INTACH Heritage Centre
INTACH Heritage Centre
4.5
9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Monday
9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Tuesday
9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Wednesday
9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Thursday
9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Friday
9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Saturday
9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
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419 within 3 miles
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72 within 6 miles
See what other travelers are saying
- Rasika MehtaPune, India67 contributionsTrip down the old Pondicherry!INTACH is located in the Heritage Town of Pondicherry. this is a beautiful Tamil house which is restored to become the INACH office in Pondicherry. This place is very well done and is loaded with information about the restoration done at various places in Pondicherry to safeguard the old world charm of this beautiful French colony. They also have a lot of reading material available and en enthusiast can spend a couple of hours here.Visited March 2020Written March 11, 2020
- Deadman17Mumbai, India569 contributionsConnecting past with presentThis is the place which lists down what all restorations have been done in and around Pondicherry. In a way it takes us back to olden times and shows what Pondicherry really was - a quiet sea side holiday town, long before the excellent connectivity with neighbouring cities transformed it into a weekend holiday destination. The place helps us connect the past of Pondicherry with the present.Visited January 2020Written May 30, 2020
- SmrtiBengaluru, India125 contributionsBest way to startOne of the best things we did was to take the Heritage Walk. Do not miss this! If you reach on a Friday or Saturday, the best way to start your Pondi experience is to walk. Go straight to Le Café on the beach road (The Promenade, as they call it) in the evening; that is walk South till you see Bay of Bengal, look for the only building on the beach. That is Le Café. Plan to reach a little early so that you can also enjoy a cup of coffee looking on the sea. Do visit the Tourism department office on the opposite side. Collect a free brochure. That would be very handy in deciding your days, eating, shopping and stay in Pondicherry. Very informative! Now about the walk. INTACH organizes a Heritage Walk from Le café at 4.00 PM. INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) is an all India organisation, with headquarters in New Delhi, dedicated to heritage conservation and awareness. INTACH works with restoring the old French and Tamil houses and buildings.Visited January 2015Traveled with familyWritten March 14, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
4.5
56 reviews
Excellent
29
Very good
16
Average
9
Poor
0
Terrible
2
SaiBehere
India17 contributions
Mar 2022 • Friends
Decided to visit after having read Great reviews about the place, however we were terribly disappointed. There was nobody there to show us around or to explain anything or give us a background of history. It is like more of a museum with before-and-after pictures of the town or current and proposed sites in Pondicherry, and that too not many. There were just 3-4 rooms that were kept open with nothing in them really except maybe a table and a few old chairs and stained glass Windows. At the reception we had enquired if there is somebody who could give us information and show us around but they had nobody and seemed clueless although they were very polite. The visit was basically just walking through an old and honestly, an unimpressive house. Unimpressive is our opinion because we have seen old houses in our hometown which have more to explore and more history perhaps
Written March 10, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
veronique B
Paris, France60 contributions
Jan 2015 • Friends
We HIGHLY reocmmend the Intach tour. Ashok, the architect who works for Intach and gave us the tour, was kind, interesting, and challenged our way of viewing and thinking about urban planning in India. The tour was fascinating and well worth it! If you are interested in design, architecture, urban planning and history, you will LOVE this tour. the proceeds contribute to the organization's objective, which is to restore, protect and redesign colonial and heritage buildings in Pondichery. they do an amazing job and they have helped make the city unique and beautiful. Please do go on this tour and encourage Intach to pursue their important work!!!
Written February 4, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
zeepad
Singapore, Singapore135 contributions
Jan 2014 • Couples
We had a thoroughly enjoyable walk through the leafy lanes of this charming part of town with Ashok Ponda from INTACH. Ashok is passionate about preservation & restoration & with him we Discovered the beautiful houses behind the high front walls & got insights in to their history. There is a lot of effort put into the preservation and restoration of the French quarter by INTACH, kudos to them, without their effort the French quarter would not have been the same. The walk was supposed to be for an hour but we ended up spending nearly 2 hours. I would strongly recommend this to every visitor to Pondicherry.
Written January 31, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
120milindg
8 contributions
Pondicherry is known for hand made paper and handicrafts. This place is good place where we can fiend good handmade paper handicrafts in affordable rates
Written April 16, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
sharonnisha
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia19 contributions
Jan 2015 • Couples
I went to the INTACH Centre hoping to join the walking tour but there wasn't any at the time.
But I requested for a pamphlet and that was sufficient to take me to most places around Pondicherry. But for a DIY tour, a lot of pre-reading / google-ing is needed to truly know what you are looking at. Otherwise, after the 4th location, everything just about looks the same.
But I requested for a pamphlet and that was sufficient to take me to most places around Pondicherry. But for a DIY tour, a lot of pre-reading / google-ing is needed to truly know what you are looking at. Otherwise, after the 4th location, everything just about looks the same.
Written February 4, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Krasen18
Sydney, Australia102 contributions
I did the heritage walk with Mr Pande (staff). It was a good walk and proves to be a excellent introduction to Pondicherry. My only regret is not doing this the first day that I arrived.
Highly recommended and please do during the first few days when you have arrived.
