Your driver meets you at Kochi airport or Ernakulam railway station and drives about 80 km south to Kumarakom. Have lunch in the backwaters, visit the bird sanctuary in the afternoon and, if you wish, take a boat out on Vembanad Lake for sunset.
- 9:00 AM
Pickup at Kochi airport or Ernakulam railway station
Your driver meets you when you land or arrive. Times below assume a 9:00 AM pickup. If yours is later, we move the day to fit.
- 53 min · 28 km
- 10:00 AM
Breakfast at Aluva
A simple Kerala breakfast such as appam with stew, or puttu with kadala curry. Not included, pay as you eat.
- 1 h 57 min · 69 km
- 12:45 PM
Lunch in Kumarakom
Try the local pearl spot fish. A veg meal with sambar, thoran and rice is easy to find. Not included, pay as you eat.
- 2:45 PM1
Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary
1 h 30 min hereA flat walk under mangroves and coconut palms to a watch tower on Vembanad Lake. Migratory birds are here from about November to February. Check that it is open: it was reported closed for upgrade work in early 2026.
- 5:00 PM
Sunset boat ride on Vembanad Lake
Optional · Priced at the Kumarakom jetty by boat type, ask before you boardA shikara or motorboat on the open lake, about one to two hours. Sunset is near 6:10 PM in December.
- 6:45 PM
Check in at your hotel
If you skip the boat ride, your driver can take you to the hotel after the sanctuary. Dinner at the hotel or a toddy shop family restaurant nearby.
