Flights to Chennai with Air France from $1,131*

Flights to Chennai

Chennai is a vibrant city in Tamil Nadu, India. If you’re planning a visit, Air France offers daily flight options to Chennai (MAA) from a number of US departure locations. Just type in Flight Chennai to find the most affordable Air France flights to the coastal city departing from your nearest airport in the next months and indulge in our lowest prices for the dates of your travel on our website. Do you want to know more about Chennai before your upcoming trip? Read on for some of our tips and recommendations to the town.

When to visit Chennai?

The climate of Chennai is tropical, and rains are typically frequent here. The hottest months are May through September, when temperatures stay above 30 degrees Celsius.

Why you should travel to Chennai?

Chennai is the capital of India's southern state Tamil Nadu and its largest and most populated city, with the population of the metropolis more than 7 million people, it is one of the most populated cities in India. Ever popular among domestic tourists, Chennai has experienced an uptick in international tourism. It has been deemed the 'hottest' city to visit, and tourists flock here for its delicious food, unique culture and impressive architecture. Offering a quirky mix of traditional and modern values, Chennai is celebrated for its unique music scene – local music is considered part of the global cultural heritage, and Chennai is part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN).

What to do in Chennai?

Known as Madras until the 1996, Chennai has been part of colonial India, and the city's architecture still testifies to the centuries of foreign influence. Chennai started as a small village on the shore of the Indian Ocean, first colonized by the Portuguese, and you will still find traces of the Portuguese presence in the city. After a short period of French colonization, the village was taken over by the British – the town Madras was founded in 1639. The architectural traces of the British presence in Chennai are many from the Madras High Court building to the imposing structure of the National Art Gallery, one of the oldest art museums in India. As you travel to Chennai, enjoy the remarkable blend of styles in the city – from Indo-Saracenic motifs to Art Deco to modernist, and stop to visit the picturesque Arulmigu Kapaleeswarar Temple.

Relish Southern-Indian food – try the buttery dosas, fried in ghee and filled with creamy potatoes, and make sure to stop at a stall for a lunch of rice and vegetables served on a banana leaf. Dosas, thin pancakes, made of rice flour, are usually eaten for breakfast or as a late-night snack. Order one if you party late into the night in one of Chennai's jazz bars.

Practical information

When you arrive at Chennai airport (MAA, formerly known as Madras airport), get to the center of the city by taxi or by train. The official currency used in Chennai is the Indian rupee.