Situated on a dramatic cliff, Varkala is a long time travellers favourite.

Varkala is very well suited for a visit with children. You will find lots of other children, even from a very young age, a wonderful and sandy beach, a scenery you could dream of, and a beach-hut-style village that is converted to a total tourist-resort.

Varkala beach is in a process of deep transformation - every singe space is beeing converted into touristy infrastructure. Nevertheless it has retained a certain charme and is worth a visit. You find lots of housing, plenty of restaurants, enough shade under palm trees and only a moderate number of desperate souvenir vendors. Many parents like it so much that they stay here for months.

Varkala beach is approximately 2km from Varkala town proper. The main part of Varkala beach is situated on a cliff and three steep staircases lead down to the crescent beach. Up on the cliff the road ends in a big parking place, called Helipad, that serves occasionally as a helicopter landing site. From Helipad, a busy footpath runs along the cliff. Most of the restaurants line this footpath. Hotels, guesthouses and bamboo-huts are found in the back behind these restaurants.

Aside from swimming and playing on the beach there is a bunch of interesting activities you could go for with children.

In front of the red-laterite cliffs the beach is perfect for children

Swimming on Papanasam beach: The best time to be on the beach with children is after 4pm, near the middle staircase. Lifeguards supervise the bathing crowd, the beach is shallow there and you will meet many other parents with their children.
The local fishermen-turned-beach-vendors rent out umbrellas (150Rs), chairs (100Rs) and foam-boards (50Rs). Their fishing-boats now serve solely as storage-device. map

Varying children meet in the playgroup

Childrens Playgroup: There is a childrens playgroup for small children organised on private basis. On Mondays it takes place on the roof of Rubybleu Home behind Oottupura Restaurant. map

Address: Good Karma Center
Tel: 9995319995
Email: amina.meineker@gmail.com
Open: Mon + Wed 10-12 am
Price: free

The five working elephants in Puthenkulam give an impressive sight and are ready for a ride.

Elefant watching: Several families in Puthenkulam, 15 km north from Varkala raise elephants. For a hefty entrance fee you can see the impressive animals being fed and washed, along with goats and chickens living on the terrain. At the entrance you can buy a fruit bucket (50 Rs) with bananas and a pineapple to feed it to the elephants. The riksha costs around 200 Rs (including waiting charge).

Address: Puthenkulam
Tel: 0474 2513317, 9847100714 (mob)
Price: 150 Rs per adult, 250 Rs for Elephant Ride

Beautiful, quiet, surrounded by water: the shiva-temple

Golden Island: Beautifully situated on a small island in the backwaters is this small Shiva-temple. It is a quiet and shaded place and worth the 10-km riksha-ride and the hefty fee for the boat. Makes a nice two or three hours experience with children. The riksha to go, wait and go back may cost you around 300 Rs.

Price: 100 Rs for direkt trip, 200 Rs roundtrip

The traditional kettuvalam has several rooms

Backwaters Tour: From Varkala, there are several possibilites to go for a backwaters tour. One of the most convenient (and most expensive) is to book a one day tour with one of the local travel agencies on a traditional Keralan House boat, a Kettuvalam. The standard offer for 5000 Rs includes the taxi to lake Kollam (1h), the house boat, meals on board and three people steering you through the lake as you wish: a captain, a pilot and a cook. They serve excellent lunch on board, stop whereever you want and show you the beauty of the Keralan backwaters. If you want to bargain, make sure to agree on every detail because it's easy to fit to your budget just by reducing the service.

Price: negotiable, up to 5000 Rs

Preeth Pool: If you are tired of waves or seach for a shaded place to go swimming in the hot time of the day, you may use the pool of Preeth Beach Resort for a whole day. Chairs and lawn included. map

Price: adults 200 Rs, children above eight: 100 Rs

On your way out to Kappil beach you can see fishermen working the traditional way

Kappil Beach: If you walk northward along the cliff, after one hour you reach Kappil beach. The beach is picturesquely situated between the sea and a lagoon further inland, that already belongs to the system of backwaters. On your way out you can see local fishermen pulling in the nets and even spot dolphins, if you are lucky enough.

Amidst a serene compound Shivagiri Monument is placed on top of a hill.

Shivagiri Monument: Just half an hour by riksha (70Rs) behind Varkala town you find the Shivagiri-monument. This impressive building on top of a hill, amidst a peaceful ashram area reveres the local guru Shree Narayana. Born to the low ezhava-caste, he broke with the traditions, started to make puja himselves, founded a revolutionary social movement and teaches that there are no caste-differences between men. He died in 1922.

Tel: 0470 2602807
Website: www shivagiri.org

Accomodation is easy to find, though it is not longer a budget place. Varkala is full of hotels, guesthouses and bamboo-huts, but generally prices are high: The average room in a guesthouse is around 600 Rs. For that you can expect a decent double room with attached bathroom, hot water and spotless clean, tiled bathroom.

Laid back, quiet and very close to Helipad you find Jickis rooms.

Jicky's Rooms: Not far from the helipad, behind Oottupura Restaurant you find this quiet and airy two-storey building with decent rooms and separate terraces in front of every room. The downstairs rooms are more spacious, but lack a terrace. In the nights it's very quiet and cool. On the roof, they are doing yoga classes. map

Address: Helipad
Tel: 0470 2606994
Email: jickys2002@yahoo.co.in
Website: www.jickys.com
Price: 500 Rs to 1000 Rs, Cottage 1500 Rs

Rubybleu House: This friendly Hotel just behind Oottupura restaurant and opposite to Jicky's rooms is run by an american couple with a little daughter, has a well-kept garden, a library and a stunning collection of more than 6000 CDs. It's good for a long stay - even without children. map

Tel: 9995040495
Website: www.rubybleuhouse.com
Price: 200 to 300 Rs

Dining under palm trees and pondering eternity - that what you can do here.

