South India with Ayurveda - Spa & Yoga

Detailed Itinerary

1. Day 1 — Arrival in Chennai

   Chennai greets you on landing. After a smooth transfer to your hotel and check-in, take the rest of the day easy before sightseeing begins tomorrow. Tamil Nadu's capital pairs a long Marina Beach promenade with Fort St. George and Kapaleeshwarar Temple, and is the usual starting point for the Mahabalipuram–Pondicherry coastal route. Don't miss Kapaleeshwarar Temple.

2. Day 2 — Chennai

   There's more of Chennai to see today: Fort St. George.

3. Day 3 — Chennai to Mahabalipuram (Mamallapuram)

   After breakfast, you'll be driven to Mahabalipuram (Mamallapuram), with stops along the way as the route allows. On arrival, check in to your hotel and spend the rest of the day at leisure or exploring nearby. A UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Coromandel coast, Mahabalipuram's rock-cut temples and giant relief carvings were shaped by Pallava-dynasty sculptors directly out of the coastline's granite outcrops. Don't miss the Five Rathas monolithic shrines.

4. Day 4 — Mahabalipuram (Mamallapuram)

   Today brings more time in Mahabalipuram (Mamallapuram) -- Arjuna's Penance rock relief.

5. Day 5 — Mahabalipuram (Mamallapuram) to Puducherry (Pondicherry)

   After breakfast, you'll be driven to Puducherry (Pondicherry), with stops along the way as the route allows. On arrival, check in to your hotel and spend the rest of the day at leisure or exploring nearby. A former French colonial port, Pondicherry's White Town still keeps its mustard-and-white villas, bougainvillea-lined streets and beachfront promenade -- a distinctly different pace from the rest of Tamil Nadu. Don't miss Auroville, nearby.

6. Day 6 — Puducherry (Pondicherry)

   Another day around Puducherry (Pondicherry), with time for the seafront promenade.

7. Day 7 — Puducherry (Pondicherry) to Tiruchirappalli (Trichy)

   After breakfast, drive on to Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). On arrival, check in and take some time to settle in before the day's sightseeing. Trichy is built around a rock fort temple rising straight out of the city, and sits a short drive from Thanjavur's Chola-era temples and Srirangam's vast temple complex. Don't miss Thanjavur's Brihadeeswarar Temple, nearby.

8. Day 8 — Tiruchirappalli (Trichy)

   There's more of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) to see today: the Rock Fort Temple.

9. Day 9 — Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) to Chettinad

   After breakfast, you'll be driven to Chettinad, with stops along the way as the route allows. On arrival, check in to your hotel and spend the rest of the day at leisure or exploring nearby. Chettinad's small towns are known for the grand, tile-and-teak mansions built by a once-wealthy merchant community, and for a cuisine considered among the most distinctive in South India. Don't miss the region's antique mansion architecture.

10. Day 10 — Chettinad to Thekkady (Periyar)

    This morning you'll transfer on to Thekkady (Periyar). Once you've checked in, the afternoon is yours to explore the town at an easy pace. Thekkady is built around Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, where a boat cruise on Periyar Lake is the classic way to spot elephants, deer and birdlife against a forested backdrop, alongside spice plantations on the sanctuary's edge. Don't miss the sanctuary's forest trails.

11. Day 11 — Thekkady (Periyar) to a spice plantation

    This morning you'll transfer on to a spice plantation. Once you've checked in, the afternoon is yours to explore the town at an easy pace. Kerala's spice plantations, tucked into the foothills of the Western Ghats, grow the cardamom, pepper, cinnamon and cloves that gave the old Malabar coast its trading history. Don't miss a guided spice-plantation walk.

12. Day 12 — a spice plantation to the Kerala Backwaters

    After breakfast, you'll be driven to the Kerala Backwaters, with stops along the way as the route allows. On arrival, check in to your hotel and spend the rest of the day at leisure or exploring nearby. Kerala's backwaters are a network of lagoons, canals and rivers running parallel to the coast, best experienced slowly -- by houseboat or canoe -- past villages that live on the water. Don't miss a Kerala seafood meal on the water.

13. Day 13 — the Kerala Backwaters to Kovalam

    After breakfast, you'll be driven to Kovalam, with stops along the way as the route allows. On arrival, check in to your hotel and spend the rest of the day at leisure or exploring nearby. Kovalam's string of crescent beaches, anchored by the Lighthouse Beach, has been drawing travellers for decades for its calm coves, seafood shacks and Ayurvedic spas overlooking the Arabian Sea. Don't miss sunset over the Arabian Sea.

14. Day 14 — Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) · Departure

    Your tour comes to an end today. After breakfast, you'll be driven to Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), with a stop or two along the way as the route allows, in time for your onward flight or journey home.

Gallery

Inclusions & Exclusions

Why Choose This Tour?

• Covers real, on-the-ground India travel experience
• A well-paced, comfortable itinerary — not a race between stops
• Fully customizable to your dates, budget and interests
• A genuine, slowed-down pace built around your wellbeing, not a packed sightseeing list
• Personalised to your health goals wherever the retreat allows it

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