Unique Insights Into India 
South India Tour
The Silver Nomad

A Journey Through India’s Deep South

I've been travelling India since 1984 and Southern India still blows me away every single time. I created this sixteen day journey across the south - I wanted to show people the India I know and love. Sixteen days is the right amount of time for unhurried touring that allows for those spontaneous moments that make a trip truly memorable. From Bangalore to the backwaters of Alleppey, with some of the most extraordinary places on earth in between. Sitting in a tiny roadside stall, the Meenakshi Temple and spending time in a tribal village that most tourists never reach - this is the India I am so excited for you to see. South India Tour The Silver Nomad

South India Tour The Silver Nomad

Every Discover Life Travel tour supports the Honey Collector Tribes of the Palani Hills - one of India's most impoverished communities, who have lived and worked these forests for generations. As a company we fund practical things that make a real difference - repairs to their homes, clean toilets, basic infrastructure that most of us take for granted. We believe in showing them something simple and powerful - that they matter.

Every group is capped at just eight guests - small enough to feel personal, large enough to share the experience with like-minded people. You travel with two expert guides, an Australian woman and an Indian local who between them know this country inside out. That four to one ratio means you always have someone right there with you. You'll stay at 5 star heritage and palace accommodations and we include everything.

Day 1: Bangalore
Your flight lands at Bangalore International and we are right there waiting for you. Everything is taken care of - transfer, bags, all of it. By this point we already know you and you already know us. We head straight to the Taj West End hotel, Bangalore's greatest heritage hotel, and that is it for the night. You have earned the rest.

Day 2: Bangalore
After breakfast we explore the city - the beautiful Venkatappa Museum, Tipu Sultan's carved teak Palace, the grand Vidhana Soudha best seen as the sun drops, and the Kadu Malleswara Temple, quietly going about its business for centuries.
Optional: After dinner, the ISKCON Temple - vast and unlike anything else.

Day 3: Mysore
Drive from Bangalore to Sriranapatna Fort on the way to a place with a genuinely gripping history of Tipu Sultan. We time this day very deliberately - the Mysore Palace. We time this very deliberately as illumination happens just once a week, 100,000 bulbs lighting up the entire building, one of those moments that stays with you.

Day 4: Mysore
A full day in the city. The Railway Museum is a genuine surprise - old locomotives and royal carriages sitting in the open air, well worth an hour. St Philomena's Church is one of the largest in India and rather beautiful. We visit the workshops where Mysore's famous incense and oils are made and you get to roll your own incense stick, which everyone loves. The afternoon is yours on Commercial Street. South India Tour The Silver Nomad

Day 5: Mysore to Bandipur
We start at Karanji Lake - boating on the water and feeding the peacocks, including a stunning white one. Then the Sand Sculpture and Seashell Museums, both unexpected gems. In the afternoon we drive into Mudumalai National Park and settle into our lodge in Bandipur, spending the night in the forest ready for our wildlife safari in the morning.

Day 6: Bandipur to Ooty
We are up early for our jeep safari through Bandipur - elephant, deer, leopard, and whatever else the forest decides to show us. From there we visit the Thepakadu Elephant Camp, one of the oldest in India, before stopping at Todi Village for a genuine glimpse of forest community life. Then we head up into the Nilgiri Hills to Ooty, arriving in time for a sunset boat ride on the lake.

Day 8: Coimbatore
Today is unlike any other day on the tour. We experience a sound healing session before taking a sacred bath - at the centre of which sits a mysterious stone made of 99% mercury, defying science and drawing people from across India. Then join hundreds of others for a fifteen minute group meditation. Whatever your beliefs, this day does something to you.
Optional afternoon: a cooking class - South Indian home cooking, the kind you will actually be able to recreate when you get home.

