Day 01   Arrive Chennai
Arrive: Chennai
Upon arrival in Chennai – you will be met by our representative and transferred to the hotel.

Afternoon city tour of Chennai the sprawling and gracious city on the ‘Bay of Bengal’ is the fourth largest city in India. Visit the Fort St. George once a strong hold of the British, San Thome Cathedral, Marina Beach and the beautiful Mylapore temple.
Overnight at hotel

Day 02   Chennai-Kanchipuram-Mahabalipuram-Chennai
Full day excursion to Kanchipuram and Mahabalipuram

Kanchipuram known as the Golden City of a Thousand Temples, is one of the oldest towns in India. It is famous for both its temples, many of them remarkably well preserved and for its hand-woven silks. Kanchipuram is one of the seven sacred cities of India and it is the only one associated with both Shiva and Vishnu. Visit Ekambareshwar Temple, Kailashnath Temple, Kamakshi Temple, the Vaikunthaperumal Temple, all built in the 7th and 8th centuries. With a weaving tradition dating back to the Pallava era (when silk was the royal cloth), Kanchipuram is justly famous for its particularly fine silk saris, embellished with stunning patterns.

Mahabalipuram is famous for its unique 7th century Shore Temple, lovely beach and some of the most beautiful rock cut temples in the world. Situated on the shore of the Bay of Bengal, Mahabalipuram was already a famous seaport in the 1st century AD. This town was a workshop for temple building. Visit the seven pagoda style shore temples, lashed by the waves of the sea and the seven rathas or temple chariots, a group of monolithic monuments & animal figures carved out of solid rock, the earliest known examples of Dravidian architecture. They were constructed in a single century long burst of creative enthusiasm, starting in the reign of Narasimhavarman 1 (AD 630 68).

Thereafter drive back to Chennai.
Overnight at hotel

Day 03    Chennai – Pondicherry
Morning drive to Pondicherry (180 kms). Upon arrival, check-in at hotel.

Pondicherry, which was up until the 1950s, a far-flung outpost of the French maritime empire. It is so different from the rest of Tamil Nadu that one feels that one has entered another country! This busy coastal town is divided roughly into two: the old White Town of elegant French houses, restaurants & administrative buildings and the Black Town west of the canal where India takes over again.

Afternoon tour of Pondicherry – visit the Eglise De Sacre Coeur De Jesus and Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Later visit township of Auroville or the ‘City of Dawn’. Designed by a French architect Roger Arger, it is an entirely new concept in education and urban living.
Overnight at hotel

Day 04    Pondicherry – Tanjore
Morning drive to Tanjore (190 kms). Upon arrival, check-in at hotel.

Afternoon visit Tanjore – Once the capital of the Chola Empire from the tenth to the fourteenth centuries. A Chola king, Raja Chola, who held the throne from 985 to 1016, built the greatest of the empire's 74 temples, the Brahadeeswarar, with its soaring tower over the inner sanctum. This tower rises more than 62 meters (200 feet). On its dome rests a single block of granite weighing 80 tons.
Overnight at hotel

Day 05    Tanjore – Trichy – Madurai
Morning drive to Madurai (190 kms) enroute visiting Trichy

City tour of Trichy - visit the ‘Rock Fort Temple’ which rises abruptly to a height of 273 ft. A steep staircase cut into the rock leads upto the Fort. At the first level are the remnants of a huge hall blasted into ruins in 1772. The next storey is the Mathrubhuteshwarer Shrine dedicated to Shiva. Finally at the top of the hill, the 'Uchhi Pillayar Koil' - a Ganesh Temple offering a commanding view of the city.

Continue drive to Madurai and upon arrival check-in at hotel.
Overnight at hotel.

Day 06   Madurai
Morning, visit the Meenakshi temple one of the biggest temple complex in India – it is 46 ft. long by 790 ft broad and was built in the 17th Century. It is a rectangular twin shrine: the southern temple dedicated to Meenakshi (the consort of Shiva) and the other to Shiva. The high point of the Meenakshi temple is Hall of a "Thousand Pillars", built in the 16th C which is as great a work of structural engineering as it is of art. Also visit the palace of Tirumala Nayak which is an example of the architectural mastery of the Nayaks a blend of Hindu and Saracen architecture. It’s enormous roofed arcade supported by 48 foot high stoned pillar still stands.

Evening visit of the Meenakshi temple to attend the night ceremony at the temple at 9 P.M. This is a ceremony that takes place every evening when the temple bronze of Lord Shiva is carried to the bedchamber of Parvati. The procession is accompanied by religious prayer and temple music.
Overnight at hotel

Day 07    Madurai – Periyar
After breakfast drive to Periyar (180 kms). Upon arrival, check-in at hotel.

