Kerala Heritage by Bicycle

We ride a total of 377 km over 8 cycling days. We begin with hotel pick-ups near Kochi airport, saving us lengthy transfers to and from the city centre, before heading inland. We have a transfer on Day 1 to the cycling start point and short pre- and post-ride transfers on Days 3, 4, and 5; the rest of the rides are hotel-to-hotel. We are on the bike every day of the adventure! This tour takes place in the midlands and lowlands of Kerala, meaning the terrain is consistently flat and rolling. The pace is leisurely with modest distance goals each day, allowing us to take in the colourful scenery as we ride on Kerala’s backroads. Non-cycling highlights of the tour include visiting India’s largest pineapple market, a tuk-tuk ride through Thrissur, a half-day visit to an academy promoting the region’s performance arts, the spiritual ambiance outside Guruvayur Temple, relaxing at a seaside resort near Cherai Beach, and seeing the sights at Fort Kochi. Cuisine is another highlight of the tour, and we will be enjoying many traditional Keralan meals, which are predominantly vegetarian. You also have the option to treat yourself to Ayurvedic spa treatments in some of the locations visited (not included in the tour cost).

The trip is fully supported, and your guide’s expert knowledge of the area and terrain means that you always know what is coming up in terms of distance and difficulty. This makes a tremendous difference, as does the constant supply of water and refreshments along the way.

Suitability: This is a moderately difficult trip that anyone with a reasonable level of fitness will enjoy. The terrain is consistently flat or mildly undulating; only one ride exceeds 600 metres of elevation gain, though there are enough hills that some experience with climbing is an asset. Daily distances range between 45 and 70 km, not including the 15 km warm-up ride on Day 1 and the 33 km afternoon ride on Day 5. Navigating narrow village lanes, bumpy country roads, and stretches of hard-packed dirt or gravel requires basic bike-handling skills but does not involve technical manoeuvring. The same applies to riding through local traffic, which can feel chaotic at times. The main challenge of the tour is maintaining stamina over back-to-back riding days and cycling in the tropical heat. However, the pace is leisurely with plenty of refreshment stops, so riders with less experience are more than welcome to join. The support vehicle is always nearby to offer refuge to any weary cyclists.

Biking Conditions: On this tour, riders can expect around 80% of the route to be on paved surfaces, consisting of good-quality asphalt or concrete as well as broken, bumpy, and cratered roads. The remaining 20% is made up of vehicle-width gravel and dirt roads. While much of the route is on quiet countryside roads with minimal traffic, we will be regularly sharing the roads with other vehicles, including cars, motorbikes, tuk-tuks, trucks and buses. This is India, after all — a country constantly on the move! Roadworks are not uncommon and we are likely to encounter wedding, funeral and festival processions spilling onto the streets. There are some unavoidable sections along the shoulders of provincial main roads. In the dry season, the roads can get dusty, and when it rains, they can become muddy. We generally ride rain or shine, but based on the guide’s discretion or your level of comfort, modifications to the planned route can be made. It’s all part of the adventure! Additionally, during the winter months (October - January), haze may impact air quality on parts of the route.

Accommodations: We experience a wide range of accommodation styles on this tour. In the countryside (Days 1, 2, 3, and 5), we stay at a plantation homestay, a bespoke riverside resort, an Ayurvedic wellness retreat, and an elevated farm stay. In the cities (Days 4 and 6), we stay in modern, centrally-located hotels at the 3- to 4-star level. Our final night (Day 7) is at an elegant seaside resort. At all properties, you can expect clean, spacious rooms with air-conditioning and professional service from English-speaking staff. Most, but not all, accommodations also have swimming pools. Our chosen hotels feature hygienic restaurants offering primarily South Indian cuisine, with Western options occasionally available (generally at breakfast). Most properties in Kerala do not serve alcohol or allow consumption in public areas. Please be aware that some older properties, while charming, may show signs of wear and tear, and the service pace in Kerala can generally be more relaxed than you might be accustomed to. For larger groups, we may need to use more than one accommodation and, in case of limited availability, switch to an alternative property from the one listed in the itinerary.

Bikes

Included in this tour are well-known makes of mountain bikes. We also have E-Bikes available for hire, but they are limited in number & size - please send an email to us to check on availability.

