Places to Visit in Chennai: Temples, Beaches, Museums and Day Trips

Most of what visitors come to see in Chennai sits in a few clusters. The old city around Fort St. George and Egmore, the Marina running south to Santhome, the temple towns of Mylapore and Triplicane, the green belt at Guindy, and the East Coast Road out to Mamallapuram.

This page takes them cluster by cluster. Opening hours and entry fees are given only where the place’s own site, or the government body that runs it, publishes them. Where they don’t, the entry says so. For the background to the older sites, see the history of Chennai.

The old city: Fort St. George, Egmore and the Marina road

Fort St. George

The fort is where the city began, and the Chennai district administration’s site notes that it is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India as a ticketed monument. Tickets can be bought on ASI’s online ticketing portal, which lists Fort St. George under Chennai.

Inside are the Fort Museum, which shows objects from the period of English and later British rule, and St. Mary’s Church, built between 1678 and 1680 and described by the district site as the oldest Anglican church in India. The first Indian flag hoisted after independence is kept on the museum’s third floor. Visitors may look but not touch or photograph it.

The Chennai Ula heritage bus stops at the Secretariat and the High Court.

Government Museum, Egmore

The museum was proposed by the Madras Literary Society in 1846 and opened under a notification of 29 April 1851, according to the museum’s own site. It is open from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and is closed on Fridays, Deepavali, Pongal, 26 January, 15 August and 2 October.

Tickets for Indian visitors are ₹50 for adults, ₹25 for children and ₹20 for school students. Foreign visitors pay ₹250 (children ₹125). A still camera costs ₹250 and a video camera ₹700. Tickets can also be booked on the museum’s site.

Check which galleries are open before you go. The museum’s home page lists the Archaeology, Bronze, Numismatics and National Art galleries as open, and the Zoology, Botany, Geology, Anthropology, Contemporary Art and Children’s galleries as closed for renovation. Chennai Ula has an “Egmore Museum” stop.

Vivekananda House (Vivekanandar Illam)

Swami Vivekananda stayed in this building on Kamarajar Salai, the Marina beach road, for nine days in 1897 after returning from the West, and the Ramakrishna Math worked from here until 1906. It now holds “Experience Vivekananda”, an exhibition with 3D and virtual-reality shows.

Vivekananda House is open from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. (7:30 p.m. on Sundays), and closed on Mondays. The exhibition with the 3D and 4D VR shows costs ₹50 for adults and ₹40 for children aged 3 to 12. Without the VR show it is ₹40 and ₹30. The VR show is for ages 7 and up.

Marina Beach and the lighthouse

Marina Beach

The district administration describes the Marina as India’s longest beach. It stretches north from Besant Nagar to Fort St. George, and the district site lists the aquarium, the Ice House, Chepauk Palace, Senate House, Presidency College and statues such as “The Victory of Labour” among the sights along it. The beach was renovated under Governor Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff in the 1880s.

The sea here has a strong undercurrent. The district site says going into the water should be done only under expert guidance, and Tamil Nadu Tourism says it isn’t considered safe to swim.

CMRL lists Marina Beach at entrance B1 of Government Estate metro station. The Chennai Ula bus has stops at Kannagi Statue, Marina Beach and the War Memorial.

Chennai Lighthouse

The lighthouse at the Santhome end of the Marina is a 46-metre red-and-white tower that has worked since 10 January 1977. It has a lift and a museum. Earlier Madras lights stood on the Exchange Building (1796), on a column north of the fort (1844) and on the High Court dome (1894).

The Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships gives visiting hours of 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., closed on Mondays. Its e-ticket portal lists ₹10 for Indian nationals and ₹25 for foreign nationals, plus 18% GST, and sells tickets for the same day only.

Temples and churches

Kapaleeshwarar Temple, Mylapore

Mylapore’s Shiva temple faces west. Its deity is Kapaleeshwarar and the goddess is Karpagambal. HR&CE’s history page gives the seven-tier east gopuram a height of 40 metres. The temple tank is the Kapali Theertham. The 7th-century saints Sambandar and Appar sang of the temple, and the temple’s site records that it was damaged when the Portuguese took Mylapore in 1566.

