Kerala Backwaters Escape
Destination
After the heat of the Kerala coast, the drive up to Munnar feels like entering a different country. The road climbs through spice gardens and waterfalls until the air turns cool and the hills are covered, slope after slope, in neatly trimmed tea bushes. Sitting at around 5,200 feet (1,600 m) in the Western Ghats, Munnar is Kerala's most popular hill station and one of the best places in South India to walk, breathe fresh air, and see how tea is grown and made.
The name comes from the Malayalam and Tamil words for "three rivers," as the town sits where the Muthirapuzha, Nallathanni, and Kundala streams meet. British planters arrived in the late 1800s, cleared the forests, and set up tea estates that still cover the hills today. Many of these estates are now run by large tea companies, and the old planters' bungalows, estate churches, and workers' villages give the region a strong colonial flavor alongside Tamil and Malayali culture.
For foreign visitors, Munnar is about scenery more than monuments. You come here to walk through tea gardens, watch mist roll off the peaks, look for the rare Nilgiri tahr (a mountain goat), and enjoy a few cool evenings by a fire. It sits comfortably between Kochi and Thekkady in most Kerala tour itineraries and is a welcome change of pace after the coast and backwaters.
Tea estates, Eravikulam National Park, Tea Museum, Mattupetty Dam, Top Station, Kolukkumalai sunrise
September – March
Cool, clear days after the monsoon
2 Days
Add 1 day for treks or Kolukkumalai
Malayalam, Tamil, English.
English understood in hotels and by drivers and guides
Munnar's food mixes Kerala and Tamil cooking, as many estate workers have Tamil roots. Try a full Kerala meals lunch with rice, fish curry, and vegetables, or a Tamil-style breakfast of idli, dosa, and vada. Because of the cool climate, warm dishes like appam with chicken stew and Kerala parotta with beef fry are especially satisfying. Many homestays serve home-cooked meals using vegetables from their own gardens. Don't leave without trying fresh Munnar tea, served sweet with milk in roadside stalls, and good homemade chocolates, which are sold all over town. Strawberry and passion fruit preserves are also local favorites.
The best things to buy in Munnar are tea, spices, and homemade chocolates. Buy tea from the Tea Museum shop or Kanan Devan outlets for fresh, well-packed blends. Cardamom, pepper, cinnamon, and cloves are sold in small spice shops and plantations around town. Eucalyptus oil and other natural oils make simple gifts. The town market is small and practical rather than a shopping destination, and prices are generally fixed in established stores.
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Munnar
The rolling tea estates of Munnar are the main attraction, and you'll see them almost everywhere you go. The best way to enjoy them is on foot, with a local guide leading you along the narrow paths between the bushes. You'll pass tea pluckers at work, small estate villages, and streams running down the hillsides, with wide views over the valleys. Many hotels and homestays can set up a guided tea garden walk of two to four hours. Go in the morning for the clearest views and coolest temperatures, and wear shoes with good grip, as paths can be steep and slippery.
Eravikulam National Park protects high grasslands and the rolling shola forests on the slopes of Anamudi, the highest peak in South India. It's best known as the home of the Nilgiri tahr, an endangered mountain goat found only in the Western Ghats. Visitors enter the Rajamala section by forest department bus from the ticket counter and then walk along a paved road where the tahr are often seen grazing close by, quite used to people. The views over the hills are excellent on a clear day. The park closes for a couple of months each year, usually from around February into March or early April, for the tahr's calving season, so check before planning a visit in that period. Arrive early, as lines for tickets and buses can be long in peak season.
The Tea Museum at the Nallathanni Estate, run by Tata Tea (now part of Kanan Devan Hills Plantations), is the best place to learn how Munnar's tea industry began. Displays include old photos, machinery used by the early planters, and objects from estate life a century ago. A short film explains the history of tea in the region, and you can watch a demonstration of how fresh green leaves are withered, rolled, fermented, dried, and sorted into the tea you drink. There's a tasting area and a shop at the end. The museum is usually closed on Mondays, so plan accordingly.
About 30 minutes from town, Mattupetty Dam holds back a long lake surrounded by tea gardens and forest. Visitors take speedboat or pedal boat rides on the water, and wild elephants are sometimes seen near the shore in the early morning or evening. The nearby Indo-Swiss Livestock Project dairy farm was set up with Swiss help decades ago, though entry for visitors is limited. The road beyond Mattupetty continues to Echo Point and Kundala Lake, making it an easy half-day drive.
On the road to Top Station, Echo Point sits beside a lake where, as the name suggests, your voice bounces back off the hills. It's a popular stop with Indian families and has small stalls selling snacks, chocolates, and fruit. Further along, Kundala Lake is a quieter spot with a dam built in the 1940s, cherry blossom trees that flower in spring, and shikara and pedal boat rides. Both are pleasant short stops rather than full attractions on their own.
At the border with Tamil Nadu, about 1 to 1.5 hours from Munnar town, Top Station is one of the highest points in the area and offers sweeping views down into the Theni valley on clear days. In the colonial period, it was the top of a ropeway that carried tea down the hills to the plains. Views are best in the morning before the clouds rise, and the area can be completely fogged in by late morning during the wetter months. The walk down to the viewpoints is fairly steep, so wear comfortable shoes.
Kolukkumalai is often called one of the highest tea estates in the world, sitting high on the slopes on the Kerala–Tamil Nadu border. It's reached only by jeep on a rough, bumpy track, and most visitors go before dawn to watch the sunrise over the clouds and surrounding peaks. The estate's small factory still processes tea using older, largely manual machines, and short tours are offered on site. It's an early start and a rough ride, but for many travelers it's the highlight of their time in Munnar. Book the jeep through your hotel the day before.
Munnar has several waterfalls that are at their best during and just after the monsoon. Attukal Waterfalls, a short drive from town, tumbles down a rocky slope between the hills and is a nice spot for a short walk. Lakkam Waterfalls, on the road toward Marayoor, has a small pool at the base and a forest setting. Neither is very large in the dry season, but between July and November they're full and worth a stop.
About 1.5 hours northeast of Munnar, in the rain shadow of the hills, Marayoor is known for its natural sandalwood forests, which are protected by the forest department, and for prehistoric dolmens (ancient burial structures). The town also produces marayoor jaggery (sugar from sugarcane). Beyond it, the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary has a drier landscape with deer, elephants, and the rare grizzled giant squirrel. This is a good full-day trip for travelers staying three or more nights.
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Getting there
Munnar is a scenic drive into the hills, usually reached by road from Kochi.
Cochin International Airport, about 3.5 to 4 hours away by road, is the nearest airport
No railway station in Munnar; the nearest major stations are Aluva and Ernakulam, about 3.5 to 4 hours away
Good hill roads connect Munnar with Kochi, Thekkady, Kumarakom, and Alleppey, and with Madurai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu
Tours that include Munnar
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Kerala Backwaters Escape
Kerala Backwaters Escape
Kerala Backwaters EscapeN.S. Rathore & Mrs. Omlata Rathore · Managing Director
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