Government Museum
Housed across from the striking British-built Pantheon Complex, this excellent museum is Chennai’s best. The big highlight is building 3, the Bronze…
Chennai (Madras)
If you have time to explore Chennai (formerly Madras), this 284-sq-mi (400-sq-km) conglomerate of urban villages and diverse neighborhoods making up Tamil Nadu's capital will pleasantly surprise you. Its role is as keeper of South Indian artistic, religious and culinary traditions.
With its sweltering southern heat and lack of outstanding sights, Chennai has often been seen as the dowdier sibling among India’s four biggest cities. But it’s well worth poking around its museums and temples, savouring deliciously authentic South Indian delicacies or taking a sunset saunter along Marina Beach – the world's second-longest urban beach.
Among Chennai’s greatest assets are its people, infectiously enthusiastic about their home town. Recent years have thrown in a new layer of cosmopolitan glamour: luxe hotels, sparkling boutiques, quirky cafes, and smart contemporary restaurants – but the best of Chennai remains its old soul.
Explore Chennai (Madras)
- Government Museum
Housed across from the striking British-built Pantheon Complex, this excellent museum is Chennai’s best. The big highlight is building 3, the Bronze…
- KKapaleeshwarar Temple
Mylapore is one of Chennai's most characterful and traditional neighbourhoods; it predated colonial Madras by several centuries. Its Kapaleeshwarar Temple…
- San Thome Cathedral
This soaring Roman Catholic cathedral, a stone's throw from the beach, was founded by the Portuguese in 1523, then rebuilt by the British in neo-Gothic…
- TTara Books
Producers of beautiful hand-printed books, this publishing company is based in southern Chennai. Visit its Book Building showroom, where you can browse,…
- VVivekananda House
The marshmallow-pink Vivekananda House is interesting not only for its displays on the famous ‘wandering monk’, Swami Vivekananda, but also for its…
- BBook Building
Within this mural-covered space, Tara Books stages free exhibitions, author talks and workshops with visiting artists, and displays its own highly…
- SSri Ramakrishna Math
The tranquil, flowery grounds of the Ramakrishna Math are a world away from Mylapore's chaos. Orange-robed monks glide around and there’s a reverential…
- SSt Thomas Mount
The reputed site of St Thomas’ martyrdom in AD 72 rises in the southwest of Chennai, 2.5km north of St Thomas Mount train station. The Church of Our Lady…
- TTheosophical Society
Between the Adyar River and the coast, the 100-hectare grounds of the Theosophical Society provide a peaceful, green, vehicle-free retreat from the city…
Latest Stories from Chennai (Madras)
Top attractions
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Chennai (Madras).
- See
Government Museum
Housed across from the striking British-built Pantheon Complex, this excellent museum is Chennai’s best. The big highlight is building 3, the Bronze…
- See
Kapaleeshwarar Temple
Mylapore is one of Chennai's most characterful and traditional neighbourhoods; it predated colonial Madras by several centuries. Its Kapaleeshwarar Temple…
- See
San Thome Cathedral
This soaring Roman Catholic cathedral, a stone's throw from the beach, was founded by the Portuguese in 1523, then rebuilt by the British in neo-Gothic…
- See
Tara Books
Producers of beautiful hand-printed books, this publishing company is based in southern Chennai. Visit its Book Building showroom, where you can browse,…
- See
Vivekananda House
The marshmallow-pink Vivekananda House is interesting not only for its displays on the famous ‘wandering monk’, Swami Vivekananda, but also for its…
- See
Book Building
Within this mural-covered space, Tara Books stages free exhibitions, author talks and workshops with visiting artists, and displays its own highly…
- See
Sri Ramakrishna Math
The tranquil, flowery grounds of the Ramakrishna Math are a world away from Mylapore's chaos. Orange-robed monks glide around and there’s a reverential…
- See
St Thomas Mount
The reputed site of St Thomas’ martyrdom in AD 72 rises in the southwest of Chennai, 2.5km north of St Thomas Mount train station. The Church of Our Lady…
- See
Theosophical Society
Between the Adyar River and the coast, the 100-hectare grounds of the Theosophical Society provide a peaceful, green, vehicle-free retreat from the city…
