Nexus Elante Mall

When people in the tricity say they are going out, this is often what they mean. Opened in 2013 across 20 acres and about 1.15 million square feet, Elante holds more than 300 stores (Indian labels beside international flagships) plus a large cinema, a food court and parking on several levels, and it is regularly counted among the biggest malls in India. The practical value for a traveller is plain: air conditioning in May, a dry roof in the monsoon, everything forgotten at home in one stop. Weekends are packed, weekday mornings calm.

Air conditioning, a cinema and 300 shops for the day the weather cancels sightseeing