For Guests Coming From Afar
While You're Here
Making the trip to Kozhikode? Here are a few suggested itineraries for turning the trip into a proper Kerala holiday before or after the wedding, plus how to get around and what to see along the way.
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Day 1
Arrive in Kozhikode and get settled. Spend the evening at Kozhikode Beach for sunset, then walk down to SM Street afterward for dinner. Try the biryani somewhere along the way and pick up a slab of halwa to take back to your room.
Day 2
Full day trip to Wayanad. It's about 2 to 3 hours each way, so an early start helps. Meenmutty Falls plus one viewpoint, either Neelimala or 900 Kandi, is enough for a single day without feeling rushed.
Day 3
Spend the morning in the old town: the Mishkal Mosque, and a walk through Beypore if there's time. Head out from there.
Getting Around
Private Cab / Taxi
The easiest way to get around, especially for trips outside the city. Ola and Uber both work fine within Kozhikode itself. For Wayanad, Munnar, or the backwaters, most people just book a full day taxi through their hotel or a local travel desk instead of self-driving.
Train
Kozhikode Railway Station sits right on the coastal line, so it's an easy way to reach Kochi, Kannur, or other towns along the coast without needing a car for that leg.
Auto-rickshaw
Fine for quick trips around town. Ask the driver to use the meter, or settle on a price before getting in.
In Calicut
Nature
Kozhikode Beach is the easy one, good for an evening walk as the sun goes down. If you have half a day free, Kappad Beach is worth the drive. It's a quiet stretch of coast now, but it's where Vasco da Gama first landed in India in 1498, which is a strange thing to stand and think about.
Art & Heritage
The old town has more history tucked into it than it lets on. The Mishkal Mosque dates back to the 14th century and was built without using a single nail. Beypore, a little further out, still has traditional shipbuilders constructing wooden dhows the old way, and its harbour market is worth a wander too.
Culture
If a Kathakali or Theyyam performance happens to be on while you're visiting, it's worth rearranging your day for. Ask at your hotel. These aren't staged for tourists on a fixed schedule, so catching one is genuinely a matter of timing.
Beyond the City
Wayanad
About 2 to 3 hrs by road (roughly 86 km)
The go-to overnight trip from Kozhikode. Meenmutty Falls is the big one, though it needs a short trek to reach. Neelimala Viewpoint looks out over the valley toward the falls from a distance, and 900 Kandi Viewpoint has a glass bridge and forest trails if you want something more dramatic. Edakkal Caves has genuine prehistoric rock carvings, and Banasura Sagar Dam, the largest earth dam in India, is good for an hour or two.
Munnar
5 to 6 hrs by road, usually broken up with a stop in Kochi
This is tea country. You can walk through working estates, some run short factory tours so you can see how the leaves are actually processed, and Eravikulam National Park is worth it even without the rare Neelakurinji flowers (they bloom only once every 12 years, so don't count on catching that). Mattupetty Dam makes a nice stop along the drive, and if anyone in your group is serious about tea, Kolukkumalai is said to be the highest tea estate in the world.
Kochi
3 to 3.5 hrs by road or train
Fort Kochi rewards slow wandering more than a checklist. The Chinese fishing nets along the shore are the postcard image, but the real charm is in the side streets: old colonial buildings turned into cafes, a Dutch cemetery, and genuinely good street art. Mattancherry, a short tuk-tuk ride away, has the old Dutch Palace (open 10am to 5pm, closed Fridays) and the Jewish quarter with its spice market and antique shops.
Alleppey
4.5 to 5 hrs by road, often combined with Kochi
This is where you take a houseboat out onto the backwaters, ideally overnight rather than just a few hours, since the light on the water early in the morning is the best part of the whole trip. If you'd rather skip the busier main canals, ask for a route through Thakazhi or Thottapally instead. They're quieter and pass through actual villages.
Food
Malabar and Kerala food is reason enough on its own to stretch the trip out a little longer. Here's what to look out for.
Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Appam
A bowl-shaped rice pancake, soft in the middle with thin, lacy, crisp edges. Usually eaten with kadala curry or a mild coconut milk stew.
Kadala Curry
Black chickpeas simmered in a coconut and spice gravy. The classic partner for appam, though it turns up alongside puttu just as often.
Sadhya
A full vegetarian feast on a banana leaf: rice with a whole lineup of curries, pickles, and a payasam to finish. Traditionally for festivals, but plenty of restaurants serve it daily too.
Meen Curry
Kerala-style fish curry, sour and spiced with kudampuli (Malabar tamarind). Most people will tell you it's better the next day, once the flavour has had time to settle in.
Fish Pollichathu
Fish marinated in spices, pan-seared, then wrapped and cooked in a banana leaf. The leaf gives it a smoky, earthy note that's hard to get any other way.
Chemeen Roast
Prawns roasted down with onions, curry leaves, and a dark, dry masala until it all clings to the shell. Order it with rice, or just as a side to whatever else is on the table.
Sweets & Drinks
Palada Payasam
A slow-cooked milk pudding with thin rice flakes, simmered until it turns a pale caramel colour. The usual way to end a sadhya.
Ada
Sweet rice dumplings, usually filled with coconut and jaggery, steamed inside a folded banana leaf.
Coconut Water
Straight from the shell, sold on nearly every street corner. Ask for it as a shake instead if you want it blended with the soft coconut flesh.
Snacks
Sharkara Varatti
Banana chips coated in a jaggery syrup that hardens into a sweet, crackly shell. Dangerously easy to keep eating once you start.
Banana Chips
Thin slices of raw banana fried in coconut oil until crisp. A Kerala staple you'll see stacked up in shops everywhere you go.
Chakka Chips
The same idea as banana chips, made with jackfruit instead. Sweeter and a little chewier.
Food and destination photos via Wikimedia Commons, used under Creative Commons licenses: Appam (Asif Saleh), Kadala Curry (Mproopesh), Sadhya (Fasnahareesfasna), Meen Curry (BejoyKa), Fish Pollichathu (Jiss Tom palelil), Chemeen Roast (Dhanyagopalakrishnan), Palada Payasam (Pooja Kabirdas), Ada (Samphotography (Sam Thomas)), Coconut Water (Vis M), Sharkara Varatti (Ranjithsiji), Banana Chips (VaisakhBabuThikkodi), Chakka Chips (Ranjithsiji), Wayanad (Anantharamvanchiprakash), Munnar (Rainer Halama), Kochi (Vis M), Alleppey (Varghesepunnamada).