Experience
The reserve's main safari runs on large passenger boats, following the winding arms of the lake and watching for wildlife.
Attractions in Thekkady (Periyar)
3 places to see, with what each one is and how long it takes.
Market
A street of spice shops at the Tamil Nadu border, where quality varies enormously. Buy cardamom by smell rather than by label, and be sceptical of anything sold cheaply as vanilla or saffron.
Experience
An institutional arena in Kumily showcasing daily evening performances of Kalaripayattu, India's oldest traditional martial art.
Elsewhere in Kerala
Not in Thekkady (Periyar) — these are in other towns across the state.
Attraction
India's longest lake. The luxury houseboats run their circuits here, and the traditional resorts stand along its shores.
Attraction
A pillar marking the 1498 landing of the Portuguese explorer.
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Attraction
The protected high-altitude sanctuary famous for hosting the largest surviving population of the endangered Nilgiri Tahr mountain goat.
Viewpoint
The paved path along the cliff top, cafes on one side and a long drop on the other. Sections have been fenced off after collapses and the fencing moves — take it seriously. Steps down to the beach at either end.
Attraction
Two natural stone caves on Ambukuthi Hill housing rare, multi-century old Neolithic rock carvings and petroglyphs.
Attraction
The main crescent beach crowned by a red-and-white lighthouse.
Attraction
The hilltop forest shrine of Lord Ayyappa, reached by a trek from Pamba.
Attraction
The Vatican-recognised hilltop church reached by a forest climb.
Attraction
Cantilevered nets worked by four to six men on a counterweight, along the Fort Kochi seafront. Fewer operate every year and some are now only frames. They are lowered at sunset, which is also when the crowd arrives.
Experience
The 4 km firm-sand stretch open to cars and bikes.
Market
The historic old Jewish quarter featuring a 16th-century synagogue decorated with hand-painted Chinese porcelain tiles and lined with antique shops.
Experience
A historic operational tea estate where visitors can view traditional processing methods and buy premium orthodox leaves.
Attraction
The golden sand stretch below the cliffs, popular for swimming, surfing, and historic ritual sunset cleansing baths.
Experience
Rice grown a metre or two below sea level behind earth bunds, one of very few places in the world where that is done. You see it from the boat: the fields sit lower than the water you are on.
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Experience
The largest earth dam in India, and the islands in the reservoir are hilltops left standing when the water rose. Speedboats run from the shore. There is a long uphill walk from the car park that nobody warns you about.