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Liked the 3 days plan? read on!

Needs further short tour plan? See how to explore Kochi's attractions in 1 Day or 2 Days

Day 1 :

In one day you can explore & soak in the old world highlights of Kochi.

Fort Kochi, Mattancherry & Jew Town areas areas are located across an expansive Vembanad Lake, crisscrossed by ferry services.
First, head  straight to Ernakulam Boat Jetty. Take an auto rickshaw or a city bus via Marine Drive (its a 15 minutes ride from the main bus station and Railway Stations). From the bus stations or Railway stations, city buses can drop you right in front of the Ernakulam Boat Jetty.

Stand in the queue and take the next boat to Fort Kochi or Mattancherry.
A boat leaves in every 30 or 45 minutes. At Rs 6 per head ticket, This is the most value for money part of your itinerary, if you are new to ferries in Kerala's backwaters.

The ferry (locally called boat service) will take a loop around the Wellington Island. Most likely you'll see gigantic ships crossing your path to enter or leave Cochin harbour. What've crossed is one of the oldest natural harbours in the world.

Get down at the Fort Kochi Ferry Boat Jetty. Some services will continue to the Mattancherry Jetty, about 1km down. Both are heritage areas of Cochin.
Fort Kochi
From the Fort Kochi Ferry Boat Jetty walk towards the Chinese Fishing nets area. You can already see this as the boat approaches the jetty. This is these almost every tourisms brochure or advertisement carries, the golden yellow sunset with shiiluted fishing net in the foreground. The seen may not be obvious, till you wait there till the sunset!

1 km west is Vasco da Gama Square, a popular tourism locate & heritage quarter. Explore the area on foot. Visit the St. Francis Church (oldest European church in India) , Vasco da Gama, the first European to reach India by sea, was buried inside this church.

Also cover Dutch Cemetery, the Santa Cruz Basilica, Maritime Museum , Fort Kochi Beach and so on depending on your taste. This area has the old world character, though a tad touristy. There are plenty of open air cafes are restaurants in this area, all aimed at tourists. The whole thing can take anything from 2 hours to half a day.

Try food at Kashi Art Café, Kaasa Kitchen,Kaasa Kitchen, The Food Mill Restaurant or the likes.
There're also shacks next to the chinese fishing net area, for 'candle light' dinner!

Mattancherry & Jew Town

From the Vasco da Gama Square area, head 2 km down to Mattancherry & Jew Town.
Take auto rickshaws or city bus to reach Mattancherry. This is the erstwhile commercial center of Kochi.

Mattancherry has two highlights, not to be missed - the Jewish Synagogue, locally called the Pardeshi Synagogue. Next to the synagog is the Mattancherry Palace, locally called the Dutch Palace.

The Jews's Street leading to the Synagogue has many heritage buildings, spice shops, antique shops and so on along the the narrow and winding streets.

Between the Mattancherry Palace and the Paradesi Synagogue is the Pazhayannur Bhagavathy Temple, the ancestral deity of the Cochin Royal Family. This houses heritage a museum. Museum is closed on Fridays. Synagogue is closed on Friday afternoons, Saturday and on all Jewish holidays.

Once you're done with Mattancherry & Jew Town get back to Mattancherry or Fort Kochi Jetty to take the return boat to Ernakulam Jetty.

Or you can take a circuitous bus ride back to Ernakulam town. The last boat to Ernakulam leaves around 9.30pm.

Watch the traditional art dance Kathakali at the Kerala Kathakali Centre on the KB Jacob Road in Fort Kochi. This is located near the Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica.

Also keep in mind, the Fort Kochi and Mattancherry area has charm, especially in the evenings. Many tourists stay here to experive the vibe, instead of the busy Ernakulam city area.

Day 2 :

Explore Marine Drive. This is the most happening hangout area in Cochin city, along the edge of the Vembanad Backwaters.

From the bus stations or Railway stations, city buses can drop you right in front of the Subhash Bose Park or the next stop, for Marine Drive (get down at Menaka bus stop)

The Southern end of Marine drive is Subhash Bose Park. Northern end is the the Rainbow Hanging Bridge. Further north is the cruise jeties. You can walk 2km along the backwater. In the middle of of Marine Drive is Rainbow Hanging bridge. Get on it for a panoramic. view of the harbor area.

Beyond bridge are the tourist boat jetties. You can take a joy ride or the sunset cruise

KSINC Sagararani offers 2 hours cruise for about Rs 400 per head. Try the sunset cruise with dinner & music on board. Also there are many tourism cruise operators in this area.

A Little ahead is the High Court Boat Jetty. You can take a 5 minutes boat ride to the Bolgatty Island. Bolgatti has Kochi International Marina, a highly rated boutique resort called Bolgatty Palace and Lulu Bolgatty International Convention Center.

Explore MG road Running parallel to marins edrive, 1 km away is MG Road, dotted with main shopping areas and restaurants. Most the cities upscale jewelry and fashion showrooms are on MG road.

MG road has many midrange and upscale restaurants serving authentic Kerala food.

Grand Hotel on MG road is serves authentic Kerala food (upscale). Try Arippa, a budget but popular restaurant, about 1/2km south of Grand Hotel. MG road has metro stations & city bus connections.

Day 3 :

Head to Tripunithura, about 10 km away from the city on the road to Munnar. City bus drop right in front of the Hill Palace Museum. This is the erstwhile palace of Kochi kings. Now houses the heritage museum. You can get direct city bus to Hill Palace from Marine Drive area (10km, 1 hour ride) or main bus stations from the city.