The most walkable neighbourhoods in Chennai
By Oscar Higson-Spence. Updated
20 neighbourhoods of Chennai ranked by walkability, each scored across the area around its own centre. Egmore leads with 93/100, then Kodambakkam (92) and Chetpet (90). 17 of the 20 score 70 or more, where most errands can be done on foot, and the lowest we rank is Meenambakkam (51).
| # | Neighbourhood | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egmore | 93 |
| 2 | Kodambakkam | 92 |
| 3 | Chetpet | 90 |
| 4 | Mylapore | 89 |
| 5 | Adyar | 88 |
| 5 | Besant Nagar | 88 |
| 7 | Triplicane | 87 |
| 8 | George Town | 86 |
| 9 | Thiruvanmiyur | 84 |
| 10 | Ramapuram | 80 |
| 11 | Koyambedu | 79 |
| 11 | Saidapet | 79 |
| 13 | Puzhuthivakkam | 77 |
| 14 | Adambakkam | 75 |
| 15 | Palavakkam | 72 |
| 15 | Madipakkam | 72 |
| 17 | Perungudi | 70 |
| 18 | Chepauk | 64 |
| 19 | Nandambakkam | 53 |
| 20 | Meenambakkam | 51 |
"From the centre" is the distance from Chennai's busiest point to the neighbourhood's centre. "Area scoring 70+" is the share of points across the neighbourhood where most errands can be done on foot.
The top 5 up close
Egmore
Egmore is the most central of these five, at the centre of Chennai, and scores 93/100. It has the most shops of the five: 586 within a 30 minute walk, the nearest Sri sakthi designer studio, about 3 minutes away.
Kodambakkam
Kodambakkam scores 92/100, 4.6 km south-west of Chennai's busiest point. None of the others has as many groceries, with 26 in a 30 minute walk; Kovai Pazhamudir Nilayam - Kodambakkam, Nagarjuna Nagar is the nearest, about 5 minutes away.
Chetpet
Chetpet scores 90/100, 1.8 km west of Chennai's busiest point. Cafés are where it leads the others, 50 of them within a 30 minute walk, starting with Café Coffee Day, about 6 minutes away.
Mylapore
Mylapore scores 89/100, 4.7 km south of Chennai's busiest point. 714 everyday places are mapped within a 30 minute walk of its middle, the nearest grocery about a minute away. Its thinnest category against the others is libraries and bookshops, with 3.
Adyar
Adyar lies the furthest out of these five, 7.3 km south of Chennai's busiest point, and scores 88/100. 614 everyday places are mapped within a 30 minute walk of its middle, the nearest grocery about 7 minutes away. It has the fewest shops of the five, 212. 89% of its area scores 70 or more. More on Adyar.
Centre and outskirts
The 4 neighbourhoods within 3 km of Chennai's centre average 83, and the 16 further out average 77, so walkability falls away from the centre. The nearest to the centre, Egmore, 250 m away, scores 93, and the farthest, Madipakkam, 14 km out, scores 72.
Each dot is a ranked neighbourhood, numbered by rank and coloured by score, placed by its distance and direction from the centre of Chennai.
Chennai as a whole scores 83 out of 100 across the 5 km around its centre. Other cities in India with ranked neighbourhoods: Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Visakhapatnam.
Questions about Chennai's neighbourhoods
What is the most walkable neighbourhood in Chennai?
Egmore is the most walkable of the 20 neighbourhoods we rank in Chennai, with a walkability score of 93 out of 100 (Walker's Paradise). It is followed by Kodambakkam (92) and Chetpet (90).
Which neighbourhoods of Chennai are least walkable?
Of the 20 neighbourhoods we rank, the lowest scoring are Meenambakkam (51), Nandambakkam (53) and Chepauk (64). These are the best-known neighbourhoods with their own Wikipedia articles, so less walkable outer suburbs that are not ranked may score lower still.
How are Chennai's neighbourhoods ranked?
Each neighbourhood is scored at points 100 m to 500 m apart across a circle around its centre, sized to its area, and its score is the mean of those points. Each point's score counts the groceries, restaurants, shops, schools, parks and other everyday places within a 30 minute walk, as described in the methodology. Chennai scores 83 across the 5 km around its centre.
This page is generated from open map data with a published walkability method, explained in the methodology. Places from Overture Maps release 2026-09-23.1. Neighbourhoods and where they lie from Overture Maps and Wikidata.