South India Food Journey
From coconut to curry leaf, explore the sacred, spiced, and soulful cuisine of South India.
Journey Highlights
Here, nothing is rushed. But everything is rich. You won’t just eat South India. You’ll feel it, breathe it, and carry it home.
Experience the Maximum City, through your Taste Buds
In Mumbai, from street food, to gourmet cuisine, experience variety in flavour like nowhere else.
Dine on the Arabian Sea
Enjoy a seafood feast on the shores of Goa, where the breeze carries hints of Portuguese spice and smoked coconut.
Walk the Lanes Where Food Created History
From Old Delhi’s spice bazaars to Lucknow’s kebab corners, explore how empires, poets, and migrants shaped a region’s palate.
Experience a Temple Prasadam Meal
In Madurai, sit with pilgrims and priests for a sacred meal cooked not for profit, but for devotion.
Walk the Spice Markets of Kochi
Wander past sacks of pepper, cardamom, and cloves in the lanes where the world once came to trade.
Drink Tea Where It’s Born
Wake up in Munnar’s misty hills and sip chai in the very plantations where it’s handpicked and rolled.
Feast in the Land of Biryani
In Hyderabad, taste the legendary biryani in a royal courtyard, alongside gravies simmered for hours.
The Route
Step into an 11-day journey through the sacred kitchens, spice gardens, and coastal homes of South India, where the food is soft-spoken but unforgettable.
Here, food is prayer, preservation, and poetry. Coconut, curry leaf, tamarind, and jaggery weave through temple offerings, ancestral recipes, and dishes designed to cool the body and stir the soul.
- Mumbai, the Maximum city packs a surprising punch when it comes to ancient cuisines mingled with modern food science
- Goa, Europe’s first major gateway into India brings an eclectic mix of Portuguese influence, local flavors and coastal magic.
- Kochi, where seafood meets pepper in slow, soulful rhythms of backwater life
- Munnar, where cardamom-scented air and tea estates shape meals as much as landscapes
- Madurai, where temples feed the gods and the people with equal devotion
- Hyderabad, where Turkish, Mughal, Arabic influences came together with local flavors to give birth to a royal cuisine like never before.
Contact us to begin your journey
| Duration: | 11 Days |
| PRICE (per person): | Starting from USD 2700 |
| Regions Covered: | Mumbai, Goa, Kochi, Munnar, Madurai, Hyderabad |
| Trip Themes: | Culinary, Culture, Spice Trails, Sacred Kitchens |
| Best Time to Travel: | October to March |
| Perfect For: | Curious travelers, luxury enthusiasts, food lovers, history & culture buffs |
Itinerary
DAY
1
Mumbai | A Taste of the Maximum City
You arrive in Mumbai, a city that greets you not with silence, but with motion, colour, and contrast. Chauffeurs, street vendors, skyscrapers, and fishing villages all move to the same pulse.
Once you settle into your hotel, a gentle afternoon unfolds. You’ll drive past colonial landmarks, through art deco corridors, along Marine Drive, and into the heart of Mumbai’s layers, where Parsi cafés rub shoulders with Jain temples, and snack stalls hum with busy working men and women.
In the evening, sit down to a finely crafted welcome dinner. Every course is a quiet celebration of Mumbai’s eclectic palate. The precision of a modern kitchen meets the soul of the streets outside.
DAY
2
Mumbai | Markets, Dabbawalas and Street Legends
Wake up to the rhythms of the city, and head out with your guide for a morning that introduces you to the real Mumbai — its appetite, its choreography, and its organised chaos.
Begin at one of the city’s vibrant local markets, where vegetables gleam, fishmongers sing, and spice vendors call out like auctioneers. It’s loud, alive, and full of colour. You’ll stop at carefully chosen stalls and street corners to try breakfast dishes like misal pav, kheema, or freshly steamed idlis, depending on the day and the mood of the city.
From there, meet one of Mumbai’s legendary dabbawalas. Watch as they sort and deliver thousands of tiffin boxes across the metropolis with astonishing precision and no tech. It is one of the world’s most studied lunch systems, and also one of its most soulful.
In the afternoon, return to your hotel to rest, or explore boutiques and bookstores at your own pace. Come evening, we can guide you to a chef’s table experience, with a city view.
DAY
3
Goa | Sunshine, Spice, and the Sea
This morning, you fly south to Goa, where the air turns saltier, the roads narrower, and life slips into a slower gear. Upon arrival, you are driven along winding coconut-fringed roads to your beachside retreat. Red tiled roofs, bright bougainvillea, and the scent of fermented palm welcome you to India’s most relaxed coastline.
