Magnificent South India
India is a land of great spirituality and rich cultural heritage that has to be like his glorious historical past. The great rulers who governed it have left their magnificent still visible imprint and eternal, palaces, temples, gardens, hunting homes today become protected natural parks.
Day 01: Arrival in Chennai
Arrival at Chennai and meeting with our staff and transfer to the hotel. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Day 02: Chennai
Breakfast and tour of the Tamil Nadu capital: the government museum with bronzes of the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, the British fort at San Giorgio, 1639, the seat of the legislative chamber and museum of colonial objects, the Anglican Church of St. Mary, the 1600, St. Thomas Cathedral, the Kapaleeswarar temple dedicated to Shiva. In the afternoon, excursion to Kanchipuram, visit the Kailashnatha temple, dedicated to Shiva, one of the most ancient Pallava shrines. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Day 03: Chennai / Mahabalipuram / Pondicherry
Breakfast and departure pe Pondicherry with a stop in Mahabalipuram, visiting sacred monuments Dravidian, and temples in the rock, floats, bas-reliefs and sculptures of the Pallava period. Departure for Pondicherry. Visit the city with colonial buildings, boulevards and French-style beaches. Visit of 'Aurobindo Ashram. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Day 04: Pondicherry / Chidambaram / Tanjore
Breakfast and departure for Tanjore, ancient capital of the Chola king, from the early Christian era. Stop to visit Chidambaram with numerous temples like Nataraja, dedicated to Shiva. Arrive in Tanjore. Brihadishwara visit to the XI century temple, dedicated to Shiva, built by King Raja Raja Chola 1, Patrimoniio UNESCO and the Museum with its collection of bronzes of the Chola dynasty. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Day 05: Tanjore / Trichy / Srirangam / Chettinad
Breakfast epartenza to Chettinad. Stop in Trichy to visit the Rock Fort, on a rock that has 3.8 billion years. Visit the Hindu Temple at Srirangam, the largest in the country, dedicated to Vishnu, in seven concentric walls, an 'island in the river. Continue to Chettinad, born from the migration of merchant community that left the Tamil coast because of cyclones and here became financiers, traders, moneylenders, farmers and entrepreneurs and built palaces with colourful decorations, interior Italian marble tiles Japanese, Burmese teak and English steel. In the afternoon, walk in the village. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Day 06: Chettinad / Madurai
Breakfast and departure to Madurai, the Athens of the East. Visit the city, in particular the Meenakshi temple, Dravidian masterpiece of art, visited by thousands of pilgrims in search of spiritual peace. In the evening, return to the temple to attend the evening ceremony of the dormition of the goddess. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Day 07: Madurai / Periyar
Breakfast and visit of the Museum and the royal palace of Tirumalai Nayak. Time to walk in the old city. Drive to Periyar. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Day 08: Periyar / Kumarakom
In the morning transfer to the Nature Sanctuary Periyar (160 km. 4 hours), in Kerala, one of the finest wildlife reserves in India. In the district there are spice plantations and mountain villages. Afternoon boat ride in the park to observe various species of animals, deer, monkeys, wild pigs and elephants, and, for the lucky, tigers. Departure to Kumarakom. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Day 09: Kumarakom / Alleppey / Cochin
Transfer to Alleppey and excursion Kettuvallams, houseboats, originally used to transport goods, today dedicated to relaxing cruises in the "backwaters", canals, rivers and lakes that cross the region, including rice fields, coconut trees and the simple life of the villages. Disembark at Alleppey and proceed to Cochin. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Day 10: Cochin
Breakfast and visit of Cochin, in the '11th century center for the spice trade on the Arabian sea coast and important today seaport. Colonised by the Portuguese, Dutch, from the kingdom of Mysore and the British, its palaces testify to this story. Visit the Mattancherri Palace (Dutch Palace), the Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter with antique street and the Church of San Francesco with the tombstone of Vasco de Gama. It sees the particular operation of the Chinese fishing nets, in use
from 1350, made of teak wood and bamboo. Visit the Basilica of Santa Cruz. In the evening, the Kathakali dance show. Overnight and dinner at the Hotel.
Day 11: Cochin
Transfer to the airport and boarding the flight to return home.
Possible extensions to the Karnataka state (see below) or the sea (or Kovalam Marari)
Day: 11: Cochin / Ooty (Km. 318 Km and about 6 hrs)
Breakfast and transfer to Ooty, popular with the British during the colonial era, at 2285 meters altitude on the Nilgiri hills. Ability to make a piece of way with Toy train that climbs the hills of tea. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Day 12: Ooty / Mysore (km. 160 and about 4 hrs)
Breakfast and departure for Mysore in Karnataka. Stop at Bandipur park. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Day 13: Mysore
Breakfast and tour of the city, with parks and gardens, and the Maharaja's Palace, built between 1897 and 1912. Visit the Roman Catholic Church of Santa Filomena, the most beautiful of Karnataka, built in 1840 AD, with stained glass windows in France . Excursion to Somnathpur Keshava Mandir to visit the X !!! century. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Day 14: Mysore / Belur and Halebidu / Hassan
Breakfast and departure for Hassan. Stop in Srirangapatnam, with the ruins of the Palace of the sultan Hyder Ali and Tipu. Continue to Hassan. Afternoon, excursion to Belur and Halebidu with architecture Hoysala temples in the empire, which ruled the south on India between the eleventh and fourteenth. Visit the village of Belur and the Temple of Channekeshava. Halebid to visit some wonderful temples and Kedareshwara Hoysaleshwara. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Day 15: Hassan / Sravanabelagola / Bangalore
Breakfast and departure to Bangalore (about 210 Km 5 hours). Stop in Sravanabelagola, Jain pilgrimage to the huge statue of Gommateshvara. Afternoon tour of Bangalore, capital of Karnataka, founded in 1537, leader in information technology. Visit the Vidhana Soudha, 1956, neo-Dravidian, seat of the legislative body, and the Palace of Tipu Sultan Muslim who captured it. Visit the Bull Temple with the largest monolithic statue in the Dravidian style of Nandi, the sacred bull of Shiva, covered with garlands and washed ghee. No overnight. Dinner and transfer to the airport.
Day 16: Departure from Bangalore
Transfer to the airport and boarding the flight to return home.
We inform you that all our trips may be changed, if required, according to your needs!