Varkala Tours and Trips

fantastic food- authentic curries you cannot find at home,freshly caught seafood. the backwaters were beautiful and perfect for sun downers after a day of cycling. hotels much better than expected

This was an excellent trip with 14 other people I did not know who are now friends, we had three guides Safi, Sandeep and Dipkin, Safi was our cycle leader, Dipkin cycle as well and bike mechanic and Sandeep our van driver and water man. We had daily briefings and how to navigate roads where to eat, our guides were knowledgable with local envionmental information such as trees, fruits and temples overall a really good trip, with some challneging cycling which was great

I had a truly memorable week as part of a group of six, who cycled a total of 134 miles (215 km) from Willingdon Island, Fort Kochi to Varkala. The weather was georgeous and the scenery and food amazing. The sights and sounds of the real Kerala could not be experienced in a better way. Shibu our tour leader and Kingsley our mini bus driver and support assistant made it so easy just to relax and soak everything up. The support vehicle was always present to provide regular water top ups and snacks and always drove a good distance behind the last cyclist, (frequently me) so there was never any pressure to speed up. There are seemingly no rules of the road in India.! Lorries, cars, taxis, tuk tuks, motor bikes and cyclists simply move along in incredible harmony , somehow avoiding each other and the numerous animals and pedestrians occupying the streets, by sounding horns and bells constantly. Unlike European drivers, this is done in a very non aggressive way and is simply to alert other road users of a vehicles presence. You soon learn to join in with your bicycle bell!

Was quite nervous about going as it was my first trip to India. Once we arrived, I realised my nerves were unfounded. Our leader Safi and his two assistants Dipin and Sanjeed were all amazing. Everything was organised beautifully. They led the rides expertly, and made sure that we had a varied and authentic experience of India. The Indian people were fantastic - friendly, curious, helpful. And the children ... wow! Lovely.

I did this trip in Nov 2019 and did a review but cannot see any reviews from our trip for some reason. This was an amazing trip, so much to see, stop, photograph and take in the views and scenery. Tamil Nadu, tiger reserve (only saw elephants but that was great) we had a great guides and a fab group. I was definitely taken with the whole cycle trips to see more of the real country and life going on. Ooty hill was an amazing achievement for me though a lot of swear words kept me going! The Ooty train trip was great too. The colours, smells, madness of the traffic all terrific memories. Eating a typical Karelian meal from banana leaves in a local house was the best food. Vegetarians very well catered for and I wasn’t ill like many of the others in the group.

I loved the holiday, the people, the food, the adventures however, I think whoever put the description of the holiday together needs to go on the tour and rename it. There is a lot more cycling on main roads and highways than I expected. We didn’t get to experience the tea plantations. We simply sped past them. The Tropical bit didn’t occur until the final few days.