nine hours with breaks. Lunch is at a restaurant in Pollachi, and your driver knows a few good roadside stalls for tender coconut water along the way.

From Pollachi the road runs through Udumalpet and the dry forest of Chinnar before climbing to Marayoor and the tea estates around Munnar. The last part of the drive is the most scenic, with views over green slopes and small villages. Couples who would rather not do it in one go can add a night on a coconut farm outside Pollachi at extra cost, turning one long day into two short ones. By early evening you reach your tea estate resort above Munnar, and dinner is kept simple. Overnight in Munnar.

Set the alarm for around four, because today begins with a sunrise jeep ride to Kolukkumalai, a tea garden at roughly 2,100 meters that lies just across the state line in Tamil Nadu. The road from Suryanelli is steep and rough, and only licensed local jeeps are allowed on it, so you switch from your car to a local four-wheel drive at the bottom. The ride takes about an hour, and you reach the viewpoint just before dawn, when the valleys below are full of mist. When the sun clears the horizon, the cloud sea below breaks up and ridge after ridge appears.

Few tea gardens anywhere grow leaf at this height, and the small factory still uses machines from the early 20th century to make orthodox tea. After the sunrise, you can visit the factory and taste the tea, then ride back down to Suryanelli for breakfast. Back in Munnar, your guide takes you to the Lockhart Gap viewpoint, where the road passes through a notch in the hills with views over tea estates and cardamom forests. The air is cool and fresh, and there are often eagles circling over the valley below.

In the afternoon, rest at your resort or take a short walk to the Attukad Waterfalls, a few kilometers from town, where the water tumbles down through the forest in a series of steps. The falls are fullest from June to November, and the walk to the base takes about twenty minutes. Back at the resort, take a hot shower and enjoy a quiet dinner after the long day. Before bed, ask your driver about the time for tomorrow's departure to Alleppey, as the houseboat check-in is around noon. Overnight in Munnar.

Leaving the high ranges means an early start, ideally around seven, because the boat crews in Alleppey like to board guests close to midday. The road winds down from Munnar past Adimali and the Neriamangalam bridge over the Periyar River, and with every hundred meters of descent the tea gives way first to pepper and nutmeg, then to rubber trees standing in tidy lines with small cups strapped to their trunks to catch the latex. Your driver suggests a coffee stop near Kothamangalam, and after that the land flattens into green rice country crossed by canals, a sure sign that the coast is near.

Waiting at the jetty is your own private houseboat, a modern descendant of the kettuvallam, the stitched wooden cargo boats that once carried rice and coir to the port at Kochi. It is yours alone, with one air-conditioned bedroom, a shaded front deck for lounging, and three crew members who take care of the steering, the kitchen and the ropes. After a glass of lime juice the boat pushes off, and lunch arrives soon after: red Kerala rice, a fish fry, cabbage thoran, pickle and buttermilk. Then there is nothing to do but watch the banks slide by from the deck, which is rather the point.

Late in the afternoon the boat leaves the wide waters of Vembanad Lake for a side canal, where palm-thatched village homes sit just above the water and kingfishers perch on every second post. Kerala's rules require houseboats to stop moving in the early evening, and by the time the sky turns pink you are moored beside a paddy embankment. Tonight we arrange dinner on deck for the two of you, with oil lamps along the rail and a menu you agreed with the cook earlier, perhaps prawns in coconut gravy and soft appam. Fireflies sometimes blink along the bank once it is dark. Overnight on the houseboat.

First light on the canal is worth getting up for, so ask the crew to knock on your door at about six. Cormorants dry their wings on the poles, a man in a dugout paddles past with the morning's catch, and the smell of woodsmoke drifts over from the village kitchens. The cook brings out puttu, steamed cylinders of rice flour and coconut, with a spicy chickpea curry, and the boat chugs back toward Alleppey while you eat. Guests leave the boat around nine, and after thanking the crew you meet your driver at the jetty for the short run up the coast.

Within ninety minutes you are in Kochi, settling into a heritage hotel in Fort Kochi where you stay for the last two nights. In the afternoon a local guide leads an unhurried walk through the old town, opening with St. Francis Church, the plain whitewashed building that briefly held the body of Vasco da Gama in the 1520s. The route then wanders past Princess Street, the old Dutch houses of Burgher Street and the grand twin towers of Santa Cruz Basilica. Along the way you hear how merchants from Arabia, China and later Europe each left traces in the food, the faces and the street names of this port.

Sunset is the time to reach Vasco da Gama Square, where the Chinese fishing nets are lowered and raised against the sky and the crowd of evening walkers peaks. Afterward you have a choice. A Kathakali show starts most evenings at a small theater near the waterfront, and arriving an hour early lets you watch the actors paint their faces green and red before they perform. If you would rather stay outdoors, Fort Kochi's cafés and rooftop restaurants are within walking distance, and an auto-rickshaw back to the hotel costs very little. The town is quiet and easy to get around after dark. Overnight in Kochi.

Breakfast can be slow this morning, because the drive to Mattancherry is very short. Your guide begins at the Mattancherry Palace, a modest-looking building from the 1550s whose bedchamber walls are covered with large painted scenes from the Ramayana, some of the best mural work in the state. A short walk further brings you into Jew Town, where the clock tower of the Paradesi Synagogue rises above a lane of antique dealers. Inside, the floor is set with hand-painted Chinese tiles brought from Canton in the 18th century, each one slightly different. Weekly closures matter here: no palace visits on Friday, and the synagogue stays shut Friday, Saturday and on Jewish festivals.

Around midday you leave the tourists behind for a Kerala cooking class for two in a family home in Fort Kochi. Your host is a local woman who has cooked for her household for decades, and she works at a two-burner stove the way most Kerala kitchens still do. You take turns grating coconut on a traditional scraper, crackle mustard seeds with curry leaves in the pan, and learn why the fish curry gets its sourness from kudampuli, a dried fruit rather than tamarind. Expect to cook three or four dishes, such as a fish or chicken curry, a vegetable thoran and a coconut chutney, then sit down together to eat them on banana leaves.

With the recipes written out in your notebook, the afternoon is open for shopping or rest. Popular buys include whole spices from the wholesale godowns of Bazaar Road, block-printed cotton, hand-carved wooden boxes and packs of Munnar tea. In the evening, an optional sunset cruise on the harbor gives a view of the port from the water, with fishing boats returning and the lights of the shipyard coming on. For a final dinner, ask your guide to book a courtyard table in one of Fort Kochi's old merchant houses, where the menu runs from Kerala seafood to wood-fired pizza. Overnight in Kochi.

How you spend the final morning depends on your flight. With time to spare, take a last coffee on the hotel veranda or walk to the beach where fishermen sort the night's catch. Rooms are normally needed back by midday, and we can request a later checkout for an evening departure. Your driver allows about ninety minutes to reach Cochin International Airport and plans the pickup so you reach the check-in desks with three hours in hand.

Eleven days, three states and three very different landscapes: coffee bushes in Coorg, tea terraces in the Nilgiris and Munnar, and the slow canals of Alleppey. We hope the trip has given the two of you plenty of shared stories, from the bonfire on the estate to dinner by lamplight on the houseboat. Our team is happy to plan your next trip together whenever the time comes. Goodbye, and travel home safely.