CHENNAI – MAHABALIPURAM – PONDICHERRY – TANJORE – TRICHY – MADURAI – PERIYAR – KUMARAKOM – KOCHI
Day 02: Chennai – Kancheepuram – Mahabalipuram
Day 03: Mahabalipuram
Day 04: Mahabalipuram – Pondicherry
Day 05: Pondicherry – Chidambaram – Tanjore
Day 06: Tanjore- Trichy – Chettinad
Day 07: Chettinad – Madurai
Day 08: Madurai – Periyar
Day 09: Periyar – Kumarakom
Day 10: Kumarakom – House Boat
Day 11: House Boat -Kochi
Day 12: Departure from Kochi
Day 01: Arrival at Chennai
Transfer to the hotel. The afternoon’s tour will introduce you to this beautiful city.
Day 02: Chennai – Kancheepuram – Mahabalipuram
After breakfast, drive to Kancheepuram. This ‘City of a Thousand Temples’ is the second holiest place in India. It is also famous for its hand-woven silk fabrics. Continue to Mahabalipuram to see the Shore Temple, now a World Heritage Monument and other stone carvings and sculptures.
Day 03: Mahabalipuram
Full day of leisure to explore, or appreciate the tranquility of the beautiful, 20 km beach.
Day 04: Mahabalipuram – Pondicherry
The destination this morning is Pondicherry, a former French colony that became a part of India in 1954, but displays its colonial heritage in its churches, cuisine, grid-pattern streets and some buildings. Also visit the town of Auroville, an oasis of peace and enlightenment.
Day 05: Pondicherry – Chidambaram – Tanjore
Leave for Tanjore after breakfast stopping en route at the 40-acre temple-complex of Chidambaram where Shiva Nataraja or the Dancing Shiva stands in his cosmic dance pose in the golden rooted sanctum sanctorum. Tanjore is home to the Brihadeshwara temple, capped by a monolithic cupola made of a single granite rock weighing 80 tons, and guarded by an immense, 6 m-long. Nandi also carved out of a single piece of granite.
Day 06: Tanjore- Trichy – Chettinad
The morning excursion takes you to Tiruchirappalli or Trichy as it is affectionately known, a blend of historical town, pilgrim centre and commercial city and also India’s largess artificial diamonds manufacturing centre. Driving on to Chettinad you can visit the ancestral homes some of the south India’s wealthiest merchant families.
Day 07: Chettinad – Madurai
The ancient temple city of Madurai has the great Meenakshi temple dedicated to the consort of Lord Shiva at its heart. This is the second largest city of Tamil Nadu but as you tour the city you will see that modernity has not come at the cost of its rich tradition and culture. In the evening, you can attend the Palli Arai ceremony at the Temple.
Day 08: Madurai – Periyar
En route Periyar visit the Alagar hills and the Tirupara Kundram rock temple in the morning. Periyar, South India’s most popular wildlife sanctuary, sprawls over 777 sq km around the attractive man-made Periyar Lake.
Day 09: Periyar – Kumarakom
Visit a spice plantation with a naturalist after breakfast. Later drive to Kumarakom lunching en route at Kanjrappally Plantation Bungalow, a Syrian catholic heritage home in the midst of rubber plantations.
Day 10: Kumarakom – House Boat
At noon board a converted kettuvallom or traditional rice barge for an overnight cruise of the backwaters, getting intimate glimpses of village life on the palm-lined bank and narrow strips of land that separate the waterways and watching the quiet traffic of valam (small local boats).
Day 11: House Boat -Kochi
Disembark at 9.30 am and drive to Kochi, once the main trade route between Europe and China. It was founded in 1341 when a flood created a natural, safe port, which then became the principal harbour for Malabar Coast’s spice trade.
Day 12: Departure from Kochi
Transfer to Kochi Airport for your connecting flight onward.
If you have the time, you can extend your trip with a stay at Manari Beach Resort.
