Day trips from Chennai

Tourist

I will be going to Chennai for a wedding in February. I will be spending five days in Chennai before going on a tour in the north. I would like to take two day trips: one to DakshinaChitra and Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) and one to Puducherry (Pondicherry). How is it recommended that I get there? Do I take a bus? Hire a car? Are each of these trips doable in one day?

pmvelu

You could visit Dhakshinachithra & Mamallapuram on a single day .If you prefer to do it in bus , it's definitely possible.

Day 1 :-
1)Get Kovalam Bound bus(City Bus) and you can get down at Dakshinachithra Bus stop and just it's walkable distance from the bus stop (Around 20 kms from City in East Coast Road)
2)You may get back to the same bus stop and can board a bus to Mamallapuram and Mamallapuram is around 35 kms from Dakshinachithra

Day 2:-
1) You could board Pondy bus from mamallapuram (May be an early start will help you with some time in Pondy) and Pondy is around 100kms.

And you might be having a limited time in both Mamallapuram OR pondy to cover completely with this schedule

Hope this helps

atala

You are coming from NY so you can afford to hire a car, I assume. In your situation I would hire a car for two days in a stretch, do the above mentioned itinerary on the first day and then continue right away to Pondy in the evening of the first day. If you are willing and able to pay a little extra (because of the pick-up and return in addition), I would recommend Auroville Transport Service, because of their excellent service geared to Western tourists plus the benefit of their knowing Pondy and Auroville well. They could drive you around Auroville for a few hours in addition to Pondy.

http://www.aurovilletransport.com/pricelist.htm

backpakker

I would suggest a car so that you can cover everything at your own pace and time..if you have the time, stop by at Alambara Fort which is on the beach enroute to Pondy

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Nick-H

Suggest that you go by car. I would use a local company rather than a pondy company; there's less fallout to something going wrong. Nothing against Atala's recommended people; I don't know them, but I'd be happy to pass on his suggestion to anyone who wanted a Pondy company.

I live towards the South of Chennai, therefore I have very little city traffic to cope with in heading for these destinations.

My journey time to Mahabalipuram is under one hour. It is an easy day or even half-day trip.

My journey time to Pondy is three hours, but I take a couple of breaks, and a pro driver could probably do it in less. It's a long day out: when I've been there recently I've spent a night or two there.

Depending on where you start from you should add 30-60 minutes to my times. And when; if you are good at early starts there will not be much traffic.

Dakshinachitra has been on our to-visit list for years; we'll make it one day! Consequently I don't know how much time it takes to do the place justice. I would suggest that you combine it with a visit to the Crocodile Bank, if you have any interest in animals, and maybe drop in at Mutukudu boating lake. I think that would make a fairly relaxed, but full of interest, day out.

Otherwise, with an early start, and do check opening times to see which way around to do it, yes, Dakshinachitra and Mahabalipuram.

If you do a full tour of all the sites in Mahabs, it is quite a lot of walking and quite demanding on energy. OTOH, you could just sit on the beach! But that would be a shame, and it is one of the places in this part of the world where touts can be a nuisance.

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pmvelu

Yes, Definitely Car is the best & comfortable way to do that trip . If at all if you prefer do it only by bus, then My first post will be some help.


If you make this trip by cab, the following places might be of much interest to you.

1)Muttukadu Backwaters
2)Kovalam Beach (Totally uncrowded)
3)Dakshinachithra
4)Crocodile park
5)Hotel Tamilnadu Beach complex , 5 kms before Mamallapuram (Especially for that Nice beach with virtually no one) & an excellent swimming pool
6)Mamallapuram
7)Pondy

backpakker

great list from Velu, my suggestion would also include tigers cave which is 5 kms before Mamallapuram

atala

In Mamalapuram you should be early in the day because climbing the "hill" can get very hot. Take a hat if you are not used to one anyway.

I keep mentoning the Auroville transport service because I have extensive experience with drivers pushing their own agenda, some telling stories how they need to go home and whatever. It depends a lot how well drivers are paid, how happy they are with their job, and I know that this company takes excellent care of their drivers. Everyone wants to work with them, so they put in extra quality work, and are safe in their driving expertise, because the company can select only the best. I have used this company dozens of times as my headquarters is Pondy, but if you have more suitable companies in Chennai, that is excellent too (and certainly less expensive in this case).

Nick-H

OK... City Limouzines is a big, professional company in Chennai (98411 10786, 2827 01128). They need 24 hours notice, but my wife's office used them and their prices are good.

OTOH, for a couple of years, until we got our own car, we just used any local cab company. The drivers are more or less pleasant*, but we never had any problem other than that. These guys are working for locals far more than tourists, which may explain it. Also... you must specify if you want an English-speaking driver. Your hotel or a travels company may be better at supplying such a person.

And yes, February is cool for those of us who are used to the climate: for a visitor it won't be (depending on where you are coming from) and the sun is pretty intense all year round.


*and even one of our less-pleasant drivers honestly told me that, in the dark, I had given him Rs500 notes instead of Rs100. He could have driven away with an extra months wages!

Scandojazzbuff

Care hire is the best and fastest way. Easy to find.

I suggest going to Kanchipuram (some great temples) and then on to Mamallapuram. You could see it all in a day but I would spend the night in Mamalla.

Pondi is a longer trip and I wouldn't do it in a day. Too bad you are not going to continue further south to Chidambaram and Thanjavur. The best temples are down that way.

Richeek

If you are hriing a cab, you may want to do Pondicherry first. Apparently, there is some special permit that Chennai registered vehicles need to take, which is easier from the GST route instead of the ECR (via DakshinChitra, Mahabalipuram) route. Don't ask me the details, cause I left it to the taxi company to handle. All the four taxi companies, I got quotes from were speaking of this permit. This is one cost that you will save if you are taking a Pondicherry-based taxi operator. However, if they have to come to Chennai to pick you up instead of picking you up after dropping some other customer in Chennai, you may have to pay much much more.

Nick-H

The ECR toll?

That's not much at all. I think (no memory for numbers) less that Rs.100.

The ECR is a good and pleasant drive, with little commercial traffic: I would not allow a driver to take me any other way!

Rachmilievitch

We visited DakshinaChithra from Mamallapuram today. It's about the same distance from Chennai as it is from Mamallapurm. We used an autorickshaw as the road is very good. And most importantly, DakshinaChithra is well worth the visit. Here's the link to their website
http://www.dakshinachitra.net/

safari vala

kanchipuram

Richeek

I prefer the ECR too and it is shorter and faster. The toll on both ECR & GST is around 50/- I was referring to the permit fees for commercial vehicles incuding taxis to enter Pondicherry.