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What Does It Cost To Visit Kochi? Family Of Four Budget

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What Does It Cost To Visit Kochi? Family Of Four Budget

Kochi, India, was a different experience than what we had in Delhi. We were recommended this area to travel by multiple people prior to traveling to India. It did not dissappoint. We had cultural experience, saw many different religions co-existing without any conflict, and a relaxing and beautiful house boat experience. In total, we spent $1,912.99 for 3 weeks for a total of $91.09 per day for our family of 4. Let’s see the cost to visit Kochi. All amounts shown are in US dollars.

Accommodation—$827.89 or $39.42 per night.

The Vrbo location we stayed at in Kochi was within walking distance to the JLN Stadium Metro line, giving us access to get to most places we wanted to within the Kochi area. It was in a more residential area that was much more quiet than on the major road. We had access to restaurants near by as well as the accommodation suited us with 3 bedrooms, a play space for the kids, with a kitchen and washer.

Eating Out – $169.45 or $3.13 per meal

We have had difficulties with food with our kids. Kerala South Indian food was delicious for us adults, but the spices and flavor profile did not suite the kids. Because of this, we had to go with more traditional western food for the kids, which ended up being more expensive than traditional South Indian food. We used the App Swiggy, which is like Uber Eats or Door Dash back in the US, but way cheaper and more efficient. We used this credit card to get 3x points on dining!

    • Pizza Hut – This was a safe food for the kids that we at at twice at the Lulu Mall. – $15.37.

    • Local Biryani – Had to try real Biryani- $4.79.

    • Brindhaven – Highly rated Kerala South Indian food. Ate from here twice- $20.57.

    • Al Taza- Amazing chicken shawarma wraps that was safe for kids to eat and enjoyed by the adults. Ate here 3 times. –$36.11

    • Grillax- Restaurant at the mall with chicken wraps and a burgers. –$15.21

    • Kashi Art Cafe- Neat artistic restaurant in Fort Kochi. –$8.82

    • Lila Curations- Eat at a museum! Built in entertainment for the kids while the food was being prepared. –$13.34

    • Alleppey Boat- We bought tiger prawns and a beer that was extra on our house boat day. –$17.24

    • Ginger House Restaurant- Highly recommended restaurant in touristy area of Mattancherry. Beautiful art work, sub par food. –$15.85

    • Burgers- Tasty safe burgers for the kids. Pay a premium for western food and meat.-$22.15

Groceries – $297.51

As we only stayed 3 weeks, we needed all the essentials to make a lasting stay. We spent about $1.20 per meal for our family of 4 including all the snacks for everyone throughout the day. Here’s how that broke down:

    • Instamart– Swiggy delivered groceries within 20 minutes of ordering—$43.75

    • Lulu Hypermarket- The bulk of our shopping came from this international grocery store. –$201.96

    • Kalyan Hypermarket- We were in the area for this store. –$30.18

    • Local Market- Small store around the corner from our house. –$21.62

Transportation – $173.81

I have specifically omitted our flight cost for the sake that readers will have to get to Kochi, India from many different places in the world, and all flights and means of transportation will be different. We did use Daily Drop Pro to help us search for redemption bookings from points we have earned from our favorite credit card!

    • Private Transfer from Munnar- We were in Munnar staying at a tea plantation which was 3 hours away. $57.77

    • Uber: Our main mode of transport to areas outside metro line- $45.86

    • Metro Tickets— We paid for 3 people each time while using the Kochi Metro as they base their tickets on height of the passenger instead of age. —$10.28

    • Private transport to Alleppey- We needed a safe way to get down to Alleppey (2hours away) for our house boat experience. Round trip costs $48.60

    • Uber from Accommodation to Cochin International Airport- $11.30

Tourist Attractions – $271.94

We did a lot and saw a lot. Most experiences were very low cost or free. We did splurge on our Alleppey house boat experience:

    • Alleppey House Boat Day Trip – This was a highlight of our time in Kerala. We booked a private houseboat with AC for a 6 hour experience through the backwaters of Alleppey. $189.59
    • Hill Palace– A massive sprawling palace on a hill that was where the Cochin Royal Family called home- $11.61
    • Bird Sanctuary- $0.48
    • Lulu Amusement Park– On hot days, we went to the Lulu Mall for the kids to have fun in the amusement park. Went on 2 occasions. –$21.86
    • Chinese fishing net tip– $2.31
    • Children’s Science Park- $0.69
    • Kathakali Show– Another highlight of our time in Kochi was visiting a Kathakali Show. Click here to read more. –$21.96
    • Massage- Anna got a massage. She deserved it! –$22.98
    • Mattancherry Palace- $0.23
    • Paradesi Synagoge- $0.23

Miscellaneous – $59.83

    • Electric Razor– My electric razor stopped working, needed a replacement- $11.67
    • Airalo for eSim. $15.00
    • Facial oil from 100% Women owned and operated shop in Mattancherry – $13.78
    • Hamleys- bought books and water color pads for girls for our next travel day- $19.38

Healthcare– $112.56

    • Our monthly renewal of our nomad travel health insurance for our family from SafetyWing got billed

Total: $1,912.99

What we learned:

    • Transportation: Metro and Uber are the ways to get around. No need to try and haggle with the taxi drivers. Price is already set. Used the metro to get to most places.
    • Food: Kerala South Indian Food is very cheap here for a family of 4. Kids however had a hard time with the flavor profile. We did have to spend more to get food that they were comfortable with eating. Spending only $1.20 per meal with groceries was a win. $3.13 per meal for “Western” type food was more than expected.
    • Accommodations: We asked our vacation rental host prior to booking if they would consider lowering the price. They did, which was helpful for us staying in the budget. The accommodation had all that we needed as a family.

Kochi was a great slow travel stay for our kids. We got to explore the city at our own pace with easy and seamless transportation options that we were grateful for. South Indian food was tasty for us parents. The house boat journey in Alleppey and the Kathakali show were experiences that we won’t forget. If traveling to India with kids, Kochi is a great experience.

More on the Blog:

Learn about our minimalist packing style!

Learn how much we spent in a week in Delhi, India.

We experienced culture shock in India. See how our family of 4 fared.

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