Puducherry

A seafront walk running 1.5 kilometres, with breakwater boulders rather than sand along the water. Traffic is barred from evening until the following morning, leaving it to walkers, and people come out at dawn to see the sun lift out of the sea.

A grid of streets on the seaward side of the canal, where old French houses with yellow and white walls trail bougainvillea. Street signs are written in French and Tamil together, and with no shade at midday the walk suits morning or evening.

A spiritual community founded in 1926 by Sri Aurobindo, where the tombs of Aurobindo and the Mother lie under a tree in the courtyard, heaped with flowers. Silence is kept inside, photography is forbidden, and visitors are admitted only at set hours.

A township founded in 1968 as an experiment in many nations living together, about 10 kilometres north of town. Anyone may view the Matrimandir's golden sphere from the viewing point, but its inner chamber needs booking at the visitor centre beforehand.

A Gothic church finished in 1908, striking for its white walls banded in red. Stained-glass panels showing the life of Christ line the nave, and it was raised to a basilica in 2011.

A Ganesha temple older than the French arrival, standing within the French Quarter; tradition says colonial officials tried several times to move it and failed. Paintings of Ganesha's many forms run along the inner walls, and worshippers queue from dawn.

A sandbar beach reached by boat across an estuary from the Chunnambar boat house, about 8 kilometres south of town. The last boat back leaves before sunset, so check the time, and the current is strong, so stay in the shallows.

A museum in an old French mansion showing Roman-era amphorae, beads and other traces of trade unearthed at Arikamedu to the south. Furniture and carriages from the days of the French governors are on show too, and Monday is its closing day.

Planted in 1826 with trees the French brought in, this garden has paths running under banyans and tropical timber trees. It lies close to the railway station and makes a shady refuge from the midday heat.

A beach a few kilometres north of town where steady waves keep the surf schools running lessons. Cafes and a craft market gather behind the sand, the market busiest on weekend afternoons.

A church consecrated in 1855, a block inland from where the seafront promenade ends to the south. Twin bell towers rise over its pale apricot facade, lit head-on by the morning sun. A Joan of Arc statue stands in the forecourt, deepening the French-era feel.

The old Tamil neighbourhood west of the canal, houses fronted by thinnai, raised verandas jutting toward the street. Each doorstep gets a fresh rice-flour kolam every morning. Less polished than the French Quarter, it shows life between markets and temples.

A big lake west of the city, where pelicans, cormorants and flocks of ducks arrive in winter. Small boats from the lakeside jetty weave through the reed beds. In bird season, bring binoculars and set out in the early morning.

An ancient trading port on the riverbank south of town, where Roman wine jar shards are taken as traces of Mediterranean trade 2,000 years ago. Above ground there is little beyond the brick ruin of a later mission house. The finds are in the Puducherry Museum.

The house where the Tamil poet Subramania Bharati lived in hiding, having fled arrest in British India for French Pondicherry. Manuscripts, photographs and his belongings fill its small rooms. It sits in a lane of the Tamil Quarter, best found on foot.

A fortress about 70 km northwest that strings three rocky hills together with walls, called the Troy of the East by the British. Climbing the stone stairs up Rajagiri, the highest, takes nearly an hour. Shade is scarce, so pack extra water.