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In terms of history and culture, South India is quite different from the North. The ancient history of the southern India was shaped by dynasties like the Hoysalas, Chalukyas, Cholas and Pandyas while it's culture was influenced by the arrival of the Portuguese and the Dutch. Today, many states and cities of the southern India have transformed into major economic powerhouse for the nation. The Discover South India tour provides you the opportunity to explore almost every aspect which makes the states of southern India unique, popular and worth-visiting. Start your day with a sightseeing tour of Bangalore, known as the Garden City of India. From here, drive to the town of Hassan which has a number of architectural wonders in store for you. At Belur and Halebid, you'll be able to dig out the history of the Hoysala dynasty and explore the Hoysala temple architecture. Next, travel to Mysore, which has such famous attractions as the Mysore Palace, the Chamundeshwari Temple and the Brindavan Gardens. Later, arrive in the utterly beautiful town and hill station of Ooty, tucked away in the Nilgiri Hills. Enjoy a boat ride along the Ooty Lake. Enter into the state of Kerala and get to Cochin which has many remnants of the Dutch and the Jewish colonial times. Vasco de Gama, the great explore, lies buried here. After fully enjoying your day at Cochin, drive to Alleppey where a deluxe air-conditioned houseboat (locally known as kettuvallam) awaits your arrival. Take the houseboat cruise to uncover the beauty of the shimmering backwaters of Kerala and enjoy the views of paddy fields and coconut groves. Your next halt is Thekkady where the very popular Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary is situated. Derive pleasure from a boat safari along the Periyar Lake and view a wide range of wildlife species including elephants, sambar, deer etc. Drive to the age-old city of Madurai where you'll see the very elegant Meenkashi Temple. Visit many more temples in the towns of Trichy and Tanjore before getting to the quaint, little town of Pondicherry. After a sightseeing tour of Mahabalipuram and Chennai, travel back home.
Read MoreAfter a traditional Indian welcome by Max Holidays representative at the airport, you will be escorted to hotel for an overnight stay.
After breakfast, we proceed for a city tour of “Garden city of India” Bangalore, rich in architecture, culture and history. Start the sightseeing by visiting Lal Bagh botanical gardens built by Haider Ali ruler of 17th century, a large variety of fauna has been imported and displayed here for public. The Tipu's Palace, built by the Tipu Sultan as his summer retreat, now converted into the museum where the artefacts during his time are displayed. The bull temple located on the hill, where a massive statue of bull is placed.
Following sightseeing, we drive to Hassan, known as the architecture capital of Karnataka en-route visiting Srirangapatanam is the biggest of three islands located around the Kaveri River. Visit Srirangapatanam Fort – the center of attraction in Srirangapatanam. Upon arrival Hassan, check into your reserved hotel. Overnight stay in Hassan
After breakfast, enjoy sightseeing of Belur and Halebid, the twin towns known for Hoysala Temples famous for their architecture and sculpture all over the world. In Belur visit Chennakesava Temple, Narshimha Temple and Madanikas – every temple and monument here have different character and are not to miss once you are in Karnataka. The next after Belur is Halebid 16 Kms from Belur. Halebid is popularly known as ‘Gem of Indian Architecture’; visit the magnificent Twin Shiva Temple, Hoysaleshwar Temple, Nandimantapa Museum of Archeological Survey of India and Kedareshwar Temple. After the magnificent sightseeing of the place, proceed further for Mysore ‘Sandalwood city”,. Mysore with its abundant parks and palaces still retains the aura of grandeur and royalty. Upon arrival in Mysore, check in to the hotel.
After breakfast, leave for guided city tour of city of palaces – Mysore, which includes Mysore Palace the residence of the royal family. The palace comes alives on Sundays and national holidays, when the entire palace is light up by the bulbs. Visit to Chamundi hills to see thousand years old Chamundeshwari temple dedicated to the patron goddess Parvati who destroyed the demon king Mahisasur. Brindavan Gardens famous for the beautifully spread gardens and different variety of musical fountains which takes place every evening. Evening is free to walk around the local markets. Night stay at hotel
After breakfast, drive towards Ooty (also well-known as "Udhagamandalam") the center of Nilgiri region. The meaning of Nilgiri is "Blue Mountains". It is a territory of pictorial picnic spots. On arrival check into your pre booked hotel in Ooty. Rest of the day is at leisure to enjoy the weather of Ooty.
Visit the the Botanical garden, which are rich flora of the region, housing a variety of shrubs, trees, which are one of the kind in India and found only here. Explore the Government Museum Spend some time relaxing at Ooty Lake, an artifical lake, which is very well maintained and offer boat rides.
After breakfast, we will drive to Cochin. Upon arrival in Cochin, check into your hotel Evening visit the Kathakali dance at Cochin. Kathakali is a special art form, combining a unique blend of dance, drama, music, literature and painting. We will leave early to reach here, as we will enjoy to see the rituals, make up and dressing of dancers, before coming to the stage.
Following early breakfast, we proceed for sightseeing of Cochin, visiting Mattancherry Palace which houses the murals of hindu epics Ramayana and Maharabharta. It also houses the artfacts of Rulers of Cochin. Jewish Synagogue, where the jewish community is located. St. Francis Church built by the portugese, later Vasco De Gama the great explorer died and burried here. Later visit to Chinese Fishing Nets introduced by the chinese explorer for fishing and now found only in Cochin or either in China.
From here, we will drive to Alleppey to embark the deluxe air-conditioned houseboat. The houseboat makes its way through paddy fields and coconut tree, while boating through canals, you can see the local people engaged in their routine activities.
