Kerala Family Holiday with Kids and Houseboat

Our representative greets your family at Cochin International Airport with a welcome sign the children can spot easily, and a cool bag of water and fruit juice for the ride. The drive to your hotel takes about an hour, and if you have asked for child seats, they will already be fitted in the car. Your chauffeur introduces himself and tells the children a little about the trip ahead, including the boat they will sleep on later in the week, which usually gets the best reaction. The hotel has a family room or connecting rooms ready so that everyone can settle in quickly.

The rest of the day is for rest and getting used to the warm, humid weather. A swim in the hotel pool is often the best cure for jet lag and long flights, and the kitchen can prepare simple food such as rice, grilled fish, chicken or fresh pineapple if young travellers are not ready for curries. If everyone is awake in the late afternoon, a short walk to the seafront at Fort Kochi gives the first look at the Chinese fishing nets, which are lowered into the sea by teams of men pulling ropes and stones.

Overnight stay in Kochi.

After breakfast your local guide meets the family for a morning in Fort Kochi, kept short and full of things children enjoy. The day begins at the fishing nets, where the fishermen often let visitors help pull the ropes, followed by a visit to the fish market next door, where you can buy prawns or a fish and have it cooked at one of the small restaurants nearby. Afterwards you walk to St Francis Church, where Vasco da Gama was once buried, and the guide tells the children how he sailed all the way from Portugal looking for pepper. The guide keeps the walk short and lively, with stories pitched at a level the children can follow.

In the afternoon you visit Mattancherry, with its spice warehouses and Jew Town, where shops sell everything from antique furniture to colourful wooden toys. The Dutch Palace has painted walls showing stories of gods and monkeys from the Ramayana, though it is closed on Fridays. Early in the evening, the family goes to a Kathakali centre, where you can watch the performers put on their make-up and costumes before a short show. It is quite a sight for children, with green faces, huge skirts and eyes that move to the drumbeat. The make-up process alone takes over an hour, so we usually arrive about halfway through, when the faces are taking shape.

Overnight stay in Kochi.

The drive up to Munnar is broken into easy sections with plenty of stops. About halfway, the car pulls over at the Cheeyappara waterfalls, where water tumbles down the rocks next to the road, and children can stretch their legs and look for monkeys in the trees. You will also pass spice stalls selling cardamom, pepper and banana chips, which make a good snack for the rest of the drive. As the road climbs, the air turns cooler, and soon the hills are covered in neat rows of bright green tea bushes. Your chauffeur knows several safe places to stop for a bathroom break, which is always welcome with small children.

Your resort in Munnar is chosen for families, with space to run around outside and a play area or games room for rainy afternoons. After lunch, the rest of the day is free to settle in. Bring a light jacket or sweater for the evenings, as Munnar can feel cold after the warmth of Kochi. Some resorts offer a short nature walk with a guide, or a campfire with marshmallows in the evening, which children love. Dinner is at the resort, where the kitchen can prepare mild food on request. Some families also enjoy a short game of badminton or carrom in the resort before bed.

Overnight stay in Munnar.

After an early breakfast you drive about 15 km to Eravikulam National Park, home of the Nilgiri tahr, a mountain goat that lives only in these hills. A park bus takes visitors up the slope from the entry gate, and then you walk along a paved path where the goats often come close to the visitors without fear. The park is closed for some weeks in February and March, when the young goats are born, and in that season we switch to a visit to the Mattupetty Dam lake, where you can take a speedboat or pedal boat. Arrive early, as queues for the park bus grow longer by mid-morning, especially at weekends.

In the afternoon you visit the Tata Tea Museum, where a guide explains how tea leaves are picked, dried, rolled and cut, with the old machines from a century ago on display. The visit ends with a tasting, and the children can try a cup of sweet milky tea. On the way back, you can stop at a viewpoint over the tea gardens, where families often take their favourite photos of the trip. Before dinner, there may be time for a short walk through the resort grounds to look for colourful birds. The museum shop sells small packets of tea that make good gifts for grandparents at home.

Overnight stay in Munnar.

The road from Munnar to Thekkady winds down through cardamom plantations and small hill villages, and your chauffeur will stop for tea, snacks and photos whenever the family needs a break. Children often enjoy spotting the different crops along the way, from tall pepper vines wrapped around trees to coffee bushes covered in red berries. You reach Thekkady by lunchtime and check into a hotel with a pool and a garden, close to the edge of the Periyar Tiger Reserve. A quiet afternoon swim helps everyone recover from the winding road. Pack some light snacks and water for the drive, as the roadside stops are mostly small tea stalls.

