Marina Beach
Marina Beach is the most famous beach of Tamil Nadu and is situated in the city of Chennai. The beach is considered to be one of the largest beaches in India and the world over. The beach stretches over a distance of 12 km and has a considerably large width. It begins from St. George Fort, in the north, and extends till Besant Nagar, in the south. This sandy beach is not only popular amongst the morning joggers, but is also a must visit spot for the tourists.

The road side along the Marina Beach is marked by a number of statues of known leaders and celebrities such as Mahatma Gandhi, Thiruvalluvar, Sir Thomas Munro, Kamarajar, Periyar and the Statue of Labor. Apart from this, there is Anna Square, the burial site of former Chief Minster of Tamil Nadu, Dr. C. N. Annadurai. Also, just adjacent to this you will find a beautiful park and a memorial dedicated to MGR Ramachandran, former actor-cum-politician. The tomb in the memorial has a striking pillar and an eternal flame.

Elliot Beach
Elliot's Beach is one of the cleanest beaches in the city of Chennai. It is located towards the south of Marina Beach and is an extremely calm and tranquil place. The beach is known as 'Bessei' amongst the locals. As the beach does not offer much activity, it is ideal for long walks. Moreover, the ones who want to soak their feet in the splashing sea water and lose themselves completely in the arms of the nature, head on. Elliot's Beach is quite a hit amongst both the tourists as well as the natives of Tamil Nadu.

The Ashtalakshmi Temple is around 20 years old and has modern style architecture. It is dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi and appears different from the rest of the Temples in South India. On the other hand, Velanganni Church is more of a pilgrim place for the Christians. The structure is smaller than the one at Velanganni. In addition, there is the Schmidt Memorial, which is dedicated to a Dutch sailor, who lost his life while saving a drowning fellow. It is one of the most notable landmarks on the famous beach.

GOVT Museum
The Government Museum of Chennai is one of the most popular sightseeing pots in the city. It is deemed to be one of the oldest museums of India, as its inception dates back to the Colonial rule. There is a historical tale behind the origin of this Museum. In 1846 AD, the Madras Literary Society debated the proposal of establishing the museum. Finally, the proposal was approved by the Court of Directors of the East India Company in London. Chennai Government Museum has a sprawling complex and is sponsored by the State Government.

There are six independent buildings in the Museum campus, which constitute 46 galleries. The Museum was formally inaugurated on December 5, 1896 by the Sir Arthur Elibank Havelock, the then Governor. He named it after the former Governor, Lord Connenmara. The museum was designed by H. Irvin, the consulting architect of the Government of Madras. The Government Museum has a splendid hall, marvelous reading room and striking Teak wood shelf and stands divided into a number of sections.

Fort St. George / Secret Ariat
Fort St. George in Chennai located on Rajaji Salai in Chennai, was founded by the British administration or the East India Company in 1640 . Now famous as the offices of the Tamil Nadu Secretariat and the Legislative Assembly, Fort St. George throbs with din and bustle of city life always thronged by tourists and traders peddling their products. You will be amazed that this fort more resembles a premise of colonial houses.

If you trace back to the history of Fort St. George in Chennai, you will realized that the construction of this site regulated by Francis Day and Andrew Cogon, initiated the phase of modernization of Madras or Chennai in India as well as that of power-statements of the British colonial forces in India. The site derived its name from St. George, the patron saint of England.

Golden Beach VGP
The VGP Golden beach resort is one of the most popular hangout places during holidays and weekends. It is situated in the ECR road, not too far from the city. The VGP Golden Beach Resort is a refreshing destination as it has a lot of greenery in the form of shady trees and plants. An ideal place for picnics and some fun.

VGP Golden Beach resort has a lot of fun filled activities in store. There are popular games for children and grown ups. Some of the special activities include go-kart, dashing car and water chute. There are other activities include super trooper, giant wheel, aero ship, jumping frog, merry go round, break dance, super jet, roller coast and many more. Children and grown ups enjoy alike. There are a lot of food outlets in the food court here. There is a very popular restaurant here called the Rain Forest here. The restaurant offers a multi cuisine.

MGM
M.G.M. Dizzee World in Chennai is the most popular amusement Park of Asia and is a must see on excursions from Chennai. It has a lot to offer in terms of entertainment. It offers a thrilling experience to tourists and visitors. The major attractions have been created on the lines of global amusement parks of the world. The major attractions are Arrow Loop-Corkscrew Roller Coaster, Balloon Race, Kamikaze Ranger, Merry Go Round, Revolution and Venture River.

