Kerala itinerary for 5, 7 and 10 days: day by day, with the drives in between

Three Kerala routes laid out night by night: Kochi, the hills, the backwaters and the coast, with realistic drive times, where the houseboat night fits, and the park timetables that decide your mornings.

The short answer

Five days is Kochi, Munnar and one night on a houseboat. Seven days adds Thekkady between the hills and the water. Ten days finishes on the coast at Varkala and flies home from Thiruvananthapuram instead of going back to Kochi. Whatever the length, drive in the mornings, keep each move to one per day, and put the houseboat where it gives you an afternoon on the water rather than a hurried check-in.

How these routes are built

Every route starts in Kochi, because Cochin International Airport is the closest airport to the hills where these routes begin. The longer routes end at Thiruvananthapuram, the state’s other international airport, so you are never driving back the way you came. On a ten-day trip, flying home from the far end saves most of a day on the road.

The routes assume you have already chosen your bases. If you are still deciding between the hill stations, our guide to Munnar, Thekkady or Wayanad sets them against each other, and Kerala for first-time visitors covers the principles behind the choices here: two nights per base where you can, and no base that exists only to break a drive.

Five days: Kochi, Munnar and one night on the water

Five days (four nights) holds three things comfortably, and a fourth only if you give up the pleasure of any of them. Land in Kochi and spend the first afternoon in Fort Kochi, where the Chinese fishing nets, the old Dutch and Portuguese streets and a Kathakali performance in the evening make a full and easy start. Spend the second morning in Mattancherry, then drive up to Munnar after lunch. The road climbs through spice and rubber country into the tea, and takes most of an afternoon.

Give Munnar a full day: the tea estates in the early light, Eravikulam National Park for the Nilgiri tahr, and Top Station or a tea factory in the afternoon. On the fourth morning drive down to Alleppey for the houseboat, which usually boards around noon, and step off at nine the next morning in time for the drive to Cochin airport, about two hours away.

Seven days: add Thekkady between the hills and the water

Seven days (six nights) is the classic first Kerala trip, and the one most families should aim for. It keeps the five-day plan and adds Thekkady, on the edge of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, between Munnar and the backwaters. The drive from Munnar is slower than its distance suggests, around three hours on winding hill roads, so plan nothing for that afternoon except a spice-garden walk.

The next morning belongs to Periyar. The reserve runs one-and-a-half-hour boat trips on the lake from 7.30 in the morning, and you need to be at the Aanavachal parking area an hour before your slot: visitors ride the reserve’s own bus the four kilometres to the boat landing. Book on the official portal before you travel. The same portal sells the bamboo rafting days and guided nature walks, which take very few people and suit anyone who would rather walk than sit on a crowded boat. From Thekkady, the backwaters are around four hours away, so the houseboat becomes the next afternoon’s arrival rather than a rush.

Ten days: finish on the coast at Varkala

Ten days (nine nights) is where Kerala stops being a tour and becomes a holiday. Keep the seven-day route to the houseboat, then continue south to Varkala for two or three nights on the coast. Its red cliffs, declared a national geological monument, drop straight to the beach, and the cliff-top path gives you a long walk with the sea below. It is the right end to a trip that has been moving: nothing to catch, a beach below and a sunset every evening.

From Alleppey, Varkala is about three hours by road, or a direct train (check current timings on IRCTC). At the end, Thiruvananthapuram’s airport is about an hour and a half away. If you would rather have a quieter backwater stay than a houseboat night, swap Alleppey for two nights at a lakeside property in Kumarakom, which sits on Vembanad Lake about two hours from Cochin airport.

The drives, and how long they really take

Kerala’s distances look short and drive long. The hill roads to Munnar and Thekkady are narrow and winding, and towns slow everything down. The distances below are Kerala Tourism’s; the times are our estimates for a private car without long stops. Add an hour for lunch and a viewpoint on any hill leg.

The things that run on a timetable

Eravikulam National Park, the reason most people go to Munnar, closes every year for the Nilgiri tahr’s calving season. Kerala Tourism gives the closure as February to March; in 2026 the park’s own portal gave 1 February to 1 April. The dates are announced each year, so a February or March trip should check before building a day around it. When it is open, entry runs from 8 am to 2 pm, and tickets can be booked online on the official portal.

In Kochi, the Paradesi Synagogue in Mattancherry is closed on Fridays, Saturdays and Jewish holidays, and the Mattancherry Palace is closed on Fridays, so a Friday in Kochi is a Fort Kochi day. Periyar’s boat trips leave at fixed times, the first at 7.30 am, so an early start is built into a Thekkady morning.

Then there is the season. The south-west monsoon covers Kerala from June to September, and Kerala Tourism names October to February as the best time for a houseboat. That is when these routes work best. The monsoon has its own appeal, and our houseboat guide covers what changes on the water in the rains.

Turning a route into a trip

Our Munnar, Thekkady and Alleppey in four nights follows the short version of these routes; hills, backwaters and coast in six nights adds the coast, and Kerala in depth gives eleven nights to the whole state. Every Kerala itinerary can be shaped around your dates, your pace and the Periyar and Eravikulam timetables.

Sources

• Munnar — Kerala Tourism, Government of Kerala
• Thekkady route map — Kerala Tourism, Government of Kerala
• Alappuzha: routes and locations — Kerala Tourism, Government of Kerala
• Eravikulam National Park: timings, closure and booking — Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department (Eravikulam National Park)
• Eravikulam National Park — Kerala Tourism, Government of Kerala
• Periyar Tiger Reserve: eco-tourism programmes and booking — Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department
• Paradesi Synagogue, Mattancherry — Kerala Tourism, Government of Kerala
• Mattancherry Palace — Kerala Tourism, Government of Kerala
• Varkala Beach — Kerala Tourism, Government of Kerala
• Monsoon: frequently asked questions — India Meteorological Department
• Tourist packages: houseboat check-in and check-out — District Tourism Promotion Council, Alappuzha