What to do in Cochin, India for the day??

We have never been to Cochin, India before and I was wondering what is their to do here?? :confused:

What do you do when you go there??

Any tips / ideas are very welcome. :)

PS: Would it be best to do a ships tour or a private tour here??

We were there on our recent cruise. We booked http://www.cochinprivatetour.com/ Most of us on CC booked the Cochin tour with them. :)

We have never been to Cochin, India before and I was wondering what is their to do here?? :confused:

 

What do you do when you go there??

 

Any tips / ideas are very welcome. :)

 

 

PS: Would it be best to do a ships tour or a private tour here??

Hi Kiwi Cruiser

Cochin is a lovely place to visit. Depending on what your ship is offering, I always think a private tour is the best way to go!

Kochi has the wonderful Chinese fishing nets, spice markets and is the gateway to the Kerala backwaters where you can sail on an old houseboat with lunch....

We dealt with cochinmagic.com when we were there. We had a great look around the old port of Kochi, then had a lovely lunch on the backwaters.

A good idea is to make a list of everything you would like to see, then ask them to make an itinerary & for a price.

The highlight if our day was the fishing nets, a real food market, the spice shop and the wonderful backwater cruise.

It's a most magical part of India, I hope you have the best time:D

We had a great tour with

http://www.daytoursincochin.com

Took a tour that included a ride on a houseboat that included a nice lunch.

We've been to Cochin three times, to give you some context, twice on a ship and once for a week travelling independently.

When we travelled independently we went to the backwaters cruise independently (because that's what we always do). There are hundreds of the Kettavellum (converted rice barge) tied up at the departure point and negotiating the hire of was a nightmare as they tried to really price gouge us. However once we organised it, it was one of the highlights of our travels. Being as you don't have any time to waste I would HIGHLY recommend doing a backwaters tour, but I would do it through an agent/tour company.

If for some reason you didn't want to do that, I would advise just getting off the ship and hiring an auto rickshaw into Fort Cochi and meandering around for the day. Everything (fishing nets, shops, restaurants) is walking distance once you get into the tourist area of Fort Chochi. There are two lovely old colonial hotels where you could have a lunch (a quick google will give you more details but get back to me if you donn't find them) with a water view, very nice. I would advise that you agree with the auto rickshaw driver the price that you will pay and whether or not you want him to wait for you. There are plenty of auto rickshaws in Cochi so you should get one back very easily. Also, agree with him beforehand that you do not want to be taken to any 'shopping' stops or else you will spend half your time being dropped off at over priced shops from which he will get a commission (unless you want to do that of course).

Thank You everyone for your information and replays very helpful :)

Hi Kiwi Cruiser

 

 

 

Cochin is a lovely place to visit. Depending on what your ship is offering, I always think a private tour is the best way to go!

 

Kochi has the wonderful Chinese fishing nets, spice markets and is the gateway to the Kerala backwaters where you can sail on an old houseboat with lunch....

 

We dealt with cochinmagic.com when we were there. We had a great look around the old port of Kochi, then had a lovely lunch on the backwaters.

 

A good idea is to make a list of everything you would like to see, then ask them to make an itinerary & for a price.

 

The highlight if our day was the fishing nets, a real food market, the spice shop and the wonderful backwater cruise.

 

It's a most magical part of India, I hope you have the best time:D

We did exactly that with them (cochinmagic) and had a great cooking class with an exceptional host and very good private driver. Can recommend them, an I know that lots of other people from our ship did excursions with them as well and were happy.

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When I was there last year I took a great tour with Lidjo Jose. I am sure you can do a search for him on the forum. It was a tour with others from Cruise Critic. Great tour, backwaters cruise, lunch on board. He actually organized shore excursions for us in the three Indian ports we visited on that cruise and it was excellent.