Our special places
We design holidays tailored to your priorities. Please contact us to discuss any destination.
Tamil Nadu and the Andaman Islands
Your trip starts in Madurai, situated on the banks of river Vaigai. Madurai, more than 2,500 years old, is the second largest city of Tamil Nadu which has a rich cultural heritage and history. The Sri Meenakshi temple is the city's main attraction: a splendid example of Dravidian architecture in the heart of the old town, it is nearly 2000 years old. Each of its 12 towers has a height of 45 to 50 metres. The Potrama Raikulam or the Golden Lotus Tank is the place where the Tamil literary society called Sangam used to meet to decide the merits of the work presented to them. The temple museum has 985 richly carved pillars and each one surpasses the other in beauty.
Spend 2 nights at the Heritage Madurai before travelling by car and driver to the town of Tanjore, once the capital of the Chola dynasty of temple builders who ruled South India between the 10th and 14th centuries. The awe-inspiring Sri Brahadeeswara temple, built by Raja Raja at the turn of the first millennium, is best visited in the evening when families gather to gossip under the cool arches and pay homage to Shiva, as swallows dive and swirl in the twilight. The suggested accommodation is Ideal River View Resort which is located on the outskirts of the town. Whilst here you should also visit Trichy, which is home to the Rock Fort temple that is built on a hill 83m high towering above the city and can only be reached by climbing 437 steps cut into a tunnel through the rock. 3km from the Rock Fort is the Sri Ranganathswamy Temple complex which is a town in its own right, with seven concentric walls, the outer four of which house over twenty thousand people.
Catch the train to Chennai and transfer a short distance down the coast to Covelong for a 3 night stay at the Vivanta Fishermans Cove. Located on the beach you will have time to relax but it would be worth spending a morning visiting the shore temples at Mahabalipuram.
Once you have relaxed into a beach pace of life it is time to take a 2 hour flight from Chennai to Port Blair for a 7 night stay on the Andaman Islands.
Located 1200kms from mainland India in the Bay of Bengal, the group is made up of around 550 islands, islets and rocks, of which only 26 of which are inhabited, some exclusively by the four indigenous negrito tribes. Many of the islands are covered in thick rainforest and mangrove swamps and are teeming with wildlife. For divers their unexplored and pristine coral reefs are an absolute heaven. The rainbow coloured coral teems with tropical fish as well as turtles, barracuda, rays, Napoleon fish and the elusive dugong. Barren Island offers a unique opportunity to dive off an active volcano. Due to very limited commercial development decent accommodation is rare, however Barefoot on Havelock Island offers 18 eco-friendly wooden cottages set on arguably one of the most stunning beaches in Asia.
Due to the timings of flights you will probably need to spend a night back in Chennai but this gives you a chance to explore its rich colonial history and enjoy a meal in one if its many restaurants before returning to the UK.
To get a quote for this trip or to discuss any of our other South Indian journeys please call 0207 359 3938 or email Matt and we can put together a tailormade trip of a lifetime.
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