India

Chennai

Chennai is going places – fast. You can’t help but notice it, as you step around roadworks and under scaffolding towers, your ears ringing with the endless honking of traffic-choked streets. By the time you’re reading this, who knows how much will have changed, disappeared or been replaced by something else. But that’s Chennai: alive, ever-changing, exciting.

Back to all places in Kerala & Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu’s state capital is awash with accolades: it’s a Lonely Planet top-ten cosmopolitan city; a NatGeo top-ten foodie city; a UNESCO creative city. It’s noticeably youthful, attracting kids from across India with jobs and universities. It’s the heart of Kollywood (the Tamil answer to Bollywood). Every year, it holds a weeks-long cultural festival celebrating highfalutin classical Bharantanatyam dance alongside modern Indian hip-hop. It’s cool, but with a definite edge.

Guidebooks will tell you that history and architecture are Chennai’s biggest draws, but if that’s what you’re after you’ll get more bang for your buck elsewhere. The city’s eclectic jumble of Dravidian temples, Anglican churches and Indo-Saracenic white-domed courthouses are certainly worth a look, but what’s special about Chennai is its dynamism. The sheer, staggering amount of money pouring into development here (notably, a new metro system currently being built) is something to see in itself.

By all means, pop in to see the Chola bronzes, but then let go of your checklist and get swept up in the crosscurrents. Go for a walk along the seafront from George Town harbor to San Thome Cathedral. Watch people paddling in the sea and haggling at the afternoon beach market. Get a chicory-scented Tamil coffee at a rooftop café while the traffic swirls below you. Definitely make the most of the world-class food scene. There’s no long list of tourist sites here: a day or two is all you want to soak up the atmosphere. You’ll be glad you did.

Other destinations in this region

India

Calicut

A cultural crossroads, seaside Calicut is refreshingly un-touristy – despite having plenty to see and do, from medieval mosques to martial arts.

India

Chettinad

A land of ghostly, abandoned mansions, like the ruins of a fairytale kingdom, Chettinad is one of the most spectacularly unexpected destinations in India.

India

Kannur & Tellicherry

This charming, low-key corner of Kerala wouldn’t get much press if it weren’t for Theyyam: a Hindu festival unlike anything you’ve ever experienced.

India

Kerala backwaters

Kerala’s pride and joy, the backwaters offer mile upon mile of jungle-fringed paradise, where life is slow, water is king, and everything happens by boat.

India

Kochi

India’s coolest and most progressive state capital, Kochi feels like a European city transplanted to the palm-fringed Keralan coast.

India

Kumbakonam

Paddy fields, betel farms and coconut groves provide a picture-perfect backdrop for experiencing village life in rural south India.

India

Madurai

‘The Soul of Tamil Nadu’, ‘The Athens of the East’, ‘The city that never sleeps’ – Madurai is one of the oldest cities in India, and it has collected its fair share of epithets over the years.