A Complete Guide to Pondicherry

Hi, I’m Daniel and I have been to Pondicherry a few times. I feel like I know the place well enough that I can help others. In this blog I mention all my favorite places and things to do in Pondicherry, so if you are planning a Pondy trip, have a look through this to know what to expect.

If there are any issues or any updates, you can write to me. (danielalapat@gmail.com) Disclaimer, these are my opinions and experiences and your experience may vary.

CONTENTS

ABOUT PONDICHERRY

1) Travel

2) Traffic

3) Geography

TRIP ADVISOR

1) Sample plan

2) Important numbers

3) Beaches

4) Things to do

5) Street markets

6) Auroville

DINNING

1) Pubs / clubs

2) Restaurants and cafés

SECTION 1: ABOUT PONDICHERRY

Reaching Pondicherry:

Pondicherry doesn’t have the best train service so it is not the best idea to take a train here. There are only two trains a week from Kerala as well as a few from Chennai. I think Google might suggest taking a train to nearby villages Tindivanam or Viluppuram and then taking a bus from there. It’s an option if you know what you are signing up for. Pondicherry also recently opened a new airport. Again, it’s not the most developed with only 2 flights a day, one to Bangalore and one to Hyderabad. The best way to get here is by bus.

I wouldn’t suggest driving down. As Pondicherry isn’t the best place to have a car. It’s a nice drive to Pondicherry through the ECR but once you get here you will regret having a car. You will end parking the car at the hotel and walking everywhere. It’s a pain finding parking, none of the cafes or pubs have car parking and the roads are too narrow for cars. So, I suggest coming by bus and then renting scooters here.

If you are traveling from Bangalore, I would suggest KSRTC as they are cheap and convenient. There are AC sleeper and seater buses for around Rs. 500 while Balaji travels on red bus will cost around 2k.

If you are coming from Vellore there are one-stop buses which take about 4 hours from old bus stand which will cost you about Rs. 150. I actually have a better option, it’s a travel called kasseri travel. They go from Hyderabad to Pondicherry through Vellore. Since they aren’t very popular, they often have many seats vacant. You can call this number {9442669865} and ask the guy for a seat. He will give you a ticket for Rs. 400 for an ac sleeper bus. The only problem with this is that the bus from Vellore to Pondicherry leave at 5am and the return bus from Pondicherry to Vellore leaves at 5pm.

Traffic:

Like anywhere in Tamil Nadu, road discipline here is one of the worst in India. The traffic is mostly two wheelers and buses. Another thing you might notice is that no one wears a helmet, it’s like it is not a rule here. Don’t get me wrong, it’s illegal to drive without a helmet, but no one in the whole city wears one. Wear a helmet for your own safety. The traffic is very chaotic and there is no sense of road discipline. Expect drunk driving, under age kids on scoters and three people on scooters.

The cops here are also not the best. What I have heard is that they only stop people who they think they can get money out of. It is quite corrupt, I mean no one wears a helmet and no cop will stop them. The cops might stop you if they think you are not from Pondicherry or if you are gullible. The following is an opinion of someone I know and not legal advice, “They might say something, maybe license or maybe helmet and might ask you for a sum, varying from Rs. 1000 to Rs. 100. If you are in such a position tell them you don’t have so much cash and just give Rs. 100 and leave.”

Geography:

If you look at the map and borders you will see that Pondicherry is not a single land mass but many pockets of inside Tamil Nadu.

The main Pondicherry, or what people associate is white town, this is rectangular piece of land containing white town.

About 85% of what is there to see in Pondicherry is in this 1Km square land. All the pretty café, shops, colorful walls and streets are here. You can mostly walk anywhere here if you want to.

The center for everything is the promenade, the boulevard. This is the most popular place in Pondicherry and is where everyone will be. There’s nothing here really, just a sub average beach and nice roads to walk on. But for some reason everyone, including me loves to spend time here.

There is the canal road going through the length of the city. This road divides the city, one side of the canal is the old French city, where all the building are pretty and wealthy. The other side is the Indian city where its less pretty and poorer. Now there isn’t such a big difference but it is still quite evident.

In the North south direction: One end of the city is the Ajanta traffic signal which leads to the ECR. The other end of the city is the railway station. In the East-west direction: One end of the city is the rock beach and other end is the bus stand and Mall.

