Day trip to Kanchipuram from Chennai

Pros: My guide Hareesh was deeply spiritual about the meaning of the temple experience and explained the basics of Hinduism and Jainism. Lunch was delicious. The ride to and from Chennai was smooth and easy. Cons: the silk demo was a lackluster 30-second demonstration of a loom, followed by a mandatory exit through the gift shop. They claim to make all of their own products but there's a clear sign for the times that external suppliers can drop off their wares. I booked this tour with the understanding that it would be a deeper look into a handloom workshop, but it was just a quick stop at a generic silk warehouse. I could have done that on my own.

This was a special treat for me. I am a hobbyist weaver and I booked a day trip from Chennai to Kanchipuram - famous for handwoven silk saris. I was able to observe two weavers making saris using jacquard looms and learned about their weaving process. Additionally, my excellent tour guide took me to two amazing Hindu temples and explained their history and social significance. The driver was excellent..very safe. The lunch ( a traditional South Indian thali) was delicious and my guide explained all of the dishes. I highly recommend this trip. It was private ( I was the only person on the tour), safe and extremely interesting.

For me, this tour included a number of nice 'gems'. We visited a number of very old and very impressive temples (all very very different from each other), a visit to a 'step-back-in-time' house plus a saree manufacturer. And a traditional lunch. All very interesting. Nivi was my Guide for the day, who conducted the tour in a very un-rushed manner (which was great), providing information not only on the sites being visited but was very open in answering my questions on India in-general. She even assisted me in bargaining on a purchase to an un-scheduled store plus my single purchase in the silk store. A vey enjoyable and worthwhile tour.

Our group of about 10 travelers had a wonderful experience on our private tour of Kanchipuram! Our guide, Kannan, was very informed, organized, and entertaining. Both of the temples we saw were absolutely breath taking and Kannan did a fantastic job of explaining everything within them. Afterwards, we enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant, where we were walked through a traditional dining experience. Finally, we were welcomed very warmly into the saree shop, where we saw the weaving process, tried on sarees, and purchased some incredible handmade items. Overall, we had a great experience and would absolutely recommend the 5 sense tours and Kannan for your trip to Chennai!

My wife and I had a private full-day tour of two spectacular locations near Chennai. Our first stop was at two ancient (400 year old) temples in the town of Kanchipuram. The temple were truly impressive in size and detail, with tall structures covered with elaborate carvings. Next we visited Mahabalipuram, a place that definitely deserves its UNESCO World Heritage Site status. The shore temple, balancing rock, and ancient lighthouse were all Interesting, but the Panch Rathas stands out as most extraordinary. 400 years ago, ancient Pallava kings had hundreds of craftsmen take an enormous football field size monolithic granite outcropping and carve it into five large structures, one being a life size elephant. Pictures can not do it justice. You have to see this with your own eyes. Everything we did on this trip was greatly enhanced by our tour guide, Kannan and our hardworking driver, whose name I don’t recall. We have been on numerous tours but never have we met a tour guide so dedicated to his clients. Kanan spent much of the long drive to fill us in on Indian culture. He led us through each site, sharing his knowledge to explain what we were seeing. He brought us to a great local restaurant and could find us a decent toilet whenever needed. He added places to the published itinerary because he wanted us to experience as much as possible. For example he brought us to a traditional house house full of antiques. He also added an extra stop at the old church of San Thome, built in the 16th century by the Portuguese, over the tomb of Saint Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. This is one of only three churches in the world built over the remains on an apostle. We felt very fortunate to have Kannan as our guide.