From Chennai, RutzIndia.com runs five chauffeur-driven tour packages: South India in 6 or 8 days straight from your door, Kerala in 6 or 7 days from Kochi and Karnataka in 5 days from Bangalore. One car and chauffeur serve the whole trip; the fare is the greater of driven km or 250 km a day, times the class's per-km rate.
Why the temple circuits start at your door
Chennai is the natural head of Tamil Nadu's great temple road. The Pallava shore at Mamallapuram is barely 60 km down the East Coast Road, and from there the Coromandel coast and the Kaveri delta lead south through Puducherry, Chidambaram and Thanjavur to Madurai and, if you keep going, to Rameswaram and Kanyakumari. Nothing about these two circuits needs a flight at the start. The car collects you at home, at a hotel on Anna Salai or at the airport, and within an hour and a half you are looking at the Shore Temple with the sea behind it.
Kerala and Karnataka are the other way round. They begin at Kochi and Bangalore, where a car and chauffeur meet you off a short flight or an overnight train. You can also be driven there from Chennai, and we cover that option below.
Chennai pickups
The airport. Chennai International sits at Meenambakkam on GST Road, roughly 15 to 20 km south-west of Egmore and T. Nagar, and domestic and international arrivals use separate terminal buildings; its Wikipedia page gives a useful overview. For the South India packages the airport is actually well placed, because the chauffeur can cut across to the East Coast Road without going through the city centre. The usual free waiting applies: 60 minutes after international arrivals and 30 after domestic. For the transfer alone, see Chennai airport taxi.
Stations. Chennai Central (Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central) and Egmore are routine pickups; tell us the coach number. Tambaram is handy for southbound trains and saves half an hour of city traffic.
Home and hotels. Anywhere in the city, along OMR or ECR, or in the suburbs as far as Tambaram is a normal package pickup. For a spare day before you leave, Chennai car rental with driver prices the 8-hour and 4-hour blocks, and the Chennai taxi service page covers everyday rides.
South India in 6 days or 8
Both circuits share their first five days. You leave Chennai for Mamallapuram's rock-cut shrines and the Five Rathas, spend an evening in Puducherry's French quarter, stop at the Nataraja temple in Chidambaram, and reach Thanjavur, where the Brihadisvara temple is best at opening while the granite is still cool underfoot. Then south through Tiruchirappalli's Rockfort and the enormous Srirangam complex to Madurai for the evening ceremony at Meenakshi Amman.
Six days ends in Madurai, and most people fly back to Chennai from there. It suits anyone who wants the four great temple towns without long drives.
Eight days continues east over the Pamban bridge to Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi, then south-west through Tirunelveli to Kanyakumari for sunset and sunrise at the tip, and finishes at Trivandrum airport. It is the better choice if you want the sea again at the end, or if Rameswaram is a pilgrimage in itself.
For the first leg on its own, see Chennai to Pondicherry. Our road guides to Mahabalipuram, Thanjavur, Madurai and Kanyakumari go deeper on each stop.
Kerala and Karnataka from Chennai
Kerala, 7 days or 6. The seven-day circuit is one-way: Kochi, Munnar, Thekkady, the Alleppey backwaters, then south to Varkala or Kovalam and out of Trivandrum. The six-day circuit is a loop from Kochi without the beach finish. By road Chennai to Kochi is about 690 km through Salem and Coimbatore, a long day; the car can do it, billed at the per-km rate, but a short flight or an overnight train is more sensible. Kerala Tourism lists the season's events, and our Kochi taxi service page covers the Kochi end. The flexible Kerala tour by car page is there if you want a custom route.
Karnataka, 5 days. Mysore, Coorg and the Hoysala temples at Belur and Halebidu, starting and ending in Bangalore. Chennai to Bangalore is about 345 km by road, roughly six hours, so this one is realistically drivable from your door: see Bangalore to Chennai for that leg in reverse. The Bangalore origin page explains the five and six-day Karnataka options.
The monsoon that comes in October
Chennai's weather is the reverse of most of India. The south-west monsoon largely passes it by; instead the north-east monsoon arrives in October and brings the heaviest rain in November, sometimes with cyclone warnings along the coast. For the temple circuit, December to February is the sweet spot: cool mornings, dry roads and clear light on the gopurams. March to May is hot and humid, though temples at opening are still pleasant.