Bike Repairs

Basic spares and tools are carried by the guide and on the support vehicle, though we cannot guarantee having spares for every conceivable problem. Carrying a basic tool kit, a spare tube and a pump while riding is recommended.

Safety

Wearing a helmet is required on all our biking adventures and is non negotiable. If you do not wear a helmet you will not be allowed to cycle. Your tour leader is trained in first aid and emergency rescue, but to a large degree you must be responsible for your own safety while riding. It is therefore compulsory that you take out travel insurance that will cover you for a mountain biking tour.

Guides

You will be led by a local English-speaking guide and if the group is 9 people or more we will add another guide to the tour. All our guides are well informed in the history, culture and religions of the area where you are biking and are skilled at passing that knowledge on to you. Your guide is also medically trained and an experienced cyclist, able to handle most minor repairs en route.

If this is the tour for you here's what you need to do to confirm your place:

FLEXIBLE BOOKING CONDITIONS

CONFIRMING YOUR BOOKING

Just complete our online booking form or send your booking details offline (email or post), and we will confirm your participation. No deposit is needed to confirm your place on a SpiceRoads tour.

You are advised to read our Booking Conditions in full before you make your payment and should you require further clarifications of any of the conditions below, please email us or call our office.

TRIP STATUS

There is a minimum number of participants (usually 2) required to enable the trip to go ahead. Once the minimum number is reached, the trip status will change from 'Available' to 'Guaranteed to Depart'. Once a trip is guaranteed to depart you are free to book your flights and make other travel arrangements. If the trip status is ‘Limited’ will mean we have only a small number of spaces available for booking. If you are unsure about the trip status, please email us or call our office.

BOOKING ONLINE

From the tour page, click the 'Book Now' link. All departures for this tour will appear, just select the date you'd like to travel. For the next steps, you'll need to know the names of the people travelling. If you wish you can also provide extra details such as passport numbers, height (for bike hire), or you can add that later by logging into Manage My Trip (we'll set up an account for you automatically if you don't already have one). Our system will contact you from time to time to fill in the missing information, as it will be required before departure. However, if the trip that you are booking offers a child discount, you will have to fill out the date of birth of each rider (so we can calculate the appropriate discount).

If you are having any problems please send us an email, or give us a call (+66 026 3295) and one of our travel specialists will assist you with your booking.

BOOKING OFFLINE

Just call us or send an email indicating which trip you want to join and we will happily send you a list of questions and process your booking for you.

DEPOSITS AND PAYMENTS

We do not require a deposit or full payment to book a place for you on a tour.

The balance of the tour’s cost (final invoice) will need to be paid 60 days before the departure date with fees for any bicycle rental(s), single supplement(s) and extra hotel nights.

In the case where a booking is made when there are less than 60 days until the tour departure date, the tour’s cost should be paid in full within 72 hours of receiving an invoice from SpiceRoads. Payment can be made by credit card using our online payment gateway or by bank transfer. When making payment online you will need to confirm that you have read these booking conditions during the "checkout" process, which equates to agreeing to the terms of services and stipulations as indicated in this document.

In all cases, tour fees need to be paid “in full” before participation in a tour. No person(s) will be allowed to join a tour without fully settling their invoice and receiving a confirmation number from SpiceRoads.

The exception can be made for last-minute miscellaneous fees that can be paid locally (visas, additional local hotel bookings, etc.) can be settled on the day of arrival.

FULL FLEXIBILITY FOR TOUR CANCELATIONS

If the tour is cancelled or postponed by SpiceRoads because we didn't make the trip numbers and the tour can’t run, we will make a full cash refund (by bank transfer or on your credit card).

If the tour is cancelled for any other reason, including due to Covid related travel restrictions, we will give you a full credit (with no deductions for admin or any other small-print item) to use on any SpiceRoads tour with no time limit. (Exceptions being flights, special permits and other non-refundable items and these will be advised when booking the trip).

Before paying for your tour, you can cancel your booking with no charge and up until 40 days before departure, you can change your booking to another travel date or move your booking onto another SpiceRoads tour with no charges.

If you need to cancel after you have made full payment, please see our cancellation policy.

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