South India with a four year old

[Botanica]

Looking to plan a two week holiday at the end of June, starting and finishing in Bangalore, incorporating either Goa or Cochin, and hopefully some interesting places on the way.

Has anyone done similar or travelled in that region with a young child and can suggest good places to see and things to do?

Also if you've used any family friendly holiday companies to arrange trips in that region, would love to hear your recommendations.

Have you been to India before? I would recommend Sri Lanka with a child that age, much more chilled and less likely to get gastro issues. Loads to see and do and the food is incredible.

I've travelled many times to India both for business and holidays but never with my daughter.

Thanks for the suggestion of Sri Lanka, hadn't considered that. Will look into to it!

It's monsoon there at the end of June so not much fun for a four year old.

Why are you flying in and out of Bangalore ?
The travelling distances between Bangalore and Cochin or Goa is huge and you need to take an internal flight. I would not travel long distance in Indian summer with a 4 year old.

Places to consider near Bangalore - Mysore ( much nicer and cooler ) , Nagarhole ( check if you can go with a 4 year old ).

Spend a week near Bangalore, take an internal flight to Goa or Cochin. Completely different vibes though. My preference would be Goa, as Cochin is another city and you will have to travel nearly 2 hours to go to Allepey backwaters. You could spend a maximum of two days on boat but again not the best option with a four year old. We spent a day with teenagers and that was enough!
Fly out of Cochin or Goa rather than backtracking to Bangalore.

Was also going to suggest Sri Lanka. Far smaller country so travel around is easier. A good itinerary would be couple of nights in Colombo (recommend the Kingsbury) go to Kandy on the train. Stay in kandy, book a car one day to go to the elephant orphanage (or take train), another day to visit a tea plantation or similar before heading back to the beach for r&r - I stayed at the Blue Water at wadduwa beach, lots of families there as it has direct access to the beach, huge pool, huge coconut trees that provide shelter from the sun when relaxing - you can walk easily to lots of restaurants where Sri Lankan families are dining, and there's a tour office really close that will sort you out with whatever trips you want, bespoke for reasonable prices eg we did a river safari, they picked us up by car, 2 hour trip then on the way back took us to an amazing temple complex where we ate amazing food. It's on the train line so easy to take trips. You could go further south to stay and there are proper safaris available, not sure of your budget

Children are treated amazingly too. Most people do speak some English.

Sri Lanka is lovely.

however we spent 6 weeks in India with a 2 year old, if you’ve been before you know the score. Kerala was lovely with her. This was 14 years ago though!