Alleppey (Alappuzha) travel guide

Houseboats, palm-lined canals and paddy fields below sea level. Most people stay 2–3 nights. Best months: Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar.

Highlights

• Overnight houseboat
• Country-canoe canal tour
• Kuttanad paddy fields
• Marari beach
• Nehru Trophy Boat Race (August)

Things to do in Alleppey (Alappuzha)

• Overnight houseboat cruise on the backwaters · Full day · about ₹6,000 per person. Boarding is around noon and check-out around 9am; boats cruise until about 5:30pm, then moor. Meals by the onboard cook are included. Check the licence, the route (Kuttanad paddy canals beat the crowded main channel) and AC hours before paying.
• Country-canoe tour of the narrow canals · 3 h · about ₹900 per person. Paddled or small motor canoes slip into village canals around Kainakary with breakfast or lunch at a home; quieter than a houseboat.
• Sunrise kayaking in Kuttanad · 3 h · about ₹1,500 per person
• Alappuzha beach and old pier at sunset · 1.5 h · free
• Marari beach afternoon · 3 h · free. A quiet fishing beach 30 min north; swim only in calm conditions, as currents can be strong.
• Toddy shop lunch (karimeen and kappa) · 1.5 h · about ₹600 per person. Kerala's licensed toddy shops serve some of the spiciest local food; the better ones have family rooms.
• Nehru Trophy Boat Race on Punnamada Lake · 6 h · about ₹1,000 per person. Held on the second Saturday of August (subject to change); 100-plus-oar snake boats race in front of packed stands. Buy gallery tickets in advance.

Where to stay in Alleppey (Alappuzha)

• Alleppey town and canal homestays (budget, ₹1,200–₹3,000 a night): Simple rooms near the boat jetty and station; hosts arrange canoes and houseboats.
• Punnamada and Kuttanad backwater resorts (mid, ₹4,500–₹10,000 a night): Cottages on the canals, with canoe trips from the jetty.
• Marari beach and lakefront resorts (premium, ₹12,000–₹32,000 a night): Quiet beach or lake resorts, 30 min from the houseboat jetties.

What to eat

• Karimeen fry, kappa and spicy fish curry: Licensed toddy shops and canal restaurants
• Houseboat lunch of Kerala meals: Cooked on board by the houseboat crew

Getting there

• ~1.5h to Kochi (train ~1.25h)
• ~1.25h to Kumarakom
• ~2.5–3h to Varkala
• ~4h to Thekkady

Good to know

• Houseboats must stop cruising around 5:30pm and moor overnight; AC usually runs only at night.
• Late December and long weekends: houseboat prices rise sharply and the main canals get crowded.

Kerala itineraries with Alleppey (Alappuzha)

• Backwaters and beach: Alleppey and Varkala · 6 days, Alleppey (Alappuzha) → Varkala · from ₹31,875 per person, base estimate before flights. A houseboat or canal homestay in Alleppey, then three nights on Varkala's cliffs for sunsets, surf lessons and Ayurveda.
• Kerala in five nights: Kochi, Munnar and the backwaters · 6 days, Kochi (Fort Kochi) → Munnar → Alleppey (Alappuzha) · from ₹27,585 per person, base estimate before flights. The essentials when time is short: Fort Kochi, two nights among Munnar's tea estates and a houseboat night on the Alleppey backwaters.
• Monsoon Kerala: Kochi, a houseboat and Kumarakom · 6 days, Kochi (Fort Kochi) → Alleppey (Alappuzha) → Kumarakom · from ₹29,975 per person, base estimate before flights. Kerala in the rains is green, quiet and cheap: Kochi's museums and food, a houseboat in the downpour and a lake resort for monsoon Ayurveda. Time it for the Nehru Trophy Boat Race in August.
• Slow backwaters: Kumarakom and Alleppey · 6 days, Kumarakom → Alleppey (Alappuzha) · from ₹35,200 per person, base estimate before flights. Five unhurried nights on the water: village canals and birdlife in Kumarakom, then a houseboat night and canoe trips in Kuttanad's paddy country.
• Family Kerala: Kochi, Athirappilly, Munnar and a houseboat · 7 days, Kochi (Fort Kochi) → Munnar → Alleppey (Alappuzha) · from ₹38,600 per person, base estimate before flights. Short drives and big sights for children: the Chinese nets and Kathakali make-up in Kochi, Kerala's largest waterfall, tahr in Munnar and a houseboat.
• Friends in Kerala: Munnar treks, a houseboat and Varkala · 7 days, Munnar → Alleppey (Alappuzha) → Varkala · from ₹33,200 per person, base estimate before flights. A group trip with a bit of everything: a sunrise jeep ride and tea-estate trek in Munnar, a shared houseboat and toddy shop, then surf and cliff cafés in Varkala.
• Kerala honeymoon: tea hills, spice forest and Vembanad · 7 days, Munnar → Thekkady (Periyar) → Alleppey (Alappuzha) → Kumarakom · from ₹37,375 per person, base estimate before flights. Misty estate resorts in Munnar, a jungle-edge night in Thekkady, a private houseboat and two slow days at a lakefront resort in Kumarakom.
• Classic Kerala: Kochi, Munnar, Thekkady and a houseboat · 8 days, Kochi (Fort Kochi) → Munnar → Thekkady (Periyar) → Alleppey (Alappuzha) · from ₹43,160 per person, base estimate before flights. The route most first-timers want: Fort Kochi's old town, Munnar's tea hills, a Periyar lake cruise in Thekkady and a night on an Alleppey houseboat.
• Kochi, the backwaters and Varkala cliffs · 8 days, Kochi (Fort Kochi) → Alleppey (Alappuzha) → Varkala · from ₹40,925 per person, base estimate before flights. Kerala's coast without the long hill drives: Fort Kochi's history, a houseboat on the backwaters and a beach finish on the Varkala cliffs. Fly into Kochi and out of Thiruvananthapuram.
• Budget Kerala by bus and train · 9 days, Kochi (Fort Kochi) → Munnar → Alleppey (Alappuzha) → Varkala · from ₹43,010 per person, base estimate before flights. The full loop on KSRTC buses, trains and ferries with homestays: Fort Kochi, Munnar's hills, a public ferry on the backwaters and a cliff-side finish in Varkala.