Kerala: hills & backwaters

What you can do

• Spend a night on an Alappuzha houseboat, boarding at noon and mooring by sunset
• Walk the Munnar tea estates early, before the mist lifts off the slopes
• Watch a Kathakali performance in Fort Kochi, arriving early to see the makeup applied
• Book a genuine Ayurvedic treatment at a licensed centre rather than a hotel spa

Food to try

Kerala cooks with coconut, curry leaf and tamarind: appam with stew, puttu and kadala, Malabar fish curry and Thalassery biryani. Order a sadya on a banana leaf at least once, and end the day with tender coconut water.

Culture & customs

Kerala is India's most literate state and its calmest corner, where Hindu temples, old churches and mosques share the same street. Remove shoes before entering homes and temples, and dress modestly away from the resorts.