Hill Palace Beach Resorts: Situated directly on the cliff, this place is wonderful, if you don't want to be in the thick of the tourist buzz. The two-storey-hotel has decent rooms and a big garden. Children will like it. Parents will like the internet-facility on the ground and the meals served in the garden. map

Address: North Cliff, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala - 695141
Tel: 0470 - 2610142
Email: info@hillpalaceresort.com
Website: www.hillpalaceresort.com
Price: 400Rs

The small J&J family home is built in the typical keralan style

J&J Family Home: This small guest house has only four rooms, but is the perfect choice for travelling parents. A very friendly Swiss/Indian couple runs the place and specializes on children's needs. They travelled themselves a lot and know what is lacking in normal places. So you will find children's beds with mosquito nets, a big (and child safe) garden, toys, a shaded garden house, different swings, children's swimming pool and access to the kitchen, where you could prepare your own food and store things in the fridge. Of course all the rooms have attached bathrooms and are immaculately clean. The perfect choice for long as well as short time. .... Unfortunately the guest house had to close in May 2008 due to the fact that the owner of the land had dramatically increased the rent. But the manager is planning to open a new guest house somewhere else

Address: North Cliff, Kurakanni
Tel: 9895362778 (landline), 9349805100 (mob)
Email: jocya@india.com
Price: 500 Rs

Half of Varkala is a restaurant and nearly all of them have a mixed western-indian menue, so finding a place to eat is no problem, neither finding food for childrens taste. The only annoyance in all places is the extremely slow service. It might easily take more than one hour for the food to arrive. With hungry children in tow that's no fun.

The spring on the south end is used a open air shower

Water: On the south end of the beach is a strong spring supplying sweet water that is said to be drinkable. Long time travellers allegedly give this water even to their small children. Our personal experience lets claims of perfect water quality seem doubtful, so I would refrain from giving this water untreatedly to children. But generally the water-situation in Varkala seems to be quite safe, as most places draw ground water from their own wells.

Kumari: The very friendly indian mother Kumari serves excellent food on request. She prepares beakfast, lunch and dinner for 100 Rupees each. If you want to eat, you have to phone her long enough ahead of time, for she prepares the exact number of meals. The food is excellent and worth any effort.
To find there, you follow the road from the helipad direction Varkala town. After two bendings, there is a Shiva shrine on the right hand side. There you enter into a small lane and follow it for some meters till you reach a wall. At the wall turn right and walk along the wall till you reach Kumari. Her's is the last house on your right. map

Tel: 9387911309
Price: 100 Rs

Oottupuram: This very popular vegetarian place serves good keralan food, has relatively quick service and is popular with travelling families. map

Address: Helipad
Price: mains 40 to 100 Rs

Little Tibet serves in the shaded space during daytime and on the terrace in the night

Little Tibet: This first-storey tibetian restaurant is popular with parents because in the evening time chairs are moved on the terrace and children can play in the neighbouring room. The food comes quickly and is of good quality. map

Price: mains 50 to 120 Rs

Take note of the coffee machine in the left corner!

Cafe del Mar: This place on the cliff is popular because it serves the best coffee - it is as good as any coffee you could get in Italy. With the longing parents often children find their way to Cafe del Mar. map

Tel: 0470 2607221

Clafouti: Clafouti Restaurant on the cliff serves outstanding pizza, very good italian food and excellent indian food. The service is professional, but still dishes may need more than one hour to arrive. Due to the rich menue and good quality of food, this place is popular with travelling parents. map

Here you find good Indian food and quick service

Hotel Suprabhatam: If you are tired of waiting for hours for your food to arrive, a good choice might be to go to Varkala town and eat at the central Maidan in Hotel Suprabhatam. The restaurant serves classic south indian food, fresh, of good quality - and quick. Including riksha-ride you will be quicker than in any place on north cliff.

Quality, altitude, price: everything is high here

Restaurant of Hotel Hindustan Beach Retreat: If you want to dine in noble atmosphere and relish the sight of the sea and overlook Vakala's coastline at a time, you might be attracted by the top-floor-restaurant on the terrace of Hotel Hindustan Beach Resort. The restaurant is definitely upmarked, but the location is superb, and the service is immaculate. map

Email: hindretreat@vsnl.net
Website: www.hotelskerala.com/hindustan/index.htm
Price: 200 - 1000 Rs

In Varkala town, opposite to City Hall, just behind "Image Magic" there is a child's doctor. Just 1 km further down the road you can find the SSN Mission Hospital with good reputation and a pediatric section. If you are looking for homeopathic medicine, there is the "Southern Homoeopathic Pharmacy" in a small shop opposite to Varkala Maidan.

Since Varkala is on the main railway-line from Trivandrum to Ernakulam transport is easy. There are 18 daily trains to Trivandrum (1hr, 9Rs Pass., 23Rs Expr.), two daily to Kanyakumari (8:50am and 2:05pm, 3 1/2 hrs, 77Rs), three daily connections to Mumbai, two to Chennai and one each to Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Calcutta. A riksha to the train station is 40 to 50 Rs.