By road
~55 km from Kochi
South India · Kerala
Alleppey, Kerala
Houseboats drifting still green water · ~55 km from Kochi
Getting there
By rail
Alappuzha (ALLP), right in town
By air
Cochin International Airport (COK), ~60-80 km
Best time to visit
November to February — cool, dry, post-harvest green
Don't miss
Punnamada Lake
Alappuzha Beach and pier
Ambalappuzha Temple
Things to do
Overnight houseboat stay
Village canoe tours
Toddy shop lunch stops
Where to eat
Sources: open-meteo, wikimedia, Photo: Augustus Binu · CC BY-SA 3.0
What to pack
Mosquito repellent, light cottons, a book for slow afternoons
A quieter corner
Kainakary village by canoe — narrow canals a houseboat can't enter
About Alleppey
- Coastal
- Lakeside
Where it is
Alleppey, officially Alappuzha, lies on Kerala's Arabian Sea coast south of Kochi, on a strip of land between the sea and the backwaters of Vembanad Lake, with the rice fields of Kuttanad to the south-east.
History
Alappuzha was developed as a port and canal town in the 18th century under Raja Kesavadas, dewan of the kingdom of Travancore, and its canals earned it the name Venice of the East. The port grew on the trade in spices and coir, and the making of coir mats and matting began here in 1859.
People
Alappuzha's people speak Malayalam, and Konkani is also heard. Coir making, fishing, boat building and rice farming in Kuttanad are old livelihoods, and in August and September village crews race long snake boats, called chundan vallam, on the backwaters.
Known for
- Kettuvallam houseboat cruises
- The Nehru Trophy snake-boat race
- Kuttanad's rice fields below sea level
- Coir making and toddy-shop fish curry
Did you know?
The Nehru Trophy Boat Race on Punnamada Lake began in 1952, when Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited and the people of Alappuzha staged a snake-boat race in his honour.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.