The 10 Best Guided Tours in Chennai, India

Spend your day exploring Chennai’s cultural hub of Mylapore, with this in-demand day tour that frequently sells-out. Your morning will be spent visiting the iconic 7th-century Kapaleeshwar Temple and the San Thome Basilica, followed by a traditional South Indian lunch in a local restaurant and visit the shrine at Ramakrishna Math, followed by a visit to the 17th-century Fort Saint George. Crowds love this immersive tour.

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Dating back to the 7th Century AD, the ancient temples at Mahabalipuram are among Tamil Nadu’s most significant historic attractions, and the best way to truly understand their history and importance is by visiting with a guide. This tour, which is usually capped at just 15 participants, showcases the highlights of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and shows you spots you might not otherwise find on your own. That’s why booking is essential.

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Visit Chennai’s Mylapore neighbourhood on foot with this guided walking tour. Visit the famous Kapaleeshwarar Temple, the Sri Ramakrishna Temple and the Sao Tome Church, and make a stop at the Chennai Lighthouse. There will also be time for a food and drink stop to energise you for what’s ahead.

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Discover a whole host of other tours based in Chennai, India.

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Storytails is a local experience-based company specialises in cultural tours that revolve around neighbourhoods in the city with a distinct and unique culture such as Mylapore, Georgetown, or the old Madras heritage district. The tours, which are called trails are undertaken on foot with an expert guide taking you around different important spots in each neighbourhood. Among the popular trails are the Peacock Trail, which explores the temples and culture of Mylapore, the Bazaar Trail, which focusses on marketplaces such as Burma Bazaar in Georgetown and the British Blueprints trail, which takes a tour of colonial-era heritage landmarks.

Indian Expeditions is a guided tour provider that is well-known for tours around Chennai that are more informative and educational about the city’s culture than just recreational. Popular among foreign tourists visiting the country, a day tour with Indian Expedition provides for a well-rounded itinerary with most of the must-see attractions covered. Among the usual destinations included are Fort St. George, Santhome Cathedral Basilica, Mylapore Temple and the Marina Beach.

The Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) Day Tours are a standard affair that provides a safe and complete experience. The most popular day tour provided by the TTDC in Chennai is the Chennai-Mamallapuram tour, which takes tourists on a chartered bus along the scenic East Coast Road to Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram). The highlight of this tour is that it covers almost all the major attractions along the ECR between Chennai and Mahabalipuram such as the Murundeeswarar Temple, Iskcon Temple, Muttukkadu Boat House, Madras Crocodile Bank Trust and Dakshin Chithra.

Operated by Milesworth Travel, a popular travel company in Chennai, the Coromandel Journeys day tour is mainly aimed at packaging theme-based itineraries based on specific interests. Among the most popular tours are the Faith Tour, which takes tourists on a journey across the most important temples in Chennai, the Beginnings of an Empire tour, which focusses on Chennai’s British legacy, and the Karadi Malai wildlife tour, conducted with noted conservationist Rom Whitaker in Chennai’s part of the Eastern Ghats.

5 Senses Tours are a tour operator covering major South Indian cities has a number of great day tours within and from Chennai. However, their most interesting and popular tour is the Kanchipuram Silk tour, which takes tourist on a day trip to Kanchipuram, where they can interact, observe, and learn first hand the art of weaving silk. The trip also includes visits to the greatest architectural landmarks of Kanchipuram.

Chennai Magic is an operator who specialises in personalised walking tours which focus on unique cultural themes related to various neighbourhoods in Chennai. Some of the most popular walking trails conducted by this operator are the Adyar Food Trail, which provides a quintessential culinary experience of Chennai and the George Town Bazaar Walk, which focusses on roadside shopping markets near the Fort St. George. Another popular day tour from this operator is the Home Cooking Tour, which takes participants to the home of a local resident for a home-cooked traditional meal.