Indian Airlines is on Museum Rd, next to the Mascot Hotel; the office is open from 10 am to 5.35 pm daily, with a lunch break from 1 to 1.45 pm. Other airlines are Jet Air, Air India, Air Lanka, Air Maldives, Gulf Air and Kuwait Airways.

     Indian Airlines has direct connections to Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. Jet Air also has daily flights to Mumbai and Chennai. There are a number of connections to the Arabian Gulf with Air India, Gulf Air and Kuwait Airways. Air India also flies to Singapore on Monday and Saturday.

     Thiruananthapuram is a popular place from which to fly to Colombo and Male. Air Lanka and Indian Airlines fly to Colombo daily for Rs 1455 one way. Air Maldives and Indian Airlines have daily flights to Male for Rs 2045 one way.


     The reservation office, on the 1st floor of the station building, is efficient and computerised but you should reserve as far in advance as possible because long-distance trains out of Thiruananthapuram are heavily booked.

     The booking office is open Mon.-Sat. from 8am-2pm and from 2.15-8pm; Sunday from 8am-2pm.

     Numerous trains run up the coast via Kollam and Ernakulam to Thrissur. Some trains branch off east and north-east at Kollam and head for Shencottah. Beyond Thrissur, many others branch off east via Palakkad to Tamil Nadu. Trains which go all the way up the coast as far as Mangalore in Karnataka include the daily Parsuram Express and Malabar Express.

      The daily Cannanore Express goes as far north as Kannur. Each of these trains travels via Kochi, and there are several additional daily expresses to Kochi including the Venada Express, the Kerala Express and the Vanchinad Express. It's 65km from Thiruvananthapuram to Kollam, 224km to Ernakulamand 414km to Kozhikode. South of Thiruvananthapuram, it's 87km to Kanyakumari and 427km to Coimbatore.

      Coimbatore has connections to Mettupalayam and Ooty. For long-haulers, there's the Friday - only Himsagar Express to Jammu Tawi which goes via Delhi.


       Thiruvananthapuram is well connected to all major cities by road. The KSRTC bus terminal opposite the railway station, is total chaos. The law of jungle applies each time a battered old bus comes to a screeching halt in a cloud of dust.Buses operate regularly to destinations north along the coast, including Kollam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur.

     Buses depart hourly for the two-hour trip to Kanyakumari. There are three buses daily for the eight-hour trip to Thekkady. Most of the bus services to destinations in Tamil Nadu are operated by Thruvalluvar, which has its office at the eastern end of the long-distance bus terminal.

     It has services to Chennai, Madurai, Pondicherry, Coimbatore, as well as Nagercoil and Erode. KSRTC also operates several services daily to Coimbatore. Long-distance buses operate to Bangalore, but it's better to catch a train if you're going that far.