Thiruvananthapuram · Kerala
Kovalam, Varkala and the capital
Where the state governs itself, and where its cliffs fall into the sea.
When to come
November to March. April and May are hot, and the sea is warm enough to forgive it.
How long
Three at the end of a journey.
Getting there
Trivandrum airport to Kovalam, 15km, half an hour. Varkala is an hour north of the airport.
Trivandrum is the capital and most visitors see only its airport, which is a shame for the Padmanabhaswamy temple and the Napier museum but understandable: the reason to be down here is the coast.
Kovalam is the old one, three coves and a lighthouse, discovered in the sixties and busy ever since. Varkala is the better half hour further north — a red laterite cliff with the beach below it, a spring that comes out of the rock, and a path along the top that people walk at sunset because there is nothing else that needs doing.
It is the far south, which means it is the beginning or the end of a journey rather than the middle. Most people finish here.
Thiruvananthapuram, in photographs
Where we would put you
Worth your time, or not?
Tell us how many days you have and who is coming, and we will tell you whether Thiruvananthapuram belongs in them — and what to leave out to make room for it.