Tour de Pondicherry

Pondicherry – A Place with the most conflicting reviews!!

It was our second anniversary & out of my Trip wish list we chose Pondi – as we had not seen any other city along the Bay of Bengal apart from Puri so far!

After some homework on the places to see/things to do, I failed to find a suitable place to stay as most of the economical options were either unavailable or away from the legendary White town. A day before our departure, I happened to meet a friend of mine who is a passionate biker & travel crazy like us. A casual conversation about weekend plans put me in dilemma about our decision to have chosen Pondi to celebrate a memorable day.

As per his view, he had failed to find anything impressive in Pondi in his 3 trips to the Union territory & advised me to change my mind if the bookings were not made. However, my obstinate brain is not easy to convince & hence we stuck to our plan! I would like to provide some brief about Pondicherry before we plunge into our travelogue as I knew very little about this beach town before I did some research.

Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus 

Pondicherry, one of the Union territories of India is a southern coastal city in the Bay of Bengal sea line. 

The French acquired Pondi in 1674 and held control, with occasional interruption from the British and Dutch, until 1954. 

The Eglise de Notre Dame des Anges (Church of Our Lady of the Angles) 

Thus, the French influence continues to this day & prayers are offered in Fresnch in most of the churches across the city.

Examples include the oval shaped city center with right-angled street intersections, and the boulevard that encircles the main part of town, architecture of the 18th and 19th century Christian churches and public buildings, a promenade along the beach, and even a statue of Joan of Arc. 

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception

Hence, to truly experience Pondicherry - I would recommend you to stay in the White town, which houses some of the old buildings & we get to witness the glory of the past.

Do visit some of the roads on the tamil side too, to see the difference in architecture and understand how the two cultures co-existed.

Joan of Arc

The hallmark of Pondicherry is the flat-topped cylindrical red kepi -- a hat worn by the police.

Pondicherry remains a seaport, seaside resort and tourist center. However, the main focus is the Ashram of Sri Aurobindo and Auroville.

On the Dasara weekend, Hubby & I left Bangalore by 8:30 AM – the late start can only be accounted to the fact that we were driving to Pondi in our Swift instead of our Bulla (RE – bike):-P To my relief, out of the shortlisted hotels we managed to reserve a room in Meeranjali Homestay. We informed them that we would reach there by around 3 PM considering an average speed of 60 kmph to cover a distance of 310 kms.

The roads from Krishnagiri till Tiruvannamali were in horrible condition & it took us more than 5 hours to traverse a distance of 130 kms. After a great lunch at Auro Usha restaurant, we started towards Pondi by 3:00 PM. Thanks to some advice by locals; we took the route via Viluppuram & made it to Pondi by 5 PM as the roads were very good.

It was 5:45 PM when we made it to our homestay & could only get to our room to take a shower by 6:30 as the owner of the property sat down to “brief” us about Pondi and places we must visit. Thus, by 7:00 PM we stepped out to catch a glimpse of the shore under lights! Before that, we had to treat ourselves to some food. I had prepared a list of the best places to visit & must eat places in Pondi as a routine for any trip & a quick search got us to ‘Your Daily Bread’. But, we had the worst French Baguette sandwich so far. It looked like people frequented the place for the non-veg & we cant comment on that :-D

The advantage of staying in the white town is that you are ten minutes away from the beach & eateries! Being a day person, I couldn't get the feel of the place as it was dark by the time we reached the famous Beach Promenade on the shores of Bay of Bengal. Promenade means a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. With the added bonus of no vehicles allowed on the Goubert Ave(Beach Road) from 6:30 PM to 6:00 AM; It looked like a carnival with thousands of people enjoying street food as the sound of the waves resonated in the background.

Beach Promenade 

Since Pondicherry is protected by a seawall which stretches 2 kilometers along its coastline, you can’t get into the ocean within the city. Thus, this beach is ideal for a stroll & to enjoy the view of the sea from the many eat-outs on Beach road. 

After a couple of shots on the beach, it was time for dinner. We decided to have some Italian food & barged into Don Giovanni restaurant in Hotel Corbelli.Simply put, it was a disastrous experience at the restaurant as the food literally sucked and the place was filled with house flies. No points for guessing that we don’t recommend it to anyone.

The savior for the night came in the form of some super yummy chocolate treats. After a lot of hunting, we found this little bakery by name Zaika(earlier called Choco-La) on Mission street just before closing time. Although the prices are steep, the taste of Choco-cup cake was sensational. A clear thumbs up & a must go. 

We cuddled up in bed in our calm home stay & called it a night hoping to catch the sunrise on our anniversary day!


Alas, the sleep monster was more powerful than our wish to see the sun rise on the Bay of Bengal & we only made it to the Beach Road by 7:30 AM.

Spent about an hour taking random shots along the Goubert Ave & got back to our homestay by 9. 

It was 10 when we walked into Surguru restaurant on Mission Street for breakfast. An old Tamil house now stands renovated as a veg restaurant & is crowded all day long due to its highly priced but yummy food. 

We hogged to our hearts content & drove out of Pondi towards Auroville by 11:00. 