The HR&CE temple site gives darshan hours of 5:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. On Maha Shivaratri the temple stays open for 24 hours. The temple site singles out the Arupathu Moovar festival among its celebrations. The temple’s address is 12/1 North Mada Street. Chennai Ula stops at Luz Corner.

Parthasarathy Temple, Triplicane

The Triplicane temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams, praised in hymns by Peyalvar, Thirumazhisai Alvar and Thirumangai Alvar. The main deity, Venkatakrishnaswamy, is also called Geethacharya. Tamil Nadu Tourism notes that he is shown with a moustache and without a weapon, and that the temple tank, Kairavani, is surrounded by five theerthams. Vaikunta Ekadasi draws huge crowds, according to Tamil Nadu Tourism.

HR&CE lists darshan from 6 a.m. to noon and 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. On Saturdays it runs from 5:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

San Thome Cathedral Basilica

The basilica on Santhome High Road stands over the tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle. According to the church’s history page, the Portuguese rebuilt a small church here in 1523. In 1893 that building was demolished for the present Gothic church, designed by Captain J. A. Power. It was declared a minor basilica in 1956.

Below the church is the Tomb Chapel, and at ground level a small museum holds relics including a lance head and a bone fragment of the apostle. The basilica is open every day from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. Masses are held in Tamil and English daily; the schedule is on the church’s site. Chennai Ula stops at Santhome.

Vadapalani Murugan Temple

The HR&CE temple site says the temple started at the end of the 19th century as a thatched shed where Annasamy Nayakar, a Murugan devotee, worshipped a painting of the god.

Darshan hours are 5 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. On Tuesdays the evening session starts at 3 p.m. The temple stays open all day on Kandha Sashti, Thaipusam, Panguni Uthiram, Vaikasi Visakam, Aadi Kiruthigai and the monthly Kiruthigai. CMRL lists the Murugan temple at entrances C and D of Vadapalani metro station.

St. Thomas Mount

The shrine on the hill at St. Thomas Mount is reached by 134 granite steps. The shrine’s site dates the first oratory on the hill to 1523 and the start of the present church to 23 March 1547. An arch inside is inscribed “Senhora da Expectacao” (Our Lady of Expectation).

The annual feast, the Mount Festival, is on 18 December. The Adoration Chapel is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day.

Besant Nagar and Adyar

Elliot’s Beach

Elliot’s Beach, also called Besant Nagar Beach, is named after Edward Francis Elliot, a former chief magistrate and superintendent of police. Its landmark is the Karl Schmidt Memorial, put up for a Dutch sailor who died trying to save a girl from drowning (Tamil Nadu Tourism).

Ashtalakshmi Temple

The Ashtalakshmi Temple in Besant Nagar (officially Arulmigu Mahalakshmi Temple) is administered by HR&CE. It is built in the shape of “Aum”, with the shrines of Lakshmi’s eight forms arranged on its upper tiers. Its first kumbhabhishekam was on 5 April 1976. Its festivals include Navaratri, celebrated over ten days. The temple’s current darshan hours could not be confirmed on an official page, so they are not given here.

Theosophical Society, Adyar

The Society’s international headquarters at Adyar has the Adyar banyan tree in the middle of its campus. The Society puts its age at around 450 years and says it and its offshoots cover about 40,000 square feet, despite storm damage to the main trunk in 1989.

The campus is not open to visitors without permission. The Society asks visitors to request permission through its website. The bookshop at the main gate near the Adyar Bridge is open 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday to Saturday.

Parks and wildlife

Guindy National Park and the Snake Park

Guindy National Park lies next to Raj Bhavan in south Chennai. The Forest Department lists blackbuck, chital, jackal, pangolin and a variety of birds, in dry evergreen scrub and thorn forest. The Children’s Park and the Snake Park are inside the same area. The Forest Department’s current pages don’t give visiting hours or fees for the national park or the Children’s Park.

The Chennai Snake Park, set up in 1972, calls itself India’s first snake park. It is open from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and closed on Tuesdays. Entry is ₹30 for adults and ₹10 for children aged 3 to 12. A still camera costs ₹40, a mobile camera ₹20.

