Reception at the airport by our local representative or driver who will give you all the travel documents and share the necessary and important information about your South India trip. Transfer to the hotel.

Visit Cochin with your driver in a private vehicle with a visit to the Paradesi synagogue (one of the seven largest synagogues in the region) located in the old town. Then visit the Palace of Mattancherry, built by the Portuguese, which tells the story of the Cochin peninsula on its own. To change the atmosphere, walk to the small colorful market to buy souvenirs. In the evening, traditional Kathakali or Kalaripatayu show. Return and overnight at the hotel.

After breakfast, take the road to Marari, visit the beautiful beaches. Marari is a small less touristy place, you could discover the beaches at your feet and visit the fishermen’s houses and share their way of life. Return and overnight at the hotel.

After a good breakfast, drive to the Backwaters, a huge network of lagoons and canals with several large lakes like the Ashtamudi and the Vembanad, bordered by lush nature and small authentic villages. Visit of villages in the Backwaters. Overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel, then you embark on a traditional “house-boat”, greeted by the crew, composed of the captain and the cook. Lunch on board, and Navigate the canals, lagoons and Vembanad Lake. You enjoy the serene atmosphere that reigns over these calm waters. Dinner on board.

After breakfast, drive to Periyar, a national park south of Kerala. On the road, you will discover superb landscapes of tea and coffee plantations. This region is also known for its varieties of local spices that grow there. Visit the spice garden with a guide who will explain the spices in detail. Arrival and overnight at the hotel.

Early in the morning, continue to the national park for a boat ride on Lake Periyar. True sanctuary for a remarkable fauna, you can admire many animals (elephants, buffaloes, antelopes,) and many birds. Return to the hotel. After breakfast, free time to, if you wish, return to the temple to appreciate the serenity that emerges, its history and its unique architecture. Drive to Munnar and arrive at the hotel, free time. Then choose a meal in an excellent market restaurant or return for dinner at the hotel

Early in the morning, you can take a short hike organized by the hotel, in the tea plantations on the surrounding hills. The rest of the day is spent exploring the city of Munnar with a visit to the tea museum where you will attend the tea preparation ceremony. Visit the large Mattupetty dam with the possibility of a boat trip. Return and overnight at the hotel.

Road to Madurai, the second most important city and the cultural capital of the State of Tamil Nadu, recognized to shelter many temples and to be a sacred city and a high place of Hindu pilgrimage. Visit the famous Hindu temple Meenakshi, dedicated to Shiva and his wife the goddess Pârvatî. This temple is known to be one of the masterpieces of Dravidian architecture and one of the most important working temples in India. Then visit the Gandhi museum and the Nayaks palace (dating from 1636). This palace has been largely destroyed and all that remains is the courtyard and its portico, the imposing 12-meter high pillars, the theater and many statues. The whole is well worth a visit. In the evening, walk to the market where you can buy your souvenirs. Return to the hotel.

After breakfast at the hotel, visit the small town of Chettinad, well known for its cuisine, beautiful mansions and temples. Visit the museum on the history of the region, discover sumptuous palaces and old forgotten residences of the Chettiars, a rich Tamil shopping community. Today, many still belong to the descendants but most are emptied to be simply kept, without furniture. Insofar as their maintenance is expensive, some are dismantled in order to sell the building materials which compose them. Two French architects, Bernard Dragon and Michel Adment, created an NGO in the early 2000s to defend their conservation with the government of Tamil Nadu. They finally obtained the registration of three villages in a UNESCO protection list.

Continue to Thanjavur and visit the Brihadesvara temple built by Rajaraja Chola, an important sovereign of the Tamil Chola dynasty, from 985 to 1014. This temple, a masterpiece of religious architecture, in Dravidian style and listed as World Heritage by the UNESCO is dedicated to Shiva. Then drive to Trichy and its magnificent temples. Visit the temple of Sriranganathaswam, the best known of all, a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu. Return and overnight in Thanjavur.

Early riser and departure for Thanjavur. Along the way, visit the Hindu temple of Chidambaram dedicated to the god Shiva. You will admire many sculptures from the Chola period, a very old dynasty from South India. On the way, stop at Gangaikondacholapuram to visit the masterpiece of the Chola dynasty: the Brihadisvara temple (12th century) known for its large statue of “Nandi” and its exceptional architectural quality. Then drive to Chidambra, a medium-sized city known throughout India for its sanctuary of Natarāja, the “cosmic dancer”, one of the most famous representations of the god Shiva performing his “blessed dance”. Arrival in Pondicherry, a French colony until 1954, now a small town in Tamil Nadu. Transfer to the hotel, free evening for, for example,