Dreaming of a Golden Triangle & Kerala tour that blends culture and nature? Discover Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, then unwind on an authentic Kerala journey — among beaches, backwaters and living traditions.
DAY 1: DEPARTURE CITY / NEW DELHI (FLIGHT)
On arrival in Delhi, you are welcomed by your guide and transferred to the hotel.
After lunch, visit the Hindu Laxmi Narayan Temple and the Sikh temple Gurudwara Bangla Sahib. Visit India's largest mosque, the Jama Masjid, built in 1650 by Emperor Shah Jahan. Continue with a rickshaw ride to the old Chandni Chowk market, which dates back to the 17th century. We finish with a visit to Raj Ghat, the cremation site of Mahatma Gandhi.
Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
DAY 2: NEW DELHI / AGRA (200 KM)
After breakfast, depart for Agra. On arrival, dinner at a restaurant followed by a visit to the magnificent Taj Mahal and the Red Fort.
Check-in, dinner and overnight at the hotel.
DAY 3: AGRA / JAIPUR (260 KM)
Breakfast followed by a visit to a marble workshop, where we see marble pieces inlaid with semi-precious stones. Continue on the road to Jaipur. Check-in and dinner at the hotel. Free time in the evening.
Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
DAY 4: JAIPUR
After breakfast at the hotel, set off on an excursion to Amber Fort, the ancestral home of the maharajas of Jaipur, with the option of riding up to the fort on elephant back. Along the way, a photo stop in front of the Palace of Winds (Hawa Mahal).
Visit the Amber Palace, then return to the city to visit the royal City Palace and the Jantar Mantar observatory. Free time.
Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
DAY 5: JAIPUR / MADURAI (FLIGHT)
Breakfast and transfer to Jaipur airport for the flight to South India, to Madurai. Arrival and transfer to the hotel. After lunch, around 4:00 pm, discover the fascinating Meenakshi-Sundareswarar Temple in the Vijayanagara style. It is a true masterpiece, where you can admire an astonishing profusion of columns and corridors adorned with countless statues, in an atmosphere charged with the life and faith of Hindu devotees.
You then visit the Thirumalai Nayak Palace, which dates from the 17th century. It is built in the Indo-Muslim style with an Italian influence. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
DAY 6: MADURAI / MUNNAR – 160 km (100 km / approx. 4h)
Breakfast and departure for Munnar. Legend has it that Parasurama, the sixth avatar of the god Vishnu, threw his battle-axe out to sea, and a strip of land rose from the waters. This land became Kerala and was offered to the Brahmins.
You cross the entire Nilgiri valley, surrounded by tea gardens, breathing in the scent of cardamom fields and taking in the beauty of nature with its waterfalls. Visit a tea factory and a national park in Munnar. Arrival and check-in at the hotel.
DAY 7: MUNNAR / THEKKADY – 100 km
Breakfast and an early departure through the countryside and the fertile plains of Tamil country toward the Blue Mountains, the Nilgiris. In this part of Kerala, the vegetation is lush and the forest dense. It has become a sanctuary protecting wild animals and their natural habitat. Drive to Periyar Lake, through the plantations and the foothills of the Nilgiris, the Blue Mountains, as far as the village of Thekkady.
Arrival and check-in at the hotel. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
DAY 8: THEKKADY
Breakfast, then an early-morning departure into the reserve for a roughly two-and-a-half-hour boat ride on Periyar Lake. You will see plenty of birds and wild animals such as elephants, antelope, monkeys and more. Lunch.
