Best location for Stay - Kumily

• Cardamom County Resort - Rs 5000 approx.
• Aranaya Niwas - Rs 3000 to 3500.
• Periyar House.

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Assuming that you start your journey from Munnar to Thekkady, the following places can be explored.

• Breakfast Options:
  
  • Saravana Bhavan.
  • Gujarati Marwadi Bhojnalayae - Pure veg.
  • Tapioca in breakfast with Green chutney is a very popular food recipe in Kerala.

Elephant Abode boating centre – Also, called as the Elephant junction and is located about 27 km from Munnar. It is a sanctuary and beautiful plantation spread and one can enjoy the scenic beauty of the place along with a pleasurable boating experience.
 

• Ticket cost - Rs 30 per person.
• Boating charges:
  • Hi Speed boat - Rs 1100 (5 person for 15minutes).
  • Pontoon boat - Rs 1900  (20 people).
  • Pedal boat - Rs 300  (2 people).
• Proceed further towards Thekkady. 

Lunch options:

• Hotel Sreekrishna – Poopara  which is about 40 km from Munnar, a vegetarian restaurant, well known for its South Indian food.

Periyar spices & Ayurvedic Garden: Periyar Spice and Ayurvedic Garden is located on the Munnar - Thekkady Road, about 20 km before Thekkady. The place is popular for its wide range of spices such as Cardamom, Pepper, Cloves, Cinnamon, Nutmeg etc and ayurvedic herbs such as Aloe Vera, Red Sandal, Amla, Lemon, Grass, Eucalyptus, etc.

• It also maintains a vast collection of orchids, flowers, birds and many more. A spice shop is also located within the farm campus where tourists can purchase a good variety of spices and herbs.
• Rs 100 per person ticket – a guided tour.

Ammu's coffee shop – A popular food joint about 18 km before Thekkady. Banana Fry with onion pakora is a must try delicacy.

Dinner can be taken in Thekkady at the following restaurant:

• Grandma's cafe :  A popular joint with unique interiors serving both vegetarian and non vegetarian cuisine.

Overnight Stay in Thekkady.

Periyar Tiger Reserve – Also known as the Periyar National Park located in the western ghats of Kerala. It is a wildlife sanctuary mainly the home to tigers and elephants, though other animals like deer, leopards, bison etc are also present.

• Apart from animal viewing, boat rides, nature walk, spice plantation are popular activities among the tourists while at this destination.
• Due to higher animal visibility in the morning, tourists start the morning early at around 6 a.m. to buy tickets.
• Tourists are picked up from Periyar & it takes about 20 minutes to reach the tiger reserve. 
• Boating starts form 7:30 a.m.and after reaching the reserve, the remaining  journey is on a  boat where the scenic beauty is worth witnessing.
• If you are lucky, you may get to see elephants or some other wild animals else one can see birds or deer quite easily in comparison. If jungle view needs to be enjoyed, while sitting on the boat, binoculars come handy.

Breakfast can be taken at Hotel Habeeby where Idiyappam with kadala curry is the most popular delicacy.

Elephant Junction –  A popular attraction in Thekkady which is basically a sanctuary having a facility of jeep safari, tiger trails and elephant view.

• 1 hour activity includes elephant ride, bathing, shower and feeding. To bath an elephant is a lot of fun. Also, one can enjoy feeding pumpkins to the elephant.
• An ultimate experience during an elephant ride is feeling of its hair and body against yours, making the elephant ride a must try adventure while at the place.
• The tourists are also provided with a washroom and towel after the elephant ride and shower.
• After the Elephant ride, one can proceed for the jeep safari which is about 4 km from Elephant Junction.

Jeep Safari - The jeep safari is a memorable experience while on the road witnessing nature’s magnificence with mountains ahead and clouds above. Kerala has a lot of coconut trees and during the jeep ride you get to see coconut trees in huge numbers,making it a wonderful experience.  Also, one can witness many banana trees around here, though in small numbers. Another unique feature here is that the variety of plantations change at every few meters travelled.

• You can go to Thekkady jeep safari for a safari expedition ‘Thekkady Jeep Safari - Kumily-Thekkady’  which costs about Rs 2500 and offers 3 types of packages:
  • Vegetable plantations.
  • Tamil Nadu border.
  • National Park Area.

Lunch can be taken Hotel Thekkady Cafe which is located in the main market serving both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food.

Kerala Handicrafts - A very popular shop which has a lot of handicrafts and everything is beautiful to look at. One can buy incense sticks, boats made of wood, Kathakali memento, wood toys and many more at affordable prices.

Tropical chocolate Factory – A famous place which has different varieties of chocolates which one can also buy, situated opposite to the handicrafts shop.

Navarasa Kathakali centre - Kathakali is a traditional dance form of Kerala and the facial expressions are a must see.This Kathakali centre organises this dance for the  tourists to see and enjoy. 

• Entry fees : Rs. 200 per person.
• Time : Daily between - 5pm to 6 pm and 7 p.m. to 8 pm.

Thekkady Kalari Centre -  After the Kathakali show, you can proceed for the Kalaripayattu performance, which is a martial arts form native to Kerala. Martial artists show a lot of techniques for self defence.
It is quite interesting to watch and it takes years of practice to perform such an art professionally, hence it is a must visit  place to appreciate the ancient art form.

• Average ticket price - Rs 200 for 1 hour show.

Dinner can be taken at the Thekkady bus stand. There are various street food stalls starting from 6 pm to 2 am.

• Overnight stay at Thekkady.

You can explore other parts of Kerala, or you can depart for your homebase.