How to Reach (Tamil Nadu)

Many major cities in Tamil Nadu are well connected to other parts of India by railways, roadways and airways alike. From nearby states like Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh one may easily take a bus to reach the nearest city in Tamil Nadu. If there is an airport near you, you may take a flight to Chennai, Coimbatore or Madurai . Or, if you do not have an airport in your city or nearby, you may take a train to any city of Tamil Nadu. Let us look at the various modes of how to reach Tamil Nadu.

Trains

As we often say, travelling needs either of the two, Time or Money. If you are low on budget but have plenty time, railways is the best way to travel in India. I usually find trains more comfortable and providing excellent connectivity all throughout India. As for Tamil Nadu, Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli (Trichy), Rameshwaram, Madurai, Salem, Erode, Dindigul, Nagercoil and Tirunelveli are some of the major railway stations close to the tourist destinations in the state. It is a very good chance that a train from your city or nearby is directly connecting any one of these cities.

Some major railway stations in Tamil Nadu

Flights

Almost all the airports operate a direct flight to Chennai. Apart from Chennai, you may find a connecting flight to the other cities in Tamil Nadu. Madurai, Coimbatore and Tiruchirapalli have major international airports, while, Thootukudi and Salem have domestic airports. Depending on your itinerary, you may choose any of the above airports to arrive at or depart from Tamil Nadu. As for us, we took a flight to Chennai costing us about ₹7,200 per person and our return flight was from Coimbatore for around ₹11,000.

Chennai Airport

Buses/ Taxis

If you are planning to arrive from the nearby states to Tamil Nadu, you may take an interstate bus or a taxi. These options are easily available for neighbouring states. However, buses are a cost effective mode of transport compared to the taxis. Moreover, there is a state entry tax for taxis whenever you cross state borders, which you will have to pay with taxi fare. But if you have luggage and are travelling in a group, taxi or traveller is a wise choice. It offers comfort and independence. If you are travelling light or are a solo traveller, you may choose buses only to cut your costs.

For us, it always comes down to the time at hand and the luggage we have for the trip. We took flights for our trip as we had only a week and wanted to cover quite a few places. We have covered the mode of transportation for intercity travel in this post.