"God's Own Country" is a tourism slogan that, annoyingly, happens to be earned. Kerala is green in a way that surprises people — palm and paddy and tea — and it moves at a pace that makes the rest of India feel like it's in a hurry. The trick to a first trip is to resist cramming it. Kerala is really three landscapes, and the good version does each one slowly.
The backwaters around Alleppey and Kumarakom are the image everyone comes for — a lattice of canals, lakes and villages best seen from the deck of a houseboat as it drifts past rice fields and toddy shops. A night on the water, with the engine off and the birds loud at dusk, is the single most Kerala thing you can do. (There's a separate guide on what a houseboat stay is actually like.)
Up in Munnar and the Western Ghats, the world turns to tea — endless clipped-green slopes, cool air, mist that comes and goes, and viewpoints that make the drive up worth it. It's the cool counterpoint to the humid coast, and the wildlife of Periyar isn't far. This is the part of Kerala people don't expect and don't forget.
Fort Kochi is where Kerala's history shows on its face — Chinese fishing nets, a Portuguese-Dutch-British layer cake, a synagogue in Jew Town, spice warehouses and one of the best café-and-art scenes in the south. Down the coast, Varkala's cliff and Kovalam's sands give you the beach end of the trip. And everywhere, the option of Ayurveda, which in Kerala is a genuine tradition rather than a spa menu.
The comfortable window is roughly September to March, dry and green after the rains. The monsoon (June to August, with a second spell later) is dramatic and beautiful if you're happy to travel wet — and it's the classic season for Ayurveda. Summer is warm and humid on the coast; the hills stay pleasant. Pick your Kerala by how much rain you're willing to romanticise.
Kerala rewards the traveller who slows down to its speed. On a GoRaahi Kerala trip we string the backwaters, the hills and the coast together at the right pace — unhurried, the way the place is meant to be met.
Read next: Packing for Kerala · Staying on a Houseboat · The Food of Kerala
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