Pondicherry (Puducherry)

Pondicherry's French quarter is about six streets deep, and knowing that in advance saves the disappointment of expecting a French town. What is there is genuinely good: ochre walls, bougainvillea, shuttered colonial houses, and a seafront promenade that closes to traffic in the evening and fills with the whole town walking. The Tamil quarter across the canal is larger, older and rarely visited, and the two architectural traditions meeting along that line is the actual interest of the place. The beach in Pondicherry town is rock, not sand. People arrive expecting to swim and cannot. For sand you go north to Auroville's beaches or south towards Chunnambar. Auroville, twenty minutes out, is a serious experiment in communal living rather than an attraction. Visitors can see the Matrimandir from a viewing point; going inside needs booking days ahead and is not casual. October to March. April and May are hot and humid, and the north-east monsoon in October and November brings real rain.