India & Sri Lanka itinerary — March 2027
For the India & Sri Lanka trip (Chennai & Colombo), March 2027 is a comfortable month by weather. Across Chennai and Colombo, daytime highs run from about 33°C / 91°F to 34°C / 93°F. Plan around 5–7 days for the full Chennai & Colombo loop.
In this order — about 5–7 days:
- Chennai2 nightsIndia
- Colombo3 nightsSri Lanka
- Route noteReserve the longest intercity leg first and keep transfer days free of timed sights.
By TripSapien · Updated November 1, 2026
Chennai
Chennai in March
TempTemperature
94°F / 74°F
34.2°C / 23.6°C
RainPrecipitation
1d
0.6in · 15mm
LightDaylight
11.9h
Sea
85.8°F
29.9°C
March turns hot, so put Government Museum or Kalakshetra in the afternoon.
City overview
Chennai is the Bay of Bengal capital where colonial Fort St George, Mylapore temple streets, Carnatic music halls, and IT corridors stretch along a hot, humid coast. The visitor map centers on George Town, Mylapore, Egmore, T Nagar, Besant Nagar, and the ECR/OMR edge south of the Adyar River.
Food & drink
Chennai food is built on idli, dosa, sambar, pongal, vada, filter coffee, Chettinad chicken, biryani, sundal, and seafood from the coast. Mylapore, T Nagar, Sowcarpet, Marina Beach stalls, and Buhari-style biryani houses are practical food anchors. Prices stay moderate outside luxury hotels, and December music-season canteen meals are a real cultural draw.
Holidays & observances
- Mar 10Eid-ul-FitrPublic holiday
- Mar 23HoliPublic holiday
- Mar 26Good FridayPublic holiday
Top sights
Ranked for March suitability using weather, setting, ratings, and review volume.
- 1Marina Beach
- 2Guindy National Park
- 3Kapaleeshwarar Temple
- 4San Thome Basilica
- 5Parthasarathy Temple
- 6Kalakshetra Foundation
- 7DakshinaChitra
- 8Government Museum, Egmore
- 9T Nagar shopping district
- 10Fort St George
1Marina Beach
4.3★ · 66,989outdoorLong urban beach running along the Bay of Bengal from Fort St George toward Mylapore. It is for walking, snacks, and people-watching rather than safe swimming.
Wikipedia
2Guindy National Park
4.1★ · 28,446outdoorClosed TueSmall protected forest inside the city, with blackbuck, deer, and the adjacent Children's Park and snake park. It is close to IIT Madras and Raj Bhavan.
Wikipedia
3Kapaleeshwarar Temple
4.8★ · 13,133indoorOpen dailyMylapore Shiva temple with a tall gopuram, tank, flower stalls, and festival streets. The present structure is usually dated to the 16th century after earlier coastal temples were lost.
Wikipedia
Show 7 more sights
4San Thome Basilica
White neo-Gothic basilica over the traditional tomb of St Thomas the Apostle, rebuilt by the Portuguese and later by the British. It sits near the southern end of Marina Beach.
Wikipedia5Parthasarathy Temple
Triplicane Vishnu temple with Pallava origins, gopurams, and busy streets between Marina Beach and Chepauk. Visit outside peak midday heat.
Wikipedia6Kalakshetra Foundation
Arts campus in Thiruvanmiyur founded by Rukmini Devi Arundale in 1936, tied to Bharatanatyam, Carnatic music, and textile crafts. Performance calendars matter more than casual walk-ins.
Wikipedia7DakshinaChitra
Living museum on the East Coast Road with reconstructed houses and crafts from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. It is south of the city near Muttukadu.
Wikipedia8Government Museum, Egmore
Museum complex founded in 1851, with Chola bronzes, archaeology, natural history, and the National Art Gallery campus. It is one of India's oldest museums.
9T Nagar shopping district
Dense retail district around Pondy Bazaar and Ranganathan Street, known for silk saris, gold jewelry, and festival shopping crowds. Go by metro or taxi rather than driving.
10Fort St George
English East India Company fort founded in 1644, now holding Tamil Nadu government buildings, St Mary's Church, and a fort museum. It explains the city's colonial start as Madras.
Wikipedia
Neighborhoods
1Mylapore
Temple-and-culture district with Kapaleeshwarar Temple, Luz, San Thome, music sabhas, and old vegetarian restaurants. December music season makes it especially busy.
2George Town and Parry's Corner
Old trading district north of Fort St George, with wholesale lanes, Armenian Church, High Court buildings, and dense market traffic.
3Egmore and Nungambakkam
Museum, rail, college, restaurant, and hotel belt with Government Museum, consulates, cafes, and central access.
4T Nagar
Shopping district of sari stores, jewelry houses, Pondy Bazaar, and Ranganathan Street crowds. It is practical but intense before festivals.
5Adyar, Besant Nagar, and Thiruvanmiyur
South Chennai coast with Elliot's Beach, Theosophical Society, Kalakshetra, cafes, and quieter residential lanes.
6OMR and ECR
Southern technology and beach-road corridor, with IT parks on Old Mahabalipuram Road and day-trip resorts along East Coast Road.
Getting around
Chennai Metro Blue and Green lines connect airport, Central, Egmore, T Nagar approaches, and parts of the south, while suburban rail is useful for beach and outer-corridor trips. Use a CMRL travel card or QR ticket, then rely on autos, taxis, and MTC buses for temple-neighborhood last miles.
Colombo
Colombo in March
TempTemperature
91°F / 76°F
32.8°C / 24.5°C
RainPrecipitation
7d
4in · 101mm
LightDaylight
12h
Sea
85.6°F
29.8°C
March is very hot and increasingly humid, so use museums and shaded temple stops midday.