The other 25% if what is not there in this area are:

1) Paradise beach: south (towards Cuddalore)

2) ECR beaches (Serenity, Aruo, Auroville beach)

3) Auroville and its surroundings

SECTION 2: TRIP ADVISOR

Sample Plan:

If I were to go to Pondicherry for the first time this is what my weekend would look like:

Reach early morning on a Saturday, maybe around 5AM. Sort my scooters before coming by calling in advance and arranging it. Check in to the place I am staying and leave my luggage there, then get to serenity beach before 7 AM. After it gets too hot, head to Auroville bakery and get a good breakfast. Then I would to go to the visitors center in auroville since it’s too hot to do anything else. After that ill have lunch at one of the places in Kuilapalayam and then head back to Pondicherry. I’ll go to Richey rich and then to rock beach. Then as it starts to get dark ill head to the room to change and buy a few bottles and keep it in the room for when a I get back. Then go to Mel whisks or some pub.

The next day I’ll get up late and head to Indian koffe express for brunch. Then I’ll do a little shopping and take a lot of pictures in the colorful walls of white town (don’t forget sunscreen, it’s going to be hot, hot, hot). Then I’ll get ready to go to the beach and ill reach the beach by 5PM and stay in the beach till dark. Then I would go change and head to pasta Vento bar for dinner and leave Pondicherry at around 10 pm to reach work Monday morning.

Important numbers:

Scooter rent:

1) 9750307969- Ranjit

2) 7868090807 – Mohan Kumar

Normal charge is around 350 per day for a scooter for two days. Add another 500 for petrol. There are a lot more places to rent from, I only know about these two. You might be able to get them to bring the scooter to you if you pay a little extra.

Bike Mechanics:

1) 9786277966 - Nagaraj

2) 9842383953 – Manikandan Kumar

For some reason if you need any bike mechanics to fix something these are two numbers I used.

Stay:

1) 7014111768 – Wood packers

Wood packers are a backpacker’s hostel which have cottages and dorms. It is quite cheap and you will only find youth. Not a family place. The place isn’t very well run, but if you are looking for a cheap place to stay their dorms are about Rs 500 a night. The crowd is not good there normally.

I don’t have any other places or suggestion for places to stay, check out OYO and Booking.com for places. Make sure to check out the OYO properly and make sure it’s not fake. I have heard to an instance where my friends booked an OYO in Pondicherry to only to reach and find out that such a place does not even exists.

Beaches:

Okay so best part of Pondicherry is that it is along the east coast so there are a million beaches.

The first is rock beach, it really isn’t a beach, it’s more of a promenade. In 2019 there wasn’t even sand here, just rocks which the waves hit against. Now, they have reclaimed land and made it into a proper beach with sand and waves.

If you go south of Pondicherry there is paradise beach. If you ask google maps or an auto driver, they will actually take you Eden beach where you can get a Rs 100 boat ride to paradise beach. If you want to take the boat ride then go ahead, personally I found it quite boring and just took a bus to the other side which was the real paradise beach. This beach has probably the best waves and maybe the best to get into the water, but it is quite far from the city.

Finally, we have the ECR beaches. So, this starts with serenity beach. Which is like the most popular tourist beach, here you will see mostly only tourists and the beach is quite developed and alive. There are many fishing boats as well as rock piers where you can sit. There are surfing lessons which happened here as well.

If you go further down the ECR you reach Kuilapalayam beach Next comes Auroville beach After this comes Auro beach

One thing to note is as you go alone the ECR away from Pondicherry the beaches get less crowded and shadier so you need to find a midpoint where you feel most comfortable.

There is one thing which I will provide which is the location of a public tap. This is a tap on the side of the road which you can use to wash your feet after the beach if you only got your feet wet. It is in front of a house and opposite Manoj saloon.

Things to do:

So, most of everything to do in Pondicherry involves a café or a restaurant/pub. There are a few other things you can do while you are there. There is this temple near the A2B in white town this is known for its elephant blessings. You can learn scuba diving or surfing while you are there, it does require a bit of commitment, because it’s not that easy. There are also the beaches. There is also a Mall with a bowling alley and a PVR if you are interested in that. Then there is auroville and its surrounds areas as well. I also wrote a small section on shopping. There is also Kalarigram which is a school for Kalari which is a form of self-defense from Kerala. You can go there and watch them train and maybe also train with them. Check out their website or call them to know more.

