Kochi

Huge nets slung from timber frames line the shore, raised and lowered by teams hauling on ropes weighted with stones. Buy fish fresh from the nets at the stalls nearby and an eatery across the road will cook it on the spot.

Built by the Portuguese in the mid-16th century as a gift to the Raja of Kochi and later remodelled by the Dutch, hence its other name, the Dutch Palace. Murals of the Ramayana survive on the bedchamber walls, and it is closed on Fridays.

A synagogue built in 1568, its floor laid with hand-painted blue Chinese tiles said to have no two patterns alike. It is closed on Fridays, Saturdays and Jewish holidays.

The street leading away from the synagogue, lined with antique dealers and spice shops. In the yards of the old warehouses behind it, ginger is still spread across the ground to dry.

Counted as the oldest European-built church in India, it is where Vasco da Gama, who died in Kochi in 1524, was first buried. His remains were later taken to Portugal, leaving only the marked spot in the floor.

The first church here went up under the Portuguese; the present building dates from 1905, its ceiling and pillars covered in pastel paintings. Visitors pair it with St Francis Church, only minutes apart on foot.

A small Fort Kochi theatre stages Kerala's dance drama, Kathakali, trimmed to just over an hour. Come about an hour before the show to watch the actors paint their faces with rice paste and pigment in front of the stage.

The former palace of the Kochi royal family at Tripunithura, east of the city, now a museum of crowns, palanquins and weapons. It is shut on Mondays, and the hill behind the palace has a park where deer roam.

State ferries and the Water Metro cross the harbour between mainland Ernakulam and Fort Kochi. Commuters ride alongside you, the fare is lower than a bus ticket, and the deck passes close to container ships and fishing boats.

A sand beach on the north of Vypeen Island, with the Arabian Sea on one side and a still lagoon across the road on the other. The drive from Fort Kochi takes around sixty minutes, and on the lagoon side the sun sets behind fishing nets and palms.

A burial ground in use from 1724, the headstones of Dutch and British traders and soldiers kept behind a wall near the beach. The gate is often locked, so most people look in over the wall. A short stroll beachward from St Francis Church brings you here.

A three-storey timber building at Thevara in Ernakulam, built in the old Kerala manner. Theyyam costumes, masks and temple carvings fill every floor. A small theatre under the wooden roof of the top floor sometimes stages traditional performances.

A waterside promenade on the Ernakulam side, linked by the Rainbow Bridge and a bridge shaped like a Chinese fishing net. Harbour cruise boats leave its jetties around sunset. Families gather in the evening, and snack carts line up for them.

India's largest contemporary art event, begun in 2012 and usually held every two years from December into spring; one edition slipped to 2022 over COVID. The main venue is Aspinwall House, an old Fort Kochi warehouse, and murals stay up between editions.

A patch of mangrove surviving in central Kochi behind the High Court, where egrets and cormorants nest in colonies. The loop path around it is short. Go at dawn or dusk, when the birds fly in and out to feed; at midday the trees are mostly quiet.

A fishing village ringed by lagoon south of Kochi, an early pioneer of resident-guided village tourism. Visits take in crab farms, riverside nets and homes twisting coir. In some seasons the water glows blue at night, as in the film Kumbalangi Nights.

A narrow street often called the oldest in Fort Kochi, lined with balconied houses from the Portuguese and Dutch eras. Cafes and souvenir shops now fill the ground floors. Stroll it in the late afternoon, when the walls cast shade and the heat eases.