1 experience in Alleppey
Alleppey houseboat cruise 
Alleppey (Alappuzha) Backwaters, Kerala
Alleppey houseboat cruise
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Alleppey travel guides
Alleppey Travel Guide: Backwaters, Beaches and a Night on the Water 
Travel guide · Destinations
Alleppey Travel Guide: Backwaters, Beaches and a Night on the Water
Alleppey, officially Alappuzha, is the Kerala town where the backwaters meet the sea: Kuttanad's canals and paddy fields on one side, a beach and an old pier on the other. The main places to visit in Alleppey are Vembanad and Punnamada lakes, Kuttanad, Pathiramanal island, Alappuzha and Marari beaches, the Ambalappuzha temple and Krishnapuram Palace. December to March is dry, and one or two nights is enough.
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Frequently asked questions
What can you do in Alleppey besides a houseboat?
Walk the beach and its old pier, take a boat out to Pathiramanal, or come for a snake-boat race between August and November. To eat, try Kuttanad's duck curry or karimeen pollichathu, pearl spot wrapped in banana leaf and grilled.
What can you do in Alleppey in one day?
Take a boat through the canals in the morning, stop at Pathiramanal if you cross the lake, and spend the late afternoon on the beach by the old pier. On the same lake, our Kumarakom backwater day cruise gives you a half or full day afloat and has you back by evening.
Is Alleppey worth visiting?
Yes, for the backwaters. Alleppey lies where Kuttanad's canals open onto Vembanad, Kerala's largest lake, and the district's tourism council calls the kettuvallam the best way to see it. A day shows you the water; a night aboard adds its evening and sunrise.
What can children do in Alleppey?
On a houseboat, the rooftop deck gives them space, and life jackets come with a safety talk before boarding; tell us their ages so we choose a suitable layout. Ashore, Vijaya Park by the beach has a toy train.
About Alleppey Tours & Experiences
The main things to do in Alleppey are on the water: a night aboard a kettuvallam houseboat, the canals of Kuttanad where rice grows below sea level, a boat to Pathiramanal island and the snake-boat races that start in August. Our Alleppey houseboat cruise is the night on its own; three of our tours build it into a longer Kerala route.
Reviewed by Experience My India Editorial Team · Updated 21 Oct 2026
Things to do in Alleppey
Spend a night on a houseboat
Our Alleppey houseboat cruise lasts about 20 to 22 hours: you board around midday, eat lunch on board as the boat leaves the canals for Vembanad Lake, moor at a quiet spot for dinner and the night, and return after breakfast, in a fan-cooled standard cabin or an air-conditioned deluxe one.
Watch Kuttanad from the deck
Kuttanad, the rice country around Alleppey, is a 500 sq km web of lakes, rivers and canals, farmed below sea level; R-Block, land won back from the lake, is cultivated four to ten feet down behind its dikes. From the deck you pass coir twisted by hand, toddy-tappers in the palms and egrets in the shallows.
Take a boat to Pathiramanal
Out in Vembanad, Pathiramanal island can be reached only by boat, and migratory birds gather there. Kerala Tourism suggests it as a halt on a cruise between the Alappuzha and Kumarakom shores.
Watch the snake-boat races
Every year, usually in August, the Nehru Trophy on Punnamada Lake opens a snake-boat season that lasts until November. Boats over 100 feet long, crewed by 100 to 150 oarsmen, race 1.4 km in front of more than two lakh spectators; the race society sells tickets.
Walk the beach and the old pier
The railway station is under a kilometre from Alappuzha beach, where Captain Crawford's pier is more than 140 years old, a lighthouse stands nearby and Vijaya Park keeps small children busy with a toy train.
Choosing between our tours and experiences
Book the houseboat cruise on its own, from our Kerala houseboat experiences, if you want only the night on the water. Our three tours here each include a similar night, meals on board: the Kerala Backwaters Tour — 7 days between Munnar and Varkala, the Kerala Ayurveda Retreat — 10 days between two treatment stays, and the 10 Days South India Tour Package before Fort Kochi. Compare them on Alleppey tour packages.
When to go for these
Alappuzha is dry from December to March, with about 20 to 55 mm of rain a month on IMD's normals. October, at about 350 mm, is wetter than September, and June brings close to 600 mm, when high water can alter a cruise's route.
Before you board
December and January are the boats' busiest weeks on our tours, so book early, and tell us about diets and small children when you enquire; crew tips are extra, swimming is not part of the cruise and the signal fades on quiet stretches. The town is covered in our Alleppey travel guide.
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