Kerala with children and grandparents

Kerala works well for mixed-age groups, better than most Indian itineraries. The constraint is almost never the sights — it is the drives, and how many times you move.

The drives are the real cost

Nothing in a standard Kerala itinerary is more than four or five hours from the next place. But the hill roads are winding, and three transfers in five days is tiring for a seventy-year-old and unbearable for a four-year-old. Fewer moves and longer stays beats covering more ground.

What involves walking, and what does not

• Mattupetty dam, Echo Point and Kundala in Munnar are roadside. You can see them from the car and walk as much or as little as you like.
• Eravikulam national park is a short bus ride then a walk on a paved path, manageable slowly. It closes for part of February and March for the Nilgiri tahr calving season, so check before you plan around it.
• Fort Kochi is flat and walkable. Mattancherry Palace has stairs.
• A houseboat day asks nothing of anybody, and it is usually the day everyone remembers.
• Kolukkumalai needs a jeep on a rough track at 4am. Skip it with elderly travellers or bad backs.

A shape that works

Two nights in Munnar, one night on a houseboat, two nights in Kochi. Three bases in five nights, two of the drives under four hours, and a rest day built in by definition — nobody does anything strenuous on a boat.

Small practicalities

• High chairs are rare outside larger hotels. Ask ahead if it matters.
• Plain rice and curd is available everywhere, which solves most fussy eaters.
• Pharmacies are in every town and pharmacists are used to advising, but bring what you need for the first day.
• Ask for a car with a boot big enough for your bags plus a pram. A sedan with four adults and a pram does not work.