After a leisurely breakfast, we will disembark from houseboat and drive to Thekkady nestled in spice and rubber plantations. Periyar wildlife sanctuary comes under Project Tiger and is very ideal place for watching animals in their natural habitat and is one of the most popular destinations for nature lovers. Check in to your resort having Tree House.
On arrival in Thekkady, check in jungle resort.
Today leave for boat cruise to view the jungle activities where you can spot elephants, wild boar, sambar, and deer coming on the shore of the Periyar Lake. If you are lucky enough then you can also spot tigers coming to quench his thirst. Periyar Lake is the life line for all the faunas dwelling in the park. The vegetation is mainly of the moist deciduous type which mainly composes of marshy grasslands. The main fun is to watch the herds of elephant bathing in the Periyar Lake. Full day free for jungle activities. Night stay at resort
After breakfast, we will drive to Madurai the second largest city and the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu. The city is as old as 2500 years. On arrival check in hotel.
After wash and change, we will visit Meenakshi Temple which appears like a fortified citadel. It is a double temple for it has two separate sanctuaries; one is dedicated to Shiva and other to Parvati. The outer wall is 258 metres long and 220 metres wide. The temple has a holy tank, large pillared halls and four lofty gateways called gopurams. Night stay at hotel.
After breakfast, head towards Trichy located on the banks of the Cauvery river. Trichy is a perfect combination of history, tradition and religion. Once the citadel of the Chola kings, the fort has seen many dynasties. After check in formalities are over, leave for guided city tour of Trichy. Visit the massive Rock Fort Temple which poses as the landmark of the city is situated on the shores of the Cauvery River. There is a spectacular view of the city from the temple. On the midway to the Rock fort is Thayumanaswamy Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Upon arrival in Tanjore, check into your hotel. Overnight stay is at hotel
After breakfast, proceed for sightseeing of Tanjore. The great temples built by Cholas (900-1155 AD) are now UNESCO World heritage monument are located in the vicinity of Tanjavur. Following sightseeing, we will drive to Pondicherry. Upon arrival in Pondicherry, check into your hotel
After breakfast, proceed for local sightseeing of Pondicherry, a quiet little town on the southern coast. If somebody looking for inner peace, it is the tranquil land that embodies spirituality. Here we will visit Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Botanical Garden, Mankula Vinayaka, Sri Vedapuriswar, and Kamatchiamman temples, Auroville, Ousteri lake, Gandhi Statue. After sightseeing, leave for temple tour of Mahabalipuram. Upon arrival in Mahabalipuram, check in your hotel. Overnight stay is at hotel.
The town of Mamallapuram or Mahabalipuram has many Rathas built by the Pallavas King, Narsimhavarman (625-645 A.D).The five Pagodas or Rathas at Mahabalipuram are remarkable examples of rock cut architecture. They are named after five Pandava brothers, characters of great epic Mahabharata. The Dharamraja Ratha is the biggest in size. Visit shore temple which was built by Narasimhavarman II (690-720 AD). It is built of bricks and stones. The structure of the Shore temple is similar to that of the Dharamraja Rath.
From here, we will drive to Chennai. Upon arrival, check into your hotel
After breakfast, we will proceed for a sightseeing of Chennai. Chennai is considered to be the gateway of South India and is 350 years old city which has, history, culture, temples and shrines, forts and palaces to offer to its visitors. Places of the interest are Fort St.George; it houses the Secretariat and the Legislative Assembly. Visit one of the oldest Anglican Church of 1680 AD. Also see San Thome Cathedral, the resting place of St. Thomas the Apostle who laid the foundation of Christianity in India in 52 AD. Later go to see the marvelous collection of bronze by the Cholas rulers (900-1155 AD). Kapaleshwara temple is a massive with intricately carved Gopuram towering into the sky. Another 8th century shrine dedicated to Lord Krishna at the Parthasarathy Temple is worth visiting.
Transfer to the International airport to board your onward flight
Overall we were very pleased with our trip; however a couple of problems that was also sorted by the Max Team, at the earliest. First of all i would like to convey the feeling of satisfaction of all the group members if we consider services. The complete program designed by you made our trio very rich in information and so enjoyable. The guides were helpful and flexible; tour was full of so many optional visits at some of the destinations and kind of very interesting ones. The hotels quality was as expected upto the mark. I would like to thank the entire max team for their effort and wish to see you soon. I’m sure i will be coming again to India to discover more of India.
Everything was superb!! It actually met as per my expectations. Guide was very confident and knowledgeable along with it took special of each and person in the group.
I am a solo traveller, but this time I preferred travelling in a group, so I was searching the best group tour organiser. While, surfing on internet I came across Max Holidays group fixed departures, I could find everything which I wanted in a tour program within budget. With their tour programmes I could travel in group as well as have an experience as a solo traveller due to so many optional tours. The services provided were upto the mark. Thanx to the entire team of Max for providing such flawless tours.
The tour program was well planned and organised. The hotels booked were as per the set standards of the company. The trip had everything which is desire to make a group tour comfortable and best. The coaches were very comfortable and neat, the guide and the driver well coordinated together to make up feel well. Being with Max Holidays we felt very safe and enjoyed our trip to the best.
We offer services which are better comparing to other agencies running similar trips. Our drivers and guides are highly experienced and trained for hospitality. The hotels are carefully picked to ensure your comfort and safety.
To book this trip you need to pay only US$100 and balance 45 days prior to the trip. If at any time before this you change your mind your money is safe with Max Holidays and can be transfered to your next trip with us.
The payment can be made very easily via online and online mode of payments. For online payment services, you can use the credit/debit cards and for the facilitation of offline payments you can use our Swift Bank transfer services.
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