If you are planning for a trip to Pondicherry and searching for the best places to visit

Because today we will be talking abouttop 10 places to visit in Pondicherry officially called Puducherry.

Before we jump into our list, let me brief you about Pondicherry.

Known as the French capital of India, Pondicherry is situated on the eat coast  overlooking the Bay of Bengal.

Pondicherry is one of the 8 union territories of India which is surrounded by Tamilnadu.

The border between Tamilnadu and Pondicherry is so thin that you will not even know when you crossed Tamilnadu and entered Pondicherry or vice versa.

That's why Pondicherry shares most of its culture, heritage and language from Tamilnadu.  

The local language spoken in Pondicherry is Tamil but most people can understand and talk in Hindi  or in English.

Pondicherry is a perfect blend of beaches,  

heritage, adventure and cultural experiences.

An ideal trip to Pondicherry can be around two to three days,It should be sufficient to uncover most of the attractions mentioned in this blog

Let's dive into the list of the top 10 places to visit in Pondicherry.

What makes Pondicherry so special compared to other destinations in India is its French Colony.  

French Colony

When you are here, you will feel you are in a different country all together You will see the streets and buildings are named in french The houses are painted in bright yellow colour and decorated with red bougainvillaea plants The windows and doors are constructed in french architecture style Everything around you looks so unique and beautiful which is very rare to find in India This french town also called the white town used to be the place where the french  stayed before the independence.

For photographers, it's no less than a paradise You can get really creative and get a variety of shots here.

If you are looking for a prewedding photoshoot,then a french colony in Pondicherry must be your first preference.

French colony is best explored on foot or on a bicycleYou can also rent out Vespa which will act as a prop for your photos as well.  

Most of the houses in the french colony are converted to either a cafe or a hotel.  

You can also opt to stay in one of these amazing hotels which will give you  authentic french vibes.

But these hotels in the french colonies are pretty expensiveThe average cost of a stay in the french colony can range from Rs. 500 to Rs. 8000

 

is the Golden Globe

Golden Globe

This golden globe is called Matrimandir

and it is one of the must-visit places in Pondicherry.

Matrimandir is situated inside Auroville which is around 10 kilometres from  Pondicherry. Auroville is a universal township where more than 3000 people from 49 countries  live in harmony. 

This self-sustained township was an effort towards human unity. It was founded by  Sri Aurobindo and his spiritual collaborator - The Mother.  

We will talk more about Sri Aurobindo in the latter part of this video.  

Auroville is spread across 460 acres and is divided into multiple sections. 

Among which  most of us would be interested in the centre of the Auroville, called peace area. At this  

peace area, you will see the Matrimandir which is proof of excellent engineering and execution.  

Matrimandir is not a tourist destination but it is a platform to rejuvenate the spirit  

within yourself. You can see Matrimandir from outside without any restrictions,  

but there are strict rules to enter into the Matrimandir.

I will drop a link in the description

which explains the process to visit inside of the Matrimandir.

But if you just want to see it from outside

then you can simply walk-in without any reservations or entrance fees.

How can we not mention the beaches while talking about the coastal region?

Moving from the spiritual world to some chill vibes,

next, we have Eden beach on our list.

Beaches on the East coast are not as popular as the beaches on the west coast.

But still, Pondicherry has got a few unique beaches which are worth visiting.

Among such beaches is Eden beach.

Very few people who visit Pondicherry know about this beach.

Eden beach is a blue flag beach,

what is a blue flag beach you ask?

Blue flag beach means it's clean, safe, has got all the basic facilities and lifeguards.

This was the first blue flag beach I visited,

and I was flabbergasted by seeing such well maintained public beach.

If u want to get into the water then this beach is the best place  

as it has a dedicated safe swimming area, shower, changing rooms and lifeguards.

When we talk about the beaches of Pondicherry then one thing that can not be missed is the rock beach

Pondy beach, Puducherry beach, Rock beach, Promenade beach, Sand beach and lighthouse beach  

are all next to each other.

So to keep this video simple,

I will simply refer to them as Rock beach.

What makes rock beach so special is the Promenade.

