Kochi

Kochi (Cochin) is the commercial capital of Kerala and the gateway to the famous Kerala Backwaters circuit. The historic core is Fort Kochi — a peninsula at the mouth of the Vembanad lagoon that flourished for centuries as one of the world's great spice-trading harbours, attracting Arab, Chinese, and European merchants.

• The defining sight is the row of Chinese fishing nets along the Fort Kochi seafront — 14th-century cantilever fishing structures introduced by traders from the court of Kublai Khan, still in operation.
• Beyond the nets, the area offers the Mattancherry Palace (with vivid Hindu mythological murals from the Ramayana and Krishna Lila), the spice markets of Mattancherry, and the colonial-era godowns now restored as boutique cafés and craft shops.
• For vegetarian travellers, Kerala's coconut-and-curry-leaf cuisine is a revelation — try the Sadhya thali (28+ items on a banana leaf, traditionally served at the Onam festival; available year-round at Sri Krishna Cafe and Dwaraka), the Kerala parotta with vegetable stew, and the appam with coconut milk vegetable curry.
• From Kochi, the backwaters circuit continues to Alleppey (1.5 hours south, for the houseboat experience) and to Munnar (3 hours east, for tea-plantation hill stations).
• October to March is the comfortable window; the southwest monsoon (June-September) is dramatic but disrupts boat travel.