My Vague Plans For Sri Lanka And South India
 

The short:

I am headed to Sri Lanka and South India in September, 2107, and I request your help with flights for the India portion of the trip.

The long:

My annual solo trip for September, 2017 will be two weeks in Sri Lanka, and one week in South India. I just got my outbound business class award seat on Cathay, and I arrive in Colombo on September 1. The return flights are not yet in the system, but I would like to return home from India on September 24.

For right now, I only have a question about the India portion of my trip. I plan on taking Sri Lanka airlines, tentatively from Colombo to Chennai on September 15 or so, and a week later, departing from India on Cathay to LAX via Hong Kong. I am interested in seeing the temples in the Tamil Nadu region. Eyewitness presents a one week itinerary as follows:

Chennai--Kanchipuram-Mamallapuram-North of Mamallapuram-Puducherry

Does an itinerary like that make sense? If so, would I arrive in India in Chennai, and leave from Chennai as well? (Cathay flies to Hong Kong from Mumbai, Kolkotta, Chennia, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bangalore.) How would I get around--do I need a car and driver the whole time?

Thanks a bunch!

PS - 1: I like culture, history, flora and fauna, but no beaches.

PS -2: I look forward to picking the brains of all the Sri Lanka experts, but not quite yet.

That itinerary does not include the major temples. Click on my name for my South Asia TR. Can you fly into Trivandrum instead?

This itinerary looks absolutely doable but you can add more if you wish

Day-1: Arrive in Chennai/ Visit churches/government buildings.
Day-2 Kanchipuram. if you have all the necessary documents hire a car /guide.
Day-3 Start from Chennai in the morning. again hire a car/guide at-least one day visit is must to explore peacefully.
Day-4 : Go to pondicherry. start in the morning. travel time around 5 hours via ECR. Stay there.
Day 5 : Spend time and return later as per your flight schedule in Chennai or carry on with below suggestions.
Day 6/7: You can cover one of the below:

Brihadeeswarar Temple, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India( Distance from Chennai 300+)
Vellore- Distance from Chennai: 136 kms
Madurai-: Distance from Chennai: 452 kms

What was your question about flight? As you said Cathay pacific flies to HK from Chennai also.

I agree with Thursday. You are missing the best of Tamil Nadu. Head south for the temples. If you click on my name I also wrote a report on southern India. If you fly into Chennai, you can skip it and head right out to more interesting places.

I would head from Chennai to mammalapuram, Pondicherry (not my personal favorite, but a good stopping off point), town of darasuram along the way to thanjavur (tanjori), truchirappalli (trichy) to Madurai. Also visit tirupparankundram, a suburban village near Madurai.

thursdays - Wow, I missed the boat on the itinerary. I have spent the last couple of hours researching, and I found a brief report on temples on May 5, 2011. Is that your most comprehensive post of your itinerary in that area? Anyway, what a great suggest you had to fly into Trivandrum. Sri Lankan Air does indeed have one daily morning direct flight from Colombo to Trivandrum. Ever the pest, I have two more questions for you: 1. I do have more homework on my itinerary, but do you think I should fly into Trivandrum, work my way north, and leave from Chennai? 2. Is a week in that area about right? I don't have to get the Colombo-Trivandrum ticket just yet, but I just want to make sure that this will all fit together. Much thanks.

byheart - Thank you for drawing up an itinerary for me, however I really blew it--that itinerary was not about temples, and that's what I want to see. To answer your questions, I just want to know where I should fly into from Sri Lanka, and where I should leave from for home.

dgunbug - I just pulled up your post from February 14, 2016--is that the trip you wanted me to see? Can you please answer the same two questions I asked thursdays, and also, what didn't you like about Pondicherry? Thank you.

CL - click on my name, click on "see more TRs", click on the South Asia one. Or start here:

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...omment-7055547

1. That's basically what I did. Well, I didn't fly in, but that leg started there.

2. You can maybe hit the high points in a week, I certainly took longer, but I didn't just do temples. You need to decide what you want to see, then time it.

As others said, the TN itin first cited misses significant areas like Madurai, Tanjore , Karaikudi/Chettinad.(I'm currently researching those too fir this winter.) Please also check RJE's great TR on these areas.
Note: you can fly out from southern Tamil Nadu on direct nonstop quick flights to Chennai, from Trichy or Madurai. I think you have one-world members' miles. If so, I'm pretty sure you would not use any additional ff miles should you use Jet Airways for your connecting flight to Chennai if you depart from there.
Is there any way you could get another couple days for the TN portion of the trip?

You can also fly nonstop from Colombo to either Madurai or Trichy, which would put you directly into southern TN , instead of adding an additional schlep from Trivandrum. Then you could just head north through TN, finishing up with your departure from Chennai.
Good luck from another California lady!

