Cochin Shore Excursion: Small-Group cochin City Tour

Cochin City tour with backwater cruise :

See the sights when your ship is in port in Cochin and learn more about this beautiful ‘Queen of Arabian sea’. You’ll tour the city center and its many bays on this cochin shore excursion, walk around the princess street, take a stroll on the beach and Chinese fishing nets, Enjoy personal attention from your guide on this small-group tour, limited to 12 to 14  people.

Explore the history and sights when you’re in port in cochin, and experience daily life in this laid-back harbor city.

Traveling by air-conditioned mini-coach, led by a local guide, this small-group cochin tour begins according to the cruise schedule. Passing Dutch palace and Jew town, the tour continues through the attractive suburb of Fort Cochin, with its grand British buildings.

9.00 AM Trip will start from cochin port, on the way they can enjoy the village activity Coir making, toddy tapping, coconut plucking and enjoy the river and narrow canal cruise.

12.30 Lunch traditional Kerala lunch with prawns, fish and mineral water

14.00 cochin city tour , visit synagogues and Churches

16.30 Drop at cruise terminal

Cochin, or Kochi to use its Indian name, is one of the favourite cruise ports in India. It’s in the southwest, on the Malabar coast, sitting in a natural harbour that was created by a flood in 1341. Make sure you are awake for the sail-in to watch the sun rise over the misty water and the colourful local boats make their packed way from one side of the city to another.

Cochin is believed to have had trade links with China and Arabia for 2,000 years; 500 years ago the Europeans arrived. First were the Portuguese, when Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India and set up a trading station in 1502. In 1503, Fort Cochin, the first European fort in India, was built.

The British arrived in 1635 but were forced out by the Dutch in 1663. However, they returned in 1791 and stayed until independence in 1947.

The city is divided into two halves — Mattancherry on the south side and Fort Cochin. (You’ll see an area that was within the fort, rather than battlements.) The new town of Ernakulam is to the north. There are museums, shops, restaurants and hotels in Ernakulam, but essentially, it’s a most modern city. Visitors usually stick with the south side, as that is the most attractive and historic area of the city.

A few hours of exploring in Fort Cochin is time well-spent, but one of the biggest attractions of the city is that it is the gateway to the Kerala Backwaters, a drop-dead gorgeous network of canals, rivers and lakes that twist and turn for about 1,150 kilometres. It’s incredibly peaceful and offers a fascinating glimpse into another part of life in India.

You can visit the backwaters alone or on an excursion — the best cruise-line tours use houseboats for the cruising part of the trip. These boats are hand-built, thatched-roof vessels with up to four rooms and can be hired for a couple of days if you are staying in the area. One note, however: a trip to the Kerala Backwaters involves a solid (and life-risking) two-hour ride, each way, from the dock. So it’s a full-day tour that precludes time to explore Fort Cochin.

It’s nearly impossible to see both Fort Cochin and the Kerala Backwaters in just one day. Ultimately, the biggest downside of a visit to Cochin is choosing between the two.