Kottayam
Kottayam is a city in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India.
Kottayam is a city in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is the headquarters of Kottayam district, located about 66 km (41 mi) south of the commercial city of Kochi and 154 km (95.7 mi) north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 census of India, Kottayam has a population of 136,812 people, and a population density of 2,470/km2 (6,400/sq mi).
Kottayam is also referred to as "the City of Letters" as many of the first Malayalam daily newspapers, such as Deepika, Malayala Manorama, and Mangalam, were started and are headquartered in Kottayam, as are a number of publishing houses.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
- 01Aruvikkuzhi Waterfalls
- 02Elaveezha Poonchira
- 03Erumely
Important pilgrimage centre for Hindus and Muslims.
- 04Ettumanoor
Famous for having an ancient Shiva temple.
- 05Kumarakom
The place is famous for its bird sanctuary, house boats, backwaters, canals and the bungalow of Henry Baker (now run as part of a resort managed by the Taj group of hotels).
- 06Manarcaud
Mary's Shrine here attracts people of all faiths.
From Wikivoyage: Kottayam, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
Annual Food Festival. Kottayam also has an annual food and flower show. These events are quite popular and are worth a visit, if you are in town when it happens. Boat Races. Lots of boat races with traditional boats of different sizes - around 50 types - in the months of July, August and September during Onam. Nalumanikkattu Paddy Fields, 10 km on Manarcaud to Ettumanoor Road.
From Wikivoyage: Kottayam, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
There are many restaurants and cafes in Kottayam. What the town lacks, however, is variety. Local food is extensively available and is generally quite good, as is South Indian vegetarian food. Beyond this, food has been uniformly categorized by restaurants as being either North Indian, Chinese or Continental.
- 01Indian Coffee House
M.L.Road,.
From Wikivoyage: Kottayam, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Kottayam
- Airports
- Cochin (COK), 64 km · Thiruvananthapuram (TRV), 131 km · Coimbatore (CJB), 170 km
- Kochi → Kottayam49 km · quickest by road, 1h 42m · ₹415–520
- Thiruvananthapuram → Kottayam131 km · quickest by road, 3h 5m · ₹980–1,230
- Coimbatore → Kottayam165 km · quickest by road, 4h 35m · ₹1,550–1,930
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Kottayam
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Kottayam. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inFrequent ferries (run by the Kerala State Water Transport Corporation) from Alappuzha (Alleppey) run throughout the day.
- Get aroundLocal taxis are also available, though they are considerably more expensive than autorickshaws.
From Wikivoyage: Kottayam, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-08.
- 0172 km
- 0275 km
- 0390 km
- 04100 km
- 05104 km
If you know how people move in Kottayam – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Kottayam
Kottayam is 48 km from Kochi, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.