$54.66 Cultural & Theme Tours

Private Tour: Pondicherry Day Trip from Chennai

After pickup from your Chennai hotel in the morning, you’ll drive approximately 2.5 hours by private, air-conditioned vehicle to the Pondicherry region.When you arrive, your professional guide will take on a tour of this spiritual community, home to Sri Aurobindo Ashram, a spiritual site founded by Sri Aurobindo and his collaborator, known locally as ‘The Mother.’ Walk to the nearby Pondicherry Museum, located in Bharathi Park. Along the way, your guide will point out various structures that display effects of French colonial influence. Inside, discover the museum’s outstanding collection of artifacts, sculptures and archaeological findings from the ancient Arikamedu settlement, a Tamil fishing village that traded with the Romans. In between sightseeing, your guide will recommend a great restaurant in Pondicherry where can enjoy some French-Indian fusion cuisine (own expense).Then, you’ll drive approximately 4 miles (6.5 km) to Auroville, a small town and spiritual community also founded by Mirra Alfassa. Here, you’ll visit Matrimandir, meaning ‘Temple of the Mother’ in Sanskrit. Marvel at the plated gold of its 98-foot high (30-meter) dome with a lotus-shaped foundation urn. Wander inside to see the stark-white interior and large crystal in the center. Learn from your guide how this temple is an important spiritual place for practitioners of Integral yoga. After your tour, you’ll be driven back to your Chennai hotel or the Chennai airport for your departure flight.

$216 Day Trips & Excursions

Pondicherry Sightseeing Tour Including Transportation to Chennai

Your chauffeur will meet and greet you at your hotel in Pondicherry and proceed to the French Quarter. Pondicherry is a former French colony on the sea with French street names, croissants and Indian policemen in French-looking uniforms. It is attractively set on the Bay of Bengal with delightful beaches, this surprising town is a throwback to colonial times when it was a French enclave, but nowadays it is richly blended with Tamil culture. Those used to the British colonial architecture will enjoy the Gallic imprint with the fusion of Catholic churches and distinctly French buildings such as the beachfront Hotel de Ville and excellent French restaurants. En route, visit the Auroville, an intentional community where people of 40 different nationalities have come together with the goal of building a harmonious township where creed, nationality and color are ignored. Their utopian vision is inspirational, and we'll take time to see how they make it work. You will be visiting the Shri Aurobindo Ashram, the Ganesha Temple, the Church of our Lady of the Immaculate Conception and the Gandhi Statue on the boulevard. You'll also have more time to enjoy French baguettes for lunch. After the city tour, your chauffeur will drop you off at your hotel in Chennai.

$1612 Multi-day & Extended Tours

7-Night Private Tour: Cultural Heritages of Tamil Nadu

Day 1. Upon arrival at Chennai Airport/Railway Station, you will transferred to your Hotel in Chennai. After refreshments, visits to Kapaleeshwar Temple, Santhome Cathedral, Parthsarthy Temple, Marina Beach and the National Art Gallery, local sightseeing, then back to your hotel in Chennai. (Overnight stay at a 4-star hotel in Chennai)Day 2. Chennai – Mahabalipuram (34 miles – 1-hour drive) After breakfast, check out of your hotel in Chennai and proceed to Mahabalipuram. Check-in at your hotel in Mahabalipuram. In the afternoon, enjoy sightseeing in Mahabalipuram. You will visit Shore Temple, Five Ratha’s, Crocodile Bank, Arjuna’s Penance and Tiger Caves before heading back to the hotel. (Overnight stay at a 4-star Resort in Mahabalipuram)Day 3. Mahabalipuram – Pondicherry (102 miles – 4-hour drive) After breakfast, check out of your hotel in Mahabalipuram and proceed to Pondicherry. Check-in to your hotel. Spend the day doing things at your own leisure and walk around the heritage Streets of the City (Overnight stay at a 4-star hotel in Pondicherry)Day 4. Pondicherry After breakfast, visits to Shri Aurobindo Ashram, Auroville, Arikamedu, Pondicherry Beach, the Botanical Garden and Bharati Park before heading back to the hotel (Overnight stay at a 4-star hotel in Pondicherry)Day 5. Pondicherry – Tanjore (109 miles – 4-hour drive) After breakfast, check out from your hotel in Pondicherry and drive to Tanjore. Enroute visit Chidambaram Nadarajer Temple and UNESCO Heritages Chola Temples Kangaikonada Cholapaurm, Darasuram, Brihadeeswara Temple (Big Temple Tanjore after check-in at hotel) The Palace, Art Gallery and Saraswati Mahal Library. (Overnight stay at a 4-star hotel in Tanjore)Day 6. Tanjore – Trichy (1-hour 30 Minutes) After breakfast, enjoy an excursion to Trichy to visit Rock Fort Temple, Tiruvanaikkovil Temple, Srirangam Temple, and Lady of Lourdes Church After a long day, relax for the evening at your hotel at Trichy. (Overnight stay at a 4-star hotel in Trichy)Day 7. Trichy – Madurai (84 miles – 4-hour drive) After breakfast, check out from your hotel and drive to Madurai. Check-in to your hotel. Enjoy the afternoon sightseeing in Madurai to visit to Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, Thirumalai Nayak Palace, Thirupparankundram Temple, Alagar Koil and Gandhi Museum, (Overnight stay at a 4-star hotel in Madurai)Day 8: Madurai - Chennai (290 miles – 8Hours drive) After breakfast, you will check-out from your hotel and enjoy the scenic drive to Chennai Airport to proceed to the next destination as per your itinerary.

