My best words to you, start your going-to-be amazing trip at Fort Kochi, the heart of Kochi. I hired a self-driven car in Kochi to visit from place to place. Fort Kochi has a significant amount of activities to do and places to visit there. You can expect a lot of foreign people embracing the Kochi culture. The street vendors sell variety of things like food, clothes, artifacts, arts and crafts etc. You’ll notice the beauty of it all. Imagine sitting on the shores of the Ft Kochi Beach, jamming music, eating local cuisines and feel the waves come all the way to your feet as you gaze at the distant ships, boats and cruises passing along in the distant ocean. The famous cuisine here is seafood. You’d be surprised of how fresh and tasty they are. You can watch how fishermen use the Chinese fishing nets to catch a ton of fishes. This is one of the best beaches in the state. The evenings here work its charm on the people by the cool breeze and soft music playing from restaurants and cafes nearby. The hotels provide good service and are affordable. It is also a great spot for short family trip.
Coming up next is Mattancherry, a very famous place for the locals and tourists. This place is home to a lot of famous things. First off, the place was actually called “Ancherry Mattam”, which translates to Bhramin House. The foreigners came up with the name. This place takes you to a different time. You can sense the presence of Portuguese influence. There is the famous Mattacherry Palce Museum which show-cases weapons from a completely different era. . There’s another influence to the place, it’s got own town for it and that’s the Jew Town. The first synagogue started in this very place in 1568. Mattancherry is almost an island that’s distances itself 1km away from Fort Kochi. There’s a lot of festivals of that happens here. One of the best festivals that takes place here is the Biennale festival, which happens every New Year. This place hosts various famous temples like Mattacherry Pazhayannur Royal temple and Palliarakkavvu temple, Gowd Saraswat, Ram Mandir&other Brahmin temples.
The next stop is Marine Drive, which is quite the famous place here. It’s developed state of the art architecture has gathered a lot of visitors who come to leisure away their time. The whole essence of Kochi can be felt here at Marine Drive, starting with the Backwaters. Some of the famous places there are the Marine Walkway, The Rainbow Bridge, The Houseboat Bridge, GCDA Shopping Complex and The China Net Bridge. This is one of the best known cities of kochi where a lot of programmes, festivals etc happen. Marine Drive will you hankering for a lot of delicious cuisines. After that you could enjoy your walk along the Beach. It stretches from Jankar Jetty to Ernakkulam Boat Jetty.
The next stop is Cherai Beach which is a very long beach located near the outskirts of Kochi. The beach is so vast and crowded that you tend to get lost unless you’re with your folks. You can expect a lot of beach sports here, mainly volleyball. The road to this place is quite narrow and curves where you expect it the least. However, once you reach there, the main fun starts. Who knows you might run into someone you know. There are so many water sports and that attracts a lot of tourists. Once again you can see the famous Chinese fishing nets here. The beach in the evening is crowded with families, couples and children playing. This place lies on the north of Kochi and doesn’t have a number of shops near by. However there is a temple where interesting functions take place during festivals.
Now let’s drive all the way to Vypeen islands or sail all the way there from Cherai beach!! This is the best famous place here that mesmerizes visitors. It is home for the Pallipuram Fort, which was constructed in the year 1503. It was done by the early European lads who settled here. This place has a very famous watch tower, where lots of tourists come, especially professional photographers. This place also has resorts to leisure in. Some of the best views of the Arabian Sea can see viewed from here. A lot locals her are from different countries. They’ve come here to settle and teach us different trades too. There are old palaces here and many resorts with top notch facilities. Apart from these, you have the chance to get healthier here, because there are famous ayurvedic centers here. You can witness the spectacular Kathakali performances here on almost a daily basis. A lot of families stay here on brief vacations.
Vypeen is the last place on this near-to-near destination trip. This could be 10 days long but the fact is Kochi has the potential to make you extend your stay, wink wink..