Itinerary
PONANT invites you to discover the wonders of Sri Lanka and India, during a 10-day cruise from Colombo to Mumbai. Let yourself fall under the spell of these eastern lands bordered by the Indian Ocean and influenced by Buddhist and Hindu traditions. You will board Le Champlain in Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital located at the crossroads of the sea trade between Europe and Asia. You will be able to admire the fortifications of the old town of Galle, testimony to its Portuguese and Dutch heritage and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Your ship will then arrive in Kerala, on Malabar Coast, in south-western India. From Trivandrum, you will be able to visit Padmanabhapuram Palace, one of the finest examples of traditional Kerala architecture, before setting sail for Cochin. A former royal town where the air is rich with the aroma of cardamom and cloves, this port of call will also be the opportunity to discover, aboard traditional boats, the fishing villages settled along the banks of the "backwaters", a network of lakes and canals that criss-cross the lush landscapes of Kerala. You will discover Goa, a former colony of the Portuguese Indies. Goa is prized for its beaches and its rich cultural heritage, in particular a collection of late 16th-century churches and convents, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Finally, Le Champlain will call at Mumbai, India' cultural and economic capital. Make sure you visit the Elephanta Caves, a Hindu sanctuary on an island off the coast, and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station (formerly known as Victoria Terminus), a remarkable example of Victorian neo-gothic architecture: both sites are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