In the afternoon, visit a spice garden and discover the plants, flowers and trees that give Indian cuisine all its richness. Next, visit the elephant camp where you can enjoy an elephant ride. Then stroll through the village and its bazaar, famous for its spices and cashew nuts. In the late afternoon, enjoy a Kerala dance and dance-theatre performance. You can also watch the Kathakali artists being made up, a tradition dating back to the 17th century. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
DAY 9: THEKKADY / BACKWATERS – 135 km
Breakfast. Then set off through the Cardamom Hills and the tea, spice, pepper and cardamom plantations toward the Backwaters. This region is nicknamed the "rice bowl of Kerala" for its abundance of paddy cultivation. The countryside, with its shimmering waterways, also yields delicious bananas, cassava, yams and more. It is perhaps the only region in the world where crops are grown 1.5 to 2 metres below sea level. Board the Kettuvallam, the famous houseboats of Kerala. You are welcomed and settled aboard the boat that will reveal an aquatic paradise, a maze of lagoons steeped in lush nature. At the gentle pace of a Kettuvallam — a traditional craft turned floating hotel — you glide along the waterways that weave between the towns of Quilon and Cochin. Here and there, fishing villages, temples and churches emerge from the tangle of greenery. How pleasant it is to sail through the land of cinnamon! It is hard to list all the riches of Keralan soil: cashews, pepper, cardamom and more. Kerala has turned many a head — Phoenician and Roman navigators came here in search of spices, sandalwood and ivory.
Built from jackwood and lashed together with coir ropes, this traditional boat offers simple comfort: 2 to 4 cabins with en-suite shower and toilet, a large lounge, a sun deck and a kitchen. The boats are all built to the same design, with a tropical feel and palm-leaf roofing. Forget the chaos of the cities and the teeming crowds — the boat glides on in silence. It is a genuine experience in itself, though the boats do not offer the comfort of a hotel.
Lunch of local specialties. An afternoon of cruising through the Backwaters, drifting peacefully across the inland tropical countryside along banks shaded by coconut palms and emerald rice paddies fed by a maze of canals and lagoons where traditional boats glide by. The boat skirts the Spice Coast and the traditional villages set at the water's edge. In this setting of peace and harmony, you watch everyday life unfold in vivid, real scenes, far off the beaten track. Five o'clock tea aboard the boat in the Backwaters. Dinner of local specialties and overnight on board.
DAY 10: BACKWATERS / KOCHI (55 km / approx. 1h30)
Cochin, now known as Kochi, saw the first European settlers arrive in India around 1500. Cochin has an eventful and colorful history to tell. Its reputation as a maritime and trading city was such that Niccolò de' Conti, an Italian traveler of the Middle Ages, remarked: "If China is where you make your fortune, then Cochin is surely where you will spend it!" The city was developed by the Portuguese, the Dutch and later the English. Arrival and check-in at your hotel. Lunch.
In the afternoon, discover the Dutch Palace, or Mattancherry Palace, home to some of the finest sacred murals in Kerala. Next, you visit the Synagogue, dating from 1568, the oldest in the Commonwealth — a testament to the importance of the community.
In the evening, a walk through colonial Old Cochin. Discover St Francis Church — the oldest European church in the country. It was built in 1503 by Portuguese Franciscan monks who accompanied the expedition led by Pedro Álvares Cabral. Vasco da Gama died in India in 1524 with the title of Portuguese Viceroy of the Indies. His tomb still exists, though his remains were taken back to Lisbon. Then stroll along the seafront, where you will see the huge Chinese fishing nets in action, recalling the memory of the earliest sailors.
Return to your hotel. Farewell dinner and overnight at the hotel.
DAY 11: KOCHI / NEXT DESTINATION (FLIGHT)
Transfer to the international airport for your return flight.
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Kerala Journey
We wish you a wonderful journey
THE PROGRAM INCLUDES:
- 10 nights in double occupancy with breakfast in 5* / 4* / 3* hotels
- All lunches and dinners.
- An air-conditioned minibus with driver, state taxes and parking fees, the driver's accommodation and meals throughout the trip, and all transfers.
- An English-speaking guide accompanying you throughout the trip.
- Entrance fees to the monuments.
- The elephant ride in Jaipur.
- The boat ride on Periyar Lake.
- The Jaipur–Madurai flight ticket.
THE PROGRAM DOES NOT INCLUDE:
- Drinks.
- Camera or video permit fees.
- Tips for waiters at meals, porters, the driver and the guide.
- The international flight ticket.
- Insurance (personal, health, travel, etc.).