Bangalore to Kerala road trip – Our Kerala road trip itinerary

Hello friends! We are back from an awesome Bangalore to Kerala road trip. And I am all excited to share our Kerala road trip itinerary with you all. Off late, we have been enjoying a lot of road trips. And if you are a regular reader on the blog, you already know about them. Some of our road trips across India that we did in recent past include :

Our 3 weeks Bangalore to Madhya Pradesh road trip

A road trip to Goa from Bangalore, working from Goa for 2 weeks

Our road trip to Rameshwaram, Madurai, Chettinad, Karaikudi and Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu

A 4 days road trip from Bangalore to Pondicherry

After enjoying these road trips across India, we decided to once again explore God’s own country – Kerala. Years back, we had visited Kerala. And on that trip, we visited the hills of Munnar, stayed in a houseboat in Alleppey on the Kerala backwaters and did river safari in Thekkady. However, we couldn’t get enough of Kerala on this trip. And since then, we were yearning to visit Kerala again. So, finally materialised our Bangalore to Kerala road trip.

 

 

Bangalore to Kerala road trip planning

To be honest with you, Kerala has so many beautiful places to visit. Charming green hills, beautiful coastlines, unique backwaters and historical places. That it was really difficult for us to decide which place to include and which to exclude. We had a one week vacation in Kerala planned. Thus, we could accommodate only as many places as comfortably possible in one week. So, we decided on several possible Kerala road trip itineraries. And then decided on the one which everyone in the group liked the most. So, here are all the Kerala road trip itineraries that we delved upon.

Bangalore to coastal Kerala road trip itinerary for one week

Bangalore -> Kannur (day 1) | Bekal day trip from Kannur (day 2) | Kannur to Kochi (day 3) | Kochi to Athirapally waterfalls day trip (day 4) | Kochi to Alleppey via Marari beach (day 5) | Alleppey to Varkala (day 6) | Varkala to Kovalam (day 7) | Kovalam to Madurai via Kanyakumari (day 8) | Madurai to Bangalore (Day 9)

Although it excited us so much to do the complete coastal Kerala road trip on this road trip from Bangalore to Kerala. But, we just couldn’t make up our minds to leave the hills completely behind. Hence materialised some more Bangalore to Kerala road trip plans.

 

Bangalore to Kerala road trip – Week long Kerala road trip itinerary 2

Bangalore -> Wayanad (day1 & day 2) | Wayanad to Athirapally (day 3) | Athirapally to Kochi (day 4) | Kochi to Alleppey via Marari beach (day 5) | Alleppey to Varkala (day 6) | Varkala to Kovalam (day 7) | Kovalam to Madurai via Kanyakumari (day 8) | Madurai to Bangalore (Day 9)

 

Then we thought, we could as well leave Wayanad out of this itinerary. Because Wayanad is quiet close to Bangalore. And thus, we can do any long weekend trip to Wayanad easily. Thus materialised the next week long Kerala road trip itinerary.

Bangalore to Kerala road trip – Week long Kerala road trip itinerary 3

Bangalore -> Coimbatore (day 1) | Coimbatore to Kochi via Athirapally (day 2) | Kochi to Vagamon (Day 3) | Vagamon to Munnar (day 4& 5) | Munnar to Alleppey (day 6) | Alleppey to Varkala (day 7) | Varkala to Kovalam (day 8) | Kovalam to Madurai via Kanyakumari (day 9) | Madurai to Bangalore (Day 10)

Unfortunately, the above itinerary was adding an extra day to our trip. Thus, we decided to drop Vagamon from our itinerary and go with this final one.

Bangalore to Kerala road trip – Week long Kerala road trip itinerary 4

Bangalore to Coimbatore (day 1) | Coimbatore to Kochi via Athirapally (day 2) | Kochi to Munnar (day 3, 4 & 5) | Munnar to Alleppey (day 6) | Alleppey to Kovalam via Varkala (day 7) | Kovalam to Madurai via Kanyakumari (day 8) | Madurai to Bangalore (Day 9)

And thus started our Bangalore to Kerala road trip.

