“A Practical Guide to Help You Plan Your Kerala Holidays”

• Before doing any research, finalize the number of days you can spend on your Kerala holiday. This is crucial as you can decide on places to visit as per your leave only.
• If you are having enough leave from office, go through different tourist spots in Kerala, and with the help of your tour organizer finalize the number of days. In both cases, freeze your arrival and departure dates.
• Once this is finalized, you can book your tickets to Kerala. While booking onward journey, it’s always advisable to book up to Cochin. Trivandrum is another option – book up to Trivandrum only if your first destination is Kovalam or Kanyakumari. Calicut is good only if your first destination is Wayanad.
• Cochin is also spelled as Kochi, and is also known as Ernakulam. While booking a bus you can make the booking to Ernakulam. While booking a train you may book to Ernakulam North or Ernakulam South as some trains stop only at one station. The station code for train booking is ERN or ERS. For flights, make the booking to Cochin or Kochi (location code is COK). By any means, try to reach Cochin as early as possible to cover maximum spots.
• Tourists from Coimbatore, Bangalore, Mysore, Chennai and Hyderabad can reach Kerala by train, flight or bus. From Coimbatore, bus is the best option. If you are traveling from Bangalore, you have all three options. Normally a bus takes 9 – 12 hrs to reach Cochin from Bangalore. Nowadays multi-axle Volvo buses are reaching Cochin in 9 to 10 hrs. This varies on road conditions. There is a check post at Tamil Nadu – Kerala border and very rarely, we have seen buses come late due to checking at this check post. There are lots of buses plying on Bangalore – Cochin route and this is a good option to reach Kerala from Bangalore. You may even check for sleeper buses. A train takes approximately 12 hrs from Bangalore but getting a ticket is the biggest challenge. If tickets are available, this is the best option. In any case, try to book a bus/train which reaches Cochin in the morning. If you are opting for flight, book a flight that reaches at least before noon.
• From Hyderabad, flight or train is the best option. Choose a bus only if nothing works out, as it takes almost 18 hours. Nowadays buses are plying from Mumbai also but use this as your last option, as it is nearly a 36 hour journey.
• From Mangalore you can travel by bus or train. From Mysore, you have the option of only bus, or else you need to travel to Bangalore first and then to Cochin. From Chennai you can travel by bus, train or flight. Bus and train takes almost 12 hours to reach Cochin.
• From Delhi, Ahmadabad or any other destinations to Kerala, you have the option of traveling by train or flight only.
• For those who are coming from other countries, you have the option to come directly by flight. You can also get off at one of the metro city air terminals and come to Kerala by train. You need to do all the booking beforehand to avoid any confusion.
• Once onward journey is booked, you may book return ticket. While booking return ticket, please be careful about timings and destinations. I suggest you book this only after finalizing the package, or at least the itinerary.