Kochi: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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Jews have lived on the Malabar coast of India for well over a thousand years, trading in pepper with the kings of Kerala, and their community at Kochi became the best known in India. From the 1950s almost all of them moved to Israel. Two hours; the synagogue is closed on Fridays, Saturdays and Jewish holidays, and visitors cover shoulders and knees.

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A short history of Kochi

In 1341 the Periyar River burst its banks in a flood and created the natural harbour of Cochin, which became the centre of the pepper trade on the Malabar Coast. The Portuguese built a fort here in 1503, their first in India, and Vasco da Gama died in the city in 1524. In 1568 the Cochin Jewish community built the Paradesi Synagogue, which still stands in the quarter called "Jew Town", and most of the community emigrated to Israel in the 1950s. In 1663 the Dutch captured the city, and in 1795 the British. The Chinese fishing nets on the shore are a sign of the old maritime links with China.

The ten best sights in Kochi

1
Paradesi Synagogue
The synagogue of 1568; closed Fridays and Saturdays
2
Jew Town
The street of the old Jewish quarter
3
Jewish Cemetery
The old cemetery of Jew Town
4
Mattancherry Palace
The Dutch Palace and its Ramayana murals
5
Chinese fishing nets
Giant cantilevered nets at sunset
6
Vasco da Gama Square
The promenade by the nets, with fish stalls
7
St Francis Church
Where Vasco da Gama was first buried
8
Santa Cruz Basilica
A painted cathedral of Fort Kochi
9
Dutch Cemetery
Graves of the Dutch traders from 1724
10
Princess Street
Colonial houses, cafés and galleries

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What is an audio walk?

Tours in Kochi →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Kochi:

Free walking tours in Kochi

Jew Town

Paradesi Synagogue · Built in 1568, it is the oldest active synagogue in the Commonwealth. Its floor is laid with some eleven hundred hand-painted blue-and-white porcelain tiles from China, each different, brought in the eighteenth century by the merchant Ezekiel Rahabi; the clock tower was added in 1760.
The copper plates · The synagogue keeps copper plates of about the year one thousand, on which a Chera king of Kerala granted a Jewish leader, Joseph Rabban, the rights of a prince and the income of a trading town — one of the oldest documents of Jewish life in India. Paradesi means foreigners: the founders were Jews who came from Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Aleppo.
Mattancherry Palace · Built by the Portuguese in 1555 as a gift to the Raja of Kochi and rebuilt by the Dutch, so it is called the Dutch Palace. It shares a wall with the synagogue: in 1567 the Raja gave the Jews land beside his own palace, under his protection. Inside are wall paintings of the Ramayana.
Jew Town · The street of the Jewish quarter, its old houses now antique and spice shops. Some still carry Hebrew names and the marks of mezuzahs on their doorposts. Only a handful of Jews remain; most of the community’s families live in Israel, in villages such as Nevatim in the Negev.
Jewish Cemetery · The old cemetery of the community, with Hebrew gravestones among the trees, kept locked; the keys are held near the synagogue.
Bazaar Road · The road of the spice warehouses, where pepper, ginger and cardamom are still traded in bulk. For two thousand years ships came to this coast for black pepper — black gold — and with them Romans, Arabs, Jews, Chinese, Portuguese and Dutch.

Fort Kochi

At the tip of the peninsula the Portuguese built the first European fort in India in 1503, followed by the Dutch and then the British. Its streets of colonial houses, churches and the famous fishing nets are best walked in the late afternoon. Two hours.

St Francis Church · Built in 1503, the oldest European church in India. Vasco da Gama, who had opened the sea route from Europe to India, died in Kochi in 1524 and was buried here; fifteen years later his remains were taken home to Portugal, but his first gravestone remains.
Santa Cruz Basilica · A Catholic cathedral first built by the Portuguese in 1505, destroyed by the British, and rebuilt in 1905 in white with an interior painted with frescoes. Kerala has one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, said to have been founded by the apostle Thomas.
Indo-Portuguese Museum · In the bishop’s house, a museum of altar pieces, silver and church treasures of the Portuguese period, showing how Indian craftsmen worked for the European church.
Dutch Cemetery · A walled cemetery of 1724 on the beach, one of the oldest European cemeteries in India, with the graves of Dutch traders and officials of the East India Company.
Princess Street · One of the first streets of Fort Kochi, of colonial houses with verandas, now cafés and galleries. Every two years the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, the largest art festival in India, fills the old warehouses of the fort.
Chinese fishing nets · Giant nets hung from wooden frames on the shore and lowered into the water by a team of men using counterweights of stone. They are said to have come from China with traders in the fourteenth century; at sunset they are Kochi’s best-known sight.

