Things to do in Wayanad
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Wayanad
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months: post monsoon green, full waterfalls, cool clear weather and the best safari sightings, at peak prices.
Summer value season: warm days, pleasant mornings, thin crowds and lower prices, with thinner waterfalls.
Monsoon: luminous and cheap, but treks, falls and Kuruva close in heavy rain and landslide risk peaks.
What's on
- Valliyoorkavu Festival from around 14 March, 14 days
Wayanad's greatest festival at Mananthavady, with Kalamezhuthu ritual art and tribal folk dances.
- Onam August to September
Kerala's harvest festival, with pookkalam carpets and the year's fullest sadhya feasts.
- Vishu mid April
The Malayalam New Year, marked with the vishukkani arrangement and festive meals across the district.
- Karkidaka Vavu at Thirunelli July to August
The ancestral rite season in the Papanasini, when the temple and its roads are busiest and wettest.
- Wayanad Flower Show January
Kalpetta's winter show season fixture, a pleasant local add on to a peak season stay.
Best things to do in Wayanad
Edakkal Caves
A rock shelter with 6000 year old petroglyphs, reached by a steep climb and more than 300 steps above the valley.
Banasura Sagar Dam
India's largest earth dam, a vast reservoir scattered with islands and backed by the Banasura hills.
Pookode Lake
A small forest lake near Vythiri for a gentle pedal boat ride, best as an easy first or last stop.
Sree Thirunelli Mahavishnu Temple
An ancient Vishnu temple at the foot of the Brahmagiri hills, reached by a forest drive from Mananthavady.
En Ooru Tribal Heritage Village
A tribal heritage village near Kalpetta with huts, crafts, food and performances by Wayanad's indigenous communities.
Wayanad Heritage Museum
The district museum in Ambalavayal, whose tribal and Neolithic artefacts make the Edakkal carvings legible.
Jain Temple, Sultan Bathery
A 13th century Jain temple with carved granite pillars, calm in the middle of Sultan Bathery town.
Lakkidi View Point
The hairpin lookout at the top of the Thamarassery ghat where the whole green bowl of Wayanad opens below.
Where to stay in Wayanad
Vythiri
first trips, honeymoons, rainforest immersion
The southern gateway with the densest serious resorts, but long drives to Edakkal, Muthanga and Thirunelli.
Kalpetta
all-round sightseeing, value, travellers without a car
The central transport hub with the widest prices and most restaurants, though the centre is a noisy highway town.
Sultan Bathery
Edakkal, Muthanga safari, the Karnataka road
The east's town base with the biggest restaurant scene and the shortest dawn drive to the Muthanga gate.
Meppadi
trekkers, tea country, younger travellers
The tea estate base under Chembra, closest for the trek and Soochipara, best outside peak monsoon.
Think twice about
- Mundakkai and Chooralmala
The 2024 landslide zone is a place of loss with ongoing restrictions, not accommodation or sightseeing country.
- Remote forest-edge homestays without a car
Long distances, patchy signal and elephants on estate roads at night make them a poor base without a driver arranged.
- Far-north Mananthavady for a south-heavy itinerary
Two hour cross-district drives twice a day are how Wayanad holidays quietly fail. Base near the sights you plan to see most.
Best restaurants in Wayanad
The Tamarind
Refined Kerala dining at Vythiri Village, the closest thing Wayanad has to a special occasion reservation.
The Malabar
Upscale Malabar cooking near Sultan Bathery, the east's one dressed up dinner at the top price band.
Wilton Restaurant
Wayanad's defining restaurant, a 500 cover Sultan Bathery institution famous for biryani and seafood sadhya.
1980's A Nostalgic Restaurant
A vintage bungalow in Kalpetta built around the great banana leaf sadhya, with puttu breakfasts to return for.
Jubilee Restaurant
Sultan Bathery's family favourite for chicken roast, biryanis and seafood, with less queue than Wilton.
The Bungalow Restaurant
Kalpetta's dependable town table for Kerala staples, biryanis and roasts on a sightseeing day.
FoodBae Restaurant
A bright highway favourite for Chinese Indian and Kerala dishes, popular with Wayanad's own young crowd.
