Classic South India

Whether you're a first time or return visitor to India, this tour is a highly recommended itinerary for those wishing to experience the beautiful scenery and rich culture of southern India. Explore some of India's most important pilgrimage sites and temples, taste spices at their source, cruise atmospheric waterways, and experience the multicultural harbor town of Cochin and the exciting city of Bombay.

Begin with in-depth private touring in Bombay (Mumbai), India’s high-energy capital and the home of the Bollywood film industry. Enjoy the city’s wonderful restaurants, markets, and private touring of the most interesting cultural attractions including a private boat ride to caves of Elephanta Island.

Next, fly to Madras (Chennai), for a stay in a private beachfront villa on Covelong Beach. With your private guide and driver, visit important cultural sites in the area including Kanchipuram, one of the country’s holiest Hindu pilgrimage sites, and the seaside town of Mamallapuram, where Pallavan stonecutters produced some of the finest carvings in India.

Continue to Madurai, an ancient city considered the center of southern Indian culture, art, dance and music. Tour the Meenakshi Temple, a temple that buzzes with Hindu pilgrims performing rituals at all hours of the day. In the evening, attend a spectacular ceremonial procession of worshippers. Explore colorful local bazaars and more remote temples.

Next, visit Periyar in the highlands of the Western Ghats—a lush and hilly wilderness of forest, water and wild animals. Visit local spice plantations growing cardamom, pepper, vanilla, tea and coffee and enjoy a boat ride in a nearby wildlife reserve to scout the forest for resident elephants, barking deer and birds.

Next, board a luxury cruise for a three-day exploration of the scenic Backwaters of Kerala—a vast, intricate network of lagoons, canals and lakes. Listen for the birdsong drifting out of the nearby Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary and observe the local life along the waterways. Enjoy gourmet south Indian specialty dishes and witness a performance of the highly ritualized "Kathakali" dance and classical "Mohiniattam" dances, both Kerala traditions. Learn about traditional snakeboat building and visit the home of a local family.

Conclude in Cochin (Kochi), an evocative harbor town stretched across islands and peninsulas on the Malabar Coast. With your private guide, experience the city's rich past flavored from Portuguese, British, Dutch, Chinese and Jewish traders — including a 500-year old church, a 16th-century synagogue and a royal palace. Browse for antiques and perhaps indulge in a traditional Ayurvedic spa treatment—a specialty of southern India.