Things to Do
Walks, Trips & Experiences
Pondicherry is a good base for the south Tamil Nadu coast. The town itself rewards slow walking. Beyond it, the day trips are genuinely worth the effort.
Walks
Day Trips
Half day
Ousteri Lake
The largest natural freshwater lake in the Pondicherry region, five kilometres west of town. A Ramsar wetland …
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Full day
Gingee Fort
Seventy kilometres west of Pondicherry, one of the most formidable fortresses in South India: three granite hi…
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1 to 2 hours
Arikamedu
Three kilometres south of Pondicherry, an ancient port where Roman traders exchanged Mediterranean goods for I…
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Half to full day
Auroville
30km north of Pondicherry: the experimental township founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa as a city belonging to n…
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Full day
Mahabalipuram
UNESCO-listed Pallava monuments carved from granite in the 7th century: cave temples, bas-reliefs, and a Shore…
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Activities
1 to 2 hours
Sunday Market
Every Sunday on Mahatma Gandhi Street: second-hand furniture, vintage electronics, handmade clothes, tools, an…
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1 to 2 hours
Botanical Garden
Founded in 1826 by the French to study the plants of the region. Over 1,500 species on an oval site with a min…
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1 to 2 hours
The Lighthouse and Fishing Village Walk
From the promenade south through a working fishing village to the new lighthouse. Fabric warehouses with tradi…
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