Think of Idukki as three regions. In the north are Munnar and the tea high ranges, with Eravikulam, the lake road to Top Station and the peaks of Anamudi and Kolukkumalai. In the south is Thekkady, the gateway to Periyar Tiger Reserve and the Cardamom Hills. Between and around them lie the quieter places — Vagamon’s meadows, the great dams at Idukki and Cheruthoni, windswept Ramakkalmedu and, in the rain shadow to the north, Marayoor and Chinnar. Each place below has its own guide with what to do, how to get there and the tours that include it.
Things to See in Idukki
Twelve places across Kerala’s mountain district, from tea plateaux to tiger forest.
Munnar & the tea high ranges
Munnar & the tea high ranges Munnar
South India’s tea capital
A small market town at around 1,500 m where three mountain streams meet, surrounded on every side by tea estates planted from the 1880s onward. Munnar is the natural base for the high ranges: the tea museum, estate walks, viewpoints, waterfalls and Eravikulam National Park are all within an hour.
Munnar & the tea high ranges Eravikulam National Park
Nilgiri tahr and the kurinji hills
A high plateau of rolling grassland and shola forest north of Munnar, protected for the endangered Nilgiri tahr, which graze within a few metres of visitors in the Rajamalai tourist zone. It is also the most famous place to see the Neelakurinji, the shrub that turns the slopes blue roughly once every twelve years.
Munnar & the tea high ranges Mattupetty Dam & Kundala Lake
The lake road east of Munnar
The classic Munnar drive: a chain of reservoirs and viewpoints strung along the road towards Top Station. Mattupetty Dam and its boating lake, Echo Point and the quiet arch dam at Kundala make an easy half-day among tea, eucalyptus and water.
Munnar & the tea high ranges Top Station
Where Kerala looks down on Tamil Nadu
The end of the road east of Munnar, at about 1,700 m on the state border. From the viewpoint the Western Ghats fall away to the plains of Theni in Tamil Nadu — on a clear morning one of the widest views in South India, and on a cloudy one a sea of mist.
Munnar & the tea high ranges Kolukkumalai
Tea at the top of the world
A tea estate on a ridge more than 2,000 m up, promoted as the highest tea plantation in the world, reached only by jeep up a rocky track from Suryanelli. People come for the sunrise, the old orthodox tea factory and the feeling of standing above the clouds.
Munnar & the tea high ranges Thekkady & Periyar
Thekkady & Periyar Periyar Tiger Reserve
A lake safari in the Cardamom Hills
Kerala’s best-known wildlife reserve: more than 900 km² of forest wrapped around a lake created by the Mullaperiyar Dam in 1895. Boat trips from Thekkady look for elephants, gaur, sambar and otters on the shore, and the forest department’s bamboo rafting and guided walks take you deeper in.
Thekkady & Periyar Thekkady Spice Plantations
Cardamom, pepper and Kathakali in Kumily
The hills around Kumily, the town at the gate of Periyar, are the heart of Kerala’s cardamom country. Guided plantation walks show how cardamom, pepper, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla and coffee actually grow, and the town’s evenings fill with Kathakali and Kalaripayattu shows.
Vagamon, the dams & the far ranges
Vagamon, the dams & the far ranges 
Vagamon, the dams & the far ranges Idukki Arch Dam
A concrete arch between two granite hills
One of the highest arch dams in Asia, spanning the Periyar gorge between the hills of Kuravan and Kurathi. With the neighbouring Cheruthoni and Kulamavu dams it holds back the vast Idukki reservoir. The dam top opens to visitors only at certain times, but the viewpoints are open all year.
Vagamon, the dams & the far ranges Ramakkalmedu
Wind, rock and a view into Tamil Nadu
A rocky ridge on the eastern edge of Kerala where the Ghats stop abruptly above the plains of Tamil Nadu. It is one of the windiest places in the state — hence the wind farm — and is crowned by the giant Kuravan and Kurathi statue.
Vagamon, the dams & the far ranges Marayoor & Chinnar
Sandalwood, dolmens and the dry side of the Ghats
North of Munnar the road drops into the rain shadow: natural sandalwood forest, Stone Age dolmens, sugarcane fields and the famous Marayoor jaggery, then the thorny scrub forest of Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, home of the grizzled giant squirrel.
A sensible five-day plan: Day one, drive up from Kochi to Munnar past Cheeyappara falls; tea museum and town. Day two, Eravikulam at opening time, then the road to Marayoor. Day three, Mattupetty, Kundala and Top Station early, a tea trail in the afternoon. Day four, drive to Thekkady via Ramakkalmedu; spice plantation and Kathakali in the evening. Day five, the first boat on Periyar Lake, then down to Kochi or on to the backwaters — or east to Madurai.
With more time, add a pre-dawn jeep to Kolukkumalai, a night in Vagamon, or a loop past the Idukki Arch Dam and Kalvari Mount.
Plan your Western Ghats escape
See Idukki the easy way
Tea estates, Nilgiri tahr at Eravikulam, a boat on Periyar Lake and spice gardens in Thekkady — with a driver-guide who knows the ghat roads. Compare tours from Kochi, Munnar and Thekkady and book in a couple of taps.