Day 9: Kodaikanal
A scenic drive up into the hills, stopping at the Aliyar Dam before reaching Palani for a cable car ride up to the Murugan Temple - one of the most sacred sites in Tamil Nadu and spectacular from every angle. We arrive in Kodaikanal in time for dinner, and after eating you have the option to visit Shalimar Weaves where authentic handwoven scarves and shawls are made - and of course the chance to take one home. South India Tour The Silver Nomad

Day 10: Kodaikanal
We start with a forest drive through the misty hills, followed by Coaker's Walk with its spectacular views across the valley. The afternoon is completely free - the local market, a boat ride on Kodai Lake, the La Saleth Chapel, or simply lounge around at Kodai Lodge. All within walking distance from the lodge.

Optional: an early morning bison spotting trip - we know exactly where they are.

Day 11: Kodaikanal to Madurai
Before we leave the hills we visit a local village and spend time with the Kadukuthadi Tribe - the honey collectors of the Palani Hills and one of the most meaningful stops on the entire tour. Then we drive down to Madurai and the magnificent Meenakshi Temple.

Day 12: Munnar
We start the morning at the Gandhi Memorial Museum before driving up through the spectacular Western Ghats into Munnar. In the evening we visit Punarjani Traditional Village for two extraordinary shows - a Kathakali performance, one of India's most beautiful classical dance forms, and a Kalaripayattu demonstration, an ancient martial art you simply cannot see anywhere else in India.

Day 13: Munnar
An optional early morning hot air balloon flight over the tea estates - from up there it is something else entirely. Then a visit to a Spice and Ayurvedic Garden, a fascinating walk through plants and herbs used for centuries in Indian medicine and cooking, followed by the beautiful historical Neriamangalam Bridge for magnificent views.

Day 14: Kochi
We visit Mattancherry Palace, Jew Town - extraordinary antiques, the Jewish Synagogue, the Spice Market, the Dhoby Khana open air laundry, St Mary's Basilica and St Francis Church - the oldest European church in India. History around every corner. Dinner at the Chinese Fishing Nets as the sun goes down over the Arabian Sea. South India Tour The Silver Nomad

Day 15: Kochi to Alleppey
We start at the Kerala Folklore Museum - three floors of extraordinary costumes, masks, and artefacts collected from across the state, and one of the most underrated museums in India. Then we head to Alleppey and board our houseboat for an overnight stay on the backwaters. As the afternoon light drops across the water we take a canoe through the narrow village canals - a completely different pace and one of my favourite moments of the entire trip.

Day 16: Alleppey to Kochi
We wake on the water for one last morning on the backwaters before making our way back to Kochi airport for departures. Depending on your flight time we stop at the mall for a last bit of shopping and lunch together - a good way to round off sixteen days. Unless of course you are joining us for the optional Agra extension - in which case read on.

Day 16: Agra tour extension - Kochi to Agra
We head to Kochi Domestic Airport for the flight to Delhi, then board the train to Agra. A day on the move - and what is waiting at the other end makes every minute worthwhile.

Day 17: Agra
We visit the Marble Cottage - a stunning display of marble art and craftsmanship that gives you a whole new appreciation for what the Mughal artisans were capable of. Then the magnificent Agra Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, followed by Keoladeo National Park, another UNESCO site in the afternoon - a remarkable bird sanctuary that most visitors to Agra completely miss.

Day 18: Agra to Delhi
We visit the Taj Mahal at sunrise - there is simply nothing else like it on earth. From there we drive to Mathura, the birthplace of Krishna, and visit the Krishna Janmabhoomi Temple, one of the most sacred sites in India. Then we make our way to Delhi International Airport for homeward departures - the end of an extraordinary journey.

A Final Word
I've spent years travelling South India, going back again and again, coming across the places that most tours drive The Kadukuthadai Tribe, the Kalaripayattu demonstration, the bison in the forest at dawn, the sacred bath in Coimbatore - none of these are on the standard tourist trail and that is exactly the point. This is South India as I know it, as I love it, and as I want you to experience it. An unusual route through an extraordinary part of the world, designed to show you something real. South India Tour The Silver Nomad