A city of rich culture in southern India, Chennai hosts the Music Season event every December, and is known for its enormous, elaborately detailed Hindu temples. Beaches and parks are abundant here too. Get a room with a view from HotelTravel.com.
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- Chithirai Festival
- Covelong Chennai
- Dakshinachitra
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- Fort St George Chennai
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- Guindy National Park
- History of Chennai
- India International Leather Fair
- Karthigai Deepam
- Kishkinta Chennai
- Little Mount Church Chennai
- Marina Beach Chennai
- Meenambakkam Airport
- Natyanjali Dance Festival
- Parthasarathy Temple
- Pulicat Lake
- Santhome Chennai
- St Andrew`s Church Chennai
- St Mary`s Church Chennai
- Things to do in Chennai
- Vandalur Zoo
- Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary
- Velankanni Festival
- VGP Golden Beach
Unlike many other cities around India, Chennai is not truly ancient with a plethora of historic points of interest. Madras, as it was once known, is the capital of Tamil Nadu and a political and commercial powerhouse in its own right. Its 350-year history has left it with a handful of impressive Raj-era buildings, a British fort and colonial old town and a unique Tamil culture.
If there’s one thing Chennai has an abundance of, it’s amusement parks. There are water parks, theme parks, and indoor amusement parks in all ranges of quality and degrees of fun. Then there’s the world’s second longest beach, Marina beach, which is always a whirlwind of activity. Cultural venues such as ancient palaces and temples can usually fascinate a child, and Chennai has a couple of masterpieces outside of the city.
If you can time your visit to Chennai to coincide with one of the many traditional events or festivals on the annual calendar, you will find your experience here much more rewarding. Festivals provide a great means by which to get some interaction with the locals, and really see them letting loose and having a good time. The more religious-based events may not be as festive but give good insight to the culture here and are worth seeing.
Chennai has an intriguing blend of ethnic, cultural and religious diversity. The unique culture of Tamil Nadu underpins it all, and supplies most of the highlights in the city, but there are also some great sites left behind by the British such as Georgetown, as well as number of old European churches and Hindu temples dating back centuries. Don’t expect to be blown away by the quantity of sites in Chennai, but the few it has are well worth some exploration.
Chennai has a large international airport about 17kms south of the city centre known as Meenambakkam Airport. The airport is divided into two distinct terminals. Anna International Terminal handles a good selection of routes to Europe the Middle East and parts of Asia, including direct flights from London on British Airways and New York on Delta. The Kamaraj Domestic Terminal services flights from every city in India via Jet Airways, Air Sahara and Indian Airlines.
Banks: 09:00 to 18:00, Monday to Saturday
Post offices: 10:00 to 20:30; daily
Department stores and shops: 09:00 to 19:30; daily
Museums: 09:00 to 18:00, Monday to Friday, closed Saturday
Business offices: 09:30 to 18:30, Monday to Friday; 09:30 to 14:30, Saturday
Having arrived in Chennai by train, it was good to have a hotel within genuine walking distance. The reception staff were efficient and friendly and the fact that the hotel operates a 24 hour check in...
