Welcome to Pondicherry Magic

the best way to explore Pondicherry and surrounds

About Pondicherry: Pondicherry was a quiet fishing village which passed through the hands of several empires, including the Pallavas, Cholas and the Vijayanagara kings. Beginning in the 1600s, the French developed it into a trading port. Today, Pondicherry is a charming, laid-back seaside town with a unique Franco-Tamil culture. The city is divided into a French quarter and a Tamil quarter, each with its own distinctive character, beautiful architecture, and delicious cuisine. Pondicherry has developed into a major centre for yoga and spiritual pursuits. It also offers great opportunities for shopping, especially for antiques, clothes, accessories and organic products.

Around Pondicherry: A half hour's drive from Pondicherry is the experimental township of Auroville. This fascinating society is based on the concepts of sustainable and holistic living. Auroville is located in a forest that was planted and nurtured from barren land, by the Aurovilleans themselves.

Further away from Pondicherry there are other interesting places to visit as day excursions. Mahabalipuram, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a 2-hr drive to the north, along the coast. In the north west is Kanchipuram, a grand temple town and weaving centre (2.5 hrs drive). To the south are the beautiful Chidambaram temple and the Pichavaram mangrove forest (1.5 hrs drive).

How to book a tour: Do take a look at the tour menu on the right and let us know which tours are of interest to you. To book a tour, please write to deepa@magictoursofindia.com. If there’s a particular place you’d like to visit that isn’t on our menu, please write in! We’d be happy to organize a customized tour for you.

Longer trips: We can also help plan longer multi-day trips in South India. For example, you can begin in Chennai, and do a road trip that takes you through Tamil Nadu and Kerala, ending in Cochin or Trivandrum. If you tell us what your interests are, we can help design a custom trip for any of the southern states (Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Goa).