This promenade is a vehicle-free pathway for visitors who want to spend a calm time with nature.

You can sit on the rock beach for hours

looking at the bay of Bengal, listening to the waves hitting the shore and never getting bored.

You can find a lot of eateries, restaurants and cafes to have yummy food while watching the sea.

If you walk along the Promenade,

you will see so many important spots like the Mahatma Gandhi statue,

lighthouse, french war memorial, Statue of Dupleix, Aayi Mandapam and le cafe.

The Promenade will be open 24 hours a day,

so you can walk safely even at midnight and no one will bother you.

As the name suggests,

serenity beach is one of the most peaceful and most beautiful beaches in Pondicherry

The tides are usually very high which makes surfing one of the best sports at this place.

Lately, serenity beach has got its popularity due to surfing.

If you want to learn surfing then you should head to serenity beach.  

There are so many surfing schools where you can enrol for a day's learning.  

Well, I couldn't try that but would love to do it the next time I visit Pondicherry.

Remember Eden beach that we talked about previously in this video?

Well, just adjacent to that,

there is another beach called paradise beach.

Paradise beach is surrounded by sea on one side and backwater on the other.

To reach Paradise beach,

you will have to take a boat ride from Chunnambar Boathouse.

The boat ride would cost around Rs. 300 per person for two-way travel.

The boat ride itself is very scenic and a must-do when you are here.

Paradise beach is one of the well-maintained beaches just like Eden beach.

It is also the best place to get into the water

as the beaches are clean and well maintained.

But I personally would prefer Eden beach over paradise beach for getting into the water.

Moving away from the beaches of Pondicherry,

Arikamedu is one of the lesser-known places near Pondicherry.

If you love to explore old, archaeological sites then you should head to Arikamedu.

It is around 7 kilometres from Pondicherry and it is close to Eden beach and paradise beach.

Arikamedu was an ancient Roman trade centre.

The world didn't know anything about the Indo-Roman ties until Arikamedu was discovered.

The first dig in Arikamedu took place in 1940

and since then these excavations are being carried out continuously.

This port town was occupied by the people of Rome, Cholas, and French

serving as a very famous maritime centre from 1st century BC to 2nd century AD.

Apart from being rich in history, this place is great for photography as well.  

Once you visit this place, you will take home both knowledge and memories.

Pondicherry has some of the oldest and the most beautiful churches in the country.

I would highly recommend you to visit these churches,  

they are not only beautiful from the outside, but are spectacular from the inside as well.  

Among all the churches in Pondicherry, Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus,  

Immaculate Conception Cathedral and Church of Our Lady of Angels are the popular ones.

Housing the best French Cafes in India,

Pondicherry is a foodie's paradise

and is a great place for you to try out new cuisines from around the world.

Pondicherry has a lot of funky, trendy and pocket-friendly cafes which are not to be missed.

You can choose to have a coffee at the Le Cafe, have wood-fired pizza at cafe Xtasi or  

chill out at bread and chocolate.

Pondicherry is filled with so many cafes and continues to grow in number with new cafes added every year.

These are just a few of the cafes that I visited.

Feel free to try out a new dish at a new cafe when you visit Pondicherry.

At the heart of the French colony, among all the hustle-bustle of life,

you will find one building to be quiet and peaceful.

It is very hard to go unnoticed about this place.

People would be waiting in a long queue calmly to enter the Aurobindo Ashram.

This Ashram is not a tourist spot,

but it is one of the very important places in Pondicherry

that's why I've included it in this video.

If you are into spirituality and divine peace then you should definitely visit Aurobindo Ashram.  

For those who don't know about Aurobindo, he was a yogi, seer, philosopher and poet,  

who created a philosophy of divine life on earth through spiritual evolution.

This ashram was built in 1926,

and it is home to hundreds of followers of Sri Aurobindo's ideology.

Inside the Ashram clicking photos or videos is strictly prohibited.

That was my list of top 10 places to visit in Pondicherry,

let me know which is your favourite in the comment section below.

Also, let me which place deserves to be on this list which I missed.

If you are looking out for places to visit near Bangalore then do click this video on the left.

I will see you in my next video. Until then keep travelling