Guide to visiting the beautiful Wayanad!

It was December 2019, and my sister who lives in the US came to India for her one-month-long vacation. I was really excited about our family vacation as we do this once a year. And of course, it's me who does all the planning :) All our individual schedules were packed, so we could afford to take a 3-day break and I picked Wayanad as we could drive from Bangalore and no one in my family has been there before! Wayanad is a district in Kerala, and if you are short of time and want to see the most of it, you need to plan your travel accordingly. All the major tourist attractions are scattered around the district, so it's good to first decide where you want to stay. If you do not have any budget constraints, many luxurious resorts are located in Vythri, south of Wayanad and it's good to base yourself there to explore the region.

We were looking for budget-friendly accommodations. Once we finalized our travel dates, I called a couple of homestays in Wayanad and finally reserved our accommodation at Melvin's homestay (Call 080861 29268 to make reservation) in the Meppadi region, as it seemed a decent option, considering the price and location. It costed is 2800 INR per night including breakfast and taxes. We started from Bangalore early in the morning and the plan was to cover few tourist attractions on the way and reach the homestay in the night. Our first coffee stop was at my favourite Mayura River-view in Srirangapatna. I love this place for its location by the Cauvery river, so serene and a perfect pit-stop. And further, the drive through the Nagarhole national park was amazing! We even spotted some deers and an elephant along the way.

Enjoying the short coffee-break at Mayura River View and the drive through Nagahole National Park

After six hour drive through the forests, we arrived at the Thirunelli Mahavishu Temple in Mananthavady region, Wayanad. This thousand-year old beautiful temple is tucked in the Bramahagiri Hills at about 900 m altitude. The temple closes at 12:30 PM for the first half and opens again at 5:30 PM. We were just in-time for the last aarti and waited for half-an-hour in queue for darshan. I really loved walking in the temple arena with surrounding view of the hills. A must-visit even if you are not a very religious person.

The beautiful Thirunelli Temple, Wayanad

Next, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant about 45 minutes drive from the temple. After lunch, we planned to visit the famous Banasura Sagar Dam. Being a main tourist attraction, the place was heavily crowded. We had to buy tickets at the entrance and wait in line to get into bus that takes you to the top of the dam. There is an option to walk all the way up but we opted to go by bus as the sun was really harsh! After 30 minutes, we got to the top and the view is simply amazing! You can easily spend 30-45 minutes just walking around and enjoying the view of hills around you. If you are an adventure-enthusiast, there is an option to go down a zip-line as well. Next time, I would prefer to go to the Banasura Sagar Dam on a week day when it is less-crowded.

At the Banasura Sagar Dam, Wayanad

It was almost 5:00 PM and we wanted to visit the Wayanad Tea Museum, a 30-minute drive from the dam. Later, we were planning to catch the sunset at the famous Lakkidi viewpoint, another 40-minute drive from the museum. The tea musuem is located within a tea plantation and the visit can be interesting if you like to know the history of tea production in the region. There is a tea-tasting bar which allows you to taste different types of flavoured tea but it was slightly expensive for us. Instead, we decided to have some tea in the restaurant on the top floor, where you can enjoy your tea with the view of tea plantation and it cost us 50 INR per cup, which again I felt was over-priced.

Visit to the Wayanad Tea Museum.. quite an experience!

We dropped the idea of visiting the Lakkidi viewpoint as we had to refill fuel and it would be past sunset by the time we reach. So we just decided to drive to our accommodation instead. The owner of the homestay, Melvin called us the previous day and said they had some unexpected guests and they couldn't accommodate us in their home. Instead, he arranged our 2-night stay at a property close-by, the Brooke Streak resort (book here) also owned by Melvin. He was offering us this stay for same price so we didn't have any issue. It was dark by the time we reached the property. I must say Melvin was a great host! He and his cousin helped us to check-in and made us feel comfortable. They had only 2 rooms, very clean and well-maintained. There was an issue with the heater but they provided us buckets of hot water so that problem was solved. They do not have an in-house restaurant but they got us dinner from a restaurant in town based on our preferences. We were super-tired, so had our dinner and dozed off to sleep. Next morning, we woke up to this beautiful view of the plantation!! Melvin got us amazing home-cooked breakfast, tea and coffee. We spent the morning just chilling at the property, clicking some family pics :)

Woke up to this beautiful planatation view! Absolutely enjoyed our stay at the Brook Streak Resort!

After we freshened up, we were ready to go visit the Soochipara waterfalls, a 20-minute drive from our resort. The waterfalls were okay for a quick-stop by. Next, we wanted to drive up to the Chembra peak, the highest peak in the district of Wayanad. I was really keen to go on a trek to the Chembra peak but unfortunately the trek route has been closed for tourists for couple of months now. If you are planning a trek, please check if it's open. It was really disappointing for me but we still wanted to go for a drive till the entrance. It was worth it. The view of the plantations along the way is mesmerising! Even if the peak is not open, I highly recommend to go on this drive. You won't be disappointed.

Soochipara Waterfalls, Wayanad

The majestic Chembra Peak.. you come across many plantations along the way!

We wanted to have traditional Kerala lunch and found this amazing restaurant "Aryabhavan Mess" on google. It is a clean, well maintaned restaurant. Meal was simply the best and very reasonably priced. Highly recommend this restaurant! After lunch, we drove to the Pookode lake close-by. Pookode lake is also a main tourist attraction in Wayanad. It is a crowded place but you can still enjoy the landscape around the lake and you can opt to go boating in the lake as well. After boating, we even spent some time walking around the lake. There is an option to rent bicyles if you are interested.

Your trip to Kerala is incomplete if you don't have their traditional meal!

Boating on the Pookode Lake is fun!

Lakkidi viewpoint seemed far off so we drove to the Nellarachal viewpoint to enjoy the sunset. This was the best decision we made. We could just sit back and enjoy the beautiful sunset. Truely memorable! We called it a day and drove back to our resort.

For best sunset view, drive to the Nellarachal viewpoint!

An early morning trek in the tea plantation, opposite Melvin's homestay.

It was our last day in Wayanad. We planned to start back to Bangalore around 11:00 AM. Before that, we went on short trek in the tea plantations just opposite our homestay, which was nice! Breakfast was ready by the time we got back from the trek. We quickly freshened up and it was time to say good-bye to Melvin and his family! I must say this was truely a memorable trip for everyone in my family! We managed to get a decent glimpse of Wayanad at a relaxed pace on this 3-day trip. Hope you found this itinerary useful! See you soon on my next blog post :)