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Southern India Tour (15 days)15 days duration
Your Experience Tour begins on arrival in Chennai where you will be met and taken to your hotel for a relaxing three night stay.
After a leisurely breakfast you will be taken on a half day city tour of Chennai. The afternoon and evening are at leisure to relax or explore the city further. (B)
Following breakfast you will undertake a comprehensive full day tour, including Kalakshetra or the “Temple of Art” and the unique heritage centre of DakshinaChitra.
Kalakshetra is an academy of music and dance. It is amongst the finest of its kind in the country. You have the opportunity to observe the traditional craftsmen and women at work in the centre before driving to the seaside village of Mahabalipuram. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it showcases several antique sculptural marvels which include the spectacular two-spired shrine, unique in that it houses the Gods Vishnu and Shiva in its sanctum. During your visit you have lunch, served in the traditional South Indian way. Following lunch you are taken to the DakshinaChitra Cultural Centre. The centre is dedicated to the preservation, presentation and conservation of South Indian Cultural Heritage. After the visit you will be returned to our hotel. (BL)
You have the morning at leisure before being transferred to the airport for your flight to Madurai, where you will be met and taken to your hotel for a fabulous two-night stay.
Known as the “Athens of the East”, Madurai is more than 2,000 years old and is believed to have been built by the Pandyan King Kulasekara in the 6th Century BC. Later this evening you visit Meenakshi Sundareswarer Temple to observe the evening Aarti Ceremony. (B)
Today you are taken on a full day excursion to the Chettinadu Region including a visit to the famous Chettinadu Mansion. After visiting the mansion you observe a tile making demonstration before having lunch at Chettinadu Palace. Following this you will be taken back to your hotel for tonight. (BL)
NB: There are convenient onward flights to most cities in India as well as internationally.
After enjoying breakfast you are transferred by road to the village of Thekkady. This is a very interesting drive allowing an insight into the life of the locals as we travel past rice paddies and drive through several small villages. As you climb up the escarpment to Thekkady, famous for its spices, you notice a change in climate and vegetation.
On arrival you check into your hotel before going to the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary for an afternoon cruise on the lake to look for wildlife. (B)
Kerala, the spice capital of the world, was wholly dependant, until recent times, on its spice trade and traders came from far and wide to purchase these precious commodities. This morning you visit a spice plantation before travelling by road to Kumarakom.
On arrival in Kumarakom you transfer to your houseboats for a relaxing two-night cruise and stay on board. (BD)
Today you enjoy a leisurely exploration cruise of the Kerala backwaters from the comforts of your private deluxe houseboat. Fringing the coast of Kerala and winding far inland is a vast network of lagoons, lakes, rivers and canals. Floating through these placid waters, passing palm fringed canals, lakes and villages you will be able to observe the locals going about their daily lives. You have our meals aboard the boat as you leisurely meander through this fascinating area. (BLD)
After a leisurely breakfast you disembark at Alleppey and are taken by road to Cochin or “Kochi” as it is also known. Set on a cluster of islands and a narrow peninsula, Cochin is Kerala’s major port boasting one of the finest natural harbours in the world. On arrival you will check into your hotel.
In the afternoon you undertake a short tour to Fort Cochin and embark on a leisurely walking tour visiting the Old City and the market area of Jew Town. You also see the famous Chinese fishing nets of Kochi and may encounter the afternoon catch being auctioned on the beach. (B)
Today is completely at leisure in Cochin. (B)
This morning is at leisure to relax or explore the city further.
In the early afternoon you are transferred to the airport for your flight to Goa. On arrival you will be met and taken to your hotel for an exotic two nights. (B)
You undertake a half day tour of Old Goa, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site with some magnificent Portuguese cathedrals. The most famous of which is the Basilica of Bom Jesus built in the 16th Century.
You have the remainder of the day to relax, soak in the sun on the beach or visit the many traders in the area. (B)
You have most of the day at leisure before being transferred to the airport for our flight to Mumbai or “Bombay”, as it was formally known. On arrival you will be met and taken to your hotel for two fabulous nights. (B)
Today you undertake a very comprehensive city tour which includes visits to the Gateway of India, the Prince of Wales Museum, the Hanging Gardens and Mani Bhawan, the house where the ‘Father of the Nation’, Gandhi, stayed on his early visits to the city.
This afternoon you embark on a tour to savour the ambience of the Mumbai streets using the traditional mode of transportation, a horse drawn ‘tonga’ or “Victoria”, as it is known. The ride will take you from the Gateway of India between the illuminated buildings and monuments of this city that never sleeps, then along Chowpati Beach and the Marine Drive. (B)
Following breakfast your Experience Tour comes to an end as you check out of your hotel and depart for the airport. (B)
Inca Tours does not own any of the hotels, lodges or service providers utilised in making up the tours. As a result Inca Tours is only acting as an agent for the operators and as such does not accept responsibility for any negligence, omissions, errors or differences in standard experienced by passengers when utilising the operators' products or services. Please Note: for full booking terms and conditions please see the back of our booking form.
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