Many a time, travelers come to Kerala with a minimum budget and would like to assess options involving Home Stays, and public transportation within a given budget and stretch a given sum of money, for a longer duration. Here are some Kochi Budget Travel tips for a traveler visiting Kochi.

While giving the best Kochi Budget Travel tips, The foremost issue that would come to mind is the stay and what better option than a homestay. The Fort Kochi area is mushrooming with such homestays. These homestays are cheap and yet comfortable and are indeed affordable. The atmosphere is very homely, and would perhaps qualify for being classified as “a home away from home”. Many tourists spend a couple of weeks staying in Kerala homestays.

The tourists patronizing homestays are quite adventurous and won’t mind experimenting with local cuisine. They would also experiment with different types of restaurants with a different array of food. However, as Kerala is rich in local spices, the food served is generally spicy. One would need to pre-check beforehand, with the restaurant concerned about the level of spice in the food, and opt for the menu suitably.

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Kochi Budget Travel Tips on Public Transport

While considering Kochi budget travel tips, The commonest mode of transport is the city buses. They are the cheapest mode of commuting within the City. The buses are known for being notorious and will not hesitate to break traffic rules in the absence of a traffic constable. These buses are generally painted red in color and are very easily identifiable. Vypeen is a long thin island that trails the coast from Kochi northwards.

It is laced with waterways and lakes, groves of palm trees, and colorful houses. This path will be an ideal bus trip for a tourist to take a glance at the beauty. The drawback with these buses is, the destination boards are depicted in the local language (Malayalam), and thus a commuter has to ascertain the destination, before boarding the bus.

Followed by this, are the tuk-tuks locally known as auto-rickshaws. They are plenty of them crisscrossing the city. The only drawback with them is that their charges are on the higher side. Although the Transport Department of Kerala has fixed the official rate, the drivers are reluctant to commute passengers on the official tariff. It would be rare to find any tuk-tuk plying at less than Rs. 20/- a kilometer. This is the thumb rule fixed informally by them.

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Cochin has a network of waterways as it has quite a few water channels. The travel using waterways in some cases is quick, cutting circuitous distances while traveling by road. The popular water transport system covers destinations like Fort Kochi/Mattancherry to Ernakulam jetty, and could also be tried. The fares charged by “junkar service” are quite competitive and cheap. The junker ferry has the capability of carrying both passengers and vehicles simultaneously.

Taxi cabs are rather limited and don’t find patronage except for the train stations and the international Airport unless of course, it is hired for a full day. This may cost up to $30 – $35 a day for local sightseeing.

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Kochi is fast emerging as a Metro City and it will certainly change the way travelers view the mode of conveyance. Kochi Metro a link from Aluva (near Cochin Airport) to Tripunthura (a southern suburb) has a deadline for commissioning in Sept 2016. Once this becomes a reality, it will be a welcome respite for travelers as it would then throw up another option to commute within the city.

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