Fort Kochi: Private Tuk Tuk Tour with Synagogue & Palace

4.91

(144 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

The first thing I noticed was the way the tuk tuk’s engine hummed under us—sort of jittery but comforting, like it had seen every corner of Fort Kochi already. Our driver, Sabu, grinned when he handed me a bottle of cold water (needed that, honestly—the air felt thick and salty). We zipped past painted walls and sleepy dogs stretched out in the shade. The Chinese fishing nets loomed up suddenly—huge wooden arms creaking as fishermen balanced on them. Sabu explained how these nets came from China centuries ago. I tried to imagine hauling one up myself. No way.

We rattled through Jew Town next. The Paradesi Synagogue’s blue-and-white tiles were cooler than I expected—literally cool under my feet, since we left our shoes at the door. There was this faint scent of old wood and incense inside, mixed with something sweet drifting in from a spice shop nearby. Sabu pointed out Hebrew script on the walls but got distracted by a neighbor selling tiny bananas; he bought some for us to try. They tasted almost floral? Not sure I’ll ever find that flavor again back home.

I didn’t expect to feel much at the Dutch Cemetery, but it was strangely peaceful—just faded stones under tangled trees, with crows hopping between them. We walked slowly there; even Sabu got quiet for a minute. Afterward we stopped at St. Francis Church where Vasco da Gama was once buried (Sabu joked that his ghost probably gets bored now). The Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica was next—sunlight spilling through colored glass onto the floor while someone swept in the corner.

By the time we reached Mattancherry Palace, my head was full of stories about old rajas and Portuguese traders. The murals inside looked almost alive in that sticky afternoon light. It’s funny—I thought this private tuk tuk tour would be mostly about sightseeing, but it turned out to be more about small moments: banana peels on my fingers, Sabu’s laughter echoing off stone walls, or just watching fishermen work as if time barely moved here at all.