Auroville is at a distance of about 8 kms from Pondi & the deviation on the highway is easy to miss as there are no sign boards around. Hence it helps to have the GPS or inquire before setting out. We reached Auroville in 30 minutes & hurried to get in as we learnt that it remains closed on Sunday noon.

A stroll around the information center & a walk of about 2 kms gave us a glimpse of the illustrious Matri Mandir. 

The most unfortunate part is that tourists aren't allowed to enter the Mandir & have to see it from a distance of over 200 mtrs! With slight disappointment we walked back instead of taking the mini bus which transports people back to the gate & started towards Pondi as we didn’t find anything else interesting in Auroville. As per recommendations by our homestay uncle – we ate lunch at Tantos & were really glad we took his advise as the Vegan Pizza,Mexican salad & Mediterranean Pasta were scrumptious yet easy on the pocket.

It was our dream to explore Pondicherry on cycles -the most nature friendly way of getting around! Hence, we hired 2 cycles for 5 hours at 50 INR per cycle from a shop on Mission Street and rode out to the beach road by 4:30 PM.Got a map of Pondicherry through the Tourist center & followed the route along the White town.

The experience was exotic as the pace was just enough to give us a chance to stop anywhere & click pictures of some unique architecture. 

We wished we had more time to cycle as the evening was getting darker & we still had many more streets to explore. 

By 8:30 PM, we decided to return the cycles & satisfy our growling stomach as the enjoyable cycle ride had burnt quite a few calories ;-)

With no mood to experiment on food – we chose the reliable Suruguru for dinner & were very happy with the food yet again. Thus, our second anniversary was well spent in leisure & we came back to the homestay to spend the last night in Pondi.

Sun hiding in the clouds

The alarm woke us up by 5 AM the next day & we literally ran out to the Beach road as we didn’t want to miss the sunrise at any cost. 

Apart from the initial glitch of moisture in the camera –it was a great moment to watch the sun make its way back into work.

Fisherman @ work

Gandhi Statue on Beach road, lit by the sunrise

After the sunrise, we walked along the rest of the streets in White town & were mesmerized by the influence of French on this little beach city.

It was b’fast time & we decided to try “Bon Bakes” which is located right next to the famous Daily Bread. It was without doubt the best b’fast we had in Pondi & we even packed some croissants for takeaway! 


After b’fast we visited the Aurobindo Ashram, the tranquility of the place in spite of hundreds of devotees was surprising.Without our knowledge we spent over half an hour in peace within the Ashram complex, the shrine of Sri Aurobindo – a renowned spiritual leader.

By 11 AM, we were back in our homestay to pack & head to Bangalore as the vacation was coming to an end! The icing on the cake was the wonderful veg buffet lunch at Hotel Athithya & we started from Pondi towards Mahabalipuram by 2:00 PM. 

Thanks to the ECR, we reached Mahabalipuram within 1.5 hrs & started our exploration from the Pancha Rathas – an excavated site!

The Pancha Rathas, bustling with tourists

Sea shore temple @ Mahabalipuram

 The best moment of the vacation was the sunset across the Sea shore temple.

It was 6:30 PM when we left Mahabalipuram & made our way through Kanchipuram,Krishnagiri to reach Bangalore by 11:30 PM.

My verdict about this vacation: Pondicherry is a town which can easily be called as a slice of France in India. Special, yet close-by. Beautiful, yet calm. Historic, yet modern. Different, yet familiar. Would love to return, explore the beaches & cycle along the coast! :) Best time to travel would be post monsoons: Sept to Jan! Do remember it can still be hot during these times, good to carry cotton clothes & shorts to beat the heat :)

The complete album available at: Pondicherry - Through the Lens!!

Where to EAT:

1.Surguru,on Mission Street - For vegeterian Meals & Snacks
2.Bon Bakes - For yummy breads & confectioneries
3.Tanto's - Pizzas,Pastas n Salads, on the way to Auroville
4.Le Boulevard - At Hotel Athitya for Veg Buffet on weekdays
5.Hotel Jayaram - For South Indian Delicacies
6.Choco-La, on Mission Street - Chocolate Heaven!
6.Hotel Auro Usha - At Tiruvannamalai(on Transit from BLR to Pondi)

Where to Stay:

Economical Options:-Guest Houses run by the Ashram(Restriction on timings & no alcohol)

1.Park Guest House
Addr: 1, Goubert Avenue (Beach Road)
Pondicherry - 605001

Phone: +91413 2224644 / 2233644

2.Cottage Guest House
Addr: 3, Rangapillai Street
Pondicherry - 605001

Phone: +91413 2233610
Working Hours: 8 - 12noon, 2 - 4pm 
(Sunday) 8.30 - 9.30am

3.New Sweet Home
Addr: 40, Rue Dupuy
Pondicherry - 605001

Phone: +91413 2233635
Working Hours: 6.45 - 9am, 
10.30am - 12noon, 
4pm - 7pm

4.New Guest House
New Guest House
64, Rue Romain Rolland,
Pondicherry - 605001

Phone: +91413 2221553 / 2233634
Email: newguesthouse@gmail.com

Working Hours: 6.30 am - 10 pm

Luxurious & private stay Options:Check Trip advisor :)

Happy Travelling!!!