Things to do in Chennai
I stayed in Chennai for 5 years from 2014 to 2019 and indulged myself in various activities. I am back to Chennai in 2025, so here is a list of things one can do if you are new to Chennai. I am trying to create a list of places and activities where I have been to, have seen or at the least heard of them. This list is to curate things that Chennai offers. If you are looking for the best food spots then this will not be useful for you. This list is more focused on activities, hobbies, sports, etc....
So the list will concentrate on the main part of Chennai, sorry for those who are staying in Chennai ku Miga arugamayil areas.
I would separate things to do in different parts. Like Locations, Communities, Spaces,... etc. Will be updating the links too at the end once I have finished the full post.
Community Spaces:
Spaces are great because if you follow these accounts I think you might get a good number of workshops and events happening in around Chennai. In the brackets, will add main keywords to get an idea on most of the events happening in the space and what you can expect.
- Backyard, Adyar ( Open Mic, Art, Story Telling, Pottery )
- Idam, Kodambakkam ( Art, Theatre, Dance, Pottery )
- Hindustan Store, Royapettah ( Art, Art, Art )
- Fika Inspired, Adyar ( Art, Crochet, Pottery )
- MakersTribe, Perungudi ( Tech, ioT, Freelance, Entrepreneur )
- Odyssey Store, Adyar ( Open Mic, Poems, Books, Story Telling )
- Lalit Kala Academy ( Art, Sculptures, Photographs )
- DakshinaChitra ( Heritage Museum, Arts )
- Kannadi Cupboard ( Art Gallery, Zines )
- Lalit Kala Academy ( Art )
- Madras Music Academy ( Music, Dance )
- Kalakshetra Foundation ( Music, Dance )
Communities:
Now let's talk communities. There are multiple communities for niche interests. I will be listing all the communities I have seen and attended one of the meetups conducted by the communities. Some might be paid some might be free. Hehe.
- UrbanSketchers ( Sketching )
- MakersTribe ( Monthly Freelancer Meetups )
- Chennai Photo Biennale ( Photography, Photo walks )
- Madras Photo Blogs ( Photography, Photo walks )
- Madrasters ( Designers Community, UI/UX, Photo walks )
- Madras Busking ( Typewritten Letters, Flowers, Doodles )
- Creative Mornings ( Art, Creative, Design )
- Madras Watch Club ( Watches )
- Chennai Anime Club ( Anime )
- Bessy Reads ( Reading )
- Madras Yacht club ( Sailing )
- Madras Boat Club ( Boating )
Walks.
There are lots of walks happening in and around Chennai based on a lot of interests. Madras photo blogs conducts a good number of photo blogs. So not going to mention overlapping communities here. Generally it is paid but there are lot of free walks too like from Palluyir Trust.
- Madras Inherited ( History, Architecture, Heritage )
- Palluyir Trust ( Nature, Trees, Seashore, Flowers, Birds )
- SSTCN ( Turtle walks )
Museums.
If you are into science and would like to spend a good day museum is a perfect place to spend your time. I will list museums you can checkout in Chennai.
- Egmore Museum ( Has tons of Departments )
- Tamil Nadu Police Museum ( Police duh! )
- Birla Planetarium ( Science )
- Chennai Rail Museum ( Trains )
- Dakshina Chitra Museum ( Arts )
- India Shell Museum ( Shells )
- Fort St. George Museum ( History )
- High Court Museum ( Law )
- Vivekananda House ( Vivekananda )
- Maritime Museum ( Ships )
- Robert Kennedy's Clock Museum ( Antique )
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