Half-day tour of Chennai and a Walking Tour of Georgetown

The city Chennai is a fascinating amalgamation of culture, history, and modernity. With its ancient temples, golden sandy beaches on the Bay of Bengal and its aesthetic practice of local music and dance, the city holds certain beauty and fascination for most travellers. 

This tour takes you on a journey to experience the best monuments of the city. Your first stop will be at the St. George Fort, which is currently 350 years old with wide battlements that are a distinct reminder of the British Indian past. Today, the buildings in the fort are home to the Tamil Nadu State Government Secretariat and the Legislative Assembly. Within the fort complex, a number of other British buildings still survive, of which, St. Mary's Church is the most interesting. The museum of Fort St. George is also a fascinating tourist attraction for all its artefacts from the East India Company and the colonial past. 

Next, your tour will take you to the renowned Kapaleeswarar Temple which is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple complex has a market which is traditional to most Indian temples, a tank for ritualistic cleaning and the residential home of the Bhramin who serves as a priest.

Afterwards, you will be taken to explore the busy neighbourhood of Georgetown in a walking tour. This area consists of well-established specialized bazaars or markets, with small winding streets, warehouses, covered wholesale markets, street stalls and retail shops.

Originally called ‘Black Town’, the area came up in the late 1600s after the construction of Fort St. George. In order to cater to the needs of the fort, local traders and businessmen settled here. Today the streets of this market are alive with colour, a cacophony of shoppers and an exuberance. Practically anything that can be legally sold can be bought for the right price at this market. The highlight of this tour is the flower market where flowers for gods, women, and brides, sell like hotcakes. Roses gleam like rubies at shop fronts and jasmine-filled tubs jostle for space with their colourful companions such as the golden-orange kanakambaram and the sunshine-yellow marigolds.