Chennai Madras, India
8
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Scenic Cruises (8 Cruises)
Frequently Asked Questions
At West Quay in the Ambedkar dock, whose terminal opened in 2018. The port area is industrial: you leave by shuttle or taxi, never on foot. Plan your day before going ashore.
No. The capital of Tamil Nadu is vast and dense, and the port is a working area. Everything is done by taxi or autorickshaw, and the traffic sets its own tempo of cheerful horns and vehicles slipping through every gap — accepting that from the start is already part of the trip.
The first English fortress in India, built in 1644, close to the port area. Behind its walls sit the state legislative assembly and a museum of uniforms, coins and colonial portraits. The white steeple of St Mary's Church has stood inside the walls for more than three centuries.
Walk, watch the kites and eat fritters from the stalls: this six-kilometre beach is one of the longest urban beaches in the world and the city's meeting place at the end of the day. Half an hour is enough to catch its popular charm.
No, swimming is not the custom here. People come for the atmosphere, the statues along the esplanade and the sight of the swell. To the north, fishing boats still support whole neighbourhoods, and the smell of grilled fish mixes with the sea spray from late morning.
The great temple of the Mylapore district, whose gopuram — a pyramidal gate tower covered in polychrome deities — rises above a sacred tank and lanes scented with jasmine. Non-Hindus may walk the outer courtyards and watch the daily rites: flower offerings, musicians, lines of worshippers amid incense and camphor.
A Christian pilgrimage site unusual on Indian soil: it is said to stand over the burial place of the apostle Thomas. It lies close to the Kapaleeshwarar temple, in the Mylapore district.
Yes, if the call is long: allow a half-day excursion, as the drive takes up much of the morning both ways. The site is UNESCO-listed, and its Shore Temple, battered by spray for thirteen centuries, is one of the defining images of southern India.
Pick one line. Fort St George, Marina Beach and Mylapore make a coherent programme by taxi. Mahabalipuram, by contrast, takes the half day and rules out the rest. Trying to do everything in Chennai traffic is the surest way to spend the day in a car.
It belongs to an older India still — Dravidian and Tamil — and is proud of it. A gopuram against the sky, the smell of braided jasmine, scalding milky tea served in a clay cup: those are the fragments you carry away from Tamil Nadu.