M.G.M Dizzee World is located at a distance of 36 kms from Chennai. Lying on the scenic East Coast Road, at Muttukadu, M.G.M Dizzee World is easily accessible by bus from different parts of the city. Buses bound for Kovalam and Mahabalipuram cross MGM Dizee World and buses halt on request.

Mamallapuram
Mamallapuram dates back to the Tamil Pallava dynasty in the 7th-9th century. The structures here, mostly carved straight out of granite, are among the oldest existing examples of Dravidian (South Indian) architecture.

Mamallapuram itself was getting run down over the last decade with very patchy efforts at keeping the monuments preserved. This has changed in the last few years with the Shore Temple being included in the UNESCO heritage project. The surroundings have been made much nicer, but, there has been a lot of wind and water erosion on the temple carvings with many of them having undergone loss of detail over the years. Sort of too little, too late, but still, better than nothing. Be prepared to fight you way through clutches of gypsies, beggars, guides, snakes charmers and so on, all of which is an essential part of the experience and not to be frowned upon. The whole thing would be bland without them. A nuisance, but harmless.

Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram, the temple town is the district headquarters. For administrative reasons, the district has been divided into 3 revenue divisions comprising of 8 taluks with 1214 revenue villages. For development reasons, it is divided into 13 development blocks with 648 Village Panchayats.

Kanchipuram was the historical capital of the Pallavas during the 7th - 9th centuries. Kanchipuram is one of the seven sacred cities of India. Kanchipuram is famous for hand-woven silk fabrics and saris. The weavers use the highest quality silk and pure gold thread. Kanchipuram is also known as Silk City. Sankaracharya 'Math' is situated at Kanchipuram.

Tirupathi
The journey from Chennai, about 300 km, took about 3 hours. A journey such as this, you would never encounter in US. We traveled in a vehicle called a Tata Sumo (the Indian SUV), which was large enough to carry my friend, his family and, the driver and I (8 people). We had hired the driver, which is very common in India, and in terms of dollars is very inexpensive. Along this drive, every so often we would stop, sometimes due to traffic or bad roads, other times to give 'tolls.' The experience of giving tolls was not what I was used to. There are no toll collectors in booths, but general people standing on the street collecting these tolls, which are really more like bribes paid to cross state borders or city borders. One toll collector was especially exotic and an interesting sight. This toll collector was standing in the center of the road dressed as Hanuman, the monkey god. He was standing there on one leg, with an elaborate headdress, and a gold collection plate in one hand.

Pondicherry
As Pondicherry was earlier a French Colony, the french influence can be traced even today. It has neat sectors and perpendicular streets. The entire town is divided into two sections: the French quarter and the Indian quarter. Many streets still have their French names.

The buildings are an ideal mix of french colonial style that has long compounds and stately walls and the Indian style of houses lined with verandas, and large doors and grills. Some of these buildings have turned in guest houses and hotels. The state economy boasts of its agriculture and fisheries.Crops like paddy, coconuts, arcanuts, condiments, spices, pulses, groundnut and chilies are cultivated here. Fishing is an important occupation as the Union Territory has a coastline of 45 kms. There are 23 large, 79 medium scale and 5, 400 small scale industries. The service sector comprises of mainly Tourism and Real Estate.

Anna Zoological Park
Situated at Vandalur, in the outskirts of Chennai, the Anna zoological park is one of the modern zoos of India and the biggest in South East Asia. The zoological Park spreads over an area of about 510 hectares of dry evergreen forests. The terrain is gently undulating and the specially created open island type enclosures make the animals inside the zoo, feel in their natural habitat. After its opening in 1995, the Park has seen many additions like the Nocturnal section, the Jurassic Park, reptile section etc.

Inside the zoological park, more than 170 species of mammals, aviaries and reptiles are exhibited. Some of the prominent animals inside the zoo are Barking Deer, Blackbuck, Sambar, Sangai, Nilgai, Wolf, Hog Deer, Jackal, Hyena, Otter, Llama, a number of Monkey species like Nilgiri Langur, Lion-tailed Macaque, Baboon, Hanuman Langur and Leaf-capped Langur. Besides the above-mentioned animals, there are tiger, Panther, Lion, Jaguar, Elephants, Giraffes and Camels. Elephant ride; Lion safari vehicle and battery-operated vehicles are some of the facilities available inside the zoological Park.