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Kochi · Modern city
Ernakulam
The Mainland
The business shore: Marine Drive, malls, metro and ferries to the old town.
The city's practical half: a modern business centre of malls, metro and big-Kerala-city noise. In the evening, the Marine Drive promenade faces the harbour and its rainbow footbridges. Handy for shopping and the airport, and a ferry crosses to old Kochi in ten minutes of water instead of an hour by road.
Who it suits
the practical base Marine Drive metro and malls
Staying here
Yes, if logistics rule: transport, malls, the airport road.
In the evening
The promenade strolls late; Fort ferries run till about 9 pm, so check the board.
Getting there
Ⓜ MG Road · Maharaja's College
What to see
Durbar Hall Art GalleryThe Biennale spirit between Biennales: serious shows, free, in the city centreDetails →
Ernakulathappan Shiva TempleThe deity Ernakulam is named after, five minutes from the art gallery
Mangalavanam Bird SanctuaryMore than seventy bird species recorded round a tidal lagoon the city keeps deliberately quietDetails →
Shanmugham Road & Marine Drive
Centre Square Mall Food CourtCentral M.G. Road food court, easy and varied.
Where to eat
Society BakeryClassic Kerala bakery bakes, puffs, rolls and cream buns done well.
Indian Coffee HouseA living piece of Indian cafe heritage and the most atmospheric filter-coffee stop in Ernakulam.
Cocoacraft Chocolate FactoryIndia's pioneering bean-to-bar maker, with a Kochi dessert cafe.
Grand PavilionA 1963 art-deco room and the local benchmark for a proper Kerala "meals": rice on a banana leaf with avial, olan, thoran and pachadi.
Hotel Saravana BhavanCheap, clean, dependable South Indian tiffin in central Kochi.
Shopping
Broadway & Ernakulam MarketWhere Kochi actually shops, at Kochi prices, a century on from the first stalls
Other areas of Kochi
Areas on the map
In the app: the city's areas on the map, the places inside and a route.
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