The India travel specialists · London
Southern & Spices — 15 nights through Chennai, Kanchipuram, Mahabalipuram, Pondicherry, Chidambaram, Swamimalai, Tanjore, Trichy, Madurai, Thekkady, Kumarakom, Alleppey and Cochin.
Tamil Nadu does not go in for understatement. Its temple gateways run up eleven storeys, every tier crowded with painted figures you need to stand well back to read, and the granite ones at Mahabalipuram were cut out of the living rock on the beach. This tour works its way down the state from Chennai to Madurai, stopping where the stone is worth stopping for - Kanchipuram, Mahabalipuram, Chidambaram, Tanjore, Trichy - and then crosses the Western Ghats into Kerala for the spice hills at Thekkady, the Periyar lake and the backwaters at Kumarakom and Alleppey.
It is worth being honest with yourself about the shape of it. Roughly two thirds of the sixteen days are in Tamil Nadu, and most of those days involve temples, carving, bronze and museums. If that sounds like a good fortnight, this is the longest trip in our southern range and the lowest cost per night in it. If what you want is a sun lounger, it is not this: the Kerala section is lake, hill and backwater rather than coast, and by the time you reach it you will have looked at a great many columns.
One private car and driver for all sixteen days, from Chennai down to Cochin.
The Shore Temple stands on the sand with the sea behind it and salt in the stone. Arjuna's Penance is a single rock face the length of a tennis court, worked into elephants, gods and one cat pretending to be an ascetic. Nothing here was built up; it was cut away.
A granite tower that you can see from the edge of town and still misjudge the size of from the courtyard. The Nandi bull at the entrance is carved from a single block. Go early, both for the light on the stone and because the courtyard gets hot by ten.
Madurai's temple is a working one and the evening ceremony is attended by people who come every week. There are drums, oil lamps and a lot of bare feet on warm stone. It is crowded, and standing in it is more interesting than seeing it from a distance.
The boat goes slowly down a reservoir with dead trees still standing in it, and the animals come to the water or they do not. Afterwards you walk through plantations where cardamom, pepper and cloves grow on the same slope, and the smell stays on your hands.
January to March is the most comfortable. April to June is genuinely hot in Tamil Nadu. The unusual part is the rain: Tamil Nadu gets a northeast monsoon from roughly October to December, the opposite way round to most of India, so November here is wet while Rajasthan is dry.
Chennai
You are met at Chennai airport and taken to the hotel, where rooms are available from 1400. If you land early the usual advice applies: stay up until a sensible bedtime and lose the jet lag in one go.
Chennai
A full day in the city: the Art and Bronze Gallery, the flower and fruit market, the High Court, the Fort Museum, Santhome Cathedral, the Snake Park and a walk on Marina Beach. The Bronze Gallery closes on Fridays and public holidays, so your guide may reshuffle the order.
Chennai to Kanchipuram to Mahabalipuram
80 km / 3 hrs, then 26 km / 1 hr
Four temples at Kanchipuram - Ekambareswarar, Kailashnatha, Sri Kamakshi and Varadarajaswamy - which is enough temple for most people before lunch. Then down to the coast at Mahabalipuram for the night.
Mahabalipuram
The Shore Temple, Arjuna's Penance, the Five Rathas, the cave temples and the Tiger Cave, all carved from the granite where it stood. The Crocodile Farm is also on the list, and is exactly what it sounds like.
Mahabalipuram to Pondicherry
80 km / 3 hrs
Along the coast road to Pondicherry, with a first visit to the Aurobindo Ashram. The old French quarter is laid out on a grid, which after three days of temple complexes is restful in itself.
Pondicherry
The Sri Aurobindo Ashram, the Pondicherry Museum, Sacred Heart Church and the Bharathi and Bharathidasan memorial museums. The ashram is a residential community and keeps quiet hours, so visits are short and silent rather than guided.