Periyar - Sprawling across 777 sq. kms. of the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats, Thekkady is the home to one of the largest wildlife reserves in India. Alive with exotic flora and vibrant wildlife, it is the perfect getaway tucked away among hills.

Afternoon boatcruise on the Lake of the famous Periyar wildlife sanctuary to see wild life. Periyar an artificial lake or reservoir created by a dam on Periyar River is the heart of the Wildlife Sanctuary where wild elephants, Asiatic Deer, Black Buck and even Tigers come to shores of the lake to drink water.
Overnight at hotel.

Day 08    Periyar – Varkala
Morning drive to Varkala (220 kms). Upon arrival, check-in at hotel.

Varkala, a small seaside town in Kerala, has been a Hindu pilgrimage site since the 12th Century. To this day, the eight-hundred year old Janardhana Temple remains a popular pilgrimage spot. Varkala is also blessed with an unspoilt, golden beach, lapped by the waters of the Indian Ocean.

Afternoon at leisure.
Overnight at hotel.

Day 09    Varkala – Poovar Island
Morning drive to Poovar (110 kms). Upon arrival, check-in at hotel.

Poovar Island is an unspoilt resort enveloped by the most serene backwaters, and opening out to the sea and a dream golden sand beach. Poovar is truly a window into paradise. The tranquility is punctuated by the sound of waves and the birds. The acreage is abundant in well-preserved local flora, with hundreds of species of spices, exotic flowers, complete with banana and coconut groves.

Day 09   Varkala – Poovar Island (contd)
Poovar Island Resort is a mix of floating cottages, and conventional accommodation. The floating units are constructed on hollow lightweight concrete hulls. They are air conditioned and fully equipped with all modern amenities.
Overnight at hotel

Day 10   Poovar Island
Full day at leisure.
Overnight at hotel

Day 11   Poovar Island – Kumarakom
Morning drive to Kumarakom (120 kms). Upon arrival, check-in at hotel. Kumarakom - is a beautiful backwater village on the shores of the enchanting Vembanad Lake, criss crossed with meandering waterways and ancient cottages.
Overnight at hotel

Day 12    Kumarakom – Houseboat
Visit the superb Bird Sanctuary in adjacent wooded marshland - which boasts of egrets, tree pies, black-headed orioles, bee-eaters & a whole host of herons. Afternoon board the traditional rice boats - “Kettuvallam” and begin your journey through the picturesque backwaters and small lakes relaxing in the tranquillity of Kerala's beautiful scenery. Experience the way of life and activity of the local people, the one bedroom house with a lounge is exclusively for you, meals will be served with freshly bought produce from the local markets and cooked on board.

You can relax on the sundeck and watch the way of life and activity of the local people, sipping from a tender coconut and enjoying the sheer peace of the surroundings.
Overnight on board

Day 13    Houseboat - Marari
After breakfast on board. Disembark at Alleppey and proceed to Marari (90 km) and check-in at hotel.
Marari - is one of the picturesque fishing villages that dot the lovely coastline of Kerala. This private, shallow beach is fringed with unending lines of coconut palms.

Marari Beach Resort - is set in a superb location of 25 acres of coconut palm grooves leading down to the vast expanse of beach. The hotel is built in the style of traditional fishing village with thatched villas that have been designed to be keeping with local village style.
Overnight at hotel

Day 14    Marari
Full day at leisure
Overnight at hotel

Day 15    Marari - Cochin
Morning drive to Cochin (60 kms). Upon arrival, check-in at hotel.
Afternoon sightseeing tour of Cochin or "Kochi" the palm green, commercial capital of Kerala which has one of the finest natural harbours & is known as the "Queen of the Arabian Sea". From time immemorial, Arabs, Chinese, Dutch, British & Portuguese seafarers followed the sea route to Kochi & left their impression on the town. Modern Kochi is thus a splendid mosaic of these myriad influences. Visit the Dutch Palace, the Jewish Synagogue, the Church of St. Francis, the Bolghatty Palace & the famous Chinese fishing nets.

Day 15    Marari – Cochin (contd.)
In the evening witness the Kathakali dance performance - Kathakali is a unique dance which has a 2000 year old history with more than 100 different ‘mudras’ or gesture depicting deities, demons, heroes, heroines and kings - each based on episodes from the Mahabharata and Ramayana, the two epic Indian myths.
Overnight at hotel.

Day 16    Cochin- Mumbai
Morning transfer to the airport for flight to Mumbai.
Upon arrival – you will be met and transferred to the international airport for flight for back home.

Day 17    Mumbai - Abroad
Depart: Mumbai