Chennai day trip to Kanchipuram & Mahabalipuram

We designed our own trip in consultation with Five Senses Tours. Our two days of touring were separated by a few days in Pondicherry. Five Senses Tours was very open to adjusting to what we wanted. Day 1 we drove from Chennai to the temples at Mahabalipuram, Our guides, Vijay and Ramesh, were very knowledgeable and together they helped us get the most out of the experience. It was very special to visit these wonderful temples with them. After we spent a few days in Pondicherry Day 2 of the tour took us to Kanchipuram where our understanding and experience of the sites we visited was again enhanced by Vijay's knowledge and his communication skills. Having Vijay with us also meant we were taken to great places to eat! The driver, Arvind, was also extremely good. I am sometimes a nervous passenger but I felt complete confidence in his driving. After arriving back in Chennai we were taken to the St Thomas Basilica, which was also a fascinating site, and then Arvind took us to the airport. Five Senses Tours was very accommodating of our wishes and needs, and provided great support. I couldn't recommend Five Senses Tours and its guides and drivers enough for reliably providing us with a highly memorable trip.

The 5 Senses Tour company is extremely responsive and accommodating. We received quick responses despite timezone differences and short notice. Prior to arriving in Chennai we organised the Dakshin Chitra and Mahabalipuram tour.

The Dakshin Chitra and Mahabalipuram tour includes a trip to site where you can see and walk through replica homes of the various types homes found in the state of Tamal Nadu. The second half of this tour includes beachside views (with cows) and historic religious monuments as well as a heritage temple. This tour outside of Chennai combines cultural tutelage along with some amazing historic sites.

After enjoying the cultural education and sightseeing with Vijay, we reached out to 5 Senses last minute to seek availability and flexibility in respect to seeing some sights more centrally located in Chennai.

Vijay and 5 Senses were extremely accommodating in organising another day tour to include the sights we asked to see and provide us another memorable day, even getting us behind the scenes access to a stunning old library collection that is not open to the public.

Both day tours we took included transportation, a great tour guide, and a delicious lunch all included.

Vijay is very knowledgable about Hinduism and local culture. Our overall experience with the company was great.

I traveled to South India with nearly 20 friends in February 2017. The purpose of our trip was a spiritual pilgrimage to Tiruvannamalai, but we wanted to add a little time in Chennai at the beginning of our trip and a little time in Pondicherry at the end of our trip. We also needed a way to get 20 people plus luggage to Tiruvannamalai. The idea came to hire a tour company. The first company we contacted seemed legitimate, although their prices were surprisingly low. However, when it came time to pay we got suspicious because they wanted us to wire the payment to a bank account in India, but the name on the account was a series of letters and numbers instead of their company name. I started looking for reviews on that company and couldn't find anything about them. However, I did notice that lots of people had given 5 Senses a good review, so I decided to forget about the previous company and contact 5 Senses. So glad I did!!!

I worked with Narayanan to plan a few different day trips for our group. The prices were fair. They weren't as cheap as the previous possibly-fake company, but they were very inexpensive by western standards. During the planning process, Narayanan answered every question I had promptly. He also stayed in touch during our stay in India to make sure we were satisfied with the tours, and we were.

Our tour guide was Satish, and he was incredibly caring as a guide. He watched over us like a father watching over his children making sure no one was lost as we walked the streets of India. He arranged local guides for us at Mahabalipuram and Kapaaleswar Temple to make sure we were properly educated on these magnificent sites. He taught us to participate in the puja ceremony at the Sai Baba temple, which was a highlight for most of our travelers. One friend on our tour said she noticed him give money to the beggars outside of a church we visited in Pondicherry so that the beggars would let us pass by without a hassle. Once a member of our group saw a coffee shop on the beach and spontaneously suggested that we stop there. Satish immediately agreed and we had a nice refreshing unscheduled stop.

Next time I go to India, I will definitely contact 5 Senses again. With them, I have found a tour company that I know I can trust from beginning to end.

I joined the full day tours of Mahabalipuram as well as Kanchipuram. The reasons why I chose these tours was that per description these tours would include not only visits to the temples but also other interesting places on the way.

The Mahabalipuram tour started with a traditional South Indian breakfast and my tour guide Narayanan gave very interesting insights into the different choices. After this followed a visit to Dakshin Chitra, where you get to see real traditional houses of the South Indian states, which were dismantled and rebuilt at this site. The place is fascinating as you also get to see sculptures and traditional glass blowing. It is enough to visit this place for a short time and Narayanan suggested we only visit the Tamil Nadu section but gave me the option to stay longer - I appreciated the flexibility.
The temples at Mahabalipuram are a must, a local tour guide joined us to provide historic insights. The tour also included a traditional lunch which was spectacular and a visit to an active Hindu temple closer to Chennai.

The Kanchipuram tour was fantastic as well. The temples are spectacular. Even though I could not enter the praying section at one temple as a non hindu, you get to see most of the temple interiors and Narayanan again connected with local guides to provide the most insightful information about the various sites. We also visited a silk weaver and silk dying factory, and a closeby organic dairy farm. Again Narayanan was flexible and gave me options for how to spend the rest of the day rather than finishing the tour early. I chose to walk through the markets of Kanchipuram, which was fascinating and different to those in Chennai.

Overall I highly recommend 5 Senses Tours. Narayanan is a very helpful, friendly and knowledgeable guide who is very well connected in the area which enables visiting not only the temples but other locations such as the silk weaving and organic dairy farms.