Pondicherry to Tanjore via Chidambaram and Swamimalai
175 km / 4 hrs excluding stops
The longest day of the Tamil Nadu leg, and the best one. The Nataraja Temple at Chidambaram, then the temple at Swamimalai and a workshop where bronze figures are still made by hand, before arriving at Tanjore.
Tanjore to Trichy
60 km / 2 hrs
The Brihadeeswara Temple at Tanjore in the morning, where the tower is so large it takes a minute to work out how far away you are standing. Then a short run to Trichy for the Ganesha temple on the rock and the Shiva temple below.
Trichy to Madurai
160 km / 3 hrs
On to Madurai for the Meenakshi Temple, the Alagar Hills and the rock temple at Thiruparankundram, with the light and sound show at the Thirumalai Nayak Palace in the evening.
Madurai
Half a day of sightseeing and then a free afternoon, which you will want. In the evening you go back to the Meenakshi Temple for the aarti, which is crowded, loud and the single most memorable half hour of the Tamil Nadu section.
Madurai to Thekkady
130 km / 4 hrs
The drive climbs into the Western Ghats and the temperature drops by the hour. Thekkady sits next to Periyar National Park, and the smell of the place changes from dust to cardamom somewhere on the way up.
Thekkady
A boat safari on Periyar Lake, where you may see elephant and bison on the banks or you may see a great deal of water, and a visit to the spice plantations. Early starts give you the better odds on the wildlife.
Thekkady to Kumarakom
160 km / 4 hrs
Back down out of the hills to the edge of the backwaters at Kumarakom. The road is slow rather than long, so expect the four hours to be four hours.
Kumarakom to Alleppey
The Alleppey leg of the trip, which includes a houseboat cruise through the backwaters with all meals on board. You move at the speed of a punt past rice fields that sit lower than the water you are on.
Alleppey to Cochin
80 km / 2 hrs
A short drive to Cochin and an afternoon of the Dutch Palace, the Jewish Synagogue, St Francis Church and the Santa Cruz Basilica, all within a few streets of each other in Fort Cochin.
Cochin
Transfer to Cochin airport for your onward flight. Standard check-out is midday, so an evening departure may mean a few hours to fill.
We price the land arrangements and your flights together, then come back with one number. No deposit is taken on the call and nothing is booked until you say so.
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No. The tour is quoted as a land arrangement, starting at Chennai airport and ending at Cochin. We quote UK flights separately so you can see what they cost, and when we book them for you they are ATOL protected under 74904.
Yes. British passport holders need an Indian visa before travelling and it is not included in the price. Most people use the e-visa, which you apply for online in advance. We will tell you what the tour needs from you, but the application is yours to make.
The Alleppey leg includes a backwater houseboat cruise with all meals on board. The exact arrangement varies by date and operator, so we confirm it in writing when we quote rather than guess here.
January to March is the most comfortable. April to June is genuinely hot in Tamil Nadu. The unusual part is the rain: Tamil Nadu gets a northeast monsoon from roughly October to December, which is the opposite way round to most of India, so a Tamil Nadu trip in November is a wet one even though Rajasthan is dry.
Shoulders and knees covered, and shoes off before you go in - often some distance before, so socks are worth having. Some temples do not admit non-Hindus to the innermost shrine, and some charge for cameras. Your guide will tell you which is which before you get to the door.
Nothing is longer than about four hours, and the car is air-conditioned and yours alone, so you can stop when you want. South Indian roads are busy rather than bad. The tiring part is not the distance, it is doing it most days for a fortnight.
Prices shown are the supplier’s published “from” price for the land arrangements only, per person on a twin-share basis, and vary by date, hotel grade and party size. International flights are quoted separately. The route map is an illustration of the order of stops, not an accurate map. Patel Travel is ATOL 74904 and IATA accredited. Tours are operated by our ground partner in India; your confirmation will state who is responsible for your booking.
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