$940 Multi-day & Extended Tours

4-Night Luxurious Tour to Chennai Mahabalipuram and Pondichery

Day 01: Chennai – Mahabalipuram (70 km. 2 hrs.)Upon arrival at Chennai Airport you will be greeted by the representative and directly transferred to Mahabalipuram. Check-in to the hotel on arrival and relax for a while before proceeding for sightseeing in Mahabalipuram. Visit the Thirukadalmallai, Shore Temple, Pancha Pandava Rathas, Arjuna’s Penance, Caves, and Krishna’s Butterball and learn more about the history of Mahabalipuram. Overnight stay in Mahabalipuram.Day 02: Mahabalipuram – Pondicherry (106 km. 2.5 hrs.)After breakfast check-out from the hotel and transfer to Pondicherry. Relax for a while upon arrival at the hotel and proceed for a Pondicherry sightseeing excursion and see the Pondicherry Beach, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Boat House, Auroville and Museum. Overnight stay at hotel.Day 03: Pondicherry After breakfast explore Pondicherry even more by visitng Arrikamedu, Arrikamedu, JN Street, Ayee Mandapam, Bharathi Park, Memorial House. Overnight stay in Pondicherry hotel.Day 04: Pondicherry – Chennai (170 km. 3 hrs.)After breakfast check-out from the hotel and transfer to Chennai. Relax for a while upon arrival at the hotel in Chennai and then visit Besant Nagar Beach, Marina Beach, Kapaleeshwar Temple, Ramakrishna Temple and more. Overnight stay in Chennai.Day 05: ChennaiThere is no itinerary planned for the day. After breakfast pack your baggage with a promise of coming back again to this sweet package. Based on your departure time, you will be transferred to Chennai Airport or railway station on time to catch your flight/train.

$175 Day Trips & Excursions

Cultural heritage of Pondicherry- day trip from Chennai

630 AM- Our tour guide will meet and pick you up. We head towards Pondicherry, located 150 KM away. We will stop on the way for breakfast and reach our destination by 10 AM.10-11 AM- Sri Aurobindo Ghosh is arguably the most famous citizen of Pondicherry. The tour begins with a visit to his memorial at the Aurobindo Ashram. Guests will get a brief experience of his life and times as well as his philosophy and revolutionary ideas. The memorial also has a section on Sri Aurobindo’s famous disciple Mirra Alfassa. It is the perfect place for meditation.11-1130AM- A French heritage walk is organized through the heart of the city where one can see glimpses of exquisite French style of architecture. This heritage walk will help you appreciate the French connection with Pondicherry. We will also visit a Heritage center which is helping restore the French legacy structures of Pondicherry.A walk through the famous promenade of Pondicherry facing the lovely Bay of Bengal follows this.2-3 PM- We visit a unique factory which makes hand made paper. Sri Aurobindo Paper Factory started 50 years ago and makes paper from 100% cotton rag pulp. In this visit guests will experience how the paper is produced from cotton rags and then processed with techniques like silk screen printing and marbling.330-530 PM- Post lunch we travel to Auroville, the radical concept of a global village where thousands of people from across the world have given up their nationalities and are living as global citizens.Auroville was conceived with the vision that- “There should be a somewhere on earth, a place which no nation could claim as its own, where all human beings of goodwill who have a sincere aspiration could live freely as citizens of the world and obey one single authority, that of the supreme truth; a place of peace, concord and harmony…�. Guests will also get to see the various ways in which its citizens practice sustainable way of life.Matri Mandir is a giant dome for silent meditation. Guests can see it from outside on a day visit. 530-830 PM- The journey back to Chennai would take around 3 hrs. The tour ends after we drop you back to your hotel in Chennai.

$85 Day Trips & Excursions

Get a taste of France in India - A Full-Day Trip to Pondicherry

After pick up from your hotel at 7 a.m. drive from Chennai to Pondicherry (155 kms/4 hrs approx by road). Pondicherry, the French capital of India, is a destination offering serenity and sanctity in its true sense. The city is peaceful and its architecture depicts the French style (esp. the White Town area), including neat streets with French names, lined with bougainvillea-draped colonial style townhouses. Upon arrival, visit the Sri Aurobindo Ashram - a spiritual community founded in 1926 by Sri Aurobindo - a renowned freedom fighter and spiritualist. The ashram grew out of a small community of disciples who had gathered around Sri Aurobindo after he retired from politics and settled in Pondicherry in 1910.Next, visit the Pondicherry Museum and Sculpture Gallery. The multipurpose museum houses ancient bronze sculptures, Buddha images, paintings, arms and weapons, terracotta figures, shards of Arretine and Roulletted ware, burial urns, and an old printing press among other items. Also displayed are French colonial period details to give you an insight into the French history and legends.Later drive to Auroville, a small town situated (15 kms/1 hr approx. by road) from Pondicherry. It’s a universal township founded in 1968 by French women ‘Mirra Alfassa’ - known as the Mother, who was the spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo. The town was envisioned to realize human unity in diversity, where men and women from across the globe can live in peace and progressive harmony.At Auroville, visit Matrimandir - the temple of the Mother, featuring a huge golden globe 30 metres in height, and surrounded by lotus shaped base. Matrimandir is regarded as the soul of the city and is not dedicated to any particular religion.While in Pondicherry, don’t miss to try the local cuisine, as the French town offers a whole mosaic of culinary integration. Discover traces of French flavors intermingled with the local delicacies.