What to Do in Kerala Beyond the Backwaters (An Honest Guide)

The Backwaters Are Beautiful, But They Are Not the Whole Picture

The Kerala backwaters — the network of lagoons, lakes, canals, and rivers running parallel to the Arabian Sea coast — are one of India's most photographed and visited experiences. A houseboat stay on the backwaters is on many travellers' India itineraries, and with good reason. It is genuinely beautiful.

But Kerala is a state of extraordinary geographic diversity that extends well beyond the backwaters. The Western Ghats form the state's eastern border — one of the world's biodiversity hotspots, with hill stations, wildlife reserves, and tea and spice estates of remarkable quality. The coast is long and varied, with beaches ranging from internationally known to genuinely uncrowded. The food culture is exceptional and extends well beyond what tourist restaurants typically represent.

Here is an honest overview of what else is worth exploring.

The Hill Stations and Western Ghats

Munnar is the most well-known hill destination in Kerala — the tea estate landscape is extraordinary, and the Eravikulam National Park is one of the best places in India to see Nilgiri Tahr in their natural habitat. But Munnar's popularity has consequences for the town itself, which is congested and somewhat overwhelmed by tourist infrastructure.

Wayanad, to the north, offers a different experience: forested hills, coffee and spice plantations, tribal cultural heritage, and significantly less tourist density than Munnar. The wildlife in Wayanad — elephants, deer, and a range of bird species — is genuinely accessible. Wayanad is increasingly an option for travellers who have already done Munnar and want a different kind of hill experience.

The Periyar region and Cardamom Hills further south have a specific character — spice estates, the Periyar Tiger Reserve, and a landscape that feels less developed than the most popular hill areas.

The Coast Beyond the Famous Beaches

Kerala's coast has beaches that range from the crowded and internationally known (Kovalam, Varkala) to genuinely quiet and local. The further north you go along the coast — past Kozhikode and into the Malabar region — the more the beach experience shifts away from the tourist economy and toward something more genuinely local.

Varkala has the specific appeal of its cliffside location — cafes and guesthouses perched above red laterite cliffs above the beach — but it has also been thoroughly developed for backpacker and tourist tourism. The experience it offers is pleasant but deliberately constructed for an outside audience.

Kerala's Food Culture

This is genuinely exceptional and arguably underrepresented in most Kerala travel content.

Kerala cuisine — the full range, including the fish curries of the coast, the specific preparations of Malabar Muslim cuisine in the north, the Sadya (the vegetarian feast served on banana leaf) in its traditional form, and the breakfast culture of appam and stew or puttu and kadala curry — is among the most distinctive and sophisticated regional Indian food traditions.

Finding this food in its most authentic form requires going to local restaurants and homes rather than to the hotel restaurants and tourist-facing establishments that typically make it onto travel itineraries.

Practical Context

Kerala is a state where your experience will vary significantly based on how you approach it. Travellers who stick to the standard circuit — backwaters, Munnar, Kovalam — will have a pleasant and photogenic trip but will not encounter the full depth of what the state offers.

Travellers who are willing to spend time in Kozhikode (Calicut), explore the specific food traditions of Malabar, visit Theyyam performances (a Hindu ritual art form unique to northern Kerala) when in season, or spend time on the less developed parts of the coast will find something genuinely distinctive.

The most useful recommendations for Kerala come from people who have been there recently, spent meaningful time in specific areas, and can tell you honestly what they found valuable and what was more hype than substance. That kind of specific, honest assessment is what makes the difference between a disappointing trip and one that genuinely does justice to what Kerala offers.