The ancient trading port of Kochi (Cochin) is a good place to start a tour. Stay at Malabar House (
malabarhouse.com), Brunton Boatyard (
cghearth.com) or the cheaper Old Courtyard (
oldcourtyard.com), all in the quiet fort area.
Behind the coast, a network of inland waterways and canals weaves through coconut plantations and riverside villages clustered around white Catholic churches.
Most tour operators offer backwater cruises on converted rice barges. This is a pleasant way to travel, but the scenery doesn’t vary much. It is more interesting – and more ecologically sound – to stay somewhere such as Philipkutty’s Farm (
philipkuttysfarm.com), a collection of villas on a spice island in the backwaters, and take a sunset cruise.
Kerala’s great draw is the Western Ghats, a line of thickly forested hills rising to more than 6,000ft, stretching the length of the state and offering a welcome cool respite from the humidity of the coast. There are convivial homestays in bungalows on spice and tea plantations around Munnar and Thekkady, gateway to the Periyar National Park, where there is a good chance of seeing wild elephant.
No visit to India is complete without a Hindu temple experience, but you don’t have to go far. One of India’s holiest towns, Madurai, in Tamil Nadu, is a four-hour drive from Munnar. Its Meenakshi Temple is one of the most impressive in the country, with processions, performances of music and an endless stream of pilgrims weaving through pillared halls carved with exquisite figures. Stay at the Taj Gateway (
tajhotels.com), above the city.
In Kerala, beaches, as elsewhere in India, are very much the preserve of fishermen. While hotels clean their frontages, a walk along the beach will uncover sands strewn with rubbish, fish scales and human waste. The sea is rough, the water murky, and sunbathing on the beach will attract unwanted attention in these predominantly Muslim communities. If you want a week on a clean white-sand beach by a clear safe sea, combine a tour of India with a week in the Maldives, an hour’s flight from Trivandrum.
That said, there are several delightful small resort hotels on remoter Keralan beaches, ideal for a few days’ post-tour relaxation: notably Neeleshwar Hermitage in the north of the state (
neeleshwarhermitage.com), part-owned by an Englishman; the Marari Beach (
cghearth.com) in Mararikulam, south of Kochi, and the Surya Samudra (
suryasamudra.com) near Kovalam. All offer a range of spa treatments, visits to villages and nature walks.
Goa and Hampi (8)
Charter flights started serving Goa in the late Eighties, selling the state and its golden beaches as India-lite. A Portuguese colony until 1961, it really was a gentle introduction to India in those days. Families called da Souza and Pereira rented out rooms in pretty cottages set in flower-filled gardens to backpackers; richer tourists stayed at the Taj Holiday Village on Candolim beach, north of the capital, Panjim. Roads were the preserve of bicycles and carts, and cows roamed the largely deserted and relatively clean beaches.
Today, in north Goa many of the bungalows have been replaced by concrete guesthouses, the beaches are crowded with salesmen from out of state, and there’s a rave every night fuelled by drink and drugs.
Regular visitors to India now see Goa as a place to relax for a few days at the end of a tour rather than a destination in itself. There is a strong Russian presence in winter at five-star hotels. Money heads for the Leela Beach Resort on Kovalam; smart money for a country guesthouse such as Nilaya Hermitage (
nilaya.com) or Fort Tiracol (
forttiracol.com), in the north of the state, where the beaches are empty and rave-free.
Tour operators offering beach holidays – Thomson, Thomas Cook, Monarch – feature both north and south Goa, selling a fortnight in a three-star hotel for about £1,200 b&b in February. I would head for south Goa, to the quieter sands around
Velsao, Majorda and
Varca, where there are some new resort hotels set in palm-shaded lawns containing large pools. The Alila Diwa Goa (
aliladiwagoa.com) and the Taj Exotica (
tajhotels.com) get high marks.
Tour operators and local agents sell overnight excursions to visit the Taj Mahal in Agra. For a real adventure, take the train to Hampi for a few days. This small riverside village in neighbouring Karnataka sits among the ruined temples, bazaars and palaces of the 16th-century capital of the Vijayanagar kings who ruled all of south India. It is set in a sea of rice paddies shaded by coconut palms and punctuated by boulder hills, like giant tors, that glow orange in the afternoon sun.
There are plenty of thatched-hut guesthouses along the river, notably Shanthi (
shanthihampi.com) and Mowgli (
mowglihampi.com), but the classiest place is Hampi’s Boulders (
hampisboulders.com): simple cottages in a peaceful riverside setting four miles away.
