7 Things to Do in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu

A short Rameswaram Travel Guide - Here is a list of things other travelers have loved doing in Rameswaram and we thought you would too. Enjoy!
Rameswaram, the Kashi or Banaras of Southern India, lies on the tip of the Indian Peninsula. Mythologically, this is the place from where Lord Ram built the Ram Setu bridge to rescue Sita from Raavan and the place where Lord Ram worshipped Lord Shiv to cleanse away the sin of killing Raavan (who a Brahmin)

Here are some things travelers to Rameswaram like doing. Enjoy!

1. Half day to visit the famous Rameswaram Temple (Tips: Visit early in the morning if possible – day time gets pretty busy for various temple activities. Fix a priest in advance.)
2. Take the holy Snan (bath) in the Rameswaram temple - 22 dips to be precise. Do it as per the numbering – starting with 1 and ending at 22. As one traveller puts it “It was magic! It was holy! It was something I had never experienced before nor could have imagined it”. (Tips: Take a change of clothes after the snan/dip. Change rooms are available in the temple)
3. Visit two other famous temples - the Naag Temple and the Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir which has stones from the Ram Setu.
4. Take a day trip to Dhanushkodi. Hire a Jeep/4W drive (from Rs 1000/day). Dhanuskodi is a tail part of Rameswaram island. This is the meeting point of the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal. Enjoy the beaches and the view from here.
5. Pamban Bridge – This is a must visit place. The bridge is constructed over the sea and is “very beautiful & offers scenic views” as one traveler puts it.
6. Spiritualism – Like another traveller notes “It’s an enjoyable trip if you mix tourism and spiritualism”. Do enjoy the spirit of the place. Forget momentarily of all the worries in life and enjoy the calmness inside.
7. Shopping – Buy a souvenir – there are lots of things made out of conch shell that are readily available (Try Kalam Sea shell mart – close to former President Abdul Kalam’s house). Silk sarees will be another nice thing to consider buying on your next visit to Rameswaram.

Other things to do:

1. You can have a glimpse of the famous floating stone which was a part of the Ram Setu bridge. You have to take a fisher man’s boat to reach the point.

Tips from other Rameswaram travelers:

• Don’t miss: Early in the morning 5-6 Mani darshan (Golden Linga) and in the night around 8.15 siva will go to bed along with parvathi (Unjal seva).
• Book hotels in advance – Online booking for hotels in Rameshwaram is available at HotelPushpak.com.
• Beware of thugs. In Laxman setu, people try to sell floating rocks for Rs.501 by saying they require monetary funds to build a building.
• Must bring the laddo of Ramnathswamy.
• Restaurants - The above average restaurants are 1. Vinayaka, near railway station and 2. Royal Park, before the toll gate, Hotel Tamilnadu Restaurant, Arya bhavan. Food in Ganesh Mess (next to Maharaja Hotel) is excellent and also very economical.

How to reach Rameshwaram?

• Fly to Madurai (Airport) and drive to Rameswaram (180 kilometers)
• Overnight Train from Chennai (12 hours / 525 km) or Bangalore
• By road from Bangalore (8-10 hour drive). Roads are good and average speed could be above 100 Km/hr.
• Take a Bus from Kanyakumari (375 kms)

This article is a part of our 7 Things To Do series.
Related links:

• A great traveler review for Rameswaram: The Blessed Conch
• Book a budget or luxury Rameswaram hotel at discounted price at HotelPushpak.com
• 7 Things to Do in Ooty

7 Things To Do Series

Top Tourist Destinations in India

What is this series about? Millions of Indians and international travelers visit hundreds of tourist destinations across India (See our Top 5 Tourist Destinations in India). So many places to visit. So many things to do. Hundreds of websites offering different ideas about things to do in any given tourist destination (city). Thousands of customer reviews are available across several review sites about things to do in different cities. We want to keep it simple. We want to help tourists find the best things to do in a given city or tourist destination.

How do we know these are the best things to do? We have read many websites with tourist information. We have read through hundreds of customer reviews about these places. And we have hand picked the things that travelers have liked the most. These are the things that will help travellers make the most out of their limited stay in these tourist destinations across India. They are also intended to help customers decide whether a destination fits their taste.

Below is our "7 Things to Do" list for some of the top tourist destinations in India:

1. 7 Things to Do in Ooty (Tamil Nadu) - Dec 2010
2. 7 Things to Do in Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu) - Jan 2011
3. 7 Things to Do in Udaipur (Rajasthan) - Jan 2011
4. 7 Things to Do in Panaji (Goa) - Jan 2011
5. 7 things to Do in Jaipur - July 2011
6. 7 Things to Do in Gangtok - August 2011
7. 7 Things to Do in Goa - Sep 2011
8. 7 Things to Do in Munnar - Nov 2011
9. 7 Things to Do in Mumbai
10. 7 Things to Do in Mysore
11. 7 Things to Do in Kolkata - Jun 2012
12. 7 Things to Do in Mount Abu (Rajasthan) - Nov 2012
13. 7 Things to Do in Kanyakumari - Nov 2012

Here is the latest on all the Top Tourist Attractions in India.

