We are planning a trip, landing in Mumbai on Feb 23 and flying out of Delhi on March 3.

We travel all the time, every two months or so, but usually I get excited about a trip while working on the itinerary. This one doesn't seem to generate much interest.

We've have been to Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, and Varanasi. Original plan was 3 days Mumbai, fly to Kochi, take a backwaters cruise, drive to Chennai, with a few stops on the way. Primary interest is history, culture, religion. We like fast pace, not spending a lot of time in one place (but avoiding one-night stays if we can), and don't have budgetary constraints. Our style of travel is luxury, but by luxury we don't mean massive Taj-style hotels, but small boutique-type havelis and similar, with high emphasis on fewer people and privacy.

So.. Mumbai-Kochi-Chennai itinerary is not really tickling our fancy. I don't want to offend anyone living in these places, as I am just relating my impression from doing online research, and am happy to be proven wrong.

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• Mumbai looks like a magnificent city to explore the contrasts and contradictions of urban India, and is probably enough to occupy us for 3 days.
• Kochi's colonial history is interesting, but not sure if it needs more than one night
• the backwater cruise - the pictures suggest floating leisurely down bucolic landscapes in relative solitude. Reviews online suggest that the reality is different.
• Munnar looks like a really beautiful spot
• Madurai and Thanjavur look incredible, and we are interested in Dravidian architecture, but not sure that we need several days of temples and temples and temples and temples.
• Pondicherry - not sure what the draw is outside of the French Quarter, and if we want French influence we can easily go to France.
• Chennai - probably ok for 2 days, to visit a few temples, but if we do include Madurai and Thanjavur, will probably be all templed out.

So... asking for the wisdom of this board to evaluate this itinerary, and suggest any modifications to make it more interesting. Perhaps include more R&R, but hoping to avoid mass tourism places. Unique and unusual experiences highly valued. As difficult as it might be to get away from people in India, less crowded places would be appreciated.

Thanks!

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