Madurai · Rameswaram · Kanyakumari · 4 nights / 5 days · pilgrimage
Tamil Nadu Temple Trail — 4 Nights
Meenakshi at Madurai, Ramanathaswamy at Rameswaram, and the southern tip of the country at Kanyakumari, where you can watch the sun come up out of one sea and go down into another. Five days, your own car and driver, and someone in Delhi on the phone if anything goes sideways.
Photos
Highlights
- The Meenakshi Amman temple at Madurai, and the night ceremony if you can stay up for it
- The Pamban bridge across to Rameswaram — the drive people photograph
- Ramanathaswamy temple and its corridors, the longest of any Hindu temple in India
- Dhanushkodi, the town the 1964 cyclone took, at the end of the sand spit
- Kanyakumari: the Vivekananda Rock, the Thiruvalluvar statue, sunrise and sunset over water
- Private air-conditioned car and driver for all five days
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 1 — Arrive Madurai
Land, check in, and go to the Meenakshi temple in the late afternoon when the light through the corridors is at its best. The night ceremony, when the god is carried to the goddess's chamber, is around nine and is worth staying for.
Day 2 — Madurai to Rameswaram
Four hours east, and the last twenty minutes are across the Pamban bridge with water on both sides. Afternoon at Ramanathaswamy — the twenty-two theerthams, and the corridor that goes on further than a photograph can show.
Day 3 — Rameswaram to Kanyakumari
Dhanushkodi first thing: the ghost town at the end of the spit, where the land stops and the two seas meet in front of you. Then five or six hours south to Kanyakumari, arriving for sunset at the point.
Day 4 — Kanyakumari
Sunrise from the shore, and it's worth the alarm. The ferry to the Vivekananda Rock and the Thiruvalluvar statue, the Gandhi memorial, and the Padmanabhapuram Palace an hour away — the largest wooden palace in Asia, and much less visited than it should be.
Day 5 — Home
Back to Madurai for your flight, about six hours, or Trivandrum which is only two — tell us which you've booked and we'll plan the day around it.
Included
- Hotels for every night of the trip, on twin sharing, with breakfast each morning
- A private air-conditioned car with a driver for the whole trip — every transfer and every sightseeing stop
- Your driver is with you 8am to 8pm each day
- All toll charges, interstate permits, parking fees and driver allowance
- All applicable taxes on the above
- A single point of contact in Delhi before, during and after the trip
Not included
- Flights or trains to and from the start and end points
- Lunches, dinners and snacks, unless a meal is listed in the inclusions
- Entrance fees at monuments, parks, boat jetties and viewpoints — these are paid at the gate
- Personal expenses: tips, laundry, phone calls, room service, porterage
- Optional activities, and any upgrade you decide to take on the day
- Travel insurance
- Anything not written into the inclusions list above
Best time to go: October to March. April and May on this route are genuinely hot
Things to carry
- · Photo ID for every traveller, including children — hotels and some temples ask for it
- · Clothes that cover shoulders and knees for temple visits; men are asked to remove shirts at a few shrines in Tamil Nadu
- · A pair of socks — temple floors get very hot by midday and shoes come off at the entrance
- · A hat, sunglasses and sunscreen
- · Any regular medication
- · A small bag you don't mind leaving at the shoe counter
Cancellation policy
More than 30 days before departure: we retain ₹3,000 per person and refund the rest. 30 to 15 days before departure: 25% of the package cost. 14 to 8 days before departure: 50% of the package cost. 7 days or less, or no show: 100%.
Festival dates and a few resorts carry stricter terms of their own. If any part of your booking is on non-refundable terms, we tell you in writing before you pay anything — it will never be a surprise at the cancellation stage.
Refunds go back to the account you paid from, within 7 to 10 working days of the cancellation being confirmed.
Flight tickets, once issued, follow the airline's own rules and are refunded only to the extent the airline refunds us.
More questions, answered
- Are flights included?
- No. The price covers everything on the ground from the moment you land to the moment we drop you back. We can book your flights alongside the package if you'd rather have one invoice — just say so when you enquire.
- Is the car ours for the whole trip?
- Yes. Same car, same driver, from arrival to departure. It isn't a shared coach and it isn't a series of separate transfers. Your driver is with you 8am to 8pm each day.
- What if there are four or six of us?
- The price drops per head, and not by a little. The car and the driver cost the same whether two people are in it or six, so a group of six pays roughly a third less each than a couple does for exactly the same trip. Tell us your group size and we'll send the real number.
- Can we change the hotels?
- Yes, within reason. Tell us what you want and we'll price it. The categories on this page are the ones we hold rates in, but we're not locked to a fixed list.
- How do we pay?
- Part now to confirm the booking, the balance before you travel. You get a proper GST invoice, not a WhatsApp message with a UPI ID.
- Are temple entries and special darshan included?
- No. Entry to the main temples is free, but special darshan tickets, camera fees and the Vivekananda Rock ferry are paid on the spot. Budget ₹300 to ₹800 per person per day.
- What should we wear?
- Shoulders and knees covered at every temple. At Ramanathaswamy and a few others men are asked to remove their shirts before entering the inner shrine. Shoes come off at the entrance and the stone gets very hot by midday — a pair of socks solves it.
- Can we add Thanjavur or Trichy?
- Yes. Both are on the way if you start from Chennai instead of Madurai, and it makes it a six-night trip. Ask and we'll price it.