Bangalore to Kerala Road Trip Map

 

 

You can choose any of the above road trip itineraries as per your choice. For instance, if you are not that excited about the hills, you can choose the Bangalore to Coastal Kerala road trip itinerary. But, if you are more excited about the hills and don’t mind missing on some of the beaches, you can choose from the next 3 itineraries. Also, Kanyakumari is not in Kerala. But, we were not able to visit here on our previous road trip to Madurai and Rameshwaram earlier this year. So, we included it in our trip itinerary. If you have time, you can as well exclude Kanyakumari. And rather include some other place in Kerala in your trip itinerary. Here’s one example of a trip where you could absolutely start from Kerala and end in Kerala :

Bangalore to Kerala road trip – Week long Kerala road trip itinerary 5

Bangalore -> Kannur (day 1) | Kannur to Kochi (day 2) | Kochi to Athirapally waterfalls day trip (day 3) | Kochi to Alleppey via Marari beach (day 4) | Alleppey to Varkala (day 5) | Varkala to Kovalam (day 6) | Kovalam to Munnar (day 7) | Munnar to Wayanad (day 8) | Wayanad to Bangalore (day 9)

And, best case, if you have enough time at hand, here we suggest a road trip from Bangalore to Kerala that can cover all the highlights of Kerala. But, it is definitely way longer than one week.

Bangalore to Kerala road trip – Kerala road trip itinerary covering all highlights of Kerala

Bangalore -> Kannur (day 1) | Bekal day trip from Kannur (day 2) | Kannur to Kochi (day 3) | Kochi to Athirapally waterfalls day trip (day 4) | Kochi to Kumarakom (day 5, 6) | Kumarakom to Alleppey (day 7) | Alleppey to Varkala (day 8) | Varkala to Kovalam (day 9) | Kovalam to Thekkady (day 10) | Thekkady to Munnar (day 11) | Munnar (day 12,13) | Munnar to Vagamon (day 14) | Vagamon to Wayanad (day 15)

 

Details of the above Bangalore to Kerala road trip

Day 1 : Bangalore to Coimbatore

Bangalore to Coimbatore driving duration : 8 hrs including breakfast and lunch breaks.

Total distance covered driving from Bangalore to Coimbatore : ~360 km

Where to stay in Coimbatore : Hotel C A G Pride

Pro tip: Start as early from your home in Bangalore as possible to avoid Bangalore traffic.

Except for Wayanad or Kannur, driving directly to any other place in Kerala will take too much time. Since, we were traveling with kids. And as usual, didn’t want to overexert them. So, after much consideration we decided to halt for the first night in Coimbatore. So can you. As,

1. It is a well developed town where you can stock up for rest of the trip.
2. And you can visit Adiyogi Center near Coimbatore
3. Further, a road trip from Coimbatore to Athirapally would give you a chance of driving through Palakkad. Another beautiful green belt of Kerala. Although we very much wanted to halt in Palakkad and explore around. But, we have saved that for another day.

So, visit the Adiyogi Center and then stay overnight in Coimbatore. You can browse this list of hotels in Coimbatore for your stay.

Day 2 : Coimbatore to Kochi via Athirapally & Palakkad

Coimbatore to Athirapally driving distance : ~3 hr 30 mins , 165 km

Athirapally to Kochi driving distance : ~2 hr 30 mins , 80.5 km

Where to stay in Kochi : Hotel P J Princess Regency

Above is the hotel in which we stayed in Kochi. Although there are numerous stay options in Kochi. You can browse them here. Also, there are many heritage hotels in Fort Kochi area. You can try booking one of those. Because of lack of ample parking, we didn’t book them. But I really liked the vibe of some of these hotels. And also found their reviews to be very strong. These include :

Casa Feliz

The Sunset Bay

CSI Heritage Bungalow

Anyways, coming back to the day. Start early after having breakfast at your hotel in Coimbatore. Then drive from Coimbatore to Athirapally waterfalls. Since we visited right after the monsoons, the waterfalls were in full volume. If you also visit in October, you will have similar experience. We spent couple of hours at Athirapally falls. And then drove from Athirapally to Kochi. Thus, our complete trip from Coimbatore to Kochi via Athirapally was covered in 9 hrs including the halt for lunch.

