The Perfect itinerary for your Pondicherry trip

If you are looking to take a break from the monotonous life and are in no mood to party but still love the beaches. Then, Pondicherry is the best place for you. Yes, You do have North Goa as well but Pondicherry has more aesthetics to it. Well, Here is a FREE and most asked for Itinerary for your Pondicherry trip and the tourist spots that you must visit. Even if you are spending one day or two days in Pondicherry, you can easily find a lot of activities and things to do and places to visit that too in your budget.

This Itinerary covers everything that you need for your Pondicherry trip

The Best Time to Visit Pondicherry is when its not raining and its not very sunny. Before you plan your trip to Pondicherry, always check the weather. Winters start from November and last till March, the temperature range between 22 degree Celsius to 32 degree Celsius. However, this is also the time when you might see more tourist as compared during Summer season when it would be less crowded. So the Best time for you to visit Pondicherry would depend on how much crowd you prefer in a tourist place like this.

Best Cafes to eat from in Pondicherry on your trip

While there are lots of cafes to eat from in Pondicherry, I suggest you to visit the below cafes. Some cafes have good ambience, some has good food, some has good view. These are also some of the most visited tourist spots by youngsters.

• Café Sicilys – I loved the café for two reasons . It has good food and an ocean view. What else do you need. Wood-fired pizzas & cocktails offered in a cozy exposed-brick space overlooking the sea.It is located on the White Town
• Hope Café – While the ambience is really to look forward to, I was disappointed with the food. You can still spend some time and take photos.
• Café Des Art – This café in Pondicherry is recommended by everyone to me. It’s a cosy place with lots of books to read. It is a 19th-century building with vintage decor & garden seating offers French cafe fare & coffee.
• Coromandel Café – It is an Upscale cafe fare with locally sourced ingredients served in a charming space with a garden patio.You will love the ambience and the food too

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Best Restaurants in Pondicherry with family

• Le Dupleix – It is one of those good family restaurants in Pondicherry, which is far away from the city clutter but close enough to hear the crashing sound of the waves.
• Blueline restaurant -It is one of the popular seafood restaurants in Pondicherry that treat you to delicious food for you family and kids and impeccable services for 24 hours straight
• Surguru – You will get the best south Indian food and amazing hospitality in Surguru. Perfect for a breakfast or lunch with your entire family.
• Madhuram– It is one of the best vegetarian restaurants in Pondicherry. Not only it serves authentic South Indian, but also provides relief to those who are in search of pure Jain food in the city.

Places to visit in Pondicherry

There are so many things to do and tourist spots to visit during your Pondicherry trip. It is the best place for food lover, nature admirer, history lover, adventure seeker. You can visit Museums, Botanical Gardens, Parks, Aquarium. There are total 8 museums that you can visit in Pondicherry and get knowledge about history. You can visit these tourist museums with your kids or with your friends or family.

Further, there are parks and gardens having French influence. One such of the major gardens in Pondicherry is the Botanical Gardens. This popular tourist attraction in Pondicherry provides a perfect combination of education and relaxation, and are characterized by pruned trees, gravel lined paths, fountains and water beds.  Besides a toy train ride, there are musical and dancing fountains, an aquarium and a Japanese rock structure inside the park. There is a Bharati Park, also known as the Government Park, located in the middle of French town.

You can visit these parks, churches, museums, art cafes in two days during the day time.

World’s Second Largest Mangrove Forest in Pondicherry

Lastly, You can also visit the worlds second largest mangrove forest called Pichavaram. From Pondicherry, it takes anywhere between 2 to 4 hours. You can spend one entire day visiting the world’s second largest mangrove forest in Pondicherry. This tourist spot is a hidden gem that only less people know of,

Visit Auroville, An Experimental Township during your trip

Another tourist spots that you must visit on a Pondicherry trip is Auroville. An experimental township in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, with some parts in the Union Territory of Pondicherry in India.It will take you around 50mins from Pondicherry.

Inside the central dome in Auroville is a meditation hall known as the inner chamber – this contains the largest optically-perfect glass globe in the world. The Matrimandir, and its surrounding gardens in the central Peace Area, is open to the public by appointment. You can spend one day visiting Auroville. You need to make a booking in person at least one day in advance at the visitor’s centre in Auroville. Therefore, for those visiting Auroville, and Pondicherry in just a day, it’s best to see this place from just the outside. 

Adventure in Pondicherry for Adventure lovers

The adventure activities in Pondicherry have gained a lot of popularity in India. One can choose their thrill activities from a wide range of packages and tours, and it is the best thing about the top Adventure Activities in Pondicherry. You can choose from Scuba diving, Surfing, Boating, Padi open water diving, fishing as a sport, deep diving into the ocean in Pondicherry for a glimpse of dolphins and whale shark. You can spend one day in any of these water sport tourist activities.

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Mode of Transport in Pondicherry

Pondicherry can be well explored just by walking.But if you are not someone who loves walking, you can rent a scooty or a bicycle in Pondicherry, A scooty costs around Rs 350 per day. There are autorickshaws also available but I found it expensive. They charge you flat Rs 100 for 1 km.

Transportation

Best option for traveling around Pondicherry is to hire a two wheeler, we paid 350 rupees per day and petrol costed around 100 rupees per day.

Best Heritage Hotels and Budget Hotels to stay in Pondicherry

There are a lot of experiential places to stay as a tourist in Pondicherry, but I advise you to stay in atleast one heritage villas on your trip to Pondicherry.It is not a regular hotel. The aesthetics, the architecture is mind-blowing and pictersque.

You can stay for 2 days in any of these Heritage hotel and it could cost around Rs 6000 per night

• La Cedille Pondy – French Heritage House , French breakfast, aesthetics, proximity to the beach and cafes
• The French Villa – Beautiful setting, good location, clean room
• La Closerie – Fancy decor, spacious rooms, walking distance from the beach.
• Gratitude Heritage -The rooms are super comfortable and are beautifully appointed with gorgeous antique furniture. Sit in the public spaces – the lounge or the dining room – and enjoy the peace of the green courtyard.

Other Hotels where you can stay with your family and friends for the next 3 days which could cost around Rs 4000 per night

• La Grrande Malar – Amazing Hospitality, Great food, spacious rooms, rooftop bar
• Villa Du Ocean – Pool, Nicely decorated rooms, ocean view balcony and roof top restaurant.

If you are travelling in a group and are on a tight budget, I recommend you to stay at Ashram run guest house .it has its own set of rules but is located in the White Town and offers sea facing rooms. You need to pay 700 per day for a double bed room at park guest house which is a very beautiful guest house with sea view, spacious and with basic amenities. food at the same place is somewhere between 50 -150 rupees.

Total Expenditure for a Pondicherry trip

• The Stay would cost you around Rs 24000 considering you are staying in a hotel that cost 4000-5000 per night. There are budget hotels available but these are some of the best experiential hotels
• If you rent a Scooty for all 5 days then it would cost you 350 * 5 = Rs1750
• If you are planning for a 1 Day trip to Mangrove, RowBoat charges Rs 300 /Speedboat costs Rs 1000.
• Water sports are charged differently, Museums and parks have less ticket costs. Eating at cafes for one day would be Rs 2000 , considering you are eating two meals a day(Breakfast are served in hotels). Other than that there are street food also available.

Happy Travelling!