Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram packages at a glance
Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram tour packages cost ₹7,499 to ₹32,050 per person for a 3 to 6 day trip, depending on the length, the season and whether you take a fixed-date group departure or a private trip.
- Duration: 3, 6 days; three days is the standard run down the coast, five or six adds Madurai, Trichy or Tanjore.
- Price: ₹7,499 to ₹32,050 per person, twin or triple sharing.
- Route: The East Coast Road south from Chennai: Mahabalipuram's shore temple and rock carvings first, then ninety minutes further down to Pondicherry's French quarter.
- Travel: Chennai is the gateway: Mahabalipuram is an hour south on the East Coast Road, and Pondicherry ninety minutes beyond it.
- Stay: a beach hotel at Mahabalipuram, and a heritage room in White Town or a resort on the Pondicherry coast.
- Best time: November to February; April and May are hot and humid on this coast.
- Trip type: 2 fixed-date group departures and private trips on your own dates.
Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram 3 day package
3 days / 2 nights from ₹7,499 per person.
Day one runs down the East Coast Road to Mahabalipuram: the Shore Temple, the Pancha Rathas, Arjuna's Penance and the caves, then on to Pondicherry for the evening on the Promenade. Day two is White Town, the ashram, Auroville and Paradise Beach. Day three is the Botanical Garden and the market before the journey back.
3 plans: 3 Days Pondicherry Group Trip from Hyderabad (3D/2N, from ₹7,499); 3 Days Pondicherry Arunachalam Group Trip (3D/2N, from ₹7,499); 3 Days Pondicherry Mahabalipuram Bliss from Chennai (3D/2N, from ₹10,023).
Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram 6 day package
6 days / 5 nights from ₹30,050 per person.
The longer plans carry on south or inland — Pichavaram's mangroves, Chidambaram and Tanjore, or the full temple circuit to Madurai and Trichy.
2 plans: 6 Days Pondicherry Mahabalipuram Madurai Bliss (6D/5N, from ₹30,050); 6 Days Pondicherry Mahabalipuram Madurai Honeymoon (6D/5N, from ₹32,050).
Places you see on the Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram trip
The two halves of the trip, in the order most itineraries run them.
- The Shore Temple: An 8th-century granite temple standing at the water's edge, one of the oldest in south India.
- Pancha Rathas and Arjuna's Penance: Five monolithic temples cut from single rocks, and the largest bas-relief in the world on an open boulder face.
- Krishna's Butterball and the caves: The balanced boulder on the slope, with the Mahishasuramardini and Varaha cave temples around it.
- White Town and the French quarter: Pastel colonial houses, bougainvillea and the mustard-yellow streets between Rue Dumas and Rue Romain Rolland.
- Promenade and Rock Beach: The 1.5 km seafront, closed to traffic in the evenings, with the Gandhi statue and the old pier.
- Sri Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville: The ashram in town, and the Matrimandir at Auroville twelve km north, which needs a booking to view.
- Paradise Beach and Pichavaram: A sandbar reached by boat across the backwater, and the mangrove forest an hour south.
- Basilica of the Sacred Heart and the Botanical Garden: The Gothic basilica on South Boulevard and the 1826 garden behind it.
Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram trip cost
₹7,499 to ₹32,050 per person, and what moves it is the length, the season and the room. 3 days from ₹7,499, 6 days from ₹30,050.
What the price includes
- Travel from the pick-up city and back on a group departure, or the car and driver on a private trip.
- Stays on twin or triple sharing.
- The meals named on the trip page, normally breakfast and dinner on a group departure.
- Sightseeing as listed, and a Travloger trip captain on every group departure.
What it does not include
- The Archaeological Survey ticket at Mahabalipuram, which covers the Shore Temple and the Pancha Rathas.
- The Matrimandir viewing booking at Auroville, and the boat to Paradise Beach or through Pichavaram.
- Scooter hire, lunches on travel days, anything personal, and travel insurance.
Who this trip suits
Solo travellers and friends: the fixed-date departures are mixed groups with a trip captain, from ₹7,499 per person, and rooms are shared by gender. About half of every group travels alone, so joining by yourself is the normal way to do this trip, not the exception.
Couples and families: this is a flat, easy coast — carvings you walk between, a seafront closed to traffic in the evenings and a beach at each end. Mahabalipuram is open stone with little shade, so it belongs in the morning; Auroville needs its viewing pass booked in advance rather than on the day.
Best time to go, and getting to Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram
Best time
- November to February, 20 to 30°C: The season on this coast: warm days, cool evenings on the Promenade, and the light that makes White Town worth photographing.
- March to June, 26 to 38°C: Hot and humid, with the stone at Mahabalipuram fierce by midday; sightseeing is an early-morning business.
- July to October, 25 to 34°C: The north-east monsoon arrives in October and November; before that it is humid and quiet, and rates are at their lowest.
Getting there
Chennai is the gateway. Mahabalipuram is an hour south on the East Coast Road and Pondicherry ninety minutes beyond it; Puducherry's own terminus has few services and Villupuram, 40 km inland, is the junction everything connects at.
Or take them one at a time
Pondicherry also runs on its own, and further south into the Tamil Nadu temple circuit.
