Golden Triangle and Kerala
Overview
- Duration: 13 days / 12 nights
- Departures: Private, any date
- Group size: Private, from 2 travellers
- Accommodation: Comfortable 3–4★ hotels and heritage properties, a hill hotel in Munnar and a private houseboat
- Country: India
Pair the Mughal and Rajput landmarks of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur with the green south: old Kochi, the tea estates around Munnar and a houseboat night on the Kerala backwaters.
This route shows you two very different sides of India in under two weeks. It suits first-time visitors who want the famous monuments of the north and also a slower, greener finish in the south, and it works well for couples, friends and active retired travellers.
The first half is the classic Golden Triangle. You spend two nights in Delhi, take the train to Agra for the Taj Mahal at sunrise, and drive on to Jaipur, where a free day lets you set your own rhythm among the forts and bazaars.
Then you fly south to Kerala. Two nights in Kochi introduce the old trading port, with its fishing nets, churches, synagogue and spice warehouses. Two nights in the tea hills of Munnar follow, before you come down to the Kerala backwaters for a night on a private houseboat and a final free day by the water.
The pace is moderate, with two or three nights in most places and a free day at each end of the trip. Be prepared for a few long road days: Agra to Jaipur, and the drives in and out of Munnar on winding hill roads, each take around four to five hours. The Taj Mahal visit means an early start, and some monuments close one day a week, so we arrange the order of the days around that.
You can add a wildlife stop in Rajasthan, a beach stay on the Kerala coast or extra time in Kochi. Tell us your dates on our plan your trip page.
Day-by-day itinerary
After you land, your driver brings you to your hotel in Delhi and you have the rest of the day to settle in. If you arrive in good time, take a gentle first look at the city in the gardens around Humayun’s Tomb or simply rest, eat well and sleep off the journey before two busy days of sightseeing.
Overnight: Delhi
Start in the crowded heart of Old Delhi with your guide: the great courtyard of Jama Masjid, then a cycle-rickshaw ride through the market lanes of Chandni Chowk. After lunch, see the grand government avenues of Lutyens’ Delhi and India Gate, and end at the Qutub Minar, a tall fluted tower of red sandstone raised in the early days of the Delhi Sultanate.
Overnight: Delhi · Meals: Breakfast
Board an express train for the journey of about two hours to Agra. In the afternoon your guide leads you through Agra Fort, from the red sandstone gateways to the white marble pavilions where Shah Jahan spent his final years, looking out towards the Taj. In the evening, try a Mughlai meal, a speciality of the city.
Overnight: Agra · Meals: Breakfast
Visit the Taj Mahal at sunrise, when the air is cooler and the marble catches the first light. After breakfast, set off for Jaipur, about five hours by road, stopping at Fatehpur Sikri, the abandoned sandstone capital of the emperor Akbar. Arrive in the Pink City in the early evening.
Overnight: Jaipur · Meals: Breakfast
Drive out to Amber Fort, set on a ridge above Maota Lake, and explore its courtyards and the mirrored walls of the Sheesh Mahal. Back in town, stop for photographs at the honeycomb façade of the Hawa Mahal, then visit the City Palace and the Jantar Mantar, an eighteenth-century observatory of giant stone instruments.
Overnight: Jaipur · Meals: Breakfast
Keep this day loose. You might watch hand block printing in a workshop, browse the bazaars for textiles and gems, or climb to Nahargarh Fort for a sunset view over the rooftops. Your driver stays with you, so you can do as much or as little as you like before the flight south tomorrow.
Overnight: Jaipur · Meals: Breakfast
A domestic flight, direct or with one connection depending on schedules, carries you to Kochi on the Arabian Sea. The change of air is immediate: humid, green and slower. In the late afternoon, walk along the waterfront in Fort Kochi, where the cantilevered Chinese fishing nets rise and dip at the edge of the harbour.
Overnight: Kochi · Meals: Breakfast
Walk the old streets of Fort Kochi with your guide, past colonial houses and St Francis Church, among the oldest European churches in India. In Mattancherry, see the Dutch Palace with its murals and the Paradesi Synagogue in Jew Town, then browse the spice warehouses. In the evening, watch a Kathakali performance, with its elaborate make-up and costumes.
Overnight: Kochi · Meals: Breakfast
Drive about four hours inland and uphill to Munnar in the Western Ghats. The road winds past spice gardens and waterfalls before the slopes turn into neat, rolling tea estates. In the cooler air of the hills, the afternoon is free for a walk among the tea bushes or a cup of tea on a quiet terrace.
Overnight: Munnar · Meals: Breakfast
Walk with a local guide along paths through the tea gardens, where pickers work the slopes, and learn how leaf becomes tea at a factory or tea museum. If you like, visit Eravikulam National Park, home to the Nilgiri tahr, a mountain goat found only in these hills; sightings depend on luck and season.
Overnight: Munnar · Meals: Breakfast
Descend from the hills to the backwaters near Alappuzha, about five hours by road. Board a traditional kettuvallam, a rice barge converted into a houseboat with its own crew and cook. Cruise slowly along palm-lined canals past village churches, paddy fields and people washing at the water’s edge, and moor for the night in a quiet spot.
Overnight: Houseboat, Kerala backwaters · Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
After breakfast on deck, leave the houseboat and transfer to a small hotel by the backwaters or the coast nearby. The day is entirely free. Take a canoe along the narrow village canals, cycle along the paths between the paddies, or simply rest in the shade after a long and varied journey.
Overnight: Kerala backwaters · Meals: Breakfast
Your driver takes you to Kochi airport, about two hours by road, for your onward flight. If your departure is late in the day, you can spend a last few hours by the water before you leave. We time the transfer to your flight and confirm it in your quote.
Overnight: — · Meals: Breakfast
What’s included
- Accommodation with breakfast for 12 nights, including one night on a private houseboat with all meals
- Private airport and hotel transfers
- Private car and driver for all sightseeing and road journeys
- Local English-speaking guides for sightseeing in Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Kochi
- Express train from Delhi to Agra
- Domestic flight from Jaipur to Kochi
- Entrance fees to sights in the itinerary
- 24/7 support during your trip
Not included
- International flights
- Visas
- Travel insurance
- Meals not listed, and drinks
- Tips
- Personal expenses
- Optional activities such as the Kathakali performance or Eravikulam National Park
Good to know
Sample itinerary: we adapt the route, hotels and dates to you and confirm everything in your written quote. Best October–March.
You take an express train from Delhi to Agra, about two hours, then travel by private car with your own driver to Jaipur, about five hours including the stop at Fatehpur Sikri. A domestic flight, direct or with a connection, links Jaipur and Kochi. In Kerala you travel by road: Kochi to Munnar takes about four hours, Munnar to the backwaters near Alappuzha about five, and the return to Kochi airport about two. Hill roads are slow and winding.
Frequently asked questions
Houseboats on the Kerala backwaters have private bedrooms with bathrooms, an open deck and a crew who cook Keralan meals on board. Boats stop moving at night and moor in a calm spot. We choose a boat for its upkeep and crew rather than its size.
The hills give you a complete change of scene from the coast: cool air, tea estates and good walking. The drive in and out is long and winding, so if you prefer, we can replace Munnar with extra time in Kochi or a beach stay.
October to March suits both halves of the trip, with dry, warm days in Kerala and pleasant weather in Delhi and Rajasthan. December and January can be foggy and cold in the early mornings in the north. The southwest monsoon reaches Kerala in early summer and brings heavy rain.