CMRL lists Guindy National Park, the Snake Park and Gandhi Mandapam at entrance A1 of Guindy metro station.

Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur

The zoo at Vandalur spreads over 1,490 acres and holds more than 2,300 animals of 172 species. It grew out of the Madras Zoo, started in 1855, and opened at Vandalur on 24 July 1985.

The zoo’s site gives hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed on Tuesdays, with ticket sales stopping at 4:30 p.m. Its tariff page lists ₹200 for adults and ₹50 for children aged 5 to 12. Children under five and differently abled visitors enter free. The zoo-round vehicle is ₹150 for adults, and a camera is ₹350. Tickets can be booked online at tickets.aazp.in.

Day trips down the East Coast Road

The East Coast Road (ECR) south of Thiruvanmiyur leads past the theme parks to Mamallapuram. MTC route 588 runs the whole way from Thiruvanmiyur, and route 515 reaches Mamallapuram from Tambaram. For MGM Dizzee World and the other parks along the way, see the theme parks comparison.

DakshinaChitra, Muttukadu

DakshinaChitra is a heritage museum run by the Madras Craft Foundation, open since 14 December 1996. Its 18 historical houses each carry an exhibition, in sections for Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It is about 25 km south of central Chennai, next to MGM Dizzee World. The bus stop is MGM Dizzee World, 200 metres away.

The visit page gives hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at weekends. It is closed on Tuesdays, but opens on national holidays except Diwali. Tickets are ₹200 for Indian adults, ₹100 for children aged 5 to 15 and ₹350 for foreign adults. A camera is ₹50.

Madras Crocodile Bank

The Crocodile Bank at Vadanemmeli, about 45 km south of Chennai and 15 km north of Mamallapuram, began in 1976. Its eight-and-a-half-acre zoo has 15 species of crocodilians and 33 other reptile species.

The Crocodile Bank is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed on Mondays. Entry is ₹110 for adults and ₹50 for children aged 3 to 12. A guided tour is ₹400 per person. Feeding times are posted at the entrance.

Mamallapuram

The Pallava monuments at Mamallapuram are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1984 as the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram. The best known are the Shore Temple, the five rathas and the great rock relief known as Arjuna’s Penance or the Descent of the Ganges.

The Archaeological Survey of India gives the opening hours as 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Children under 15 enter free. Visitors from SAARC and BIMSTEC countries pay ₹40, and other foreign visitors ₹600. ASI’s online ticket portal lists the Group of Monuments, Mamallapuram, and separately the Tiger-headed rock-cut temple and two other monuments at Saluvankuppam.

Seeing the city sights in a day on Chennai Ula

MTC’s Chennai Ula is a hop-on, hop-off loop of the central sights. A one-day pass costs ₹50 on the vintage buses and ₹100 on the AC buses, with unlimited boarding at every stop (MTC fares page).

MTC’s route board for the vintage service lists 16 stops: Central Railway Station, Park Railway Station, Egmore Railway Station, Egmore Museum, Valluvar Kottam, Semmozhi Poonga, Luz Corner, Santhome, Light House, Vivekanandar Illam, Kannagi Statue, Marina Beach, War Memorial, Secretariat, High Court and Pallavan House. The vintage buses run from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at weekends and on government holidays, every 30 minutes. The full guide is on the Chennai Ula page.

For concerts, festivals and exhibitions on while you’re in town, see upcoming events in Chennai. Travelling with children? Places to visit with kids compares the family options, including the Birla Planetarium and VGP Marine Kingdom.

Sources

Hours and fees above come from each place’s own site or the government body that runs it, checked on 17 and 18 October 2026. The HR&CE temple sites, the Forest Department, Tamil Nadu Tourism and the Vandalur zoo’s site did not load during the check. Their figures are taken from the most recent archived copies of those official pages: Kapaleeshwarar January 2026, Vadapalani September 2025, Parthasarathy April 2025, the zoo March 2026, Guindy National Park 2022, and Tamil Nadu Tourism (Elliot’s Beach, Parthasarathy) early 2025.

Temple timings change on festival days, and fees change without notice. Confirm on the official site before a long trip.