City overview
Colombo is Sri Lanka main city, where Fort offices, Pettah markets, Galle Face, Cinnamon Gardens, Buddhist temples, colonial buildings, and seafront hotels sit between airport and island rail routes. Treat it as Fort and Pettah for commerce, Galle Face and Kollupitiya for the coast, and Cinnamon Gardens or Borella for museums and parks.
Food & drink
Colombo food is hands-on and rice-based: hoppers are bowl-shaped fermented-rice pancakes, string hoppers are pressed rice-noodle nests, and kottu roti is chopped flatbread stir-fried with egg, vegetables, and meat. Pettah snacks, Galle Face carts, Kollupitiya restaurants, Dutch Hospital dining, and Mount Lavinia seafood add lamprais baked in a banana leaf, crab curry, isso vadai, short eats, and Ceylon tea.
Holidays & observances
- Mar 2Madin Full Moon Poya DayPublic holiday
- Mar 21Id-Ul-Fitr (Ramazan Festival Day)Public holiday
- Mar 26Good FridayPublic holiday
Top sights
Ranked for March suitability using weather, setting, ratings, and review volume.
- 1Gangaramaya Temple
- 2Colombo National Museum
- 3Dutch Period Museum
- 4Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque
- 5Independence Memorial Hall
- 6Galle Face Green
- 7Lotus Tower
- 8Mount Lavinia Beach
- 9Viharamahadevi Park
- 10Pettah Market
1Gangaramaya Temple
4.6★ · 14,017indoorOpen dailyThe Buddhist temple near Beira Lake mixes shrine rooms, museum cases, statues, and processional material. It is one of central Colombo most visited religious sites.
Wikipedia
2Colombo National Museum
4.4★ · 6,798indoorClosed MonThe 19th-century museum building in Cinnamon Gardens holds royal regalia, sculpture, manuscripts, masks, weapons, and natural-history material nearby.
Wikipedia
3Dutch Period Museum
4.1★ · 522indoorClosed MonThe Pettah museum occupies an old Dutch governor residence and explains colonial trade, furniture, coins, and city history.
Show 7 more sights
4Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque
The red-and-white mosque in Pettah opened in 1909 and is one of Colombo most recognizable landmarks. Visit rules should be checked before entering.
Wikipedia5Independence Memorial Hall
The monument in Cinnamon Gardens marks Sri Lanka independence and sits in a large public square near parks and museums.
Wikipedia6Galle Face Green
The seafront promenade is the city evening gathering place, with kite flyers, snack carts, ocean wind, and hotel facades along the green.
Wikipedia7Lotus Tower
The tall tower on Beira Lake gives observation-deck views over the port, city, sea, and rail lines. It is most useful near sunset.
Wikipedia8Mount Lavinia Beach
The beach south of the center is tied to the old colonial hotel and suburban coastal dining. Sea conditions and traffic affect the trip.
9Viharamahadevi Park
The central park has lawns, trees, paths, playgrounds, and civic buildings near the museum and Town Hall.
Wikipedia10Pettah Market
Pettah is a dense commercial district of wholesale streets, fruit, electronics, textiles, mosques, kovils, and bus movement east of Fort.
Wikipedia
Neighborhoods
1Fort
Fort is the old colonial and business core, with offices, hotels, port edges, rail station, restored buildings, and security-sensitive streets.
2Pettah
Pettah is crowded and commercial, with markets, mosques, kovils, bus stands, wholesale lanes, and constant street movement.
3Galle Face and Kollupitiya
The coast-facing belt has hotels, malls, embassies, the promenade, ocean views, and easier evening walks.
4Cinnamon Gardens
Cinnamon Gardens is leafy and institutional, with the National Museum, Independence Square, parks, embassies, and older villas.
5Slave Island and Beira Lake
This central zone mixes rail lines, temples, offices, hotels, apartment towers, and lake views around Gangaramaya.
6Mount Lavinia and Dehiwala
The southern suburbs add beaches, seafood restaurants, zoo access, guesthouses, and rail links down the coast.
Getting around
PickMe, Uber, tuk-tuks, buses, and suburban rail handle most movement; Fort station and the Pettah bus stands are the practical transport anchors. Traffic is slow, so group Fort-Pettah, Cinnamon Gardens, and Mount Lavinia as separate clusters.
Planning the India & Sri Lanka route?
Add your dates and we'll pace all 2 cities — every place checked for closures, limited hours, and booking needs in March.
Weather by month for the India & Sri Lanka trip
In March, climate averages for Chennai and Colombo show daytime highs from 33°C / 91°F to 34°C / 93°F, with nights down to about 24°C / 75°F in the coolest of those cities. The rainiest of those cities averages about 7 rainy days. Based on climate averages for Chennai and Colombo, March is a comfortable month by weather.
The most comfortable months for this route are January, February and December, based on average daytime temperatures and rainfall in Chennai and Colombo. March 2027 is a comfortable month.
Common questions about the India & Sri Lanka trip
- When is the best time to do the India & Sri Lanka trip?
- The most comfortable months across Chennai and Colombo are January, February and December, based on average daytime temperatures and rainfall for those cities. March is a comfortable month by weather — see the city climate sections below for the averages in March 2027.
- How many days do you need for the India & Sri Lanka trip?
- A comfortable India & Sri Lanka trip runs about 5–7 days, allowing roughly Chennai 2, Colombo 3 nights plus travel between stops. Add a day if you want a slower pace or extra day trips.
- What's the route for the India & Sri Lanka trip?
- The classic order is Chennai & Colombo. The detailed month sections below cover Chennai and Colombo.
Ready to plan the India & Sri Lanka trip?
Turn this route into a day-by-day plan for March 2027, every stop checked for closures and booking needs on your exact dates.