Places to visit in Tamil Nadu

These are the places Tamil Nadu trips are built from. Each trip page lists exactly which of them it covers, and a private trip can swap one for another.

• Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai: The temple of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar in the heart of the old city, with its painted gopurams, the hall of a thousand pillars and the golden lotus tank; the Thirumalai Nayak Mahal palace and Koodal Alagar temple are a short drive away.
• Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi: The island temple of Ramanathaswamy, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, with its long pillared corridors, the sea dip at Agniteertham and the baths at the temple wells, reached over the Pamban bridge; Dhanushkodi, the town a cyclone left in ruins in 1964, is at the island's tip.
• Brihadeeswarar Temple, Thanjavur: The Big Temple built by Raja Raja Chola I and finished in 1010, a UNESCO site, with the Maratha palace and its gallery of Chola bronzes in the same town.
• Kanyakumari: The southern tip of India, where the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean meet: the ferry to the Vivekananda Rock Memorial, the Thiruvalluvar statue, the Kumari Amman temple and the sunset from the shore.
• Mahabalipuram: The Pallava monuments on the sea about 60 km south of Chennai: the Shore Temple, the five Rathas, Arjuna's Penance carved on a rock face and Krishna's Butter Ball, together a UNESCO site.
• Pondicherry and Auroville: The French quarter's yellow streets, Promenade Beach, the Aurobindo Ashram and the Basilica, the boat to Paradise Beach from Chunnambar, and Auroville's Matrimandir outside town; Pondicherry is a union territory on the Tamil Nadu coast.
• Ooty and Coonoor: The Nilgiri hill station at about 2,200 m: the Botanical Garden, Doddabetta peak, Ooty lake, Pykara falls and the tea and chocolate factories, with Coonoor's Sim's Park, Dolphin's Nose and Lamb's Rock and the toy train between them; some plans add the Adiyogi statue at the Isha centre near Coimbatore.
• Kodaikanal: The Palani hills at about 2,100 m: the star-shaped lake, Coaker's Walk, Pillar Rocks, Guna Caves, Bryant Park, Green Valley View and the Silver Cascade falls on the road up.
• Srirangam and the Rock Fort, Trichy: The Ranganathaswamy temple on its river island, one of the largest working temple complexes in the world, the Jambukeswarar temple at Thiruvanaikoil next door, and the climb to the Ucchi Pillayar shrine on the Rock Fort.
• Chidambaram, Kumbakonam and Darasuram: The Nataraja temple of the dancing Shiva at Chidambaram, Kumbakonam's temples and the Mahamaham tank, and the Chola temples at Darasuram and Gangaikonda Cholapuram, both UNESCO sites; the Pichavaram mangroves are a boat ride near Chidambaram.
• Kanchipuram and Tiruvannamalai: The temple city of Kamakshi Amman, Ekambareswarar, Kailasanathar and Varadaraja Perumal, known as well for its silk saris, and the Arunachaleswarar temple at the foot of Arunachala hill in Tiruvannamalai.
• Tirupati and Tirumala: The hill temple of Lord Venkateswara on the seven hills, about 140 km from Chennai in Andhra Pradesh, with the Padmavathi temple at Tiruchanur and Srikalahasti nearby; darshan is booked separately through TTD.

Opening hours and tickets

Most big temples close in the afternoon. The hours our trip pages plan around are usually about 5 am to 12:30 pm and 4 to 9:30 pm for the Meenakshi temple in Madurai, 5 am to 1 pm and 3 to 9 pm for Ramanathaswamy in Rameswaram, and 7 am to noon and 4 to 8:30 pm for the Brihadeeswarar temple in Thanjavur; festival days change them. The ferry to the Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari runs from about 8 am to 4 pm and stops when the sea is rough, and Dhanushkodi is visited in daylight. Phones are not allowed inside the Meenakshi temple and some others; counters at the gates keep them. Entry, special darshan and camera tickets are paid at the gate, and the Tirumala darshan is booked separately with TTD.

What to eat

Idli, dosa, pongal and vada with sambar and chutney for breakfast, filter coffee everywhere, and a vegetarian meal on a banana leaf at lunch in every temple town. Madurai is known for kothu parotta, its mutton dishes and jigarthanda, a cold drink of milk, almond gum and ice cream; Chettinad cooking from around Karaikudi is peppery and rich; Pondicherry adds French bakeries and Creole cooking in the White Town. Tirunelveli halwa, Srivilliputhur palkova and Ooty's tea and home-made chocolate are the things to carry home. Most plans include only breakfast, so lunch and dinner are wherever the day takes you.