Highly recommended and please do during the first few days when you have arrived.
Written April 6, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
priya
Noida, India129 contributions
Jan 2015 • Friends
After reading the rave reviews of the heritage walk conducted by Mr. Ashok Panda of INTACH, it was part of my 'must do' items in my short trip to Pondicherry last week. On contacting Mr. Panda we were told that though there was no walk planned, he would do one for the two of us on Saturday, which we thought was very nice of him. However, the walk itself turned out to be quite disappointing. Mr. Panda walked us around a couple of lanes in the French quarters and pointed out some of the better preserved private residences, hotels and buildings restored by INTACH ( I must say, INTACH is doing a great job in preserving the heritage of this beautiful city).At the end of the hour long walk, on Mr. Panda's request we paid him Rs. 500 which he mentioned would be our contribution to INTACH. It was only then that he casually handed over a pamphlet containing the details of the heritage walk. On perusing the same, we realised that out of the 21 sites listed to be covered under the heritage walk of the French quarters, we had only covered about 3 or 4 sites, with most of the important landmarks like the Aurobindo Ashram, Raj Bhawan and other important colonial buildings having been left out, without which no walk of the French Quarters could be treated as complete !! It was such a let down for heritage enthusiasts like us who were so looking forward to this walk to experience and understand the colonial past of this beautiful city. I would advice others planning to take this walk, to ensure that they are well informed of the details of the walk before embarking on the same, so that they do not feel disappointed like us. Unfortunately, we had to miss most of these important sites as we had a very short visit to pondicherry and had looked forward to covering these sites during the heritage walk.
Written January 13, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lucinda P
Brisbane, Australia359 contributions
Sep 2016 • Solo
Organised by INTARCH a wonderful resource for all those interested in the built heritage of Pondicherry this heritage walk cost 500 rupees and was informative about how the colonial character of this seaside town was retained and the architectural gems salvaged and renewed. Ashok was a wonderful guide who brought a wealth of knoweldge and experience to our walking tour.
Written September 26, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rupesh_Mishra
Gurugram (Gurgaon), India79 contributions
May 2015 • Couples
- The heritage centre is closed on Saturdays after 12 noon and whole day on Sundays. This was on our visit list but could not cover because of Sunday. Took a walk on the street to see the French colonies though.
Written May 31, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tarak61
Paris29 contributions
Jan 2015 • Friends
The INTACH, Pondicherry's built-heritage preservation agency, is housed in a carefully restored Tamil courtyard house in the area west of the north-south canal. While many of the larger historic official buildings and private homes in the European area, i.e. that closest to the sea front, have survived, historic homes in the Tamil urban vernacular style survive only patchily as property in the Tamil part of town is the object of extensive demolition/rebuild - and the new buildings, on Rue J. Nehru for example, is on the whole pretty ugly. In this context, the INTACH Pondicherry has managed to become the advocate of sensitive reconstruction. Façades are kept, even if most of what lies behind is totally rebuilt.
The Government of India is interested in developing Pondicherry as a tourist destination and saving the surviving buildings of the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings is part of that strategy. The private sector is managing to develop heritage hotels, with the Neemrana Group, amongst others, involved. It will be interesting to see what happens to the sea-front Hôtel de Ville (City Hall), which recently collapsed. Hopefully the INTACh will be able to advocate a sensitive reconstruction of this fine building.
The Government of India is interested in developing Pondicherry as a tourist destination and saving the surviving buildings of the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings is part of that strategy. The private sector is managing to develop heritage hotels, with the Neemrana Group, amongst others, involved. It will be interesting to see what happens to the sea-front Hôtel de Ville (City Hall), which recently collapsed. Hopefully the INTACh will be able to advocate a sensitive reconstruction of this fine building.
Written January 14, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi Lucinda,
As you mentioned the charges was 500 rs. Are these charges per person or per group?
Please reply. Thanks!
Prakashdam
1 contribution
Next week I am planning to visit Pondicherry. I heard about heritage walk. Please let me know what are the points, you are going to cover under French Heritage walk?
Johnconnolly1
New Delhi, India127 contributions
The walk is a very easy walk and probably last about 1 hr as the area covered is quite small. It is still very interesting and well worth taking.
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Claim your listingINTACH Heritage Centre - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)
Frequently Asked Questions about INTACH Heritage Centre
- INTACH Heritage Centre is open:
- Mon - Sat 9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
- Hotels near INTACH Heritage Centre:
- (0.00 mi) Auro Inn
- (0.00 mi) Tamil Heritage Guest House
- (0.01 mi) NVR Guest House
- (0.01 mi) Micasa Hostels
- (0.04 mi) Babu Guest House
- Restaurants near INTACH Heritage Centre:
- (0.00 mi) Smack-a-Licious
- (0.00 mi) Mango Tree Food Court
- (0.00 mi) Aachi Restaurant
- (0.01 mi) Indian Delights
- (0.02 mi) Foody Spot
INTACH Heritage Centre Information
Excellent Reviews | 29 |
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Very Good Reviews | 16 |
INTACH Heritage Centre Photos | 34 |