After settling in, head out for lunch at a small, curated eatery tucked away in a heritage home or beside the sea. Expect prawn balchão, xacuti, sol kadi, and local breads. This is a cuisine shaped by Portuguese colonisers, Hindu kitchens, and coastal abundance.
In the late afternoon, explore Goa’s old quarters, from Latin-style mansions to whitewashed churches and narrow alleys that lead to nowhere in particular. Pause for feni if you like, or coffee under banyan trees where stories tend to gather.
Dinner is a seafood-forward feast beside the sea. The waves may be close enough to hear, but the flavours will speak louder.
DAY
4
Goa | A Day of Slow Living and Sea Flavours
Let the morning take its time. Wake up to the sound of rustling palms and enjoy a slow breakfast of poee, seasonal fruits, and tea. This is a day meant to breathe.
Mid-morning, you’ll visit a family owned Feni distillery for a feni tasting experience, where you will learn about the craft, the history, the people, and their stories. Allow yourself to be led to a natural fresh water spring where your table is set, a canopy of trees and chirping birds for company. The cool water lapping at your feet behaves like a fresh water spa and heightens the tasting experience multi-fold. The family’s curated tasting platter is designed to inspire your senses of sight, smell and taste as they pair local flavours and colours in order to enhance and enchant your experience of Feni.
The afternoon is yours to drift. Walk barefoot on the beach, take a nap, or read under a tree that has seen centuries.
As evening sets in, we recommend a quiet dinner at a lesser-known local favourite. Nothing flashy. Just soulful food, slow service, and music that sounds like waves.
DAY
5
Kochi | Stories from a Keralan Kitchen
You arrive in Kochi, the coastal city where the spice trade once flourished and where cultures still overlap like the layers of a masala. The air is soft with salt and the smell of wood smoke.
After settling into your waterside hotel, you’ll visit a traditional Keralan home where a grandmother, warm and quietly masterful, welcomes you into her kitchen. Here, food is not rushed. You’ll learn how coconut is used three ways, how a sambhar simmers just right, and how every spice has its place.
Lunch is served at her dining table, surrounded by family heirlooms, stories, and food that tastes like memory. Banana-leaf meals. Hand-ground chutneys. Steamed rice cakes. Nothing fancy, but everything true.
The evening offers a choice. You can attend a Kathakali performance, where ancient stories come alive through expressive movement and painted faces. Or witness Kalaripayattu, Kerala’s traditional martial art, where control and rhythm are everything.
As you walk, you’ll hear how traders, poets, emperors, and refugees all shaped this city’s palate. Return to the hotel in the evening, your heart full and your senses wide awake.
DAY
6
Thanjavur to Madurai | Temple flavours, street rhythms, and a sacred meal in silence
The day begins slowly, with the sounds of birds and boats. After breakfast, you travel to Kumbalangi, a quiet fishing village on the edge of Kochi. Here, time follows the tide.
Walk through coconut groves and along narrow paths that lead to Chinese fishing nets balanced delicately over still waters. You’ll meet local families who’ve lived here for generations, see how coir rope is hand-twisted from husk, and learn how crab farms thrive with tidal wisdom.
Lunch is prepared and served in the village, fresh from the nets and cooked with simplicity. Expect small fish fried crisp, vegetables stewed in coconut, and rice that tastes of the land.
In the afternoon, glide through the backwaters on a country boat. No motor. Just oars, water birds, and the soft sway of palms. It’s Kerala at its gentlest.
As evening sets in, return to Fort Kochi for a guided walking tour. You’ll explore lanes filled with spice-scented air, faded colonial mansions, synagogues, churches, and stories whispered through shutters. It’s a city best understood on foot, as past and present walk side by side.
DAY
7
Munnar | Mist, Mountains, and the Fragrance of Spice
Leave the coast behind as you journey into the Western Ghats. The road climbs gently, curving through forests, spice gardens, and mountain villages where the air smells of eucalyptus and cardamom. By midday, you reach Munnar, a hill station once favoured by British planters.
Your home for the night is tucked inside a working plantation, chosen for its tranquility and views. The estate is quiet, lush, and fragrant, with birdsong for company and clouds brushing the treetops.
After lunch, take a guided walk through the plantation. You’ll learn how pepper vines grow up tall silver oaks, how cardamom hides beneath broad leaves, or how coffee cherries are picked and sun-dried. You may stop for a tea tasting nearby, where the hills offer a different kind of cup.
Dinner is served at the estate, made from ingredients grown a few steps away. You eat early here, under the stars, wrapped in shawls and mountain silence.
