ECR Weekend Plans: Events & Day Trips on the East Coast Road

The East Coast Road, or ECR, is Chennai's default weekend escape: a coastal highway that starts at Thiruvanmiyur and runs south to Mahabalipuram, about 60 km from the city centre. You can do it as a half-day or a full one. The first stops are close to the city. Cholamandal Artists' Village at Injambakkam, founded in 1966, has a museum of the Madras Movement and is open daily from 10 am to 5 pm. Beyond the toll plaza near Uthandi are beach houses, lounges and resorts that host ticketed parties, sundowner gigs and festive events. At Muttukadu, about 25 km out, there is a backwater boathouse and DakshinaChitra, the open-air museum of South Indian houses and crafts, which is closed on Tuesdays. Kovalam (Covelong) has a surf beach and surf schools, and the Madras Crocodile Bank lies a little further south. Mahabalipuram's Pallava monuments, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984, are the end of the line, and Tamil Nadu Tourism holds its Indian Dance Festival there each winter; the 2026–27 dates had not been announced when this page was last updated. There is no railway on the ECR, so plans depend on buses, a cab or your own vehicle. This page lists events along the ECR and at Mahabalipuram.