Marina Beach

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Chennai (Madras)

Take an early morning or evening stroll (you don’t want to roast here at any other time) along the 3km-long main stretch of Marina Beach and you’ll pass cricket matches, flying kites, fortune-tellers, fish markets, corn-roasters and families enjoying the sea breeze. But don’t swim: strong rips make it dangerous. At the southern end, the ridiculously popular Madras Lighthouse is India's only lighthouse with a lift; the panoramic city and beach views are fabulous.

Kamarajar Salai, flanking the beach, is lined with particularly fine Indo-Saracenic buildings, among them Presidency College and the University of Madras' Senate House.

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Government Museum
2.18 MILES
Housed across from the striking British-built Pantheon Complex, this excellent museum is Chennai’s best. The big highlight is building 3, the Bronze…
Kapaleeshwarar Temple
1.53 MILES
Mylapore is one of Chennai's most characterful and traditional neighbourhoods; it predated colonial Madras by several centuries. Its Kapaleeshwarar Temple…
Cholamandal Artists’ Village
9.13 MILES
There’s a tropical bohemian groove floating around Injambakkam village, site of the Cholamandal Artists’ Village, 10km south of Chennai's Adyar River…
San Thome Cathedral
1.3 MILES
This soaring Roman Catholic cathedral, a stone's throw from the beach, was founded by the Portuguese in 1523, then rebuilt by the British in neo-Gothic…
Tara Books
4.75 MILES
Producers of beautiful hand-printed books, this publishing company is based in southern Chennai. Visit its Book Building showroom, where you can browse,…
Madras Crocodile Bank
21.4 MILES
Just 6km south of Kovalam, this incredible conservation and research trust is a fascinating peek into the reptile world. Founded by croc/snake-expert…
Tiger Cave
27.66 MILES
The Tiger Cave, 5km north of Mamallapuram, is an unfinished but impressive rock-cut shrine, dedicated to Durga (a form of Devi, Shiva's wife), probably…
Vivekananda House
0.24 MILES
The marshmallow-pink Vivekananda House is interesting not only for its displays on the famous ‘wandering monk’, Swami Vivekananda, but also for its…

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Nearby Chennai (Madras) attractions

1. Vivekananda House

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The marshmallow-pink Vivekananda House is interesting not only for its displays on the famous ‘wandering monk’, Swami Vivekananda, but also for its…

2. Parthasarathy Temple

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Built under the 8th-century Pallavas and unusually dedicated to Krishna (a form of Vishnu) as the charioteer Parthasarathy, this is one of Chennai's…

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At the southern end of Marina Beach, the fourth-incarnation Madras Lighthouse is India's only one with a lift; it's ridiculously popular, but the…

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Built entirely of granite in 1795 by the Nawab of the Carnatic, and generally known simply as the Big Mosque.

5. Tomb of St Thomas the Apostle

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Behind San Thome Cathedral is the entrance to the weirdly chintzy tomb of St Thomas the Apostle.

6. San Thome Cathedral

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This soaring Roman Catholic cathedral, a stone's throw from the beach, was founded by the Portuguese in 1523, then rebuilt by the British in neo-Gothic…

7. Kapaleeshwarar Temple

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8. Luz Church

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Styled with blue-and-white baroque elegance, pretty little palm-fringed Luz Church is Chennai's oldest European building, dating to 1516 – which also…

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������ϲʼ�ʱ����'s must-see attractions

Nearby Chennai (Madras) attractions

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��ϲʼ�ʱ��'s must-see attractions