Madurai Travel
Local
Travel
The #44 bus goes to Alagar Koil Vishnu Temple. The #4 and #4A buses go
to Mariamman Teppakkulam Tank; #1 and #2 buses go to the Gandhi Museum
and Hotel Tamil Nadu; #3 bus to the Anna bus stand; and #5 bus to the
Tiruparankundram Rock-cut temple. You get these buses at the State bus
stand.
You can hire a bicycle near the Uma Lodge on W Perumal
Maistry Street and at a shop on W Veli St, across from the Hotel Tamil
Nadu.
Travel
Air The airport (671333) is 14km south of the downtown. From
the airport to downtown is Rs 150 by auto-rickshaw and Rs 250 by taxi.
Bus #10A goes from the State bus stand to the airport, but may take a
while. There is a Tamil Nadu tourist counter at the airport.
There are flights to Chennai (1 daily, $115) and Mumbai (1 daily, $185).
The Indian Airlines office (741-232/4, Airport 741-433) is at the TVS Building, 7A West Veli St. Air India (42471) is opposite the railway station on West Veli St.
Jet Airways (526969) has flights to Chennai.
Rail Madurai Junction Railway Station is a 20-minute walk west of the Meenakshi temple on West Veli Street, and just a few minutes walk from the main hotel area.
There
are no direct trains to Delhi or Mumbai from Madurai. There are trains
to Chennai (8-15 hr, 6 daily), Rameswaram (7 hr, 5 daily), Kanyakumari
(6 hr, 4.10 am) and Tiruchirappalli (145km, 2½ to 8 hr, 8 daily).
The Rameswaram-Chennai Exp #6102 (3.20 pm) goes to Chennai (14 hr) and
stops at Thanjavur (5 hr), Chidambaram (8 hr), and Chengalpattu (13 hr)
on the way. The Chennai-Vaigai Exp #2635 (12.45 pm) departs from Egmore
Station and takes 9 hours to get to Madurai stopping at Tiruchirappalli
(Trichy) on the way. To Rameswaram there are three trains a day that take
5 or 6 hours. It is quicker to go by bus, which only takes 4½ hours.
Bangalore Madurai-Bangalore Exp #6731 (7.50 pm, 12½ hr); Chennai
Vaigal Exp #2636 (6.20 am, 8½ hr), Pandiyan #6718 (7.15 pm, 9½
hr); Chengalpattu Nellai Exp #6120 (9.30 pm, 10 hr); Coimbatore Madurai-Coimbatore
Exp #6708 (6.10 am, 4 hr), Rameswaram-Coimbatore Fast Passenger #6716
(9.10 pm, 7 hr); Kanyakumari Chennai-Kanniyakumari Exp (4 am, 6 hr); Rameswaram
Tirupati-Rameswaram Exp #6799 (10.30 am, 5 hr), Rameswaram Exp Fast Passenger
#6715 (6 am, 5 hr);
Thiruvananthapuram Madurai-Quilon Exp (10.25 pm, 7 hr)
To get a
tourist quota ticket you have to go to the Rail Tourist
Information Counter in the main lobby (6 am to 8.30 pm). With the help
of a member of their staff you can jump to the front of the long queue
(line) upstairs. The tourist quota reservation office on the ground floor
is very helpful. They take you inside the office and arrange your ticket
in a hassle-free atmosphere. They can also arrange tickets that depart
from other cities from here. This is a good place to arrange your train
tickets. Upper Class booking is to the right and is open 9.30 am to 1
pm and 2 to 5 pm.
There is a prepaid auto-rickshaw stand outside the main entrance of the
station.
Bus There is good bus service from Madurai to all parts
of the South.
Long distance
buses mainly arrive and depart from the fairly new Central Bus Station
(Mattuthavani)., which is 5km northeast of the center of town north of
the Vaigai River, and cost about Rs 30 to get to from downtown. From here
there are buses to Chennai (11 hr, 20 daily), Bangalore (9 hr, 20 daily),
Tirupati (14 hr, 5 daily), Mysore (1 daily), Pondicherry (8 hr, 1.15 and
10 pm), and Mangalore. There are hourly buses to Chennai and 12 super-deluxe
buses go there daily.
You can book seats in advance for the Thiruvalluvar buses at the main
bus stand (7 am to 10 pm).
From the Arapalayam bus stand buses depart to destinations within Tamil Nadu and places in Kerala. There are many buses to Coimbatore. There are nine buses a day to Kodaikanal (4 hr, Rs 25). Buses #7A or #JJ come here from the State bus stand.
The Palanganatham bus stand, in the southwest part of the city, 5km from the center of town, serves cities in South Tamil Nadu and South Kerala, such as Kanyakumari (7 hr) and Thiruvananthapuram (7 hr, 10 daily). Buses #7 and #7J come here from the State bus stand.
You can book super-deluxe video buses to Chennai and Bangalore from private bus companies. They may also try to sell you a ticket to other destinations promising a super-deluxe bus and instead sell you a ticket on a state bus for double the normal price. This is a normal thing that the travel agents in Madurai do. Be careful of hustlers at the bus stands. They may help you get a bus ticket at an inflated price.
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