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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 is 14km south of the downtown. From the airport to downtown is Rs 90 by auto-rickshaw and Rs 150 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, $85) and Mumbai (1 daily, $175).

The Indian Airlines office (741-232, Airport 741-433) is at the TVS Building, 7A West Veli St. Air India (42471) is opposite the railway station on West Veli St.

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. There are five bus stands in Madurai. Most long-distance buses leave from the State bus stand (Periyar bus stand) and the Thiruvalluvar bus stand (TTC/RGTC bus stand) (25354), which are both at the southern end of West Veli Street, not far from the railway station and most of the hotels. 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).

Buses to Thanjavur (6 hr), Kumbakonam, Rameswaram (4 hr), and Tiruchirappalli (3 hr) leave from the Anna bus stand, 5km northeast of the temple and north of the Vaigai River. The #3 bus from the Anna bus stand takes you to the State bus stand.

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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