Family holidays in South India

South India is a dream for kids, as there are three coastlines to run along, wonderful railways, silks and spices, rainforest and plenty of elephants. It isn’t all just dusty monuments and ‘sssh, be quiet’ temples, but there are plenty of fun bits to throw into the mix. One of the other great things about South India is that there are plenty of tour operators organising tailor made trips to suit the ages and interests of your family group. Whether it is wildlife watching in Periyar National Park, taking a sleeper train out to the Tamil Nadu coast, kayaking through Kerala’s backwaters, or mountain biking in the Western Ghat Mountains.

Rajat Kumar Managing Director of our supplier ExplorIndya, shares his top tips for families visiting India: “We don’t realise as Indians how important vacations are to the typical Western traveller, because it isn’t as important for us. We don’t have holidays in the same way, so we don’t realise how necessary things need to be spelt out and why things shouldn’t be left until the last minute. If you think something isn’t clear, always ask for clarification. Ask more questions, and complain when you need to, be direct and open. That is what Indians would do, and you can’t change the mindset.”

Diana Syrett, Managing Director of one of our top suppliers, Kerala Connections: “The Easter holidays are good for families and August/September is still low season in a lot of the lowlands, but you need to book flights well in advance for that time of year. We used to warn people about the second monsoon, in October/November, but it has virtually fizzled out.”