Best Museums in Chennai

The Government Museum in Chennai


Government Museum Chennai, often known as the Madras Museum, is one of India's oldest and biggest museums. It is situated in Chennai's Egmore neighbourhood and was founded in 1851. The museum is home to a sizeable collection of objects from all across India, such as sculptures, paintings, coins and antiques. Additionally, it has a collection of natural history artefacts, such as animal and dinosaur skeletons and fossils.
The museum has some stunning features like the Bronze Gallery where bronze sculptures from all over India are stored. The National History Gallery will open your doors to fossils, animal skeletons and even specimens. Undoubtedly, this is one of the best museums in Chennai.

dinosaur models near the entrance of a children's museum
exterior facade of a church as seen from below with white clouds in the background

Chennai Rail Museum


If you are a locomotive enthusiast or if train rides are an absolute pleasure for you, then this is one of the best museums in Chennai for you to visit. Vintage locomotives, coaches and signalling apparatus are among the numerous items in its collection. In addition, the museum features a theatre, an art gallery and a library. Along with these, the museum also exhibits working replicas of metre-gauge electric trains, Darjeeling Himalayan Railways, Nilgiris Mountain Railways and several other engines that were in use before the introduction of contemporary engines.

Vintage Camera Museum


If you love photography or always dreamt of being a photographer, this is one of the museums in Chennai that you must visit. Over 1,500 cameras from all over the world are shown in this private museum. The place was established by photographer and collector Dr. A.V. Arun, who was a dentist by profession. The museum features nostalgic photographs of Chennai from the 1960s and 1970s, and its collection of cameras includes everything from the earliest model, a Meagher film camera from 1870, to more recent high-end digital cameras. A one-day trip here will leave a cherishing memory of one of the best museums in Chennai.

hallway of a hotel with the lights on leading to the many rooms
a close up shot of a bust of a person inside a museum

Dakshinachitra


In Chennai, India, there is a living history museum called Dakshinachitra. A collection of artefacts from all around Tamil Nadu are kept in the museum village, which is a 10-acre reproduction of a typical Tamil hamlet. A range of courses and demonstrations of traditional arts and crafts are also available at the museum. If you are a history buff or curious about the past, this is one of the museums in Chennai that you cannot miss out on. And if you want to explore all these amazing museums in Chennai, check out some of the best budget hotel rooms in Chennai at Raj Park Hotel.