A private trip runs the same plan at your own pace; a group departure follows it to the minute.

• Day 1: an early start from Chennai for the long drive south to Madurai, about 460 km; the Meenakshi temple in the evening, with Koodal Alagar temple and the Thirumalai Nayak Mahal.
• Day 2: to Rameswaram over the Pamban bridge: the sea dip at Agniteertham, darshan at Ramanathaswamy and the drive out to Dhanushkodi, then north to Thanjavur for the night.
• Day 3: the Brihadeeswarar temple, the Thanjavur palace and its gallery of Chola bronzes, then the drive back to Chennai, arriving late in the evening.

Best time

Mid-December to February is the season for the temple towns and the coast, at 20 to 30°C with dry days. October to early December is the north-east monsoon, the wettest time on the coast from Chennai to Rameswaram. March to June is hot on the plains, near 40°C at Madurai, and the high season in Ooty and Kodaikanal; July to September is warm and mostly dry on the plains while the Nilgiris get the south-west monsoon rain.

• Mid-December to February, 20 to 30°C plains, 5 to 20°C hills: The season for the temple towns and the coast: dry, sunny days and comfortable evenings. Pongal falls in mid-January; Ooty and Kodaikanal are cold at night.
• March to June, 28 to 40°C plains, 12 to 25°C hills: Hot on the plains, so temple days start early and rest through the afternoon. This is the high season in Ooty and Kodaikanal, when the plains escape to the hills.
• July to September, 26 to 36°C plains, 12 to 22°C hills: Warm and mostly dry on the plains and the east coast, which the south-west monsoon largely passes by; wet and misty in the Nilgiris. Quieter and good value for temple circuits.
• October to early December, 22 to 32°C: The north-east monsoon: heavy rain on Chennai, Pondicherry and the coast down to Rameswaram, with the odd cyclone warning in November. The temples stay open; the Rameswaram ferry and Dhanushkodi road can be stopped by the weather.

What to pack

Light cotton for the plains in any month, with a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen, and a sweater or jacket for Ooty and Kodaikanal, where December and January nights get cold. Temples expect clothes that cover the shoulders and knees, and footwear is left at the gate, so slip-on sandals save time. Carry a change of clothes for Rameswaram, where the dip at Agniteertham and the temple-well baths leave you soaked, and an umbrella from October to December. The Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, where the Kanyakumari plans end, usually asks men to wear a dhoti without a shirt and women a saree or long skirt.

Getting there

From Hyderabad, fly or take the train to the city your trip starts in. Chennai is a little over an hour by air or an overnight train of about 13 hours, and Madurai and Coimbatore have flights too, direct on some days or through Chennai or Bengaluru. Every trip starts at the airport or station with a private cab; the journey from Hyderabad is not part of the package.

The Kodaikanal group weekend leaves Bengaluru on Friday night, reaches the hills by morning and travels back on Sunday; Kodaikanal is about 460 km away. The private trips drive from Bengaluru too: Ooty is about 270 km and seven hours through Mysore and the Bandipur forest, Pondicherry about 320 km and six hours, and Madurai about 440 km. Chennai is a one-hour flight or a five-hour day train for the plans that start there.

Most temple, Tirupati and coast plans start in Chennai with a pick-up in the city. Mahabalipuram is about 60 km down the East Coast Road and Pondicherry about 160 km, three to four hours; Tirupati is about 140 km, three to four hours. Madurai is about 460 km, seven to eight hours by road or a day or overnight train, which is why the southern circuits start at Madurai. For Ooty, take a train or flight to Coimbatore and drive up about 90 km.

Permits and fees

No permit is needed for Indian travellers anywhere on these routes. Two things are booked separately: darshan at Tirumala, which the temple trust (TTD) sells online in each pilgrim's name and which our Tirupati trip pages leave out of the price, and the Ooty toy train, which sells out and is booked by you online. The road to Dhanushkodi is usually open in daylight only and can close in rough weather. Rules change, so confirm before you book.

This page answers one question. The hub lists the whole Tamil Nadu catalogue — every length, every departure city, group departures and private trips — with the same prices.