Chennai Tourism | Places to Visit | Things To Do

Chennai, formerly known as Madras, is one of the gateways of South India and is a thriving city with an active art and culture community. It is also emerging as an IT hub, all adding to the region’s booming economy. Chennai is a heady mix of both traditional and modern outlook. When in Chennai, take a stroll along the Marina Beach, indulge in traditional Tamil cuisine, enjoy a Carnatic music recital or Bharatnatyam performance, and take a weekend trip to Mahabalipuram or Pondicherry.

Chennai is an important metropolitan city and capital of Tamil Nadu state of India and is very well connected with other cities in India as well as with several countries. Bangalore is just a few hours’ drive from here. 

The Big Mosque, also known as Wallajah Mosque, is one of South India's truly beautiful mosques. The Big Mosque is only about 4 Kms from Chennai Central Railway Station. DakshinaChitra, operated by Chennai Craft Foundation is a living history museum in Chennai and worth visiting. Dakshinachitra Museum showcases South Indian architecture, crafts and performing arts.

Dakshinachitra Museum is one of the living-history museums in India which has great works of architecture, crafts, performing arts, and lifestyles that belong to South India. 

Two most famous beaches in Chennai are Marina beach and Besant Nagar Beach also known as Elliot's Beach. It is claimed that Marina beach is second longest beach in the World. Marina beach offers some water sports activities besides food stalls and shops.

Other attractions in Chennai include Victoria Public Hall, or the Town Hall, The Cholamandal Artists Village, Lighthouse, Royapuram Fishing Harbor, Sri Ramakrishna Math and Huddleston Gardens Of Theosophical Society. 

Religious places to visit in Chennai include Sri Parthasarathy Temple, one of the oldest temples in Chennai, At. Mary's Church located at Fort St George and Santhome Cathedral Basilica Church. 

Climate in Chennai is tropical and it can get hot and humid during summer months, making November to February best time to visit Chennai. Monsoon season is another time of the year when temperature during the day becomes bearable and even cool on rainy days. 

Besides being much populated, Chennai has always amazed the tourists. There are many ancient temples and monuments which virtually stand as an example for ancient Chennai. Several beaches and beach resorts help the tourists to explore the coastal areas of the city. Also, there are enormous excursion spots in and around Chennai for fun loving tourists.

Tourists are introduced to typical South Indian cuisine in Chennai City. Most of these recipes are made up of rice. All the recipes have the perfect blend of six tastes like sweet, sour, salt, bitter, pungent and astringent. Tourists can start the day with hot filtered coffee, the authentic beverage which is brewed in each and every home of Chennai. Most of restaurants serve the foods on plantain leaf as the people believe that it removes any toxins present in the food and it is considered as a traditional way to serve food in South India. Other than the interesting sights of Chennai, the tourists also get attracted to Chennai by these luscious foods over and over again.

Chennai has lot of day excursion options. People can plan day trips to Pondicherry, Kanchipuram or Mahabalipuram. Madras Crocodile Bank, the reptile zoo on Kovalam road  way to Mahabalipuram is another popular weekend destination especially for families with kids.

Chennai has various hotels and resorts with costs ranging from five stars to average charges. Tourist should purchase the famous Kanjivaram Silk Sarees which are abundant in Chennai shopping areas.