Kovalam & Kanyakumari — Three Nights on the Southern Coast

Met at Trivandrum airport and driven the thirteen kilometres to Kovalam, which takes about half an hour and is the shortest arrival transfer in the state. The afternoon is the beach: three crescent coves under a red laterite headland, with Lighthouse Beach the busiest and Samudra the quietest. Walk up to the 1972 lighthouse for the view along the coast toward Vizhinjam before the light goes.

A morning on the sand — swimming is between the flags only, and the lifeguards mean it — and the headland path between the coves. Ayurvedic treatment centres line the road behind Lighthouse Beach, and a consultation and a first treatment can be arranged for the afternoon if you want one; a proper programme needs a week, but a single treatment is what most people take. The evening is the beachfront, where the day's catch is grilled to order.

Around two and a half hours south across the state line to Kanyakumari, with Padmanabhapuram Palace on the way — the finest timber palace in the south, closed on Mondays, so the day is placed accordingly. At the cape the ferry runs out to the Vivekananda Rock Memorial and the 133-foot Thiruvalluvar statue beside it; queues are shortest before noon. Sunset from the shore is the reason to stay late — the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea meet here — then back up the coast road to Kovalam.

The morning is the city, twenty minutes away. The Padmanabhaswamy temple's seven-storey gopuram is the landmark; the temple admits Hindu worshippers only and enforces a strict dress code, so most visitors see it from the tank. The Napier Museum's Indo-Saracenic hall and the Kuthiramalika palace beside the temple are open to everyone. Trivandrum airport is fifteen minutes from the museum, which makes even a midday departure comfortable.