PS: Listening to the sound of music at Athirapally Waterfalls

If you drive directly from Coimbatore to Kochi, it will take 4.5 hours only for the same. So, if you want to rather spend more time in Kochi, you can skip Athirapally waterfalls altogether.

Also, if you get time in Kochi in morning or evening, do try this Fort Kochi Heritage walking tour. Or, do this full day Kochi Tour in a tuk-tuk with hotel pickup and drop. It’s really interesting to explore Kochi’s Jewish Heritage. Since I couldn’t do it on this trip, I definitely plan to return some day to explore Kochi, particularly Fort Kochi area.

 

Day 3 : Kochi to Munnar road trip

Kochi to Munnar driving distance : ~ 127 km

Time taken to drive from Cochin to Munnar : ~ 4 hrs

Where to stay in Munnar : Abad Copper Castle

Being one of the most famous hill stations in Kerala, there is no dreath of hotels, homestays and airbnbs in Munnar.  You can browse the list here. Better to book online in advance as the place is so famous amongst tourists in Kerala. We booked Abad Copper Castle. Because we wanted to have ample parking space. As well as a mid-budget hotel to stay in. And also, a little further than the main town of Munnar, amidst greenery.

Post breakfast, drive from Cochin to Munnar. The road trip from Kochi to Munnar is one of the most scenic road trips in India. This road trip brought back memories of our road trip from Kochi to Munnar years back. On the way you get to stop at the Cheeyappara Waterfalls and one of the many spice gardens of Kerala where you can take a guided tour and even buy spices. Well, can a trip to Kerala really complete without a tour of the spice gardens of Kerala ? The whole state is world famous for it’s spices after all.

If you decide to stay Abad Copper Castle like us, and start your day early from Cochin, you will reach Munnar by lunch time. You can then spend the second half of the day exploring some of these places which are very near to the hotel –

• Hydel Park
• Pothamedu View Point
• Attukal Waterfalls

PS: you can get a cab from hotel if you don’t want to drive yourself.

Read : 4 days Munnar trip itinerary covering the length and breadth of the place

Day 4 : Munnar sightseeing

Today, do a local sightseeing in Munnar. Cover these places as a part of sightseeing in Munnar :

• Flower Garden
• Photo Point
• Elephant Ride
• Mattupetty Dam
• Mattupetty Tea Factory
• Boating Center
• Echo Point
• Kundala Dam and Boating
• Top Station

Day 5 : Munnar sightseeing continued

Once again, spend the day covering another set of beautiful places in Munnar, in a different direction.

• Tea Museum
• Eravilukam National Park
• 8th Mile Gap View Point
• Talliar Valley
• Lakkam Waterfakks
• Marayoor Sandal Wood Forest
• Muniyara

If you are not that interested in the above then there are a lot of other places to explore in Munnar itself. You can rather stay back and explore these places in Munnar :

1. Idduki Dam
2. Waterfalls and wild animal spotting zones which are offbeat, locals can guide you to the same.

Day 6: Road trip from Munnar to Alleppey

Munnar to Alleppey driving distance : 180 km

Driving duration from Munnar to Alleppey : ~ 5 hrs

Where to stay in Alleppey : Sterling Lake Palace, Alleppey

Earlier, we have already stayed on a houseboat in Alleppey. And also taken a boat cruise on the backwaters of Kerala when on our trip to Kumarakom. So, this time around, we just wanted to stay by the backwaters. In a serene resort in Alleppey. And enjoy the calm atmosphere that is much associated with the backwaters of Kerala. So, we stayed in Alleppey at Sterling Lakeside resort . And after continuous driving for days, just relaxed for the day here. We didn’t do any specific sightseeing in Alleppey. Rather, we enjoyed the complimentary sunset cruise on the backwaters of Kerala offered by the resort. And then relaxed in the swimming pool there.