Californialady - yes ...my southern India report was written in February from the road. If you can fly from Sri Lanka to Madurai, I would begin there and head north, departing from Chennai. As for Pondicherry, we thought it was fine for a night to break up the trip, but found it far less exciting than other towns in Tamil Nadu. We were actually a bit disappointed by Pondicherry and didn't find it as charming as some do.

thursdays - Yes, I do indeed see your itinerary. My trips tend to be much shorter than yours, so I'll have to work out the details. What a great idea to fly directly into the southern area, and head one way north. Thanks.

CaliNurse - I realized that I confused you. My award tickets are only for the long legs--LAX to Colombo (via Hong Kong), and the return home, probably from Chennai. American Airlines no longer allows stopovers more than 24 hours, so I will buy the ticket from Colombo into India, but I can do that a little later--I just want to make sure that this is all feasible. Anyway, it looks like Sri Lankan Airlines and SpiceJet fly directly from Colombo to Madurai, so that should work, or I can fly into Trivandrum from Colombo as well. I am going to get the ticket home next week, and then I'll start working on the micro planning. Three and a half weeks out at a time is my maximum, so I could probably take a couple of days from Sri Lanka--we'll see. It may seem a weird way to plan, but I always get my flights from home and back first, and then I fit in the itinerary--it always works for me. Thanks a bunch.

dgunbug - Thanks again--it looks like you concur with the south to north strategy here. I now feel confident that I can leave from Chennai for home. However there are not very many daily flights from Colombo to Madurai or Trivandrum, so I better get the planning details down soon, before a tour group fills up the planes.

California Lady, thanks for explaining. I get i t--in the same situation myself. Whitsuntide time, and using FF miles, i book the USA to wherever flights first and fill in the dots later.
In addition to nonstop flights from Colombo to Madurai or Trivandrum, there are also nonstop flights from Colombo into Trichy (Tiruchirapalli) which would give you additional alternatives (two nonstop flights/day on Sri Lankano n that route). Trichy or Madurai would be the best places for starting the India portion in Southern Tamil Nadu, right in the midst of where you want to be, whereas traveling from Trivandrum --assuming it would be by car hire--would likely add at least t 6 hours more travel time than if you landed right IN Tamil Nadu. The places you'd want to see , time allowing, in that itiinerary would be Madurai, Chettinad/Karaikudi, maybe Trichy, then up to Tanjore, and onward, as you'll read in the above noted ad other TRs.
IF you decided to land Trivandrum, there are places to stop on the way as you circle round the coast from Keralal(e.g. kanyakumari) but it would add time/day (s) to your trip.

Whitsuntide? lol typos. I meant, "With limited time." My current limit,due to family obligations, is two weeks --and that's pushing it! So enjoy your three plus weeks!! (-:

I only suggested Trivandrum because it hadn't occurred to me that there would be flights into Madurai. Madurai would obviously be a better starting point. BTW, I took the train from Trivandrum to Madurai, no need for a car and driver.

Hi California Lady,

Would like to explain my idea here, as I am living in Sri Lanka and having a wide knowledge about inbound and outbound flights. There is one direct flight coming from Hong Kong by Cathay Pacific. It arrives in mid night and departs 0030 hrs everyday. There are several direct flight a day from Sri Lanka to India as follows.

1. CMB - Chennai (4 flights a day on SriLankan Airlines / 1 by Air India)
2. CMB - Mumbai (1 flight by SriLankan / 2 flights by Jet Airways)
3. CMB - Trichy (2 flights a day by SriLankan)
4. CMB - Trivandrum (2 flights a day by SriLankan)
5. CMB - Kochi (2 flights a day by SriLankan)
6. CMB - New Delhi (1 flight by SriLankan / 1 flight by Air India)
7. CMB - Bangalore (2 flights a day by SriLankan)

So as per your wish you can select your connecting flight from Colombo. There is one flight from Colombo to Chennai, after Cathay Pacific lands in Colombo, which will be around 0055 hrs. And to Bangalore at 2350hrs. Cathay lands here normally around 2320 hrs. But I must tell you that if you are taking flights to Trichy or Trivandrum from Colombo, both flight are departing around 0720hrs and the second flight around 1400hrs.

CaliNurse - Thank you again for your always good ideas. I always enjoy your posts--you are such an optimist. Yes, it's difficult to set a firm itinerary a year in advance, so that's why I work on it little by little. Madurai sounds like a good starting point, since I only have a week to ten days. I'll be back with a tentative itinerary in awhile, and look forward to your help.

thursdays - Thank you for the idea of doing a one way trip, rather than a circle. You were the one who got the ball in motion here, and you are right, since it's a short trip, it's probably good to start in Marudai. The only problem is that both flights, Sri Lanka Air and Spice Jet both are one hour flights leaving Colombo at 2 PM, which ruins the day. I'll have to place myself somewhere strategic that last night in Sri Lanka where I can do a brisk walk in the morning.

LankaTourPlans - Thank you for the flight information. I usually start with the website Kayak to give me an idea who flies where.