Thekkady
Everything runs out of Kumily, 4 km uphill from the Thekkady park gate and right on the Tamil Nadu state line: KSRTC buses west into Kerala, TNSTC buses east to Cumbum and Madurai, autos and jeeps for anything local, and a forest department shuttle that is the only way to reach the Periyar boat landing.
- Researched
- 21 September 2026
- Reviewed
- 29 September 2026
- Ways of moving
- 8, 14 sources
- Not confirmed
- 11
- Fares seen
- 2025–2026
8 ways of moving, each with its rule
We confirmed eight ways of moving to, from or around Thekkady: three by road, three hired or on demand and two by water, from 14 sources. One of them runs only on demand or when the seats are full, so there is no timetable to show; the rule is written where the timetable would be. One needs a phone call or a message before you turn up.
The fares were seen in 2025 to 2026; a fare from an older year is a floor, not a price. Five fares carry no year, because they could not be confirmed and the field says so. We rate none high confidence, our own judgement of the sources. The entry was checked on 21 September 2026, and ends with eleven things we could not confirm.
By road
TNSTC buses across the state border to Cumbum
Kumily to Gudalur to Cumbum, dropping off the Western Ghats into the Tamil Nadu plains; onward to Theni, Chinnamanur and Madurai
Kumily bus stand sits metres from the Kerala–Tamil Nadu border. TNSTC buses use the same stand as KSRTC; the destination boards are in Tamil, so ask for Cumbum. TNSTC enquiry 8300545501, KSRTC Kumily 04869 224242
- When
- About 21 listed TNSTC departures a day in the Cumbum direction, spread from 06:20 to 23:00, so roughly one an hour rather than one every few minutes. The morning run is 06:20, 06:30, 09:30, 10:50 and 11:30
- Takes
- About 40 minutes for the 20 km on the timetable's own reckoning; about 3.5 hours Kumily to Madurai via Cumbum and Theni
- Fare
- Not published on any source found. This is an ordinary state bus over 20 km, so expect a low double-digit rupee fare and pay the conductor
SeasonYear-round. BookingNone on the ordinary buses, pay on board. Long distance TNSTC services to Madurai and Chennai can be booked online. Run byTNSTC and KSRTC.
Forest department shuttle to the Periyar boat landing
Anavachal parking area at the Thekkady gate to the boat landing on Periyar lake, 4 km inside the reserve
Leave your vehicle at Anavachal parking. The Periyar Tiger Reserve bus loads there; no private vehicle is allowed down to the jetty, so this or walking are the only options
- When
- Roughly every half hour while the park is open
- Takes
- About 15 minutes each way
- Fare
- Charged separately from the park entry fee and the boat ticket; the boat operator's own page says so without naming the amount, and no source found publishes it
SeasonYear-round, daylight hours. BookingBuy at the counter with your boat ticket. Report 1 hour before your cruise at Anavachal parking and 30 minutes before at the boat landing. Run byKerala Forest Department, Periyar Tiger Reserve.
KSRTC and private buses west out of Kumily
Kumily to Munnar, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram and Madurai
All from Kumily KSRTC bus stand in the middle of town. Private buses to Munnar leave from the same area and run earlier in the morning than the KSRTC ones, which matters if you want the ghat road in daylight. Stand enquiry 04869 224242
- When
- Munnar: KSRTC at 12:45 and 16:00, private buses at 06:00, 07:30 and 09:45. Kottayam: through the day from 01:45 to 21:45. Ernakulam: from 04:00 to 21:00. Thiruvananthapuram: 03:00, 08:45, 15:40, 16:40, 19:00. Madurai on KSRTC: 01:00 and 23:40
- Takes
- About 4 to 5 hours to Munnar, 4 hours to Kottayam, 6 hours to Ernakulam
- Fare
- Not published on the sources found; ordinary KSRTC fares on these routes run in the low hundreds of rupees
SeasonYear-round. BookingNone on ordinary services. Reserved services at onlineksrtcswift.com. Run byKSRTC Kerala and private bus operators.