There are a few roads which are quite nice to drive on the scooter (not in a car)

1) This road from Pondicherry to Auroville, it is empty on both side with just trees and no street lights. If you feel like you want to some adrenaline, go on this road alone in the night, you will get the feeling that someone is following you, since its empty and you are all alone.

2) This road is become quite popular now but was once quite empty, referred to as coconut road, since it goes along coconut plantations. Quite similar to the previous one.

Street markets:

If you are in Pondicherry and want to do some shopping there are quite a few places to get them for cheap. There are many street vendors and a Sunday market if you are looking for that cute floral shirt to wear. There is a permeant shop right opposite A2B which has only cloths for women. This are mostly factory rejects or knock off. So, you can get everything for prices around 500. And even cheaper if you can drive a good bargain and speak in Tamil.

There are a few more on mission street near Café Xtasi. For men, you can get good printed shirts from Fabindia and other well-known companies as factory rejects for 500 Rs. Link1 Link2

All the shops are mostly located on Jawaharlal Nehru Street If you are near Auroville and are looking for a little more “hippy” clothing I would really suggest Mother Art Gallery The sales man is really nice and will give you space and time to choose what you want, without forcing you to buy anything. You get good harem pants and kurtas. It is also a good place if you need to buy a gift.

Auroville:

This is probably the hardest section to explain. Auroville is a community which is can seem very different from normal communities. You might have heard some controversial things about the place. I have stayed inside Auroville for a while and volunteered there so I feel like I know it well. For the same reason I know that I can’t explain what it is. Auroville is not really open to the public, so anyone can not just go inside, just like that.

What a tourist can do is go to the visitor’s center. There you can learn more about the place and its history. Do read what is written in the visitor’s center info building, especially the two white walls on the opposite side of entrance (what is auroville, what it means to be auroville)

There is also a 30-minute walk to the Matrimandir which is like the golden ashram in the center of Auroville. The walk is fine and if you like nature you can see some really interesting trees. There are also a few shops in the visitor’s center, you can get some amazing auroville ice cream for Rs. 70.

There is not much else that a visitor can do, if you do want to know more about auroville then I suggest checking out @ahilyeah on Instagram. If you want to see what the inside of auroville looks like go here There is nothing here but this is what most of auroville looks like, the road, the houses, the silence and the nature.

SECTION 3: DINNING

Pubs/Clubs:

Since Pondicherry is a weekend/tourist city there isn’t really a night life scene here. There might be something on the weekends but nothing too great, so don’t expect much. You can also check out @nightlifepondy on Instagram to see if there is anything interesting happening.

1) Mel Whisks:

Keywords: Rooftop, small, cheep.

It is a rooftop bar. The place is quite small, with less than 10 tables and it’s on the 5th floor. The entrance is a hotel which might seem quite shady but don’t worry the 5th floor isn’t like the entrance.

There are some events live music, game night, karaoke here. You check out their Instagram before going. (https://www.instagram.com/mel_whisks/ ) The place is cheap but the crowd is quite decent, probably the best you can find in Pondicherry. You can get a 12-year Glenfiddich for Rs. 450 and 30ml of absolute for Rs. 250. They provide a bowl of tapioca chips complimentary to everyone. They have some original food items to try as well. If it is raining then this isn’t the best place to go.

2) Catamaran:

Keywords: Big, comfortable, brewery.

This is a brewery with some very interesting beers, I’d recommend the banana and mango beers. The place is quite large and the crowd can depend from day to day. The Ambience is quite nice, they have some well-designed posters and their seating is quite private. The pub is on the 3rd floor and the food is also quite good. I recommend the orange gobi Manchurian. Also, the smoking room is quite a nice room, even if you don’t smoke be sure to check out the room as it has a small fishing boat as a table and a window which you can look out and get a good view of mission street.

3) Greasy tin

Keywords: Metal pub, hard rock café, bikers club.

This is a small pub with a lot of memorabilia. It is the best place for biker or hard metal fans. There are only 5 tables, but there is so much going on. Every corner you look you will see something cool. There are 5 bikes inside the pub and a million other different things, like antique audio systems, motherboards, exhaust systems, etc. The tissue holder is made up of solid metal gears from some old machine.

