Private tour of Madurai city with guide for a cultural immersion

A fascinating and highly rewarding tour with Meenakshi Sundaram, who has lived in Madurai all his life and is even named after the temple! Meenakshi tailored the tour to my interests and used his local knowledge to ensure I saw everything that would be important to me during my stay. This included an unscheduled stop at Arulmigu Subramaniya Swami Temple which backs onto a huge rock, and the neighbouring school where boys learn to become Hindu priests. Both places I was so glad to have opportunity to see. The pace of the tour was perfect, with Meenakshi seeking my feedback regularly to adapt to my needs. A great way to see the very many important sights in Madurai.

Excellent guide with lot of knowledge and very high hospitality skills . He took us to the festival that took place in town

I had a great time with my knowledgeable guide Mr. Meenakshi. He is a very kind person, very custom to all my needs and requests! I visit early may, and I’m super lucky it’s in the middle of Chithirai Festival! It’s a unique experience that I couldn’t not explained in words. The heat, the chaos, the color, the noise, the smell and the emotion, everything is wonderfully overwhelming. Every sense and every perception is experiencing it. This is one of the things people must experience in life and must visit in India. Also this is my first time in south India. Very different from the other parts of the country! Highly recommended!

My husband has long wanted to visit the Meenakshi Amnan temple. It really was superb. We had a full day seeing other sights in Madurai. Including an interesting lunch.

Had a fantastic time on this tour with myself and my parents. Our tour guide, Meenakshi, was not only highly knowledgeable but went above and beyond to help us and keep us comfortable all day when we were struggling in the heat. For example he helped us shopping for a sarong, kept us hydrated with lots of chilled water and could answer all our many questions. He even took pictures of the 3 of us all day so now we have lovely memories all together which is priceless to us. Will encourage friends to visit Madurai on their travels from the UK and recommend Meenakshi and the 5 senses tours.

This visit was part of our third private tour with 5 Senses (first tour, So. India for a month; second No. India for 5.5 weeks; third East and South India, one month). You might have guessed that we are very happy with the company. All three tours were fantastic, this one no exception. This was our second visit to Madurai--we love the Meenakshi temple! The frustration is that no phones or cameras are allowed inside, but at least we have the memories (and images from the web.) The market and street food walks also were fun. The primary strength of 5 Senses is its people. The owner, Mr. Narayanan, is a great travel planning partner (he’ll work with you to craft exactly the trip you want) and he is super-responsive during trips if any problems arise. I am confident that Narayanan will fix it if it needs fixing—he has helped us several times in that way, and he has done it quickly. The state-based “cultural ambassadors” he has recruited (the guides who accompany you for days, across multiple sites) are excellent and soon become friends. For this month-long tour, I’d particularly like to call out Kannan (Tamil Nadu) and Mohan, and Chandra Shekar (Karnataka). If you are touring other parts of the country, we highly recommend Balwinder (Punjab and Rajasthan) and Vivek and Ram Sewak (Varanasi, Khajuraho and environs). It is basically a fool’s errand to try to price shop local tour operators—there are too many variables, including the type of accommodation, the quality of guides and the quality of transport (both of which can’t be assessed ahead of time). That said, over the course of the three tours, we feel that 5 Senses has been very good value for money. And I can say for certain that you would pay three times as much for the same Smithsonian or Nat Geo or other corporate tour, plus you’d be on a bus with many other folks and stuck with the group schedule. With 5 Senses you’re in your own car deciding where and when you want to go, where you want to eat, and when you want to take it easy. My advice to friends looking for a private tour in India is “don’t bother contacting other companies, just talk to 5 Senses. You won’t regret it.”

Spent a weekend in the southern city of Madurai. Much like Miami - there are three types of weather: hot, hotter and hottest however the main reason for my journey was to visit of an incredible Meenakshi temple complex and explore the vibrant Tamil Nadu culture. All of my time spent with my wonderful guide Meenakshi and our driver made this experience unforgettable. We covered absolutely everything what is there to see in one day with detailed explanations and insights into the daily lives Tamil people.

Meenakshi was so knowledgeable that he made my trip a pleasure. He was friendly and helpful. The driver also was first class. Nice clean car and good well mannered driving.

Had an amazing guided tour in Madurai with Muthu. Easygoing, informal, and paced perfectly to suit me. He’s incredibly knowledgeable, great company, and made the whole day enjoyable. This was my first solo trip, after a bit of a struggle in Thanjavur), meeting Muthu was exactly what I needed. Highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Madurai.

Me and my friend had a really good experience with this tour and our guide: the driver came pick us up at the hotel on time, water was available and he was very welcoming and helpful when we asked questions about the city. Our tour guide was extremely prepared and gave us a lot of information both from the mythology and religion and from the historical and anthropological perspective which we really appreciated. He was also available to guide us to gift shopping when we asked. The tour comprised two main temple sights in Madurai, the raja palace and Gandhi museum, but also few quick stops at the fruit and banana market and the terra cotta artigianal shops in the outskirts of the city. Lovely experience!