Hired, booked and on demand
Autorickshaws between Kumily and the Thekkady gate
Kumily bus stand and market to the Periyar Tiger Reserve entrance and Anavachal parking, 4 km downhill
Autos line up outside Kumily bus stand and along the main road through the market; they also wait at the park gate for the returning boat crowd. Any homestay will whistle one up
- When
- All day, no waiting, heaviest around the 07:30 and 09:30 boat departures
- Takes
- About 10 minutes
- Fare
- Not confirmed against any page that could be opened. Meters are not used, so agree the price before you get in and expect the gate run to be quoted higher around boat times
SeasonYear-round. BookingNone, flag one down. Run byprivate auto drivers.
Jeep safaris out of Kumily
Short runs to Satram on the border, Ottakathala and Chellarkovil viewpoints, across into Cumbum in Tamil Nadu, and the long day out to Gavi
Jeep operators keep offices on the Kumily main road and every homestay and hostel books them; drivers pick you up at your door. Contact numbers are posted on operator sites such as discoverthekkady.com
- When
- Daily on demand. The Satram border safari can start any time between 06:00 and 16:00; the long Gavi day starts at 06:00
- Takes
- 3 to 4 hours for Satram, about 3.5 hours for Ottakathala and Chellarkovil, 4 hours for the Cumbum side, 7 to 11 hours for Gavi
- Fare 2026
- ₹2,100 for up to eight people on the half day Satram border safari; ₹7,200 for two on the direct Gavi safari including breakfast and lunch, plus ₹2,400 for each extra person up to six; ₹9,000 for up to four on the long Angamoozhy and Gavi loop, plus ₹1,200 per extra person. The operator says these vary by season
SeasonYear-round; forest routes can close in the June to August monsoon. BookingA day ahead through the operator or your guesthouse; forest entry fees are extra. Run byprivate jeep owner-drivers in Kumily.
Taxi hire from Kumily
Kumily to Munnar, Alleppey, Kottayam and Cochin airport, or by the day around Thekkady
Taxi stand beside Kumily bus stand, and every hotel and homestay has a driver they use. Kerala tourist taxi operators quote fixed one way rates for the standard Munnar and Alleppey legs, and the quote depends on the vehicle class more than the distance
- When
- On demand, any hour
- Takes
- About 3 hours to Munnar on the operator's own reckoning, plus traffic; 4 to 5 hours to Alleppey; 4.5 hours to Cochin airport
- Fare 2026
- Thekkady to Munnar one way is quoted at ₹3,800 for a hatchback, ₹4,500 for a Dzire, ₹5,000 for an Ertiga, ₹5,500 for an Innova and ₹7,500 for an Innova Crysta. One Kerala operator lists a second, lower set for the same leg starting at ₹3,300, so ask more than one. Day hire in an Ertiga is ₹3,000 for 100 km
SeasonYear-round. BookingA day ahead by phone or through your guesthouse; agree the rate and whether tolls and the driver's night allowance are included. Run byKerala tourist taxi operators and Kumily stand drivers.
By water
Periyar lake boat cruise
Round trip on the reservoir from the boat landing inside the reserve
Tickets from the Periyar bus and boat ticket booking counter at the Thekkady gate, or online. The upper deck is the seat worth having and it sells out first
- When
- Five sailings a day: 07:30, 09:30, 11:15, 13:45 and 15:30
- Takes
- About 1.5 hours on the water, plus reporting an hour early at the parking area
- Fare 2025
- ₹225 per Indian adult and ₹85 per Indian child. The source giving these calls them the Periyar Lake entry fee and says foreign nationals pay more without giving the figure, so treat ₹225 as the Indian rate and budget for a higher one. Cameras are charged on top: still ₹45, video ₹335. The bus down to the landing is extra again
SeasonYear-round. September to March is the usual season; the lake is fullest after the monsoon and animals come to the water in the March to May dry months. BookingOnline at the Periyar Tiger Reserve booking site, or at the counter beside the gate. Report an hour before at Anavachal parking. Run byKerala Forest Department; KTDC also runs boats.
