Local Living Tours & Trips in Southern India

Get a real feel for Kerala village life as you watch fishermen cast their nets in Manjira, then try your hand at weaving coconut leaves with local craftspeople. In Thekkady, you'll cook traditional dishes alongside a Keralan family and share a meal in their home.

Head to Munnar's tea plantations and see workers hand-picking leaves before visiting a local factory to watch the processing and try some premium Assam teas. Trek through Eravikulam National Park in the Western Ghats where you'll hopefully spot the endangered Nilgiri Tahr, the only wild goat species found south of the Himalayas, with Anamudi Peak rising to 1,525 meters nearby.

You'll stay on a traditional AC Deluxe Houseboat while drifting through Kerala's backwaters in Alleppey, passing coconut palm-fringed villages where fishermen cast their nets and kids wave from the shore. Up in Munnar's highlands, walk through misty tea plantations and learn about tea cultivation from planting to processing at a working estate.

Take a bullock cart ride through paddy fields near Kumbakonam, passing the ancient Chathurkala Bhairavar and Karkadeshwar temples. Stay 3 nights in Chettinad to see grand merchant mansions and local temples, plus learn about Kalamkari textile art at Mr Ramamohan's house. In Kumarakom, join a cooking demo to make Keralan beetroot curry and shrimp stir-fry, then have lunch on a backwater houseboat.

Cruise through Kerala's backwaters on a traditional houseboat from Kumarakom to Alleppey, passing coconut palms and paddy fields while staying overnight with meals made from fish caught during the trip. In Pondicherry, walk the French colonial streets and stop by Sri Aurobindo Ashram before heading to Kochi's spice markets where Chinese fishing nets line the harbor.

You'll cruise Vembanad Lake aboard a traditional kettuvallam houseboat from Kumarakom to Alleppey, with lunch and dinner served onboard as you pass fishing villages and palm-fringed canals. Stay in 3-star hotels while checking out Kochi's 16th-century Jewish Synagogue and colonial Dutch Palace, then wander through local spice markets.

At a spice plantation in Periyar, you'll see how cardamom, pepper, and cinnamon are grown and harvested by local farmers. Take a boat cruise on Periyar Lake to spot elephants and bison in the wild, then board a traditional houseboat for an overnight trip from Kumarakom to Alleppey through the backwaters.

You'll spend time on a houseboat cruising through Kumarakom's backwaters, watching village life unfold along Vembanad Lake's shores. In Fort Kochi, catch a traditional Kathakali dance performance and wander the historic spice markets filled with cardamom and pepper, then see Belur's Chennakesava Temple with its 12th-century Hoysala details.

You'll get to see authentic village life in Chedamangalam, where women supported by Kerala's Kudumbashree poverty-eradication program prepare traditional sadya lunch served on banana leaves. There's an overnight stay at the 55-year-old Planters Homestay mansion in Erattupetta, surrounded by tropical fruit orchards and teak forests, plus a family cooking demonstration at their private spice plantation near Periyar where you'll learn to prepare Kerala dishes using homegrown cardamom, pepper and nutmeg.