Chocolate Tastings, Silent Reading Sessions & Concerts: Experiences That Cost INR 0 In Chennai

Dirt, dust and grime in the city getting to you? Escape to this verdant wonderland to up your green quotient. Walk around the pathways and past hundreds of trees coming together in canopies overhead.  You can sit there for a couple of hours with a book or jog around a bunch of times.

Don’t forget to check out the old Banyan Tree and be awed by its ancient beauty. If you don’t mind a morning stroll, walk in sharp at 8.30am and you can be there till 10am. If you miss this window, you can give the 2pm-4pm entry slot a shot.

A centuries-old, striking Victorian building with thousands of books and pin-drop silence! Doesn’t that sound like a near-perfect combination? If you’re broke but still want to get your reading fix, head to Higginbotham’s on Mount Road to skim through your favourites without being disturbed. While you’re there, do check the huge godown at the back for insane sales {70 percent discount on all books} that the bookstore often has through the year to get rid of old stock.

Winter is {almost} here! And so are the free concerts around town thanks to Marghazi season. Come December, you can fill your calendar with free vocal or instrumental concerts at venues dotting the length and breadth of our city. While the ones scheduled for the evening are usually paid, the ones in the morning and afternoons tend to be available for no cost at all! While it’s amazing to soak in all that culture for free, it’ll be a crime not to pay some and indulge in the amazing food you might have access to at these sabhas. Watch this space for more details soon!

The year’s almost come to an end and you haven’t ticked off all the books on your reading list yet? Well, these silent reading sessions may just be the thing to remedy your situation. This little initiative was started by a small initiative called Little Love Library. While they have a permanent library in Shanthi Colony in Anna Nagar, the silent reading sessions are how they marry one’s love for nature and for reading.

Just grab your current read and head to a pre-fixed spot in the city to get your weekly dose of reading done. If you want to explore something new, you can even pick a book from the collection that’s usually available at this meet. The only catch? The silent reading sessions usually happen early on a Sunday morning. So if you manage to get out of bed, your grey cells will be super grateful every weekend!

Find out more about them here.

Indulgence usually doesn’t come cheap. However, this Chennai chocoholic joint is all set to prove us wrong! Cocotrait houses some of the finest chocolates from all over India and across the globe. Give them a call and book a timing, and they’ll be happy to organise a chocolate tasting session for you without any cover charge! Isn’t that just the best news you’ve heard all day? The store has a lot of single origin chocolates and also does chocolate subscription boxes for you, in case you get hooked! So the next time you wanna make someone’s day without burning a hole in your wallet you know where to go!

Find out more about what’s in store here.

Close to 250 years old, this little beauty of a church is hidden away in the hustle bustle of Parrys. Step in to take in the quaint little compound and soak in the history of one of the oldest functional churches in India. Inside the compound is a a prayer hall, so if you’ve been holding on to a burning desire, you know where to wish it for! The church is open to visitors from 9.30am to 2pm. Next to the church building is a belfry that houses six large bells – of varying size and age – which are rung every Sunday at 9.30am by the person who oversees the premises. Photos aren’t usually allowed in here so you’ll have to save your Insta-stories for when you’ve stepped out already.