Southern Explorer & Bollywood

Arrive at Chennai International Airport. Please clear immigration and visa formalities, collect your baggage and proceed to the arrival lounge through the green channel if you do not have goods to be declared to customs. TOTAL HOLIDAY OPTIONS Executive will page you by your group name. Thereafter you will be assisted with a transfer to the hotel. Stay overnight in Chennai.

Chennai formally known as Madras, popularly regarded as the ‘Gateway to the South'. It represents a culture that is distinctly different from that of northern India. This city encourages all forms of development, both modern technology and the traditional arts and crafts and embraces a series of paradoxes. The numerous temples, shrines, forts and palaces are a reflection of the rich and diverse historical heritage of the city. Before we proceed for the sightseeing our tour Manager will brief us about the day tour. we visit the Museum and Art Gallery and Marina beach, one of the longest beaches in the world. Afternoon travel to Mahabalipuram and stay two nights in hotel. 

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We enjoy an excursion to Kanchipuram, the flourishing capital city of the 2nd century Cholas Dynasty, now known as City of a Thousand Temples and one of the seven most sacred cities of the Hindu faith. Visit intricately stone carved 8th century Shore Temples constructed in Dravidian style and now a World UNESCO site. Later visit a silk weavers village, settled around 400 years ago with an enviable reputation, who still use the highest quality silk and pure gold thread.

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We travel to Pondicherry, the town ruled by the French before India got independence in 1947. This French legacy is visible in the well-planned town, neatly laid roads, wide and vibrant beaches, beautiful promenades, architecturally imposing buildings and statues of Joan of Ark and Joseph Francois colonies in India from 1742-54. The day is free to take a stroll in the street in this beautiful town. Stay overnight at hotel.

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After breakfast we enjoy the city sightseeing tour and visit to Rai Nivas, Sri Aurobindo Ashram and explore the medieval town of the French province, the town has managed to preserve its French aura. From its delectable restaurants offering French cuisine and streets bearing French names, Pondicherry's French connection is very much alive. The city’s temples and churches and imposing monuments of the colonial era are some of the sites worth visiting in this small port city. Later travel to Thanjavur and stay two nights at the hotel.

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After breakfast we enjoy an excursion to Thanjavur, the Granary of South India, lying in the deltaic region of the famous river Cauvery and crisscrossed by a lengthy network of irrigation canals. The city rose to glory during the later Chola Reign between 11th and 14th centuries and became the centre of learning and culture. It is also known for its exquisite handicrafts, bronzes and South Indian Musical Instruments. Evening free to explore the local bazaar.

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Today we travel to Chettinad, en-route stopping at Trichy. Visit Srirangam Temple located at River Kaveri and most famed 83 meter high rock on flat land, said to be 3800 million years old. Evening free to explore the local bazaar and witness 18th century wooden carved houses. Later in the evening, we enjoy Chettinad cuisine. Spices are so important to the cuisine – marathi mokku (dried flower pods) anasipoo (star anise), tamarind and saunf (fennel seed) are amongst the favourites used.

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Chettinad is known for its culinary delicacies. Chettinad is also rich in cultural heritage, art, and architecture, and is well known for its houses, embellished with marble and Burma teak, wide courtyards, spacious rooms, and for its 18th-century mansions. Local legend has it that their walls used to be polished with a paste made out of egg whites to give a smooth texture. After breakfast sightseeing tour of Chettinad. One of the main attractions of Chettinad is the huge country homes of the Chettiars. These ancestral houses, that were built more than 100 years ago, have massive high walled structures and were decorated with the finest of wood and craftsmanship. They are packed with imported period furniture, chandeliers, curious, and paintings. Also interesting to see is the Chettinad museum, which is housed in an old converted house. It showcases the traditional jewelry, textiles, household implements and utensils, and all other unique lifestyle products of the Chettiyars. After the visit, we travel to Madurai, the great temple town of South India. The city known as the Athens of the East and is the second largest city in Tamil Nadu. Madurai has a rich cultural heritage which is passed on from the great Tamil era more than 2500 years old. It was an important cultural and commercial center even as early as 550 AD and was the capAmong temples, the must-see is the Meenakshi Sundereshwar Temple, that is famous for its unique architectureital city for the great Pandya kings. Stay overnight in a hotel.

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Start our sightseeing tour of the city, once the capital of the Pandyan King in 550 AD. Visit the magnificent Meenakshi Temple to experience stunning architecture such as the
sculpted pillars that tell the story of the beautiful princess of Madurai and her marriage to Lord Shiva. Later travel to Thekkady, famous for its wildlife sanctuary and enjoy a spice plantation tour to see crops of cardamom, cinnamon, pepper and coffee. Stay two nights at Thekkady.

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Wake up early to enjoy a boat ride in the Periyar wildlife sanctuary to spot various wild animals, birds and reptiles, the sanctuary centrepiece the man-made Periyar Lake, running through the forests of the Western Ghats in Kerala and is known to be home to Tiger , bison, wild boar, sambar, monkeys, wild elephant, antelopes and a wide variety of birds. More than 260 species of birds are found here, like the Great Indian Hornbill, Nilgiri Wood Pigeons, Black-winged Kite, Barbets, Plovers, among many others. Later visit spice plantation. Evening attend a local cooking class and learn to cook Kerala dishes one of the most intriguing cuisines of the world, in a relaxing environment, the class will be held in a traditional home set in the grounds of a working bio-organic spice garden.

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Today we travel to Kumarakom/Alleppey and embark the houseboat, while sailing enjoy palm fringed narrow canals winding through the vast expanse of paddy fields and the neat tiny hamlets lined up along either side of the canals are panoramic sights one can never forget. Flocks of duck swimming around the banks and tiny birds flying across the sky remain as enduring pictures reflecting the charm of this beautiful land. All meals with overnight on board Kerala houseboat.

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After breakfast, we disembark the houseboat and travel to Cochin, set on a cluster of peninsulas and islands in the Indian Ocean. A city tucked in the beauty of coconut palms and endless blue waters; it is one of the important towns in South India, with a natural harbour. Cochin offers a pleasurable blend of charming sightseeing with salivating culinary delights that will surely blow your mind. Afternoon visits the Jewish Synagogue, Dutch Palace and St Francis church, the oldest church built in 1503AD by Portuguese. In the evening explore the local bazaar of Fort Cochin and finish the day by witnessing the Kathakali dance drama cultural show in the theatre. Stay overnight in the hotel.

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After breakfast transfer to airport to board a flight to Mumbai. Assistance on arrival and transfer to the hotel. Touch, feel and experience the Mumbai, a bubblegum glamour of Bollywood cinema, shopping malls full of designer labels, promenading families eating Bhelpuri on the beach at Chowpatty and red double-decker buses queuing in grinding traffic jams. This pungent drama is played out against a Victorian townscape more reminiscent of a prosperous 19th-century English industrial city than anything you’d expect to find on the edge of the Arabian Sea. It’s a city with vibrant street life, India’s best nightlife, and a wealth of bazaars. Remaining evening free to explore and stay two nights in Mumbai.

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After breakfast proceed for a half-day tour of Mumbai visiting the Gateway of India, the most visible landmark of the British Raj built-in 1911 to commemorate the visit of King George V; Dhobi Ghat, the open-air laundry that promises to be a visual experience; Marine Drive; Hanging Gardens; the Gothic Victoria Terminus; and the stately Prince of Wales Museum.

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After leisurely breakfast tour finishes with direct transfer to Mumbai international airport.

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