Tamil Nadu

Pondicherry Tour Packages

Puducherry keeps its French quarter genuinely intact — mustard-coloured colonial houses, bougainvillea, street signs in two languages and a promenade closed to traffic each evening. It is small enough to walk and pleasant enough to do nothing in, which is the point. The White Town grid near the sea is where the heritage hotels and cafés are; the Tamil quarter immediately west is livelier and less photographed. Note that the town beach is rocky rather than swimmable — Paradise and Auroville beaches are the ones for that. Auroville, the experimental township north of town, divides visitors sharply and is worth half a day either way.