Stay on the North Cliff if you want everything within walking distance, the South Cliff or Odayam if you want quiet, and Varkala town if you want cheap and local. The areas are only a few kilometres apart but they are genuinely different places to wake up in.
We deliver bikes to all of them most days, which means we see the trade-offs from the outside: who has to walk twenty minutes for breakfast, who can't get an auto after ten, who picked the quiet option and then spent every evening riding back to the cliff anyway.
What is the North Cliff like?
The busiest and most convenient. A pedestrian path along the clifftop with cafés, shops, yoga places and guesthouses packed along it, and steps down to Papanasam Beach in the middle.
Stay here if it's your first visit, if you're travelling solo, or if you want to be able to walk out of your room to food at eleven at night. The trade-off is noise — music from the cafés runs late in season — and price, which is the highest in Varkala.
Worth knowing: the cliff path itself is pedestrian. Vehicles park behind the strip, so wherever you stay up here, expect a short walk between the bike and the door.
What about the South Cliff?
Three to four kilometres round by road, and much quieter. Fewer places to eat, fewer shops, more space, and the better side for sunset.
It suits couples and anyone who found the North Cliff description off-putting. The catch is that "quiet" also means you'll be riding or walking over to the north side most evenings for variety, so factor that in rather than assuming you'll be self-contained.
Is Odayam or Black Beach worth it?
If you want to be near the sea and away from everything else, yes. Odayam is a couple of kilometres north of the cliff, small and low-key, with a handful of quiet places to stay behind a rocky little beach. Black Beach sits between it and Papanasam and is walkable from the cliff.
This is the area where having your own wheels stops being a convenience and becomes the thing that makes the stay work. Without one you're dependent on autos for every meal, and they are not always there when you want one.
The beaches guide covers what each stretch of coast is actually like if you're choosing by beach rather than by area.
Should you stay in Varkala town?
It's the cheapest option by a long way and the most ordinary, in the good sense — a working Kerala town about 3 km inland from the cliff, with local food at local prices and nothing arranged for visitors.
Stay here if you're on a budget, staying a while, or you'd rather see the place than the tourist strip. You will need transport. That's not a small caveat: everything you came to Varkala for is a ride away, and the novelty of negotiating an auto twice a day wears off fast.
How far is each area from the railway station?
The station sits inland, south-east of the cliff: Varkala town is closest at a few minutes by auto, the North and South Cliffs are both about 3 km and roughly ten minutes, and Odayam and anywhere further north adds another five to ten minutes on top.
- Varkala town — closest, a few minutes by auto.
- North Cliff — about 3 km, roughly ten minutes by auto.
- South Cliff — similar, sometimes a little more depending on the route.
- Odayam and north — add another five to ten minutes.
Whichever you pick, agree the auto fare before you get in. There's more on the arrival run, including having a bike waiting for you at the platform, in Varkala railway station to North Cliff.
Do you need a scooter where you are staying?
On the North Cliff, not for daily life — but you will for anything beyond the cliff, which is most of what's worth seeing. On the South Cliff, most days. In Odayam or the town, effectively yes.
We deliver free anywhere on North Cliff and Varkala Beach and across the rest of Varkala, so the area you choose doesn't limit you — you don't have to be near a rental shop to have a bike. Rates are on the pricing page and the fleet is on the vehicles page.
So which area would we pick?
First visit, a few nights: North Cliff, and accept the noise. Second visit or longer stay: Odayam or the South Cliff with a scooter, which is the version of Varkala most people say they wanted the first time.
Either way, three days in Varkala lays out how the days fit together once you've picked a base.