How to Reach Kerala

Planning to Visit Kerala ? Find the various ways to travel to Kerala by Road, Cars, Trains, Indian Railways, Flights, Airlines and Airports in Kerala.

Location of Kerala

Kerala located on the Malabar coast of south-west India and share borders with Karnataka to the north and north-east, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Arabian Sea to the west.

Getting here – How to Reach Kerala

By Air (Flights):

There are 3 airports in Kerala – Cochin, Kozhikode and Trivandrum, with flights to domestic and international destinations. Cochin International Airport is the largest airport in Kerala with regular flight connections to most of the Middle East and Southeast Asia, Srilanka. Europe and US bound passengers need to transit in the Middle East or Mumbai. Thiruvananthapuram International Airport has regular connections to major cities of India, as well as to the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Srilanka and Maldives. Charter flights for tourism from London, New York and Moscow operate to Thiruvananthapuram. Kozhikode International Airport is a new airport with limited international connects others than to the Middle East.

There are 20 to 25 international carriers offering flights to Kerala, some of them are – Air India, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines. Domestic destinations accessible by direct flights from these airports include Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Agatti, Hyderabad,Mangalore, Goa and Delhi. There are daily, and some bi-daily flights, to most Indian cities from airports in Kochi and Trivandrum. Many of the major indian low cost carriers (LCC) such as Spicejet airlines, Indigo airlines and Jetlite airlines offer daily flights from major Indian cities.

By train:

Indian Railways operates several trains to, from and within Kerala. Trains into Kerala start from neighbouring states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Long-haul direct train services from cities like Delhi and Mumbai are also available. The trains are the most popular method of transport and almost all trains in Kerala originate or terminate in Thiruvananthapuram or Ernakulam, and are usually heavily booked.

The luxury tourist train The Golden Chariot has introduced a South Indian Rail Tour, which includes many parts of Kerala. This is a good option for those who want to visit the South Indian states on as tight schedule. The train starts from Bangalore and covers Chennai, Pondicherry, Trichy, Madurai, Trivandrum, Alapuzha, Kochi and back to Bangalore.

Short distance trains are mainly intercity passenger trains, connecting only major cities like Trivandrum, Kochi, Palakkad, Alapuzha, Kollam, Kottayam, Kozhikode, Kannur and Thrissur. The main Intercity trains are: Trivandrum-Mangalore Express, Trivandrum-Kozhikode Jana Shatabdi Expresse, Trivandrum-Kozhikode Jana Shatabdi Expresse, Trivandrum Guruvayur Intercity, Trivandrum-Shornur Venad Intercity Express, Trivandrum-Palakkad Amrita Express, Kannur-Ernakulam Intercity Express.

By bus:

Inter-state private and government buses operates between neighboring states. The most common inter-state bus is KSRTC-Karnataka with daily bus from most of Major cities of Kerala to Bangalore, Mysore and Mangalore. Tamil Nadu State Bus like SETC also operates regularly from Kerala. Kerala’s State bus- KRSTC-Kerala do have regular Ordinary bus to most of nearby places in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. KRSTC-Kerala also operates a few Volvo AC bus to Bangalore and Coimbatore.

However Private bus players to operate more buses than Govt options. Most of them are well maintained. Kallada, Shama, KPN are the major bus players, though recently Raj National and few others have entered with Pan India operations.

Kerala National Highways

• NH 17: Connecting Mumbai to Cochin via Western coastal side of Goa, Karnataka and almost all towns of Malabar like Kannur, Kozhikode etc
• NH 47: Connecting Salem with Kanyakumari via Coimbatore, Palakkad, Thrissur,Kochi, Alapuzha, Kollam, Trivandrum
• NH 212: Connecting Kozhikode to Mysore via Wayanad
• NH 49: Connecting Kochi to Ramaeswaram via Munnar, Madurai
• NH 220: Connecting Kollam to Theni in Tamil Nadu via Kottayam, Kanjirapally, Kumily and enters into Tamil Nadu at Kambam
• NH 208: Connecting Kollam with Madurai via Punalur, Shenkottai, Tenkasi
• NH 213: Connecting Palakkad with Kozhikode

Ferry Service:

Kerala has an extensive series of water bodies with rivers, backwaters and lagoons making travel by ferry an effective service. In some places, ferries are more popular and easier than road transport. Most of the places in Alapuzha-Kuttanad area is interconnected with regular ferry services.