Chennai

South India's gateway city, home to Marina Beach and Kapaleeshwarar Temple, with the UNESCO-listed Shore Temple of Mahabalipuram to the south and Kanchipuram, the City of a Thousand Temples, to the southwest.

Chennai (formerly Madras), capital of Tamil Nadu and the gateway to South India, sits on the Bay of Bengal. The city grew up around Fort St. George, built by the British East India Company in 1644, and today colonial buildings stand alongside Dravidian temples. It is also the heartland of Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam dance, and a UNESCO Creative City of Music. A visit falls into three parts. In the city itself, the highlights are Marina Beach, Fort St. George, Kapaleeshwarar Temple in Mylapore, San Thome Basilica and the Government Museum, while Besant Nagar in the south has Elliot's Beach and the Kalakshetra arts academy. Heading south along the East Coast Road (ECR), you pass DakshinaChitra, the surf beach at Covelong (Kovalam) and the Madras Crocodile Bank before reaching the World Heritage Site of Mahabalipuram, about 55 km away, where the Shore Temple, the Five Rathas, Arjuna's Penance and Krishna's Butterball are all within walking distance. Around 70 km southwest lies Kanchipuram, the City of a Thousand Temples, famed for its ancient Pallava temples and silk saris. The best time to visit is Nov–Feb; the northeast monsoon brings heavy rain Oct–Dec, and Apr–Jun is scorching. Chennai International Airport has domestic and international flights, and the city is easy to get around by metro, ride-hailing apps and auto-rickshaw. Remove your shoes and cover your shoulders and knees when visiting temples. Allow 2 days for Chennai, 1–2 days for Mahabalipuram and a day trip to Kanchipuram.

Top sights

• Marina Beach – One of the world's longest urban beaches, with about 6 kilometres of sand and a seafront promenade. In the evening, it becomes the leisure…
• Kapaleeshwarar Temple – A Dravidian-style Shiva temple in the Mylapore district, with a painted gateway tower about 37 metres high. It is one of Chennai's most rep…
• Fort St. George – The first fort built by the British East India Company in India, in 1644. It contains St. Mary's Church and the Fort Museum.
• San Thome Basilica – A white neo-Gothic basilica built over the tomb of the Apostle Thomas. It is one of only three churches in the world built over an apostle'…
• Government Museum, Chennai – India's second-oldest museum, famous for its collection of bronzes, including the Chola dynasty's Shiva Nataraja.
• Parthasarathy Temple – One of the oldest temples in Chennai, first built by the Pallava dynasty in the 8th century and dedicated to Krishna as Arjuna's charioteer.
• Valluvar Kottam – A memorial to Thiruvalluvar, the great Tamil poet, featuring a giant stone chariot structure. Its hall is inscribed with all 1,330 couplets…
• Elliot's Beach (Besant Nagar) – An urban beach in Besant Nagar that is cleaner and quieter than Marina, with cafés and restaurants lining the area.
• Ashtalakshmi Temple – A multi-storey temple by the sea, dedicated to the eight forms of the goddess of prosperity. Visitors walk up the spiral floors and pray at…
• Theosophical Society Adyar – A century-old tranquil garden at the Adyar river mouth, home to ancient banyan trees whose aerial roots form groves beneath vast canopies.
• St. Thomas Mount – A small hill traditionally linked to the martyrdom of St. Thomas, with a Portuguese-era church at the summit overlooking all of Chennai and…
• Vivekanandar Illam (Ice House) – A cylindrical "Ice House" on Marina Beach where Swami Vivekananda stayed in 1897, now a memorial museum.
• Kalakshetra Foundation – India's most renowned academy for Bharatanatyam dance and Carnatic music, with a leafy campus open to visitors and dance dramas staged duri…
• Guindy National Park – One of the few national parks located within a city, home to blackbuck and spotted deer, with a children's park and a snake park nearby.
• Arignar Anna Zoological Park – One of the largest zoos in South Asia, with lion and deer safari areas, white tigers and a great variety of birds.
• DakshinaChitra Heritage Museum – An open-air heritage museum on East Coast Road, with traditional houses from South India's states rebuilt on site and hands-on craft experi…
• Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary – One of India's oldest bird sanctuaries, where tens of thousands of migratory birds, including pelicans and storks, nest in the trees on the…

Where to eat

• Ratna Cafe (Triplicane Main Branch) – A Chennai institution founded in 1948, famous for its idli drenched in generous amounts of sambar and its filter coffee.
• Murugan Idli Shop (T Nagar) – A homegrown chain originating from Madurai, famous for its fluffy idlis, variety of chutneys, and powdered spices.
• Buhari Hotel Restaurant (Anna Salai Main Branch) – An iconic eatery operating on Anna Salai since 1951, claiming to be the inventor of Chicken 65, open until late night.
• Southern Spice (Taj Coromandel) – A fine South Indian restaurant inside the Taj Coromandel hotel, where you can sample seafood thalis and flavors from va…

Itineraries

• Tamil Nadu Temple Trail – Travel south from Chennai to Madurai, exploring Pallava rock carvings, Great Living Chola Temples, and the sacred Pamba…
• South India Coast-to-Coast: Chennai to Kochi – From the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea, traverse temple plains, Chettinad, tea hills, and backwaters.
• Chennai, Kanchipuram & Pondicherry – Loop from Chennai to see Kanchipuram, the Shore Temple, Auroville, and the French Quarter.