Travel Guide

Thiruvananthapuram is a centre of a good network of roads since several national highways connected it with other cities in the south. NH47 leads Kanyakumari to Varanasi; NH14, Thrissur to Mumbai; NH45, Dindigul to Chennai and NH47, Kanyakumari to Selam. Some distances from Thiruvananthapuram are Kanyakumari 85km, Kochi 219km, Coimbatore 410km, Madurai 307km, Thekaddy for Periyar 271km.

How to get there  

Air :
Thiruvananthapuram International Airport located at Valiyathura is 6kms from the city. Many international air carriers operate daily international flights to Middle East, Male and Sri Lanka from Thiruvananthapuram. Indian Airlines has direct communications to Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. Jet Air (Gulf Air) has daily flights to Mumbai and Chennai.

Road :
Thampanoor (opposite the Railway Station - Ph: 0471-2323886) is the main bus terminal in Thiruvananthapuram. All of the long distance buses leave from here. The city bus terminal (Ph: 0471-2463029)is situated at Fort from where most of the city service originates. State and National Highways connect Thiruvananthapuram to all major Indian cities.

Kerala State Transport operates a comprehensive service from Thiruvananthapuram, throughout the state and to Tamil Nadu. Buses operate regularly to destinations north along the coast including Kollam 1¹/₂ hours, Allapuzha 3¹/₄ hours, Ernakulam 5hours and Thrissur 6³/₄hours. Buses depart 2 hour trip to Kanyakumari. There are buses daily for the 8 hours trip to Thekkady (to Periyar Wild life sanctuary).

Most of the bus service to destination in Tamil Nadu are operated by Tamil Nadu State Buses. It has services to Chennai (17hours), Madurai (7 hours), Pondicherry (16hours), Coimbatore as well as Nagarcoil and Erode.

Rail
Thiruvananthapuram is an important railway terminus on the southwestern coast. The main railway station is the Central station located at Thampanoor. The booking office is opened Monday to Saturday from 8am to 2pm and 2.15-8pm. Sunday from 8am to 2pm. Railway enquiry Ph: 131 . 

Numerous trains runs up the coast via Kovalam and Ernakulam to Thrissur. There are daily train such as Parasuram express, Malabar express, Cannanore express. There are additional daily express to Kochi including the Venad express, the Kerala express and the Vanchinad express. For long-haulers there is the Friday only Himsagar express to Jammu Tawi which goes via Delhi.