How To Reach Thanjavur (Tanjore)

Thanjavur is one of the most significant tourist and major pilgrim centres of India. The ancient spiritual and artistic treasures of Thanjavur, be its temples, churches, libraries or museums see a steady flow of fascinated tourists and pilgrims from the world over. There is a good transport system to Thanjavur that makes travelling to the city a secure one. The town has a progressive domestic transit structure, too, that enables an easy travel within the region.

Thanjavur is easily accessible by air, rail or road, but the easiest way of travel would be by train.

Presently the closest Airport is the Tiruchirapalli International Airport that has flights to Dubai, Singapore, Kuala Lampur, Sharjah and Colombo and domestic flights to Chennai, Bengaluru, Kochi, Coimbatore etc. From the Tiruchirapalli airport you could hire a cab to Thanjavur, which is about 60 km away. You could also take a bus from Tiruchirapalli’s Central Bus Stand or a train from the Tiruchirapalli Railway Junction to Thanjavur. By far the fastest means of transport from Tiruchirappali airport to Thanjavur would be by car, which takes about 90 minutes to reach your destination. 

Under the UDAN scheme, there might be 70-80 seater flights from Chennai to Thanjavur in the offing.

There are a good choice of trains that arrive at Thanjavur from Tiruchirapalli, Nagarkoil, Coimbatore, Chennai, Vasco da Gama, Ernakulam, Bengaluru and long distance trains like Shraddha-Sethu Express (Rameshwaram-Faizabad) or  Bhubaneshwar Express (Rameshwaram-Bhubaneshwar). There are unreserved passenger trains also that halt at Thanjavur. Check out the newly launched electric train between Tiruchirapalli and Thanjavur. You could get a bus, cab or auto rickshaw from outside the station to reach the city centre.

Thanjavur is well connected by Government and private buses with cities like Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Coimbatore, Chennai, Bengaluru, Ooty, Mysore, Ernakulam et al. The other option would be driving your own car or hiring a cab to Thanjavur. You could drive from the nearest cities like Madurai (189 km), Coimbatore (268 km) or Pondicherry (168 km) or even from Chennai through routes via Tiruchirapalli or East Coast Road. You could also travel by road from Bengaluru through NH44.

Thanjavur has an efficient public transport system with the domestic Old Bus Stand (near Anna Statue), New Bus Stand (near Serfoji College), Thiruvaiyaru Bus Stand and SETC Bus Stands. There are government, private and omni buses running within the town and to the outskirts, too. There are auto rickshaws, share autos and taxis on mobile apps that you could hire for travel round town.