Several events fill hotels. The Margazhi music season takes over Chennai's sabhas in December and January. Pongal in mid-January is a joyful time to see the delta villages, but Thanjavur and Madurai book out. The Mamallapuram dance festival is staged against the rock carvings over the winter, and Madurai's Chithirai festival in April or May draws huge crowds to the Meenakshi temple. Kerala's main season runs from September to March.
Temple etiquette on the road
Most Tamil temples expect modest dress: shoulders and knees covered, and in some temples men are asked to wear a dhoti or remove their shirt for the inner sanctum. Footwear is left outside, and the chauffeur will park where you can leave shoes in the car. Photography is often forbidden inside the main shrines, and at Meenakshi Amman phones may need to be deposited at the gate. Timings are typically early morning to midday and late afternoon to night, with the sanctums closed in the afternoon, which is why every day on these circuits starts early and leaves the hot hours for driving.
Where the temple circuits stay
Mamallapuram has beach resorts to the north of town along the ECR and smaller guesthouses near the Shore Temple, so you can walk to the monuments at sunrise. Puducherry splits between the French quarter, where heritage villas and boutique hotels sit on quiet, tree-lined streets, and larger hotels on the outskirts with easier parking. Thanjavur's hotels are mostly business-style and close to the big temple; there are also heritage properties in the countryside towards Kumbakonam. Madurai's choice is between hotels near the Meenakshi towers, handy for the evening ceremony, and quieter places across the Vaigai river. Rameswaram and Kanyakumari are pilgrim towns with simpler options and a handful of better hotels facing the water. The travel desk can hold rooms in the category you want and send one written quote; we do not make claims about partner discounts.
One-way circuits and how they are priced
Both South India circuits are one-way: Chennai to Madurai, or Chennai to Trivandrum. The package fare follows the same method as everything else on RutzIndia.com. We take the itinerary's kilometres, compare them with 250 km for each day, bill the larger and multiply by the class's per-km rate. The chauffeur's night allowance is Rs 3,000 a night; tolls on the ECR and national highways, the Kerala interstate permit where the route crosses the border, and parking are at cost; 5% GST is added. The fare shown on each card has already been worked out on this basis. You book your own flight home from Madurai or Trivandrum.
Pilgrims on the southern road
Many Chennai families take these circuits as a pilgrimage rather than a sightseeing trip, and the plan changes accordingly. Rameswaram's Ramanathaswamy temple is part of the eight-day route, and bathing at the Agni Theertham before visiting the temple is a common ritual; the chauffeur can wait while you change and dry off. At Kanyakumari the tides and the ferry timetable to the Vivekananda Rock set the morning. Older travellers should know that the temple complexes involve long barefoot walks on stone, hot by midday, so an early start is kinder than any car upgrade. Tell the desk about special darshan bookings or temple rituals when you reserve and the day is built around them.
Cars for the southern heat
Air-conditioning matters more here than almost anywhere, and all our cars are within four model years. A compact sedan at Rs 72 per km is right for two; an Ertiga at Rs 84 per km for three or four. For families or anyone carrying luggage for a week, the Innova Crysta at Rs 114 per km is the comfortable pick. A Fortuner is Rs 168 per km. Groups of 9 to 16 should book a Tempo Traveller at Rs 156 per km or an Urbania at Rs 204 per km; the Chennai Tempo Traveller page shows seat plans. Browse every class on the fleet page.
Shorter trips from Chennai
Not everything needs a package. A day hire covers Kanchipuram's silk weavers and temples, about 75 km inland, and can be combined with the Pallava sites for a long day. Families on a pilgrimage often prefer separate trips rather than one circuit: Tirupati is a very early start with the darshan queue in mind, while Velankanni and Nagapattinam can be added to the South India circuit from Thanjavur if the desk extends it by a day. Our road guides cover Tirupati at about 135 km, Tiruvannamalai for the Arunachala hill and Pondicherry as a weekend on its own.
Booking a Chennai package
Reserve the car on the web booker, where the fare is fixed before you pay by card or UPI and a GST invoice is issued. To add hotels, breakfasts, entry tickets and a temple guide in one written quote, contact the travel desk. Cancellation is free until 72 hours before pickup, 10% within 72 hours, 50% within 48 hours and 100% within 24 hours or on a no-show; read the cancellation policy. Packages from every other city are on the tour packages hub.
