The Best Guided Tours In Chennai India

Trying to figure out what to see and what to miss in Chennai can be really confusing, considering that the city boasts of quite a large number of attractions and worthwhile experiences. An increasing number of tourists are looking to guided tours as a way of having the best experience with minimal planning. So if you’re heading to Chennai, but don’t want to put a whole lot of effort into research, here are the best-guided tours you can take in the city to get the best experience for your money.

Storytrails

This 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.

Duration: 3 hours

Contact: +91 9600080215

A tour guide explains about a temple in Chennai

Indian Expeditions

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.

Duration: 3-6 hours

Contact: +91 97910 38068

Santhome Cathedral Basilica in Chennai’s Mylapore

TTDC Day Tours

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.

Duration: 10 hours

Contact: +91 44 25333850 Extn: 208

Muttukadu Boating is a popular attraction located 30 km from Chennai along the East Coast Road

Coromandel Journeys

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.

Duration: Approx. 5 hours

Contact: +91 44 24320522

Kapaleeswarar Temple in Mylapore is one of the most important religious and architectural landmarks in Chennai

5 Senses Tours

This 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.

Duration: 10 hours

Contact: +919845677446

Chennai Magic

This operator 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.

Duration: Walking tours – 2 hours/ Home cooking tour – 3 hours

Contact: +91 98677 07414

Blaffer Food Tours

This new tourist startup by students of IIT Madras has quickly become one of the more popular tour providers in the city thanks to its exclusive focus on food trails. Unlike large-scale tour aggregators, Blaffer curates its own specialised food tours on different cuisines and preferences within Chennai that include a Street Food trail, Dessert Trail, Kebab Trail, and even a Pub-Hopping trail. The tours are reasonably priced, although food is not included in the cost.

Duration: 2 hours

Contact: +91 9003222077

Fried fish is one of the most common street food items in Chennai

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.