Guide de voyage — Kerala

6 lieux à visiter à Alappuzha

Aussi appelé Alleppey · Venice of the East

Alappuzha earned the nickname 'Venice of the East' from Raja Kesava Das, the Diwan of Travancore, who laid out the town in the late 18th century by cutting two parallel canals to move cargo between the backwaters and seagoing ships anchored offshore.

Voir le top 6 Excursions au départ de Alappuzha

Mis à jour le septembre 2026 ·Rédigé par Traveliac, avec assistance IA ·Notre méthode de classement

Alappuzha, also known as Alleppey, is famous for its serene backwaters and picturesque canals, making it the ideal destination for a Alappuzha houseboat — Photo: Exotica489 / Wikimedia Commons, CC0

Meilleure période: Nov – Mar
Durée nécessaire: Environ 2 jours; 12 heures de visite
Aéroport d'arrivée: Cochin International Airport (COK)
Gare la plus proche: Alappuzha railway station (ALLP)
Entrée gratuite: 4 sur 6

Incontournables à Alappuzha

Classement selon cinq critères publiés

Carte des lieux à visiter à Alappuzha

Les numéros correspondent au classement ; le top 3 est en orange. Touchez un repère pour son guide. 1 lieu(x) n'ont pas encore de position sur la carte.

Excursions au départ de Alappuzha

Une bonne idée de sortie s'il vous reste une journée, les plus proches en premier.

34 km · 1h
Kottayam Town
Kerala's rubber and spice trading hub, with the Rubber Board headquarters, CMS College (founded 1817), and boat jetties at Kodimatha giving access to a quieter, less touristed stretch of the Vembanad backwater system than Alappuzha's own canals.
40 km · 1h
Kumarakom & Vembanad's Eastern Shore
Kumarakom sits across Vembanad Lake in Kottayam district, built around a bird sanctuary supporting more than 20,000 waterfowl and a cluster of backwater resorts quieter than Alappuzha town's own houseboat jetty. Reachable by road via Changanassery or by a slower, more scenic boat transfer across the lake.
53 km · 1h 30min
Fort Kochi & Kochi Harbour
Kochi's Chinese fishing nets, Portuguese and Dutch-era streets, and Mattancherry Palace make a full day trip north, most comfortably done by KSRTC bus or taxi rather than the slower backwater ferry route.

À propos de Alappuzha

That canal grid still defines the town today, and it is also why Alappuzha, rather than any other Kerala town, became the launch point for the houseboat industry that now dominates its economy: roughly 500 licensed kettuvallams, converted rice barges built from jackwood and coir rope, work the surrounding canals and Vembanad Lake year-round.

The town sits on a narrow coastal strip between the Arabian Sea and Vembanad Lake, with the sea-facing side anchored by Alappuzha Beach, its 1860s pier, and an 1862 lighthouse, and the lake-facing side built around the KSRTC bus stand and boat jetty on VCSB Road. Alappuzha railway station connects the town to the Ernakulam–Kayamkulam coastal line, and Cochin International Airport, roughly 85 kilometres north, is the nearest major airport. Inter-island and inter-town KSWTD ferries remain the cheapest and often fastest way to move around the wider backwater region.

Beyond the houseboats, Alappuzha's identity is tied to Punnamada Lake's Nehru Trophy Boat Race each August, one of Kerala's largest single-day public events, and to Kuttanad, the below-sea-level rice belt to the south where the Thanneermukkom Bund holds back the sea each dry season. The best months to visit are November through February, after the northeast monsoon clears and before the pre-summer heat sets in; July and August bring the fullest, greenest canals but also the highest chance of rain-related cruise disruptions.