South India itinerary: 17 days from Chennai to Kochi
17 days · 16 nights · 10 stays · sample itinerary
Seventeen days across the south: down the Tamil coast to Mahabalipuram and Pondicherry, inland through Thanjavur, Chettinad and Madurai, then over into Kerala for the tea hills of Munnar, Periyar at Thekkady, the backwaters at Kumarakom and Kochi.
It is a sample itinerary — a starting point, not a timetable. Each night has a place to stay, named where one is known; check that it is open and has room before you book. No flight or train is named, and the times in the plan are placeholders. Open it in the planner and it becomes a trip of your own, starting a month from today, with the places to see already on their days.
Day by day
Day 1
Stay: Vivanta by Taj – Connemara, Chennai, Chennai
2 nights
Day 2
Fort St George
Kalakshetra dance centre
Mylapore
Day 3
Chennai → Mahabalipuram
By road · 10:00–12:00
Along the East Coast Road. Times approximate.
Stay: Place to stay in Mahabalipuram (not named — choose one), Mahabalipuram
1 night
Mahabalipuram’s rock-cut caves and temples
DakshinaChitra museum
Day 4
Mahabalipuram → Pondicherry
By road · 10:00–13:00
Along the East Coast Road. Times approximate.
Stay: CGH – Maison Perumal, Pondicherry
2 nights
Day 5
The French quarter
Auroville
Svaram instrument workshop
Day 6
Pondicherry → Thanjavur
By road · 08:00–15:00
By road, stopping at the Chidambaram temple. Times approximate.
Stay: Svatma, Thanjavur
2 nights
Day 7
Brihadeeswarar Temple
Thanjavur Maratha Palace
A bronze-casting workshop and gallery
Kumbakonam and Darasuram temples
A short way out of Thanjavur.
Day 8
Thanjavur → Karaikudi
By road · 09:00–13:00
By road; the Ayyanar shrine at Namanasamudram is an optional stop. Times approximate.
Stay: CGH – Visalam, Karaikudi
1 night
A Chettinad mansion
Chettinad Palace
Day 9
Karaikudi → Madurai
By road · 10:00–13:00
Times approximate.
Stay: Heritage Madurai, Madurai
2 nights
Day 10
Meenakshi Amman Temple
The night procession at the Meenakshi Temple
Day 11
Madurai → Munnar
Journey · 08:00–14:00
How is not stated. Times approximate.
Stay: SpiceTree, Munnar, Munnar
1 night
Eravikulam National Park
A tea estate walk
Day 12
Munnar → Thekkady
Journey · 09:00–13:00
How is not stated. Times approximate.
Stay: CGH – Spice Village, Thekkady
1 night
Boat ride on the Periyar lake
A spice plantation
Day 13
Thekkady → Kumarakom
Journey · 09:00–13:00
How is not stated. Times approximate.
Stay: Coconut Lagoon, Kumarakom
2 nights
Day 14
A day on a houseboat on Vembanad Lake
Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary
Day 15
Kumarakom → Kochi
Journey · 10:00–12:00
How is not stated. Times approximate.
Stay: CGH – Eighth Bastion, Kochi
2 nights
Day 16
The Chinese fishing nets
Mattancherry Palace and the spice markets
Kerala Folklore Theatre and Museum
A Kathakali performance
In the evening.
Day 17
Kochi → Chennai
Journey · 10:00–18:00
Added so the trip ends where it began, in Chennai: change it to wherever you go next. How is not stated. Times approximate.
How the route runs
Two nights in Chennai, then down the East Coast Road to Mahabalipuram and Pondicherry. Inland by way of Chidambaram to Thanjavur, then Chettinad and Madurai. Over into Kerala for a night each in the tea hills at Munnar and at Thekkady by the Periyar reserve, two on the backwaters at Kumarakom, and two in Kochi.
What is left for you to fill in
No flight or train is named, and every time in the plan is a placeholder, marked approximate: choose the services that suit, and set the drive times with whoever is driving. Where a journey says how is not stated, choose how. The places to see have no time of day; add one if it helps.
A stay that reads "not named" is a night with no place to stay yet: choose one. A stay whose note lists others has alternatives worth comparing. Check that each is open and has room for your dates before you book.