A houseboat that is actually private
Not the shared flotilla at Alleppey jetty. A two-cabin kettuvallam with its own cook, moored overnight in a quiet canal.
Kerala.
Backwaters, spice hills and a coastline that asks nothing of you. The slowest fortnight in India.
Ideal length
9–12 nights
Gateway
Kochi gateway
Best months
Nov · Dec · Jan · Feb
From, per person
₹5.7L
Why Kerala
What it feels like
when it's planned well.
Best for
Celebrations & MilestonesFood & WineHoneymoons & RomanceIslands & CoastSafari & WildlifeWellness & Retreat
Who it suits
CoupleFamilySoloMulti-generationalSlow pace
Kerala rewards people who stop moving. The whole point is the long middle of the day — a houseboat drifting past rice paddies, a hammock in a cardamom plantation, a beach that empties at four o'clock.
We plan it as three acts: hills, water, coast. Each with the right house, the right cook, and a specialist on call the entire time.
Highlights
Three things you'd remember.
Cardamom hills
Plantation walks with the estate manager, a cupping session, and the coolest nights of the trip at 1,600 metres.
Ayurveda, properly
A doctor-led consultation and a programme built to your body — not a spa menu with a Sanskrit name.
A shape to start from
The itinerary, before we change it for you.
Every trip we send is rewritten at least once. Treat this as a rhythm rather than a route — then tell your specialist what to cut, slow down or add.
- Days 1–2
Fort Kochi
Colonial lanes, a Kathakali rehearsal rather than a show, and dinner at a Jewish-quarter home kitchen.
- Days 3–5
Thekkady & the spice hills
Plantation bungalow, dawn walk in Periyar, and an afternoon learning a Syrian-Christian kitchen from a grandmother.
- Days 6–7
Backwaters
Private houseboat, then two nights in a lagoon house with kayaks and a resident Ayurvedic therapist.
- Days 8–10
Marari or Kovalam
Beach, books, and a fishing-boat morning if anyone wants it. Nothing scheduled after 11am.
- Days 11–12
Kochi, then home
One last market run and an evening flight, or extend to the Maldives from Kochi.
Where you'd stay
Houses we hold, not listings.
Private VillaAlleppey
Backwater House
Teak verandas over the lagoon, Ayurvedic therapist, private houseboat.
From₹54,000 / night
Plantation HomeThekkady
Cardamom Bungalow
Four rooms inside a working estate, cook and guide included.
From₹47,000 / night
Beach VillaMararikulam
Marari Beach House
Whole-house, walled garden, twenty steps to an empty beach.
From₹62,000 / night
Access & experiences
What we can open for you.
Toddy-shop lunch
A proper one, with the right dishes ordered for you.
Snake-boat training
Ride along at a village practice run in the months before Onam.
Theyyam at night
In season, a north Kerala ritual performance arranged through the temple, not a hotel.
When to go
The months that work.
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Prime Shoulder — quieter, better value
Good to know
- Visa
- e-Visa for most passports
- Getting around
- Private car and driver; two-hour hops between stops
- Monsoon
- June–August is heavy, but Ayurveda season and half the price
- Currency
- Indian Rupee (INR)
“Ten days and I don't think I looked at my phone once after the first morning.”
R. Kapadia, Mumbai
Kerala, in frames
Kerala questions
Asked often.
Usually yes. Two feels long unless you love water. We pair one night afloat with two in a lagoon house.
Yes, and it is beautiful — green, cheap and quiet. We move you to hill and Ayurveda stays and skip the beach leg.
You might also consider
Bali & Indonesia
Bali’s temple towns and coastal villas pair well with Komodo’s dry hills, coral reefs and carefully timed days at sea.
Bhutan
Monastery mornings, empty trails and a country that limits its own visitors. Go now, go slowly.
Botswana
Follow Botswana’s waterways from the Okavango Delta to the Chobe River, with time to watch rather than chase wildlife.
Ready when you are
Let's plan
something real.
Once-in-a-lifetime, or a long quiet weekend. Tell us what you're picturing — the first conversation is on us.