The synagogues of the backwaters

Beyond Kochi, in the villages along the rivers and lagoons north of the city, stand older synagogues of the Malabari Jews, restored as museums of the community. Half a day by car; add the beach at Cherai.

Kadavumbhagam Synagogue · A small synagogue of the Malabari Jews in the market of Ernakulam, the older community of the coast. The interior of another Kochi synagogue of the same name was taken apart and rebuilt in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
Paravur Synagogue · A synagogue of 1615 with a long courtyard and gatehouse, restored by the state of Kerala as a museum of the history of the Kerala Jews.
Chendamangalam Synagogue · A synagogue of 1614 in a village where Jews, Hindus, Christians and Muslims lived side by side, near the site of the ancient port of Muziris. It holds what is said to be the oldest Jewish tombstone in India, dated 1269.
Cherai Beach · A long beach on a narrow island between the Arabian Sea and the backwaters, so you can watch the sun set over the sea and the fishing boats come home on the lagoon side.
Marine Drive · The promenade of Ernakulam along the lagoon, from which ferries cross to Fort Kochi in about twenty minutes — the cheapest and loveliest way between the two halves of the city.
Kerala Kathakali Centre · Back in Fort Kochi for an evening of Kathakali, the dance-drama of Kerala, where actors in huge skirts and painted green faces tell stories from the epics with their eyes and hands alone. Come early to watch the hour-long make-up.

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Getting to Kochi and getting around

Cochin Airport · An hour from Fort Kochi; the first airport in the world run on solar power
Ernakulam Junction · The main station, on the mainland side

Cheap eats in Kochi

Kerala cooks with coconut: appam, lacy rice pancakes, with a mild stew; meen curry, fish in a sour red sauce of kokum and chilli; karimeen pollichathu, pearl-spot fish from the backwaters baked in banana leaf; and the sadya, a feast of two dozen dishes on a banana leaf. Fish fried fresh from the Chinese nets is the cheap meal.

Vasco da Gama Square · Buy fish, have it cooked
Princess Street · Appam and stew in the cafés
Jew Town · Spice shops and tea

Museums in Kochi

Kochi’s museums tell of the spice trade and the many peoples it brought: Jews, Portuguese, Dutch and British.

Mattancherry Palace · The Ramayana murals
Paravur Synagogue · The Kerala Jews museum
Indo-Portuguese Museum · Church treasures

Nature and day trips near Kochi

Kochi sits among the backwaters, a maze of lagoons and canals behind the coast of palms.

Cherai Beach · Sea and backwater
Marine Drive · The ferry across the harbour
Chinese fishing nets · Sunset on the shore

Things to do in Kochi with kids

With children: the giant fishing nets, a ferry ride, and the painted faces of Kathakali.

Chinese fishing nets · Help lift a net
Kerala Kathakali Centre · The make-up and the show
Parade Ground · Cricket games

Holy places in Kochi

Kochi is a city of four faiths living side by side for centuries — Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Jewish — with some of the oldest synagogues and churches in Asia.

Paradesi Synagogue · The synagogue of 1568
Chendamangalam Synagogue · The tombstone of 1269
St Francis Church · Vasco da Gama’s first grave
Santa Cruz Basilica · The painted basilica

Nightlife in Kochi

Kochi’s evenings are Kathakali, the sunset at the nets and cafés in old colonial houses.

Kerala Kathakali Centre · The evening show
Princess Street · Cafés and galleries
David Hall · Art and dinner in a Dutch house

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Frequently asked questions about Kochi

What is there to see in Kochi?

The top sights in Kochi are Paradesi Synagogue, Jew Town and Jewish Cemetery. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Kochi?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Kochi without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Kochi?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Kochi, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Jew Town.

How do you get to Kochi and get around?

The main ways are Cochin Airport and Ernakulam Junction. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Kochi, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Kochi that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

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