The place has some good steaks and burgers, but it is very expensive. The place is also almost always empty. There is never a crowd, probably because of how expensive it is. Their cans of bear cost Rs. 300+ and everything to eat is Rs. 500+.

4) Others

Ajanta by the sea They have a nice rooftop pub which is by the beach so you can hear the sound of the waves. It is a little loud and small. The place is a bit fancy and quite expensive.

Flaming Dragons lounge and nightlife I haven’t been here but it looks interesting.

Hot and Cold bar and restaurant This is a local shady rooftop bar which is great for tandoori chicken a beer

Cosy Resto pub This is a rooftop pub which plays Bollywood music and sometime is quite happening.

Restaurants and cafés

I am going to divided all the eating place in this blog into 2, the ones in white town and the ones not in white town.

a) White town:

1) Richey rich:

Keywords: Cheep, local, desert, crowded, milkshake, hidden gem.

Pricing: Rs 100/per person

Richey rich is a Pondicherry thing. There are probably 4 or 5 outlets in the city. However, it doesn’t matter because you should go only to the original one, the one which is super hard to find. The place has a small board and is quite hidden but it is almost always crowded and only filled with locals, you will never find a tourist over there, that how you know the place is really good.

The dessert menu is huge and the prices is very reasonable. But I would suggest getting a chocolate milkshake for Rs. 80 or add ice cream for Rs. 120. You can parcel the milkshake free of cost and take it to the beach and have it there. The place uses a machine so the milk shake is always consistent. It’s what you would expect from a thick chocolate milkshake. I actually haven’t tried anything else over there cause the milkshake is so good.

This is a must not miss. Its right next to a Biba and a croc, it’s on the ground floor, walk past the stairs and it’s a door on the right.

2) Pasta Vento Bar

Keywords: Resto pub, cozy, expensive, music

Pricing: Rs 500/per person

It is my favorite place to get a fancy meal in Pondicherry. The place has two floors, the ground floor is cozy and cool with red oxide and wood. The walls are white with rough texture. The top floor has a nice view and is great at night, but can be quite hot.

The pizzas and alcohol are not very expensive but their starers and cocktails are as expensive as main course, so I would suggest to skip the starters or sides and get the main course straight. Even the milk shakes and drinks are a little more expensive than normal.

The best thing about this place is the music. According to the owner there are only 3 things he cares about: good music, hygiene and quality of ingredients. This is quite true; the restrooms are quite clean and overall, the place is well kept. The reason I keep going there is the music. You will never hear techno or some generic Hindi song instead you will hear CCR, queen with the occasional Italian or Spanish songs.

3) Py café

Keywords: Work café, cute, pretty, Instagram café.

Pricing: Rs 600/ per person

It’s a very cute café, with baby pink and white deco. The day I went the music was very good, with CCR and ABBA. They have deserts and very good fish and chips. You can go and work there as well, they have free fast WIFI. They also have cards and other games if you want to play as a group. It is a nice place to hang out. It is quite popular for the number plates on the stairs.

4) The Indian Kaffe Express

Keywords: Late Breakfast/brunch, European breakfast, English.

Pricing: Rs 300/per person

The best place to go for a brunch/late breakfast after a hangover. Their servings are big and it feels quite nourishing. A great way to start your day of site seeing. The café is quite small so you may not get a seat. The cold coffee here is one of the best I have ever had. The place has this weird thing where they season everything with pepper instead of salt. In my English breakfast, I got pepper on my sausages, eggs and French fries. I don’t know if they ran out of salt, but if you do not enjoy pepper, please do let them know. The music was quite nice, they played Nora jones the day I went.

5) Coromandel café

Category: All day café

Pricing: Rs 600/per person

This is probably the most famous place in Pondicherry, it is so popular that there is almost always a wait. The place is very fancy and expensive but it is quite an experience. The interior is very comfy and cozy. You can get banana bread and some really good cheese cake. The food does like 20 minutes to prepare and service is horrible. A friend said that the cold coffee there is to die for.

6) Others

There are a million places to eat other than this so I thought I would make a section where I would just quickly mention them

New Banana Café I have heard a lot about this place but never actually been here.