Later in the afternoon you visit an elephant camp run by a local family, where children can feed bananas and sugar cane to the elephants and, at some camps, help bathe them with a scrubbing brush and buckets of water. The mahouts explain how the elephants are looked after and what they eat in a day, which is usually far more than the children expect. Afterwards, a short spice plantation tour shows where cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom come from, and the children can smell and touch each one. A packet of fresh cardamom from the garden shop is a nice souvenir for the children to take home.

Overnight stay in Thekkady.

This morning starts with a boat ride on Periyar Lake, a reservoir in the middle of the tiger reserve, where dead trees stand in the water like sculptures. The boats run several times a day from Thekkady boat landing, and the first departure, at around 7:30, is the best time to see wild animals coming to drink. Look out for sambar deer, gaur, wild boar, otters, cormorants and, if you are lucky, a family of elephants at the water's edge. Tickets are sold by the forest department and can be limited, so our team arranges them in advance. Life jackets are provided for all ages.

After lunch and a rest at the hotel, the family can go on a short jeep ride through the plantations or simply enjoy the pool. In the evening, you attend a Kalaripayattu show, the traditional martial art of Kerala, which many say is one of the oldest fighting systems in the world. Performers leap, spin and fight with sticks, swords and shields in a small arena lit by oil lamps, and the show lasts about an hour, which suits children well. Dinner at the hotel, with a kids' menu if needed. Arrive a little early to get front-row seats, which give the best view of the action.

Overnight stay in Thekkady.

After an early breakfast, you drive down from the hills to Alleppey, also called Alappuzha, the main town of the Kerala backwaters. Boarding time for the houseboat is usually around noon, and the crew of three, a captain, a cook and a helper, welcomes the family with a fresh coconut drink. The houseboat is a large wooden kettuvallam with bedrooms, bathrooms, a lounge on the upper or front deck and a kitchen at the back. Our family houseboats have rooms with air conditioning at night, and the deck is fenced, though children should always be watched near the water. Before boarding, our team checks the safety equipment, including life jackets in children's sizes.

As the boat moves slowly through the canals, you pass paddy fields below water level, small churches, schools and homes where daily life is lived right on the water. Lunch is served on board, usually rice with fish curry, vegetables and pappadam, and the cook can make milder dishes for children. In the late afternoon, the boat stops at a village so that you can walk along the bank and see coir rope being made by hand, or watch a toddy tapper climb a coconut palm. The boat moors for the night at a quiet spot.

Overnight stay on the houseboat in Alleppey.

Mornings on the houseboat are quiet and fresh, with mist over the water and the sound of birds and passing canoes. Breakfast is cooked on board, often appam with vegetable stew or eggs and toast for those who prefer it. The boat cruises back to the jetty by about nine, and your chauffeur is waiting to take you on the short drive to Marari Beach, a quiet stretch of sand north of Alleppey. The beach is lined with coconut palms and fishing villages, and it is much calmer than the busier beaches further south. There is time for one last group photo on the deck with the crew before stepping ashore.

Your beach resort has a swimming pool and garden, and the beach is just a short walk away. The rest of the day is free for building sandcastles, collecting shells or swimming in the pool. The sea at Marari can have strong currents, especially during the monsoon, so the lifeguard's advice should always be followed, and many families prefer to paddle at the edge rather than swim. Bicycles are available at most resorts, and an evening ride through the village lanes is a pleasant way to end the day. For dinner, the resort can arrange a candlelit table on the sand, with simple grilled fish and fries.

Overnight stay at Marari Beach.

The last morning is relaxed, with time for a final swim, a walk on the sand or a game of beach cricket with the local boys, who are often happy to let visiting children join. After breakfast and check-out, your chauffeur drives the family north to Cochin International Airport, a journey of around two hours depending on traffic. If your flight is in the evening, there may be time to stop at Lulu Mall in Edappally, which has a food court and play area, or to buy banana chips and spices to take home. Let the children say goodbye to the beach while the adults finish packing in the room.

At the airport, your chauffeur helps with the luggage and says goodbye to the family after nine days on the road together, and children often want a final photo with him. Our team confirms your flight times the evening before and stays in touch until you have checked in. Many families leave with a list of things they want to do next time, such as a stay at a tea estate bungalow or a longer cruise on the backwaters. Whenever you are ready to return to India, our team in Jaipur will be glad to help again. We always welcome feedback from the children too, so do share their favourite moments with us.