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Thalassery ( also known as Tellicherry) is located 19 Kms towrds South of Kannur. It is a business town in Kannur district. Thalassery is famous for 3 C's- Cricket, Cake and Circus. Thalassery have the following places to be visited
a) Beach
b) Gundert Bunglav
c) Best Drive in beach in India - MUZHAPPILANGADU is 14 kms towards Kannur from Thalassey.

You can take a private taxi or a ticket in train or even private or KSRTC bus from Kozhikode to reach Thalassey. Its around 72 Kms from Kozhikode towards North ( 1hr 10 mnts in express train and 2.10 hrs in a bus or cab). From Kannur it will take 35 mnts to reach Thalassey by anymode. If you need anymore help plz write to me.

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Thankyou Keralaexpert, for such detailed information! Very helpful!

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Hi Lisa,

I certainly think Telicherry is worth a wander for a few hours, though that Footprint guide might be over-selling it a little. There is a bit of charm to the seaside town, but also plenty of bustle and Indian modernity. It's interesting for it's history, and a few sights in town. The most interesting, if you ask me, is the old mosque (I think it's called Odathil Palli) in typical Keralan wooden style. It's one of the loveliest mosques in the state, and well worth a visit. Also worth checking out is the small British fort. Behind the fort are two old churches - one Catholic and one Anglican with a motley collection of old British and Portugeuse tombs. The only other specific sight I can remember in town is a "folly", a rather bizarre piece of architecture over-looking the sea which has been converted into a small public park. Telicherry is known as the city of the three C's: cricket, cakes, and I can't remember the other one, but they were all supposedly first introduced to India in Telicherry. I couldn't find any monuments or indications of these sadly.

The other place around here you might want to have a quick look around is Mahe. It's about 30 minutes further down the coast from Telicherry, and is one of 5 former French colonies in India. Though tiny, it's officially part of the Union Territory of Pondicherry, and therefore has no tax of liquor. It's full of booze shops, but if you look carefully, you'll find some old hints of La France around the town.

By far the most easy way of travelling around here in by bus. Buses leave very frequently on the Kannur-Calicut route (there are also direct Kannur-Telicherry buses), and will pass through both Telicherry and Mahe on the way there. I can't remember journey times exactly, but would guess that Kannur-Telicherry is about 1 hour, and Telicherry-Calicut is 2-3 hours. Telicherry has a bus station, though you can also just stand on the main road and flag down buses, while in Mahe you can only flag down passing buses.

I've never met another tourist who's been to Telicherry, so expect a town not used to seeing too many foreigners about.

Giora

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Hi Giora,
Thanks for such good info! Knowing that not many people bother going there is enough to put it on my list! And I will check out Mahe too, i hadn't come across that, and it sounds interesting. I do prefer the places that aren't as popular with other visitors, as long as it's not for a bad reason!
cheers,
Lisa

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Hi Lisa.
Thalassery's a wonderful place with really beautiful beaches. Don't know about the 19th century shops but the place has a lot of history. Pazhassi Raja, Tipu Sultan, Hyder Ali used to rule the land so there a lot of castles. Bridges made by the british still exists.
All that said, my favourite part of Thalasser is drive through beach, real pleasure that.
This place is IN Kannur. So you should definitely stop by.

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Hey Nevin,
Thanks for the advice - Kannur and thalassery will both def be on my plan!
Cheers,
Lisa

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Hi Lisa,

India is absolutely full of little visited gems, places full of interesting sights and things to see but with very few tourists. I often don't understand why a certain town ends up packed with tourists, while a town with similar charms has almost none. Places like Ahmednagar, Gulbarga, Panipat, and virtually the whole state of Gujarat come to mind. I'm fairly well-traveled in India and have been to many obscure places (catered to my own personal interests evidentally); feel free to ask if you want tips on less-visited places in other parts of the country.

There's not a great deal to see in Mahe, but it is a little quirky. Take a wander along the riverfront near the ocean, where there's a little park with a French-era statue. At the end of the park is the old governor's mansion; it's a government office and you can't go inside, but you can admire the colonial building from the parking lot. If you wander inland, you might chance upon Mahe's old French cemetery. Nearby is a French school (affiliated to the main French school in Pondicherry, I can't remember the official name) where at least one teacher is conversable in French. With an early start, you could visit both Telicherry and Mahe on the way between Kannur and Calicut, though personally I visited as a day-trip from Kannur.

Calicut's a messy city, but there is one neighborhood you absolutely have to visit: I can't remember what it's called, and I have no idea whether or not the guidebooks talk about, but it's west of the train tracks, south of the city's main beach, close to the sea. It's a neighborhood full of centuries-old wooden mansions and mosques, that has somehow managed to keep out most modernizing influences. It's perhaps the most atmospheric neighborhood in Kerala, and the tourist numbers are fairly few.

Giora

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Hey Giora, thanks for the further info on Mahe, and the neighbourhood you mention in Calicut sounds wonderful. Sounds like you have had some interesting travels... I, too, love off the track places, though I found them harder to discover in India than in many other countries, but maybe that's because I was on a more traditional route last time. Gujerat was somewhere I was keen to get to when I was in Rajasthan, but I just didn't have enough time. I find it hard having limited time because it means I end up sticking more to guidebook suggestions, whereas when i have the time to make it up as I go along all kind of opportunities arise to discover wee places the books ignore. I may be getting back to you for some suggestions for the trip after this one too! Have you spent time in Bengal and the north east? Am hoping that will be on the cards for next year.

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In the world of Moplah cuisine Tellicherry ranks very high thanks to Faiza Moosa of Ayesha Manzil of Tellicherry. The Theyam dance performances at the temple are also outstanding.

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Hi Lisa,

I've never been to the North-East - that is one of the parts of India I haven't yet had time to visit myself, and so it's been relegated to "next time" - but I have been to West Bengal, which is one of my favorite parts of India. I'm a big fan of Calcutta, and there are plenty of interesting, non-touristy day-trips you can do out of the city. What I found really lovely was about 10 days I spent traveling in areas in between Calcutta and Darjeeling, where tourists very rarely go. Places like Gaur and Murshidabad are absolutely lovely, and see a small smattering of Indian tourists and very few foreign tourists. I was in Murshidabad for their biggest festival of the year, and saw two other non-Indians there. I would definitely recommend spending sometime exploring Bengal.