Kerala

The undisputed highlight of a trip to Kerala is travelling through the 900km network of waterways that fringe the coast and trickle inland. Long before the advent of roads, these waters were the slippery highways of Kerala, and many villagers still use paddle power as their main form of transport. Trips through the backwaters traverse palm-fringed lakes studded with cantilevered Chinese fishing nets, and wind their way along narrow, shady canals where coir (coconut fibre), copra (dried coconut kernels) and cashews are loaded onto boats. Along the way are remote villages where farming life continues as it has for aeons.

Many Keralites rate the northern elevated Wayanad region, which rises to between 700m and 2100m northeast from Calicut, as the most beautiful part of their state. Encompassing part of the Western Ghats' Nilgiri Biopshere Reserve, which spills into Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, Wayanad’s landscape combines mountain scenery, rice paddies of ludicrous green, skinny betel nut trees, bamboo, red earth, spiky ginger fields, slender eucalyptuses, and rubber, cardamom and coffee plantations. It's an excellent place to spot wild elephants. Foreign travellers stop here between Mysuru (Mysore), Bengaluru (Bangalore) or Ooty (Udhagamandalam) and Kerala, and Wayanad is a popular escape for city-based Indians – yet it remains fantastically unspoilt and satisfyingly secluded.

The 345-sq-km sanctuary has two pockets: Muthanga (east) bordering Tamil Nadu, Tholpetty (north) bordering Karnataka. The district's three main towns make good transport hubs – Kalpetta (south), Sultanbatheri (Sultan Battery; east) and Mananthavadi (northwest) – but the best accommodation is scattered across Wayanad.

Set on a magnificent estuary, serene Kochi has been drawing traders, explorers and travellers to its shores for over 600 years. Nowhere else in India could you find such an intriguing mix: giant Chinese fishing nets, a 450-year-old synagogue, ancient mosques, Portuguese- and Dutch-era houses and the crumbling remains of the British Raj. The result is an unlikely blend of medieval Portugal and Holland and an English village grafted onto the tropical Malabar Coast. It’s a delightful place to explore, laze in arty cafes and relax at some of India’s finest homestays and heritage hotels. It's also an important centre for Keralan arts (traditional and contemporary) and a standout place to see Kathakali and kalarippayat.

Mainland Ernakulam is Kochi's hectic transport and cosmopolitan hub, while the historical towns of Fort Cochin and Mattancherry, though well-touristed, remain wonderfully atmospheric. Other islands, including Willingdon and Vypeen, are linked by ferries and bridges.

Perched almost perilously along the edge of majestic 15m-high red laterite cliffs, 50km northwest of Trivandrum, Varkala has a naturally beautiful setting that has allowed it to steadily grow into Kerala's most popular backpacker hang-out. A small strand of golden beach nuzzles Varkala's North Cliff area, where restaurants play innocuous world music and shops sell elephant-stamped trousers, silver jewellery and cotton yoga-mat bags. While it's certainly on the beaten track and the sales pitch can be tiring, Varkala is still a great place to watch the days slowly turn into weeks, and it's easy to escape the crowds further north or south where the beaches are cleaner and quieter.

And despite its traveller vibe, Varkala remains essentially an important temple town: the main Papanasham Beach is a holy Hindu spot, overlooked by the ancient Janardhana Temple. About 2km east of here is busy Varkala town.

The rolling hills around Munnar, South India's largest tea-growing region, are carpeted in emerald-green tea plantations, contoured, clipped and sculpted like ornamental hedges. The low Western Ghats scenery is magnificent – you’re often up above the clouds watching veils of mist clinging to mountaintops. Munnar itself is a scruffy, traffic-clogged administration hub, not unlike a North Indian hill station, but wander just a few kilometres out and you'll be engulfed in a sea of a thousand shades of green.

Once known as the High Range of Travancore, Munnar flourished as a tea-producing area from 1880 onwards. Today it's the commercial centre of some of the world’s highest tea-growing estates, most operated by corporate giant Tata.

Munnar and the surrounding Idukki district were badly hit by the 2018 floods; at research time, road and business repairs were ongoing, but Munnar was very much open to visitors.

Bordering Karnataka in Kerala's far north, Kasaragod district is known for the long, unspoilt, honey-gold beaches at Bekal and nearby Palakunnu and Udma (just north) and Nileshwar (just southeast), as well as for the enormous 17th-century Bekal Fort – all of which are begging for DIY exploration.

Kannur lies 76km southeast of Bekal while Mangaluru (Karnataka) sits 70km north, and you'll probably hear Kannada and Tulu just as much as Malayalam on the streets here. This area is gradually being colonised by glitzy five-star resorts catering to fresh-from-the-Gulf millionaires, but it’s still worth the trip for off-the-beaten-track adventurers. Bearing in mind the sensibilities of the local Hindu and Muslim population, it's best to cover up with a sarong on the beach.

South India’s most popular wildlife reserve, Periyar, encompasses 777 sq km, including a 26-sq-km 1895 artificial lake created by the British. This vast expanse – which became Kerala's first tiger reserve in 1978 (though founded as a sanctuary in 1934) – shelters wild boar, sambar, bison, langur, 2000 elephants and 35 to 40 hard-to-spot tigers. It's firmly established on both the Indian and foreigner tourist trails and known for its scenic lake cruise. But if you dig deeper, perhaps on a trek with a tribal villager or an ex-poacher, Periyar's hilly jungle scenery takes on a wild, magical feel. Bring warm, waterproof clothing.

Kumily is the closest town, with hotels, restaurants and Kashmiri emporiums. Thekkady, 4km south of Kumily, is the park centre, with the KTDC hotels and boat jetty. Confusingly, when people refer to the reserve they use Thekkady, Kumily and Periyar interchangeably. The best wildlife-spotting months are December to April.

Under the Kolathiri rajas, Kannur (formerly Cannanore) was a major port bristling with international trade – explorer Marco Polo christened it a ‘great emporium of spice trade’. Since then, the usual colonial suspects, including the Portuguese, Dutch and British, have had a go at exerting their influence on the region, leaving behind the odd fort. Today Kannur, 80km north of Calicut, is an unexciting, though agreeable, town known mostly for its weaving industry and cashew trade. For travellers, this area's appeal lies in its entrancing theyyam rituals and untouristed golden beaches (particularly Thottada Beach, overlooked by a smattering of easy-going guesthouses).

This is a predominantly Muslim part of Kerala, so local sensibilities should be kept in mind: wear a sarong over your bikini on the beach.

The incongruously salmon-pink Matha Amrithanandamayi Mission, 30km northwest of Kollam, is the famous ashram of one of India’s few female gurus, Amrithanandamayi, also known as Amma (Mother) or ‘The Hugging Mother' because of the darshan (audience) she offers, often hugging thousands of people in marathon all-night sessions. The ashram runs official tours at 5pm daily (check details online or download the Amma app). Many travellers stay overnight or longer term.