Featured image: Kerala, India, is a great starting point for those looking to visit this part of the world | Photo by Mariellen Ward

Why Kerala is the perfect destination for first-time visitors to India

by Mariellen Ward

India may have a reputation as a challenging travel destination for first-time visitors, but there’s one region that is known as a soft landing. Kerala, in tropical south India, is famous for welcoming visitors with warmth and gentleness.

Kerala is known in India as “God’s Own Country.” The state boasts incredible geographical diversity that makes it a fascinating place to visit, plus it offers visitors a unique culture and cuisine. Perhaps most important of all, the people of Kerala are very warm and friendly. All in all, Kerala makes for the perfect destination for first-time visitors to India.

Kerala is one of two states that occupy the southern tip of the subcontinent. (The other is Tamil Nadu.) There is a very long coastline on the western side of the state, bordering the Arabian Sea, that is lined with beautiful beaches such as Marari, Chowara, and Kappad and well-known beach towns such as Varkala and Kovalam.

In fact, this is the reason we designed the Remarkable Kerala Women-only Tour (March 2 – 13, 2025), to celebrate the 30th anniversary of JourneyWoman. Join us for the trip of a lifetime. We will be visiting many of the places mentioned in this article – including Cochin, Thekkady, Munnar, the backwaters, and beautiful Marari Beach – and staying in the most gorgeous and sustainable resorts in the state. I will be leading the tour and holding a special evening on March 8 to honour JourneyWoman and International Women’s Day.

The ancient port of Cochin

Along the western coast of Kerala, known as the Malabar coast, are trading ports that have been operating for hundreds of years. . The most popular is Cochin (also known as Fort Kochi), which started trading spices and other goods in the 14th century. I always recommend Cochin as a great place to start your travels in Kerala. There’s an international airport nearby, so you can fly directly to the city. As a bonus, Cochin International Airport was the first fully solar-powered airport in the world!

Cochin, a natural harbour, is on the ocean and is surrounded by a larger city, Ernakulam. But the historic area is very compact, walkable, and friendly. I have stayed in Cochin many times, and walked around by myself night and day, without any hassles. It’s very charming and feels a bit European as there are some old churches and a historic Jewish neighbourhood.

Cochin is a great city for those who like art, cafes, boutique hotels, shopping, eating seafood, and seeing historic sites. It has all of these in profusion, especially for such a small area. Every other year, the city is taken over by the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, an international exhibition of contemporary art. (The sixth Kochi-Muziris Biennale will take place from December 2024 to April 2025.)

The mountains of the Western Ghats

The other border of Kerala, to the east, is dominated by a mountain range called the Western Ghats. The Western Ghats actually runs through a very large swathe of India and is one of the world’s top five biodiversity hotspots. Scientists regularly discover new species of insects, reptiles, and plants in these mountains.

The Western Ghats is the reason Kerala is known as the spice bowl of India. A wide variety of spices are grown there, including pepper, ginger, turmeric, and cardamom. There’s even an area called the Cardamom Hills! Tea and coffee are also grown in the Western Ghats, so a visit to this region can include stops at spice gardens and tea plantations.

Flora is not the only thing that thrives in the Western Ghats. There is also an impressive array of fauna, from wild tigers and elephants to endemic creatures such as Nilgiri tahr (a kind of mountain goat), lion-tailed macaques, and Indian giant squirrels. Many of these can be seen at the renowned Periyar Tiger Reserve.

Munnar and Thekkady are two of the most popular towns in the Western Ghats, and both are great bases for exploring the mountains. They are also home to some luxurious wildlife lodges and spa resorts.

Famous backwater lagoons

You can’t talk about Kerala without mentioning its famous backwaters. The backwaters are a system of lagoons that run from the sea into the interior of the state. It’s a watery world, where transportation is largely by boat, and the local people have developed their own unique culture. Many years ago, wood-and-thatch rice barges plied these waters. But when the industry took a downturn, someone had the bright idea of turning the rice barges into tourist boats (known as houseboats) – and backwaters tourism was born.

To experience the backwaters, you can stay overnight in a houseboat, or better yet – you can stay in a gorgeous resort and explore the backwaters during the day, returning to the comfort of your resort at night. This is what I have always done, and I prefer it.

Kerala is also the home of Ayurveda, which is a time-honoured approach to health care based on natural remedies such as herbal medicine and oil massage. There are probably hundreds of Ayurvedic clinics, hospitals, and resorts in Kerala, from the basic to the luxurious.

More to Discover in Kerala, India

There are also other places to explore in beautiful regions such as Wayanad and Kannur in the northern part of the state. Unique cultural activities such as Kathakali (classical dance form) and Kalaripayattu (traditional martial arts form). Kerala is also India’s leader in responsible tourism: the Kerala Responsible Tourism Mission develops local experiences for tourists across the state.

And I cannot miss mentioning the unique cuisine, which is rice-based, flavourful, and features dishes such as fish or prawn curry; spicy sambar and rasam; appam (a kind of rice crepe) with spicy vegetable stew; sweet payasam, and sadya, which is a meal made of a multitude of dishes and served on a banana leaf.

How to Get to Kerala, India

A tourist visa is required for travel to India. There is only one official website,the Government of India. Do not use a third-party service like Sherpa. Click here for detailed information on getting an Indian tourist visa, with step-by-step instructions.

From Canada, fly Air Canada directly to Delhi or Mumbai, and then take a domestic flight to Kochi (COK). Another option is to take Etihad and fly through Abu Dhabi (AUH). Some flights go directly from Abu Dhabi (AUH) to Kochi (COK).

From the US, travel from a major airport like JFK and fly with Etihad, Emirates or Qatar to the UAE, and then directly from the UAE to Kochi (COK). Otherwise, take a direct flight to Delhi or Mumbai, and then a domestic flight to Kochi (COK). Check for flights here!

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