This is the first post of this year. I thought the best way to start is to share our recent winter vacation trip to Pondicherry with you all. In this post I am going to take you all to Pondicherry, the French town of India. So before sharing our Pondicherry Travel Itinerary for 4 days, let’s get an overview of the city.
Pondicherry, also known as Puducherry is a beautiful city of the Union Territory of Pondicherry. The city is flanked by Bay of Bengal and Tamil Nadu state. The advent of French colonisation in Pondicherry has gained its significance as The French Riviera. The colonial building, churches, french style avenues and of course the beaches draw a lot of tourists to the city.
When we chose Pondicherry as our holiday destination this winter, we were very excited. We wanted to see the enchanting melange of both Indian and French culture. The French style architectures and the Indian heritage in and around Pondicherry are definitely worth to visit in India.
In this post, I will be sharing our day wise Pondicherry travel itinerary. I will also cover few places around Pondicherry that we visited during our trip. So keep reading to have a virtual tour to the yellow city (one of the many names of Pondicherry) of India.
When To Visit Pondicherry
Best time to visit Pondicherry is during winters, from November to February. Though Pondy (another name by locals) don’t have any chilling cold but winters are pleasant there to roam around. Rest of the months are too hot, temperature spikes above 40 degrees. So if you don’t want to get roast, I will suggest you to plan Pondicherry trip in winter. And to be precise, Christmas is the best time to be in Pondy. As the churches are so beautifully lit up and the entire city is in holiday mood with high Christmas spirit.
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Best places to visit Pondicherry
Our Pondicherry trip was a road trip from Hyderabad by car. So after driving for around 10 – 11 hours we reached Chennai. We chose Chennai as our night halt for that day. Next day morning after having breakfast we started our journey to Pondicherry.
The road from Chennai to Pondicherry is so scenic. We enjoyed the breathtaking view of the sea alongside the road for almost the entire travel time. If you are also planning to reach Pondicherry from Chennai don’t miss the ECR road from Chennai.
After coming halfway we stopped at Mahabalipuram to explore the group of monuments that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. If you don’t have time constraint, then I will suggest you to definitely include Mahabalipuram in your Pondicherry travel itinerary. The intricate rock sculpture depicts the story of Indian rich culture and traditions. After Mahabalipuram sight-seeing we had our lunch and started our journey for Pondicherry.
Pondicherry Travel Itinerary
Day 1
Our day 1 in Pondicherry started from evening as we reached hotel at around 6 pm. So after check-in we had some coffee and then we headed towards Promenade beach. The beach stretches along 1.2 km and perfect for evening strolls. Enjoy the waves hitting the rocks and the soothing atmosphere. We walked lazily along the beach road. Then we made our way to Baker’s Street. It is a must visit place to have some french delicacies. After satisfying our sweet-tooth we went to The promenade to have our dinner. And thus after having some delicious meal we went to our hotel and ended our first day at Pondicherry.
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Day 2
On our day 2 of Pondicherry travel itinerary we planned to start our day with a visit to Auroville. It took us around 30 minutes from our hotel to Auroville visitor center. After parking our car there, we took the 1 km trail to the Matri Mandir view point. The trail was really so good to walk as it was covered with green lush all the way. We had a view of the dome of spirituality : Matri Mandir, the entire place was so tranquil.
After Auroville we went to Eden beach, one of the blue flag beaches of India. It is a must visit beach of Pondicherry. Well maintained beach with impeccable sand and the entry way of the beach is covered with lush greenery. We had our lunch at a local shack at the beach and had some lemonade while enjoying the waves.
After Eden beach we headed back to our hotel and then took a little rest. After a while we got ready to experience the Christmas eve in Pondicherry. No doubt the joy and lights of Christmas was all around the city. We went to Immaculate Conception Church, and was amazed to see its ethereal beauty. For the evening, we just strolled a little through the white town. Then we went to Coromondal Cafe for our dinner. This cafe is one of the most popular cafe of Pondy and one should not miss this.
After our flavorful dinner, we went to The Sacred Heart Basilica Church to experience the Christmas mass prayer. Hence our day 2 went very well starting the day by being spiritual to joyous Christmas eve.
Day 3
Our Pondicherry travel itinerary covered some beautiful places around Pondicherry too. So today we started early as we planned to go Pichavaram that is around 76 km from Pondicherry city. There is a mangrove forest in Pichavaram which is known as the second largest mangrove in the world. We did a boat ride through the mangrove forest. It was indeed a different experience, nature has so much to amaze us.
The ticket cost for each boat was Rs 450 for 40 minutes. But usually the boatman asked for extra bucks to show some extra view points. There are row boats and motor boats available , you can choose any kind of boat according to your wish. We chose row boat and gave more 800 rs. And explored some extra eye catching spots that were treat to our eyes and soul as well.
From Pichavaram we had a quick glimpse of Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram. The temple is around 5 km away from Pichavaram. It is one of the most ancient temple of Southern India with captivating structure. It is dedicated to lord Shiva. If your planning to have darshan then I would say visit the temple first and then go for Pichavaram boat ride.
Thereafter we went back to Pondicherry and visited serenity beach. It was not that well maintained, though you can climb the rocks and get some candid pictures of sea. But the beach is very dirty and foul smell was there all around due to decayed fishes. It was almost evening there, we went back to our hotel. We were all tired at the end of the day, so ordered our dinner. Had the food in our room and just spent some leisure time in hotel ending our day 3.
Day 4
The last day of our Pondicherry travel itinerary started with a visit to Aurobindo ashram. It is in White town, nearby our hotel. Next we had a walk around the white town as daylight make the white town more vibrant with its yellow painted french style houses. Every corner seems to be picture perfect. You can click some Pondy special pic with yellow backdrop in the morning.
We walked towards Promenade beach and had our lunch at popular seaside cafe Le cafe. It is one of the oldest coffee shop of Pondicherry at one of the nicest place. You can just grab some coffee and enjoy the sea waves from the cafe and prices are affordable too.
Lunch followed by visit to Paradise beach. We went to Chunnambur boat house to take a ferry to Paradise Island beach. But no luck there, as they stopped selling tickets for ferry due to overcrowd. So we went Paradise Island private beach called Sandunes by road. And then the beach instantly uplifted our mood. It was so beautiful and we enjoyed there for a long time.
The difference you will get if you go Paradise beach by car that you won’t get jetty to travel to the beach. Otherwise the beach is same for the two ways. There are many water sports available in Paradise beach. It was about to sunset, we had some snacks and coffee at the beach shacks. And then headed back to our hotel.
It was our last day in Pondicherry and we had a great family vacation in Pondicherry.
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Take Away
Before wrapping up my Pondicherry travel itinerary, I would say if you want to shop souvenirs for your friends and family, there is Craft Baazaar in White town. You will get handmade crafts from Pondicherry. I will surely suggest to plan a trip to the French town of India where you can get to see the beautiful Churches of Gothic Revival architecture, soaked up in golden sand and sun with salty waves, authentic french dessers and many more.
