Fresh local ingredients fuel inspired, artfully prepared dishes at the beautifully located clifftop garden cafe at Soul & Surf. Here zingy mezze platters arrive with mini pappadams and slithers of chapati, coffee is sourced from South India's Western Ghats, and Kerala favourites on the short-but-sweet menu include meen pollichathu (steamed banana-leaf fish). It's usually busy with yogis and surfers. Free water refills.
Soul Food Cafe
Top choice in Varkala
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
22.71 MILES
Occupying a handsome 120-year-old heritage building within the Kerala Tourism complex, this intelligently presented museum traces Kerala's history and…
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22.75 MILES
Housed in an 1880 wooden building designed by Robert Chisholm (a British architect whose Fair Isle–style version of the Keralite vernacular shows his…
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Matha Amrithanandamayi Mission
28.9 MILES
The incongruously salmon-pink Matha Amrithanandamayi Mission, 30km northwest of Kollam, is the famous ashram of one of India’s few female gurus,…
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6.06 MILES
Fringed by colourful fishers' houses, 12km southeast of Varkala, this laterite-and-concrete fort was built by the British East India Company in 1695…
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0.14 MILES
Varkala is a temple town and the Janardhana Temple, dedicated to Vishnu, is the main event – with its roots dating back to the 13th century, this…
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23.56 MILES
Overlooking the Shri Padmanabhaswamy Temple tank, the opulent 18th-century palace of the Travancore maharajas is a classically Keralan world of…
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3.47 MILES
About 8km north of Varkala, this long, beautiful and (so far) undeveloped stretch of golden sand is also the beginning of a mini network of backwaters. A…
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Ponnumthuruthu (Golden) Island
3.42 MILES
Around 10km south of Varkala, this acacia-filled island in the middle of a backwater lake conceals a Shiva-Parvati Hindu temple also known as the Golden…
Nearby Varkala attractions
0.14 MILES
Varkala is a temple town and the Janardhana Temple, dedicated to Vishnu, is the main event – with its roots dating back to the 13th century, this…
0.53 MILES
Ringed by rust-red cliffs, Varkala's main beach is a holy spot for Hindus, who for centuries have made offerings for passed loves ones and washed away…
1.18 MILES
A sandy little blonde-and-black beach just north of Varkala's North Cliff.
1.22 MILES
Between Black Beach and Odayam Beach, Varkala's aquarium displays large tanks of exotic species – scorpionfish, angelfish, koi, the local karimeen – along…
1.68 MILES
Just east of central Varkala, Sivagiri Mutt is the headquarters of the Shri Narayana Dharma Sanghom Trust, devoted to Shri Narayana Guru (1855–1928),…
1.74 MILES
This gold-hued stretch of sand, around 1km north of the North Cliff, makes a peaceful alternative to Varkala's main beach.