A fantastic chance to see the history, culture and wildlife of two of South India's most beautiful states, Tamil Nadu, with its beautiful long coastline, and its neighbour, Kerala, or "God's own Country" . After arriving in Chennai it's on to Pondichery to start the tour. A former French colony, Pondicherry is a city that still retains a French flavour with colonial buildings, crumbling cathedrals and leafy boulevards but it is also unmistakably Indian with colourful bazaars and crowded streets. There are quiet beaches to stroll along and the famous Aurobindo Ashram to visit. From here we drive on to see the famous temples at Thanjavur and Madurai before travelling to Rameshwaram, an island at the very tip of the Indian peninsula and a very important pilgrim centre for Indians - known as the Varanasi of the south, in the sacred Hindu legend of the Ramayan it is the place where Lord Rama built a bridge across the sea to Shri Lankar to rescue his wife Sita from her abductor, Ravana, and was cleansed of the sin of killing him by Lord Shiva.

The Kerala tour starts from Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of India where there is time to explore before moving on to Kovalam, with three beautiful adjacent crescent beaches. From here we drive to Alappuzha for a relaxing cruise on a luxurious houseboat on Kerala's famous backwaters, arriving in the early morning at the enchanting destination Kumarokom . Kumarakom is made up of a cluster of little islands on the Vembanad Lake and the bird sanctuary here is an ornithologist's paradise. After a night at Kumarokom it's on to Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary on the banks of the Periyar lake. Here the high ranges of the Western Ghats are clothed in dense evergreen, moist deciduous forests and savannah grasslands. Below this thick green canopy roam herds of elephants, sambar deer, tigers, gaurs, lion tailed macaques and Nilgiri langurs. This sanctuary offers the unique opportunity to watch and photograph wild elephants at close quarters. After a morning boat safari we leave for Munnar, one of the most popular hill stations in India which is situated at the meeting point of three mountain streams and a haven for hill birds. Then it's time to move on to Cochin where there is time to explore before your flight home. Cochin is a lovely area between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats, and the seaside city is a beautiful place to finish your tour.