Two days — the essentials
Day 1 — Heritage and the centre
- Early morning: Marina Beach at sunrise, then breakfast (idli and filter coffee) at a traditional tiffin place
- Mid-morning: Fort St. George and the Fort Museum, St. Mary's Church
- Lunch: banana-leaf meal
- Afternoon: Government Museum, Egmore — allow two hours, focus on the bronze gallery
- Evening: San Thome Basilica, then Kapaleeshwarar Temple in Mylapore for the evening rituals
- Dinner: Mylapore
Day 2 — Coast and culture
- Morning: drive south on the East Coast Road
- Late morning: Dakshinachitra heritage museum
- Afternoon: Mahabalipuram — Shore Temple, Five Rathas, Arjuna's Penance
- Evening: back to the city; dinner and a walk at Elliot's Beach
Four days — a fuller visit
Days 1 and 2 as above.
Day 3 — Temples and craft
- Full day trip to Kanchipuram: Ekambareswarar, Kailasanathar and Varadharaja Perumal temples, plus a silk-weaving workshop visit
- Return to Chennai for the evening
Day 4 — City life
- Morning: Guindy National Park or the Theosophical Society gardens
- Late morning: Parthasarathy Temple, Triplicane
- Afternoon: shopping in T. Nagar — silk sarees, handicrafts
- Evening: Valluvar Kottam, then a Carnatic concert if visiting in December, or a rooftop bar in Nungambakkam
One week
Add Pondicherry (3 hours south, French colonial quarter and seafront) for two nights, and either Vellore's Golden Temple or a longer temple-trail excursion towards Chidambaram and Thanjavur.