Kuurtosshhh they are a Hungarian street food join, they have bread roll which is quite interesting, something unique.

Hope café quite a popular café with a branch on the Auroville main road as well.

Café des arts its similar to coromandel café, everything mentioned there applies here, except maybe not as fancy.

Suruguru it’s the best place for south Indian dossa.

Café Xtasi It’s one of the most popular pizza places in Pondicherry, there is a long wait to get a table here. If you ask me, I would skip this and get firewood pizza from Auroville main road (brothers/red chilly)

KBS Kofi bar This is a coffee shop near rock beach, its where all the locals go, so that is how you know it is one of the best, they serve coffee in ceramic cups, which is very weird since it is a roadside shop.

Sicilys I have heard a lot about this place, I think seafood is supposed to be good here, haven’t tried it.

GMT Many people love GMT ice cream, they say it’s the best thing ever, I personally do not enjoy it at all.

Subway This is right opposite Pasta Vento Bar. The reason I’m mentioning it here is because it is often that you might not find a place a eat. Especially if you are here in the peek tourist season. The one place you will get a place to sit at all times is subway. This might be the biggest subway I have seen in my life with so many seats. Net might not work inside though, so you can’t really use your phone inside, so try to sit near the door.

b) Others

1) Auroville bakery

Category: Bakery, European, South Indian, fresh baked croissant.

Pricing: Rs. 150/ per person

This is the best place to go in the morning. The bakery is only open Monday to Saturday from 8am to 5 pm. One of the most popular places around auroville. You get good idly and south Indian breakfast till 10 am for like Rs. 40. The highlight of the place is the fresh baked bakery items, Like the Rs. 65 Chocolate croissant. They also have nice burgers and sandwiches if you are coming for lunch, but I would suggest this place for the breakfast. Free WIFI available here as well if you need to work, however it is quite slow.

My suggestion is to get the baked items from a small room in the front and take it to the setting area in the back where you can get a lassi or hibiscus soda. A few baked items are available in the back but they don’t taste as fresh and there are fewer options. The chocolate croissant is something which you can’t go wrong with, as well as the apple croissant and mushroom tart.

2) Banana leaf

Category: dinner + desert

Keywords: Dinner, Non-veg, Kerala.

Pricing: Rs 130/per person

This is quite far away from the city, close to Pondicherry university. The crowd here is very different from what you will see in Pondicherry. It’s the Pondicherry university crowd. It’s a Malayalee run restaurant where almost everyone seems to speak Malayalam. The rates are very reasonable and quite cheap.

You get nice Kerala parotta, chicken, al-faham and shawarma here. This place also has more than 200 dessert items on their menu. My suggestion is to get a faluda from here and have it there while getting a shawarma parcel at night. You can then go to the beach and have the shawarma there listening to the waves and sitting in the sand. Please do not litter in the beach. They also have opened a branch in the city which I haven’t been to.

3) Auro jars

Category: Homely café, South Indian, European, Bakery

Pricing: Rs. 100/ per person

This is actually my favorite place to eat, it is a very small place, run by a single family. The mother made all the recipes and cooks all the food. The son waits tables and takes order along with the father. They have freshly baked cakes and tarts. I get the apple cinnamon tart every time I go. They also have some great fresh juices and lassi. You can also get great pasta for Rs. 200. The dossa here is also quite good. My favorite however is the granola bowl which has yogurt, granola, pomegranate, seeds and apple slices. The place has A.C and free fast WIFI. All the meals are cooked with love and they make sure that you feel comfortable.

4) Others

WAWA is great for momos, they also have some great meat plates in the starters. Wings here is also quite tasty. It is also very reasonably priced.

Nowana is the place to go for authentic Korean food. The place is a quite pricey but everyone I know has suggested this place. I personally don’t like Korean food.

Brothers’ Pizzeria this is supposed to be the best place to have proper firewood pizza, to me all the pizzerias are the same. I personally liked Red Chilly pizzas the best.

Tanto Pizzeria is probably the most popular eatery on the whole road, you get pizzas, sandwiches, pasta and a lot more. It might be too crowded in the afternoon.

Yashi’s Restaurant and caféthis is a great place if you need to work or have a meeting, they have fast WIFI

Café 73 is another great place to work as well. You get some heavy burgers which are impossible to eat, but delicious.