Bamboo rafting on Periyar lake
A guided trek from the boat landing area onto bamboo rafts on the lake and back
Sold by the forest department ecotourism counter at the Thekkady gate and online; groups are small and fixed, so book ahead rather than turning up
- When
- Daily, starting at dawn
- Takes
- Dawn to dusk: a few hours trekking, then the raft on the lake, lunch, and the same way back
- Fare
- Not confirmed. Kerala Tourism's own page for this programme carries no price, and no other page found publishes one. Tea, snacks and packed lunch are included. Book through the ecotourism counter and ask the rate when you book
SeasonYear-round, but rafting is suspended in heavy monsoon rain. BookingThrough periyartigerreserve.org or the ecotourism counter, well in advance. Run byPeriyar Tiger Reserve ecotourism: an armed guard and four guides to a maximum of ten people.
What we could not find out
11 things the researcher looked for and did not find, in their own words, with where to ask instead. None of this goes into the planner; it stays here until someone confirms it.
- 01
No source found confirming share autos or share taxis operating on fixed Kumily routes, though autos are everywhere. Ask at the Kumily bus stand auto rank whether drivers will share the Thekkady gate run at boat times.
- 02
The forest department shuttle fare between Anavachal parking and the boat landing is not published anywhere found. The boat operator's page confirms only that it is charged separately from park entry and the boat ticket.
- 03
The autorickshaw fare from Kumily to the Thekkady gate could not be confirmed. Yatra's Thekkady transport page, which carried a ₹40 figure and a ₹5 forest bus figure, refused every request and both figures are therefore dropped rather than repeated.
- 04
Bamboo rafting prices are not on Kerala Tourism's own programme page and no other page found publishes them. Ask at the ecotourism counter at the Thekkady gate; the figures circulating on booking sites were not traceable to the forest department.
- 05
The foreign-national rate for Periyar Lake entry is not published on the page that gives the Indian rate, which says only that it is higher. Budget for more than ₹225.
- 06
No ordinary TNSTC or KSRTC fare for the Kumily routes is published on the timetable sources found; they list times only. The bus fare pages on those sites were not reachable.
- 07
periyartigerreserve.org, the official booking site, serves an empty JavaScript shell to a plain request, so nothing on it could be quoted. It is named here as the place to book, not cited as evidence.
- 08
Nothing found on hitching customs around Kumily or on the Cumbum ghat road. Lorries and jeeps do run the border road constantly, but no source describes travellers riding with them.
- 09
12Go and Bookaway route pages for Kumily returned no usable content, so private minivan transfer prices to Alleppey, Fort Kochi and Munnar could not be confirmed.
- 10
One Kerala taxi operator publishes two different Thekkady–Munnar tariffs on the same page, starting at ₹3,300 and ₹3,800. Which applies was not clear from the page, so both are given here.
- 11
Whether TNSTC buses stop on the Kerala side of the border or only at Kumily stand itself is unclear from the timetable listings.
What the planner can route today
The options above live on the place page, not in the departure board: a boat that comes when you phone has no time to show. What the board can do for Thekkady is this.
- Y
- Scheduled flightsKochi (COK), 111 km
- Y
- Trains and coachesTransitous carries 2 timetable feeds for this country, 1 with real-time
- Y
- FerriesBamboo Rafting, 1 km; sailings estimated
- Y
- Driving and taxiOpenStreetMap roads; cab fare from the country band
- N
- Bike and scooter shareno share feed known
- N
- Cruisesno open itinerary source anywhere
Y routable now · F found, not yet implemented · N no source known.