But, if this is your first trip to Alleppey or you have not stayed in a houseboat in Kerala. We highly recommend staying in a houseboat on the backwaters of Kerala instead of a hotel. Because that is definitely a lifetime experience. Here’s a list of things you can do in Alleppey for your first time visit.

An alternative to staying in Alleppey is staying in Kumarakom. Kumarakom is located on another end of Lake Vagamon, one of the largest backwater lakes of Kerala. And Alleppey is located at the opposite side. There’s a lot more to do in Kumarakom. Including venturing through the famous Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary. And a lot of other things. Here’s the details from our previous visit to Kumarakom :

10 things to do in Kumarakom , Kerala

Day 7: A long day driving from Alleppey to Kovalam via Varkala

Alleppey to Varkala driving distance : 110 km, ~ 3 hrs

Varkala to Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram) driving distance : 35 km, ~ 1 hr

Driving duration from Alleppey to Thiruvananthapuram by road : ~ 4 hrs

Where to stay in Thiruvananthapuram / Kovalam : Vivanta by Taj

Kovalam is one of the most beautiful and famous beaches of Kerala. It is romantic, serene and a dream of travellers. But unfortunately, all the resorts in Kovalam were exorbitantly priced or booked when we tried our luck. So, we decided to stay in Thiruvananthapuram – the capital city of Kerala which is just at a 15km distance from the Kovalam beach. We got a really good deal at the Vivanta Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram that included both breakfast and dinner in the deal. So, it was a steal.

But if you book early, you can book your stay in a beach side resort in Kovalam like the Leela Kovalam for a really luxurious vacation!

What we had to give up in the process of staying in Trivandrum, was staying right on a beach. But it didn’t feel like a big loss given our recent trips to Goa. Wherein we have stayed at some of the best beaches in Goa including a beach hut stay at Palolem Beach in Goa, Biera Mar Beach Resort right on the Benaulim beach for our 2 weeks of Goa workcation and the very beautiful Agonda beach on our last trip to Goa.

Today start your day as early in the morning as possible. Post breakfast in Alleppey, drive to Varkala. The driving distance from Alleppey to Varkala is just 110km. Your first stop should be Kappil beach near Varkala. As you approach the beach, you will drive through a stretch of road with the sea on one side and backwater lakes on the other. It is definitely going to be a highlight of your trip like it was for ours.

Varkala is a beautiful coastal town in Kerala. And it is particularly famous for it’s “backpackers” vibe. There are so many cute cafes and beautiful hostels in Varkala. We had our lunch at the Inda cafe which is located at the Varkala cliff and is the most popular cafe of Varkala. There after, stroll to the Varkala beach. It is one of the most popular beaches in Kerala. And you will know why as soon as you reach here. It is a neat and clean beach with a dramatic backdrop of the mountain cliff.

After spending time at the Varkala beach, head to Thiruvananthapuram. The drive from Varkala to Thiruvananthapuram is going to take around 1 hour.

And after checkin, headed to the beach in Kovalam. After which return back for dinner. And enjoy a good night’s rest.

 

 

Day 8: Kovalam to Kanyakumari day trip, overnight halt at Madurai

Today drive from Thiruvananthapuram to Madurai via Kanyakumari. This is going to be a really long day. If it is possible for you, I highly recommend extending your itinerary by a day. And taking a halt at Kankyakumari.

Thiruvananthapuram to Kanyakumari driving distance : ~ 95 km

Driving duration from Thiruvananthapuram to Kanyakumari: ~ 2 hr 30 mins

Kanyakumari to Madurai driving distance : ~ 250 km

Driving duration from Kanyakumari to Madurai : ~ 4 hrs

Where to stay in Madurai : Amika Hotel Madurai

Today, we do a day trip via Kanyakumari while driving from Thiruvananthapuram / Kovalam to Madurai. Since we just have few hours to spend in Kanyakumari, we visit the main highlights of the town like the Kanyakumari beach, the Kanyakumari Temple and Vivekanand Rock Memorial. The good news is that all these places are located close to each other.

