As a wildlife lover, one of my favourite stops on our two week trip around Kerala was Thekkady, where we spent a day and a half exploring Periyar Tiger Reserve. If you’re planning a visit and wondering which activities are worth your time, here’s everything we did, ranked in the order I’d choose them if we went back.
About Periyar Tiger Reserve
Despite the name, spotting a tiger here is incredibly rare. There are only around 35 tigers in the entire reserve, and one of the guides we spoke to told us he’d worked there every day for seven years and had only seen a tiger three times!
That said, there’s still plenty of wildlife to see. If you’re lucky, you might spot wild elephants, deer, gaur (a huge species of Indian wild cattle), monkeys, giant squirrels, and countless colourful birds. For me, that’s more than enough reason to visit.
What we did
We spent two nights in Thekkady, staying at the wonderful Wilderness Hotel (more on that below).
We arrived in the evening, then the following day did the nature walk at 7am, followed by the boat trip at 3pm. As there was quite a long gap between the two activities, and the national park is only a short shuttle bus ride from the main street in Thekkady, we headed back into town for lunch and a bit of a rest before returning for the afternoon.
On our final morning, we finished our stay with the half day bamboo rafting experience.
The best activities in Periyar Tiger Reserve
1. Nature Walk
400 INR (around £4 per person)
Without a doubt, this was our favourite experience in Periyar. We were incredibly lucky to be the only two people on our walk, which made the whole experience feel even more special. We spent several hours walking quietly through the forest with our guide, and for long stretches it genuinely felt like we had the entire reserve to ourselves.
During the walk we spotted gaur, monkeys, giant red squirrels, kingfishers, Asian hornbills and plenty of other birdlife. We also found signs of both elephants and tigers, even if the animals themselves stayed hidden.
More than anything, I loved simply being able to walk through the reserve in almost complete silence. There’s something really magical about being surrounded by nature without another tourist in sight. If you only do one activity in Periyar, I’d make it this one.
Nature Walk in Periyar Tiger Reserve
2. Boat trip on Periyar Lake
225 INR (around £1.25 per person)
I’ll admit, I was fully prepared to dislike this. I’d heard stories about overcrowded boats and noisy tourists scaring away the wildlife, and I almost skipped it altogether. But we’d also been told it offered the best chance of seeing animals, so we decided to give it a go.
I’m really glad we did. Out of all the activities, this is actually where we saw the greatest variety of wildlife. The boat was full, but it never felt chaotic. Everyone stayed seated, people were generally respectful, and the atmosphere was much calmer than I’d expected.
Although it wasn’t nearly as immersive as the nature walk, I’d still absolutely recommend it. It’s also the cheapest activity in the park, which probably explains why it’s so popular. If you can, book either the earliest or latest sailing of the day, as that’s when animals are most likely to come down to the lake to drink.
Boating in Periyar Tiger Reserve
3. Bamboo Rafting
2,200 INR (around £17 per person)
We chose the half day bamboo rafting and trekking trip (there are full-day options too) for our final morning in Thekkady.
This one was a bit more of a mixed bag. On the positive side, we were lucky enough to see wild elephants, which was a real highlight. We also spotted plenty of birds and monkeys, although most of them were species we’d already seen during the nature walk. The bamboo raft itself is undeniably a really cool experience. Floating quietly across the lake surrounded by forest is something I’ll definitely remember.
However, there were a few downsides for us. The trek itself was quite long and it was already extremely hot. By the time we reached the raft, there was almost no shade, and spending around an hour out on the lake in the blazing midday sun became pretty uncomfortable. We visited in late March, so the time of year definitely played a part, and I imagine this experience would be much more enjoyable in the cooler months.
We also felt the guiding wasn’t quite as engaging as on the nature walk. Although we had three or four guides with a relatively small group, they weren’t as proactive about pointing out wildlife, and on the return walk there was very little interpretation or wildlife spotting. It felt a little like everyone was simply trying to get back as quickly as possible.
Overall, I’m glad we did it, especially for the elephants and the chance to experience the bamboo raft, but if I had to choose just one premium activity, I’d spend the money on a longer nature walk instead.
Half Day Bamboo Rafting in Periyar Tiger Reserve
Other activities in Periyar
There are plenty of other ways to explore the reserve if you have more time. You can book longer and different versions of the nature walk and rafting, as well as two and three-day trekking experiences where you stay overnight inside the national park. This was actually what we originally wanted to do, but unfortunately the overnight treks only run on certain days and they didn’t fit with our itinerary. The reviews for these longer experiences are fantastic, and given how much we loved the nature walk, I can easily imagine they’re well worth doing if your schedule allows.
Where to stay in Thekkady
We stayed at the Wilderness Hotel in Thekkady, and it ended up being one of our favourite hotels of the entire trip. The individual rooms feel almost like little treehouses, each with a lovely upstairs balcony so you can spot wildlife in the nearby trees. The breakfasts here were incredible too – it’s even listed as one of the top breakfast spots in the Lonely Planet guide.
What really made the stay memorable, though, was the staff. On the morning of our early nature walk, we’d assumed we’d miss breakfast completely as it wasn’t being served until after we left. Instead, when we returned between the walk and our afternoon boat trip, they had laid out a full breakfast for us without us even asking. It was such a thoughtful gesture.
If you’re planning a visit to Periyar Tiger Reserve, I’d highly recommend this hotel.