Related Articles

• Read about things to do in Puri & affordable accommodations in Puri
• Top Tourist Destinations in India for December - specifically for the cooler months of December

7 Things To Do in Ooty (Ootacamund), Tamil Nadu

A short Ooty Travel Guide - Here is a list of things other travelers have loved doing and we thought you would too. Enjoy!

Ooty is one of the best hillstations in Southern India. It is a great destination to relax and spend a memorable time with family or friends. Ooty is a perfect place to visit all around the year - summer or winter.

Here are our Top 7 Pick on Things to do in Ooty.

1. Enjoy the train ride along the hillside offering marvelous view of the mountains. (Ooty is accessible from Mysore)
2. See the Doddabetta peak with a cup of hot coffee in your hands
3. Try the toy train ride
4. Visit the beautiful tea gardens along the slopes and the famous botanical garden in Ooty
5. Take a 1-Day trip to Coonor (another gorgeous hill station offering breathtaking views of the sorrounding mountains)
6. Shop for tea and Niligiri oil. Try the homemade chocolates.
7. Visit the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary & National Park - now declared a Tiger Reserve.

This article is a part of our 7 Things To Do series.

Ooty hotels - Wondering where to stay during your next visit to Ooty? Here are a few good Ooty hotels to consider on your next trip. Hotel Nahar Nilgiris (from Rs. 2500), Hotel Darshan (Rs. 1600) and Hotel Lake View (Rs. 1300) - all three hotels are rated highly and provide good value for money. See online deals for hotels in Ooty.

Ooty package tours - HotelPushpak.com provides some great all-inclusive tour packages to Ooty. See 2 or 3 night package tours for Ooty with rates starting from Rs. 5000.

Best Hotel Review Websites (for India)

There are many website available for reviews of hotels in India. Here are a few of them.

1. Tripadvisor.com - One of the oldest travel review sites on the planet. Although this one is relatively new for India compared to other parts of the world that it covers, still undoubtedly one of the most informative. Here are my opinions about this site:
   
   Pros: Very informative review site - not only about hotels but a lot of information about cities and things to do in and around the corresponding city. Site is easy to navigate. Site has lots of reviews.
   
   Cons: Reviews could be fake - This is one problem with a site like tripadvisor. They try a lot of things to prevent fake reviews. But you cannot be completely successful. I know some people who have tried creating fake reviews and have been successfull in doing so. Site is very crowded with advertisement.
   
   Despite the cons, the site is still one of my favourite and has been an widely accepted one.
   
   


2. Yahoo Travel - Yahoo! one of the most visited sites in the world. However it does not always excel in everything it does. Yahoo has made desperate attempts to do many things and have been unsuccessful in a lot - more so ofter in recent days. Yahoo Travel for India Hotels is one such desperate attempts from Yahoo. Here are my opinions:
   
   Pros: Another Yahoo portal. Has potential of getting better unless Yahoo goes down.
   Cons: Extremely difficult to navigate (not something I would expect from Yahoo). The main link does not give you list of cities in India. (I types India Hotels Reviews and my opinion is based on the link that opened first). Site is crowded with advertisements. It has more information about hotel rates than about hotel quality or customer reviews. Also the site has little or no travel related information about the city. For example, for a famous tourist destination such as Goa, it has only one "Recommended Things To Do" which was "Churches and Convents". This clearly shows the level of maturity of this Yahoo Travel portal.
   
   


3. PushpakReviews.com - One of the most creative sites for hotel reviews. This is still work under progress. Check this out. You may be impressed. Here are some ways why this site is different:
   
   Pros: Adds more flavour to hotel analysis. Provides many different angles of analysis. One such example is "What is a hotel's rating for the last 4 years?". A rating can be 3.5 star but how has the hotel done recently. What is its rating for year 2008? This is important because the overall rating of a hotel may be high but its recent rating may have gone down because of several reasons like change in management, change in service quality or not-good-value-for-money because of rate increase but not service. Another advantage of this site is that PushpakReviews.com covers a lot of budget hotels for over 100 cities across India. Unlike Tripadvisor.com or Yahoo Travel, most ratings at PushpakReviews.com are collected from real travellers who have booked their hotels through one of its sister concern site. Another big advantage is free from advertisement. This separates it from most other travel / hotel review sites. This makes browsing through the site less annoying.
   
   Cons: Site is relatively new (recently launched). Although it has been collecting data since late 2004. Also, PushpakReviews.com is limited to more budget hotel reviews than the luxury counterpart. As of now, no city related information is available - but it's getting there.
   
   Overall, TripAdvisor is more matured where as PushpakReviews.com is definitely a site worth visiting for those curious minds looking for good deals and value for money while travelling in India.

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