Chennai travel

General info Chennai, also known as Madras, the fourth largest city in India and the capital of Tamilnadu. The city sprawls over more than 70 square km. The population of Chennai is 5.9 million. Many of the indian languages are spoken in Chennai, though the main language of Chennai is Tamil. For travelers with an interest in the colonial history of India, Chennai has much worth exploring and abundant transport operations make other parts of the country readily accessible.

For more than 2000 years the area has been popular with seafarers, spice traders and cloth merchants. The 16th century saw the arrival of the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch. In 1693, the British East India Company established a settlement in the fishing village of Madraspatnam. For St. George was constructed over a period of 15 years and finally completed in 1653. George town grew in the area of the fort and was granted its first municipal charter in 1688 by James II, making it the oldest municipality in India. During the 18th and 19th centuries, French and British traders competed for supremacy in India. In the 19th century, the city became the seat of the Madras presidency, one of the four divisions of British imperial India. After independence, it continue to grow into what is now a significant southern gateway.

List of Chennai Hotels 5 star hotel

Chola Sheraton	Le Royal Meridien	The Park
Fisherman	Taj Coromandal	Itc Park Sheraton

First class Hotels

Trident Hilton	Pallava	Savera
Taj Connemera	Benz Park Tulip	GRT Grand

Budget Hotels

Quality Inn Sabari	Dee Cee Manor	Ambica Empire	Pleasant Days
Crystal Inn	Radha Park Inn

Excursions

Around Chennai Take a break at any of the amusement parks just outside the city. Kids and adults will have a wonderful time at MGM dizzy world. The Artists' village in Cholamandal, 10 kms from Tiruvanmiyur is where some of the best artist of South India live and work together. The Art Gallery exhibits breathtaking paintings and beautiful craftwork. Dance performance and poetry readings are often held in the open-air theatre. Mamallapuram, 36 km away from Chennai you will encounter the beautiful backwaters of Muttukadu where you can experience different types of boating. From early January for four weeks there's the Mamallapuram Dance Festival. Dances from all over India are staged here including Bharatha Natyam ( Tamil Nadu), Kathakali (Kerla), Kuchipudi (Andhra Pradesh) as well as tribal dances, puppet shows and classical ,traditional music. Pick up a leaflet of events of the tourist office in Chennai. Crocodile Bank, 44 km away from Chennai. It is to save the Indian Crocodile from becoming extinct. It is home to over 3,000 muggers and gharials and various species of crocodiles and lizards from other countries. Vedanthangal Birds Sanctuary, 75 km away from the city of Chennai, is one of the most impressive aquatic birds' breeding sanctuaries. This bird sanctuary is home to egrets, herons, cormorants, spoonbills, grebes, pelicans, stroks, ibies and many more. The best season to visit is after the monsoon and the months of December and January. Nearly 30,000 birds can flock here. For over 250 years the nearby villagers have protected the bird life in this sanctuary. , 84 km from Chennai at the extreme south of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the most important pilgrimage centres of India. The temple of Lord Venkateshwara rests on a hill at Tirumala overlooking the little town of Tirupathi. At this holy place there are never less than 5,000 pilgrims a day and often as many as a 100,000 who come in hope of being granted wishes by Lord Venkateshwara, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

Sightseeing

Kapaleeswarar	Sri parthasarathy temple	The Santhomre Cathedral Church
St. Thomas Mount	Little Mount Shrine	Fort St. George
St. Mary's Church	Little Mount Shrine	The Fort Museum
St. Thomas Mount	Little Mount Shrine	Fort St. George
St. Mary's Church	The Fort Museum	The Snake Park
Kalakshetra	The Theosophical Society	Valluvar Kottam
B.M. Birla Planetorium	National Art Gallery	Valluvar Kottam
Government Museum	Marina Beach

Shopping

The beautiful Kancheepuram hand woven silk sarees are famous for their pretty temple borders and rich zari ( gold thread) pallavas. Detailed traditional motifs and bright colours with contrasting borders make these sarees absolutely delightful. Take home exquisite souvenirs for your loved ones in silver, copper, bronzed and wood, available in various government emporia and private stores or irresistible jewellery made from uncut precious stones.

Places to eat

Chilli Club famous for its Chinese and good Thai dishes. add-Kamaraj Avenue. Copper Chimney fine northern frontier as well Tandoori is ready for you there. add-Cathedral Road. Pizza Hut add-Valluvar Kottam High Road. Sarvana Bhavan here south Indian Vegetarian are provided. add-Vadapalani A. Koli Street. The Only Place It is multi cuisine. add-Shanthi Colony Main Road, Anna Nagar. Usilampatti add-Peters Road.

Travel info

How To Reach AIR Chennai is an international airport with flight connections to all major parts of the world, Domestic airlines connect Chennai with all the major cities of India. RAIL Regular train services connect Chennai directly with all major cities of the country. Suburban Electric trains run from Beach station to Tambaram and from Central to Gummidipoondi and Arakonam. ROAD Chennai being gateway to the south is connected by excellent roads to all parts of the south. Taxis, Auto-rickshaws and cycle rickshaws are available. all types of tourist vehicle are easily available on hire. Sea There is a sea line to Andaman and Nicobar islands.

Cities

Chennai	Chidambaram	Coimbatore	Coonoor
Kanchipuram	Kanyakumari	Kotagiri	Madurai
Mamallapuram	Rameswaram	Thanjavur	Tiruchirappalli
Tiruvannamalai	Udhagmandalam(Ooty)	Vellore