Your chauffeur meets you at Cochin (COK) arrivals and transfers you to your Fort Kochi hotel, the layered old town where Portuguese, Dutch and British quarters sit side by side.

An easy afternoon walk takes in the cantilevered Chinese fishing nets on the waterfront, St Francis Church (once Vasco da Gama's resting place), and the spice-scented lanes and antique shops of Jew Town and Mattancherry.

You climb from the coast into the Western Ghats, the road winding past roadside waterfalls, spice groves and the first sweeping tea slopes as you gain altitude toward Munnar at around 1,600 metres.

Arriving by afternoon, you settle into your hill hotel with the cool, eucalyptus-scented air that makes Munnar Kerala's favourite escape from the heat. The evening is free for tea and the view.

The morning is Eravikulam National Park, home to the endangered Nilgiri tahr and, in season, the rare Neelakurinji bloom; a shuttle carries you up to the high-altitude grasslands beneath Anamudi, South India's tallest peak.

In the afternoon the Tata Tea Museum walks you through Munnar's colonial planting history and a live tasting, before a drive out past Mattupetty Dam and the Echo Point lake for photographs.

A scenic morning drive brings you down to Thekkady, gateway to the Periyar Tiger Reserve, one of India's best-known elephant and wildlife sanctuaries wrapped around a lake.

You take a guided cruise on Periyar Lake to watch for elephant, gaur and deer at the water's edge, then tour a working cardamom-and-pepper spice plantation to see how Kerala earned its name in the spice trade.

You descend from the hills to Alleppey (Alappuzha) and board your private Kettuvallam houseboat, a converted rice barge with an ensuite cabin, sundeck and onboard cook.

The afternoon drifts through the palm-fringed canals and lagoons of the Kuttanad backwaters, past paddy fields below sea level and village life on the banks, with a fresh Keralan lunch and dinner served aboard and the boat mooring for the night.

After a sunrise cruise and breakfast on the water, you disembark and drive back up the coast to Kochi for check-in and an afternoon at leisure.

In the evening you attend a Kathakali performance, Kerala's centuries-old classical dance-drama of elaborate make-up, mudras and expression; arriving early lets you watch the performers apply their masks by hand.

A relaxed final morning allows for last-minute shopping for spices, coir and Keralan tea before check-out.

Your chauffeur transfers you to Cochin airport in good time for your onward flight.