Udupi Restaurant
Kalpetta's cheap vegetarian fixture for dosas, thalis and filter coffee before a sightseeing day.
Outdoor things to do in Wayanad
Chembra Peak
Wayanad's highest peak and signature trek, climbing tea and shola forest to a heart shaped lake.
Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary
The Muthanga jeep safari, known above all for elephants, in forest joined to Bandipur and Mudumalai.
Tholpetty Wildlife Sanctuary
The northern safari range near Thirunelli, denser and quieter than Muthanga with thinner crowds.
Kuruvadweep
Evergreen river islets in the Kabini reached only by bamboo raft, capped daily and closed in monsoon.
Meenmutty Waterfalls
One of Kerala's largest falls, three tiers in rainforest reached by a real forest trek with ropes.
MuddyBoots Vacations - Day Trips
Wayanad's best supported adventure operator for ziplines over tea estates, cycling and bamboo rafting.
Karlad Lake
The district adventure lake near Banasura, with kayaking and a zipline over the water for mixed age groups.
Pakshipathalam Bird Sanctuary
A full day permit trek from Thirunelli into high Brahmagiri forest and rock caves in rich bird country.
Best hotels in Wayanad
Vythiri Resort
The best known rainforest resort in Wayanad, with tree houses and pool villas in thick forest near Lakkidi.
Wayanad Wild, CGH Earth
A serious rainforest lodge with resident naturalists, night walks and no televisions, reached by jeep.
Vythiri Village Resort
A big full facility Vythiri resort with pool and zipline, built to entertain families on the property.
Hotel Indriya Wayanad
A modern Kalpetta town hotel by the bus terminal, with the district's densest restaurant cluster on foot.
Uravu Bamboo Grove Resort
A small bamboo eco resort in the Uravu craft village near Kalpetta, supporting a real rural livelihood project.
Pepper Trail
A 200 acre coffee and spice estate stay with tree houses and pool villas, close to Muthanga and Edakkal.
Sterling Wayanad
A reliable branded resort on Sultan Bathery's edge with pool and family rooms, a comfortable safari base.
Hotel Great Jubilee
A simple main road budget hotel in Sultan Bathery, a clean bed in the right town for safari days.
Is Wayanad expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | ₹3,500 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | ₹8,000 a person |
| Splurge | ₹25,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Chembra Peak: a few days ahead
- Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary: a few days ahead
- Tholpetty Wildlife Sanctuary: a few days ahead
- Kuruvadweep: a few days ahead
- MuddyBoots Vacations - Day Trips: a few days ahead
- Pakshipathalam Bird Sanctuary: a few days ahead
- Coorg Golf Links: a few days ahead
- The Tamarind: a few days ahead
- Book good resorts and Zostel private rooms months ahead for December to February weekends, Onam and long weekends.
- Be at the Muthanga or Tholpetty safari gate before the morning window opens, because jeeps are finite and first come.
- Arrange Chembra permits, Kuruva entry and Pakshipathalam permission the day before through your hotel or DTPC.
- Arrive at Edakkal at opening time in season and check Thirunelli darshan timings before the long drive.
Is Wayanad safe?
- Follow district rain alerts literally in monsoon, and treat closed trek and waterfall gates as protection.
- Wear long socks and covered legs on forest paths in the wet season because of leeches.
- Give elephants and gaur the road at night and never walk forest edge roads after dark.
- Swim only where officials allow it that day, and never in monsoon swollen streams or at a closed falls.
Wayanad travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Pookode Lake sold as a headline attraction rather than a passing lake stop.
- The short paid raft ride at Kuruva sold to visitors who missed the capped island entry.
- Package days packing five or six sights across the whole district into one day of driving.
- Spice and souvenir shops on the sightseeing roads, when town shops and En Ooru sell better for less.
Getting around Wayanad: public transport and more
- Fly or take the train to Kozhikode, then allow two and a half to three hours over the Thamarassery ghat to Kalpetta.
- Hire a car and driver by the day through your hotel and keep the same driver for the whole stay.
- Never plan forest or estate roads after dark, and add half as much again to map times on ghat roads.
- The Bengaluru road through Bandipur has a long standing night closure in the forest sections, so verify hours before night plans.
Who Wayanad suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Wayanad your trip
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