Hi Friends ! This is for all who desperatly seek helpful and concrete info on tourist destinations before they actually visit the place. This one is on Alleppey. First you want to know if its actually worth a visit, then you move to accomodation , food and finally expenditure. FLY TO ALLEPPEY: I flew to Alleppey from Delhi, saved a lot of time, so if you want full worth of your trip, take a flight, that ways you will have more time in hand to see the place, though there ain’t much to see in terms of monuments or other historic places but the beauty of the place is divine and you need atleast 2 days to soak it in and bring it back with you , to keep you charged up till another trip. ACCOMODATION: There are all kinds of accomodations available, ranging from luxury to budget. I stayed in Kerala Heritage home , the room was for Rs 400 (non AC) so you can imagine an AC room would not be more than 1000. This place where I stayed was quiet , very peaceful, staff was very helpful, overall it was homely experience. There are quite a few hotels with reasonable room rents. FOOD: It is South Indian, lots of Sea Food and very little North Indian veg.. North Indian Veg. is not tasty and all Daals taste like Samber. So if you are non-Veg or can manage with South Indian then you’d have no problem otherwise you would not be looking forward to daily meals. PEOPLE: The people here are very very nice and really helpful. I found people in Kerala very honest, accomodating, helpful and hospitable.If you are stuck somewhere they would help and guide you. Cruise: The best thing is to take up an accomodation first and then go out looking for a back water cruise, this way you would have time to relax and then choose kind of cruise u intend to take , could be a cruise for a few hours or the whole day. Its ideal to take a cruise early morning or in the evening since the afternoon sun would prevent you from enjoying the scenic beauty to its fullest. Usually the hotels that you stay in will offer you the cruise, but if you are a low-budget traveller, its best to visit the backwaters and take a cruise from there - the price is marginally negotiable. To be honest you can cover the entire backwater in 3-4 hours, you need to hire a house boat only if you are with friends or cousins (I mean if you are 5-6 adults)or else if you are a honeymooner and want that romantic experience on sea, still I would not recommend spending large a/m on houseboat for the entire day. I hope this information has been of some help. Thanks Sidds.