Special Interest Tours

Culinary Tours:

Kerala is as famed for its unique cuisine as it is for its beaches and backwaters. Culinary tours offer interested visitors hands-on lessons about the cooking the Kerala way. Discover the many ways rice, fish, meats, vegetables, spices and coconut can be used to turn out tasty dishes. Apart from your daily cooking classes under expert chefs (on a houseboat, if you so choose!), visit spice markets and farms, vegetable farms, a famed sweet market in Kozhikode named – what else! – Sweet Street (MittaiTheruvu) and even fishing communities. It’s not all work on these trips – you also get to sample the richness of Kerala history, culture and geography along the way.

Cycling Tours:

Life up close, in slow motion and at your pace. That’s what a bicycle tour in a small state like Kerala entails. Anywhere from a day to two weeks, it’s the ideal way to delve into Kerala’s many pockets of interest – history, culture, nature. Get off the beaten track! Ride along backwaters, beaches, onwinding mountain trails, through dense forests, tea and pepper estates. The warmth and hospitality of the people along the way is said to be exhilarating – and comes for free!

Adventure Tours:

With its mountains, wildlife, beaches and backwaters, Kerala is made for adventure. Dedicated tour operators offer trekking, hiking, rappelling and rock climbing for the more daring in the hills and forests of Idukki and Wynad (Vagamon in Idukki, offers paragliding facilities and hosts an International Paragliding Festival every year). The ocean and backwaters offer speed boat riding, windsurfing, snorkeling and microlite flying, among others. While a mindboggling variety of animal and bird life in the many sanctuaries will hold wildlife lovers enthralled!

Heritage Walks:

With its rich and varied history, culture, cuisine and natural charm, a heritage walk is a great way to understand Kerala’s many fascinating aspects. Whether it’s a walk through the Fort Kochi area where the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English have left visible legacies, the ancient royal enclaves of Thiruvananthapuram (palaces, temples, museums galore!) or in biological hotspots like the vast Silent Valley area in the Nilgiri hill range with its rare flora and fauna – and the complete absence of the sound of cicadas chirping! – these walks are a unique, not-to-be-missed opportunity to glimpse the land’s beguiling soul.