Famous for its lush tea plantations and Eravikulam National Park, Munnar is a stunning hill station nestled in the Western Ghats mountain range of Kerala. Many travellers visit Munnar to escape the chaos city life and enjoy the nature.
One of the most common things to do whilst in Munnar is to go on a jeep tour (sometimes called a jeep safari). Before visiting Munnar, I found it difficult to find up-to-date and conclusive information about these tours. After experiencing it first hand, I’ve put together this honest guide to make your adventure seamless.
Prior to visiting Munnar, you can book tours online where you’ll find lots of tour companies and hotels selling different packages and tours. However, I’d suggest avoiding these as they’re the same as the regular jeep tours with extra costs and booking hassle. You’ll also be able to book through your hotel once you arrive if you want something pre-arranged, however, it’s not necessary.
My recommendation is to simply head to the main area of Munnar where you’ll find loads of tuk-tuks and jeeps ready to take people on tours. They will typically have a laminated guide to show you the different tours and routes you can take. Once you’ve picked your preferred tour, make sure to secure a price before heading off and clarify what’s included as there are additional costs that may or not be included in the price you settle on.
Tip: The jeeps are commonly priced per jeep not per person. Usually the jeeps fit 6 people in so if you’re a solo traveller or a couple looking to keep costs lower then it can be worth trying to find others who also want to head on a tour and sharing a jeep with them.
We chose to do the most common tour as it included a few stops we knew we definitely wanted to see. The route we chose included these stops:
The stops conveniently sit along a single, winding mountain road that runs alongside gorgeous tea plantations making easy to explore. There were a few stops we chose to skip as they didn’t interest us or were too busy but luckily our driver added some extra quieter viewpoints to make up for it which was a nice bonus. The last stop – the Tea Garden View Point near the Tamil Nadu border – is easily the most impressive.
An Ethical Warning on Carmelagiri Elephant Park: The stop is for riding elephants who are chained and visibly distressed. It’s extremely popular with domestic tourists but relies deeply open unethical animal practices. I strongly urge you to skip this stop so you’re not contributing to the cruel happenings of these places. Our driver substituted the stop for a quieter, unvisited viewpoint further along the tour.
You should expect to pay between 3000 INR and 5000 INR per jeep for the standard day tour. We spoke to a few drivers, negotiated a bit, and secured our tour for 3000 INR.
Keep in mind that most tour prices are for the jeep and driver so will exclude:
When it comes to the extra costs, they’re not much and will be no more than 500 INR extra.
Note: Completely optional but consider tipping your driver if you had a good experience with them. We chose to tip our driver 500 INR as he was really informative and helpful, a safe driver and added stops for us when we chose to skip others.
How much does a jeep tour cost in Munnar?
How long is the tour?
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Is the tour good for photography?
Is the Munnar jeep tour worth it?
Where is the main jeep stand?
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