Kerala is famous for its houseboats and most people get these from Allepey. We visited in low season and other than the houseboats there wasn't masses to do, but if your budget allows to stay on one then I'd recommend as it was such a unique experience.
Where we stayed
Zostel, Allepey- The location was amazing, right on the beach. We arrived from a night bus at 4am and were able to check in and went straight to our dorm. The air con and WiFi were good, the staff were helpful and friendly and it was clean. There wasn't masses to do close by because everything was closed for the season, but it was a genuinely great hostel. Only complaint was that I left watermelon in the fridge and it got served as breakfast, lol. My fault for not labelling it I guess
Houseboat- We stayed on a houseboat for our last night. We got a tuk tuk for 60 rupees from the hostel down to Finishing Point where all the houseboats are, and spent a couple of hours looking at the different ones and finding the price for a night. They seem to all include the same thing which is a double bedroom and ensuite, a sun deck of some description, a driver and a chef who prepares your meals. We got on at 12pm and got off at 9am the next morning. We ended up paying 5500 rupees, so roughly £27.50 each. The boat drove around the very beautiful Kerala backwaters and yeah it was just very cool. Arguably a day trip on a boat or one a canoo tour would have also done the job, but given this wasn't an opportunity you come across every day we decided it was worth it
Things to do in Allepey
The beach- it was a really nice stretch of beach and really empty when we visited. We even found an adorable puppy to play with which was a real highlight
Canoo tours/local boats- if you don't fancy a houseboat there are lots of tours going canooeing on the river or taking the local boats which are a lot cheaper but have the same effect as a houseboat and are a good option if you're on a budget
To be honest, from what we could tell there isn't much else to do in Allepey
Food
There were some nice looking restaurants on the beach but they were pretty much all closed. We found one hotel still serving food and had a good dinner there
Getting to/from
From Wayanad- we took a night bus from Wayanad which was pretty cheap and straight forward. It arrived at like 4am and dropped us at a random petrol station where luckily there was a tuk tuk filling up which took us to the hostel.
To Varkala
From Allepey we went to Varkala. This journey was more complicated than anticipated, and we took a train about half way and changed to a bus. The bus station was on the outskirts of Kochi but despite being told by everyone the bus was hourly, there wasn't one for 2.5 hours and we were stuck at the bus station waiting for ages which was not ideal, so check first if you can
Laura x
Where we stayed
Zostel, Allepey- The location was amazing, right on the beach. We arrived from a night bus at 4am and were able to check in and went straight to our dorm. The air con and WiFi were good, the staff were helpful and friendly and it was clean. There wasn't masses to do close by because everything was closed for the season, but it was a genuinely great hostel. Only complaint was that I left watermelon in the fridge and it got served as breakfast, lol. My fault for not labelling it I guess
Houseboat- We stayed on a houseboat for our last night. We got a tuk tuk for 60 rupees from the hostel down to Finishing Point where all the houseboats are, and spent a couple of hours looking at the different ones and finding the price for a night. They seem to all include the same thing which is a double bedroom and ensuite, a sun deck of some description, a driver and a chef who prepares your meals. We got on at 12pm and got off at 9am the next morning. We ended up paying 5500 rupees, so roughly £27.50 each. The boat drove around the very beautiful Kerala backwaters and yeah it was just very cool. Arguably a day trip on a boat or one a canoo tour would have also done the job, but given this wasn't an opportunity you come across every day we decided it was worth it
Things to do in Allepey
The beach- it was a really nice stretch of beach and really empty when we visited. We even found an adorable puppy to play with which was a real highlight
Canoo tours/local boats- if you don't fancy a houseboat there are lots of tours going canooeing on the river or taking the local boats which are a lot cheaper but have the same effect as a houseboat and are a good option if you're on a budget
To be honest, from what we could tell there isn't much else to do in Allepey
Food
There were some nice looking restaurants on the beach but they were pretty much all closed. We found one hotel still serving food and had a good dinner there
Getting to/from
From Wayanad- we took a night bus from Wayanad which was pretty cheap and straight forward. It arrived at like 4am and dropped us at a random petrol station where luckily there was a tuk tuk filling up which took us to the hostel.
To Varkala
From Allepey we went to Varkala. This journey was more complicated than anticipated, and we took a train about half way and changed to a bus. The bus station was on the outskirts of Kochi but despite being told by everyone the bus was hourly, there wasn't one for 2.5 hours and we were stuck at the bus station waiting for ages which was not ideal, so check first if you can
Laura x
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