DAY
8
Madurai | Birds, Blessings, and Temple Flavours
Wake up at sunrise for a guided walk through the forested edges of the plantation. This is birdwatching, but not the textbook kind. You’ll hear the whir of wings before you see them, catch flashes of sunbirds, drongos, and barbets, and learn how the hills hum with life long before breakfast.
After a warm meal, you begin your descent from Munnar, winding through misty valleys and across the plains toward Madurai. This is one of India’s oldest cities, where temples rise like mountains and rituals never pause.
Settle into your stay and ease into the rhythm of Tamil Nadu. In the evening, head out for a food walk that introduces you to Madurai’s sacred appetite. You’ll taste flavours shaped by temple tradition, heat, and devotion. Crisp dosas folded like origami, tangy gravies, and rice dishes served with quiet pride.
This is a city where food isn’t described. It’s served, eaten hot, and remembered.
DAY
9
Madurai | Gods, Ghee, and the Glow of Lamps
Begin your day with a visit to the towering Meenakshi Temple, where devotion moves in color, scent, and sound. You’ll walk barefoot across cool stone as flower sellers chant prices and priests ring bells in courtyards that have witnessed centuries.
Later in the evening, you’ll set out on a guided walking food tour of Madurai’s old quarters. Your storyteller-guide will lead you through narrow lanes filled with jasmine garlands, brass lamps, handwritten signboards, and tales that stretch across dynasties. You’ll pass through market streets, temple corridors, and centuries-old neighborhoods that reveal how faith, food, and folklore are woven into daily life.
The afternoon is free for rest or a quiet rooftop lunch. As evening nears, you might choose to witness the temple’s closing ceremony, where the deity is symbolically put to bed, or simply sit with a local over chai and reflect on all you’ve seen.
Dinner is at leisure tonight, but we’ll guide you to a place that understands the power of simplicity.
DAY
10
Hyderabad | Spice, Silk, and Slow Fire
Fly to Hyderabad, where domes rise from rocky hills and aromas linger longer than names. This is a city where the past hasn’t disappeared. It just changed clothes.
After settling into your palace-inspired hotel, step out for a slow introduction to the city’s layered history. You’ll visit heritage buildings and quiet corners of the old city, where carved jalis, tiled archways, and minarets cast long shadows.
In the afternoon, you are hosted for a Hyderabadi culinary experience that is more ritual than recipe. You’ll learn how biryani is assembled in layers, sealed with dough, and cooked over a flame until rice, meat, and spice become inseparable. The qormas, bagharas, and mirchi ka salan served alongside speak of patience and royal technique.
Evening is yours. You might shop for pearls or handwoven textiles in Laad Bazaar, or enjoy a final drink on a terrace where the lights of the old city glimmer like they’ve done for centuries.
DAY
11
Hyderabad | The Last Taste
On your final morning, you ease into the day with a breakfast that might include soft idlis, kheema pao, or the last perfect cup of South Indian filter coffee. The table feels quieter today, as if it knows.
If time allows, you can visit one of Hyderabad’s quieter historical sites or take a morning walk through Banjara Hills where old trees and modern cafes coexist without fuss.
As departure nears, you return to the airport carrying more than luggage. You carry spice in your skin, temple chants in your ears, and a kind of fullness that has nothing to do with food.
This was never just a journey through India and Sri Lanka. It was a walk through a story that still shapes the soul of a subcontinent. You traced exile, devotion, battle, and return, not as a spectator, but as a listener moving through the landscapes where it all began. These places will continue without you, but you leave with something quieter. A rhythm. A remembrance. A sacred echo that stays.
Curate your Journey
1
Get in Touch
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2
Receive your Personalised Tour Itinerary
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3
Finalize the Details
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India: One story, one plate, one journey at a time
At Anahat, we craft journeys that go beyond the itinerary. Rooted in luxury, story, and soul, each experience invites you to encounter India as it truly is: layered, intimate, alive. We work with scholars, monks, chefs, naturalists, and artisans to create meaningful immersions, in places both iconic and hidden. Handcrafted journeys designed with utmost care.
What sets us apart
Storytelling at the Core
Every journey is built around a story, not just a route. From rivers to recipes to rituals, we thread meaning into every moment.
Luxury, Redefined
We believe true luxury is space, stillness, and access. Our partners are India’s finest heritage homes, boutique retreats, and soulful hideaways.
Deep Local Wisdom
We work with spiritual teachers, forest guides, cultural anthropologists, and legacy artisans, not tour guides with scripts.
Wellness, Woven In
Whether it’s a guided meditation at dawn or slow, grounding meals, your journey with us nurtures body, mind, and spirit.