Things to do in Chennai

Nature · Central seafront

One of the longest urban beaches in the world, running about 13 kilometres, and the city's evening living room.

Local tip: The sea here has strong currents and swimming is not advised — this is a walking and eating beach, not a bathing one. Come at sunset for the bajji stalls and the crowds, which are the point.

Culture · Mylapore

A 7th-century Shiva temple with a towering carved gopuram, at the heart of the city's oldest neighbourhood.

Local tip: Walk the four Mada streets around the temple tank in the early morning, when the flower market is running and the neighbourhood is at its best. Dress modestly; non-Hindus may not enter the inner sanctum.

Landmark · 60km south along the coast

A UNESCO site of 7th- and 8th-century Pallava rock-cut temples and monoliths carved directly from the granite shore.

Local tip: Go early on a weekday. The Shore Temple gets the crowds; the Five Rathas and Arjuna's Penance are better, and the unfinished carvings on the hill above are free and almost empty.

Neighborhood · Central Chennai

One of the highest-turnover retail districts in the world by area, especially for silk saris and gold.

Local tip: Genuinely overwhelming during wedding season and Diwali. Ranganathan Street is the famous crush; go on a weekday morning or not at all. The silk shops are the real reason to come.

Nature · Adyar

260 acres of quiet gardens at the Adyar estuary, containing one of the largest banyan trees in the world.

Local tip: Free, open mornings, and an extraordinary pocket of silence in a city of eight million. The great banyan's aerial roots cover a huge area — walk under it.

Nature · 60km north

India's second-largest brackish lagoon, with flamingos in winter and the ruins of a 17th-century Dutch settlement beside it.

Local tip: Almost nobody from Chennai goes north. Flamingo season is roughly November to March, the same months when the weather is bearable, and the Dutch cemetery with its carved tombstones is completely deserted.