Two days in Varkala: the plan that leaves nothing important out

Day 1 — The cliff and the beach

Dawn — the cliff path end to end, then Papanasam at low tide.

Morning — Janardanaswamy: courtyard, banyan, the Dutch bells.

Midday — lunch in town; the Aquarium if it rains.

Afternoon — a surf lesson at Black Beach, or Odayam's quiet sand (between the flags).

Golden hour — the South Cliff; dinner on the path.

Day 2 — The Guru and the tunnel

Morning — Sivagiri's samadhi and Sarada temple before the midday closure.

Late morning — the tunnel mouth from the canal bank.

Afternoon — scooter north: Edava, then Kappil's spit and a boat.

Sunset — from the North Cliff's helipad headland, well back from the edge.

Night — the lamps along the path; momos at Little Tibet.

Day 3 — South to the fort

Morning — Anjengo: the fort, the 1704 grave, the village.

Midday — the country boat from Nedunganda to Ponnumthuruthu.

Afternoon — Anjengo lighthouse when it opens; Muthalapozhi from the road.

Evening — back for a last cliff sunset, or the train on to Kollam or Trivandrum.

Worth leaving town for

Anjengo and Ponnumthuruthu. Nine to twelve kilometres south: the Company fort of 1696–99, the 1704 grave, Eliza Draper's village and the afternoon lighthouse — then a country boat from Nedunganda to the Golden Island's temple. A scooter day, or an auto hired for it.

Kappil and Edava. North by scooter or the cliff-top walk: Edava's quiet beach and red hills, then Kappil's spit between the Edava–Nadayara lake and the sea, boats from the Priyadarshini club, the low sun along the palm road.

Kollam and Ashtamudi. Half an hour north by train: the Ashtamudi backwaters, the Chinese fishing nets, and at Padappakkara the Quilon limestone — the reefs that lie under Varkala's cliff, seventeen million years old.

Getting there and away

By rail: Varkala Sivagiri station is the easy way in: about 54 trains a day stop — an hour from Thiruvananthapuram, half an hour from Kollam, under three hours from Ernakulam on the Jan Shatabdi, an hour and a half from Alappuzha. The cliff is three to five kilometres from the platform; autos wait.

By air: Thiruvananthapuram International is 45 to 55 kilometres by road — an hour to an hour and a half.

By road: KSRTC buses from Thiruvananthapuram; the town sits inland around the station and the cliff is a separate ride. Alleppey about two hours, Kollam forty minutes.

Keep going