Here’s our upcoming detailed writeup on spending a day in Kanyakumari :

Kanyakumari sightseeing in one day

And then around 4:30pm, start from Kanyakumari to Madurai. Reaching Madurai by 6:30pm. Good to book a hotel in Madurai which is  We booked Amika Hotel near Madurai Airport which was right on the highway.

If it is possible for you, we highly recommend staying for a night in Kanyakumari. Since, there are so many more places to see and things to do in Kanyakumari. And then there are some really beautiful sea side resorts in Kanyakumari.

Or else, it is also possible to base yourself in Trivandrum. And do a day trip to Kanyakumari from Trivandrum. There are several day tour options from Trivandrum to Kanyakumari. And you can also hire a cab from Thiruvananthapuram to Kanyakumari for a day trip.

Also, If you have time at hand and you are interested to explore the town of Madurai, here are our blog posts from our previous trip to Madurai to help you out:

Why you should visit Thirumalai Nayakar Palace Madurai

Things you should know before you visit Meenakshi Amman Temple Madurai

Places to see and things to do in Madurai in a day

A complete guide to temple hopping in the temple town of Madurai

Day 9: Madurai to Bangalore

Finally arrived the last day of our Bangalore to Kerala road trip. Today, post breakfast, we checked out from our hotel in Madurai. And proceeded back to Bangalore. The drive from Madurai to Bangalore is a smooth one. All through NH44. Which is one of the most excellent highways in India. But, try to start as early in the morning as possible to be able to reach Bangalore in time. And avoid the traffic in the city which starts to build up in the day.

Hope you enjoyed this virtual Kerala road trip with us. And the alternative Kerala road trip itineraries that I have suggested for Bangalore to Kerala road trip will help you plan your trip to Kerala in the best way that suites you. Do share your thoughts on how you liked the post…..

General tips on planning this road trip across Kerala

1. Start most of your days on this trip as early as possible. We missed a few spots here and there because we started our day little late.
2. Most of the highways in Kerala are 2 lanes only, which means you often will drive slower than anticipated by google.
3. Buy Kerala chips from Alleppey and homemade chocolates from Munnar, spices from Kanyakumari or Kovalam.
4. This trip itinerary mostly covers naturally beautiful places in Kerala. If you want to include temples and museums, please feel free to add more days as required.
5. Finding clean washrooms can be a task, so, use one when you see one 🙂
6. Cards work everywhere, in shops and petrol pumps. If not cards then phone pay works. So, you really don’t need to carry too much cash on you.
7. Pack for both beach vacation as well as winter vacation as you are going to encounter both cold and hot climates on this one week trip to Kerala itself!
8. Have general medicines and latest prescription with you.
9. Also, pack your swimwear for the coastal resorts and beaches.
10. Wear comfortable shoes at all hilly places and slippers on beaches. I forgot to change into my shoes in Athirapally and ended up slipping and spraining my ankle which troubled me for next few days.
11. Carry mosquito repellants with you. Even the best of best hotels that we stayed at had mosquitos.
12. If possible, return to Bangalore on a week day as weekends are getting very busy, particularly after entering the city, it takes a lot of time to reach our home.
13. Also, try visiting in off season, and avoid holiday seasons, we had to drop quiet a few sightseeing because of rush, particularly in Munnar.
14. The roads in Kerala are narrow. Even the national highways in Kerala are only 2 lane. So, you will be forced to go slower than what google map suggests actually. Always add 1-2 hours extra to the suggested time and then plan your day accordingly.

Cost of our one week Kerala road trip itinerary

• We stayed in some high end and some mid budget hotels. Our total cost of stay (with breakfast included) came to INR 35000/- per room which was shared by 2 people. So, INR 17500 per person.
• Most of the time, we had lunch at a roadside south Indian joint and dinner at our hotel. Overall food cost was INR 3000/- per head or INR 6000/- for a couple.
• We mostly visited naturally beautiful places on our one week Kerala road trip itinerary and thus hardly spent over  INR 1000/- on tickets.
• In total, we drove ~2000km on this trip. Our total fuel cost was around INR 15000/-

Overall, for one individual, the cost came to around INR 30000/- for the complete one week trip

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