How To Reach Kodaikanal

The hill station of Kodaikanal is located on a plateau above the southern slopes of the Upper Palani Hills. These hills are the eastern extension of the Western Ghat range of mountains. The city lies in Dindugal district and is strategically placed beside developed cities like Madurai at its southeast and Dindugal in the northeast. Lying at an elevation of 2100 m above sea level, Kodaikanal is one of the most beautiful hill stations in Tamil Nadu.

Kodaikanal has easy access by road from most major cities. The best way to reach the hill station of Kodaikanal is by train to the nearest railway station at Kodai Road. 

The nearest airport is the Madurai International Airport that serves flights from most Indian cities like Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Goa, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad and Rajahmundry and International flights to Dubai, Colombo and Singapore.

You can get a flight to Madurai, and to reach Kodaikanal you could either hire a prepaid taxi from the Madurai airport or fix up a taxi app that might be more economical. You could arrange for the taxi to wait at the airport as your flight lands. Kodaikanal is about 120 km from Madurai.

The nearest railway station is the Kodai Road Railway Station. About 45 trains halt at Kodai Road including Mumbai Nagarkoil Express (Mumbai CST-Nagarkoil), Cape Howrah Express (Kanyakumari-Howrah), Pearl City Express (Chennai Egmore-Tuticorin) , Kacheguda Express (Madurai-Kacheguda) and Ten Jammu Express (Thirunelveli-Jammu Tawi). You can get cabs outside the railway station that can drop you at Kodaikanal.

There is a bus stand outside the railway station and your other option would be to board a bus to Batlagundu, alight at Batlagundu and get on a connecting bus to Kodaikanal, since the frequency of buses between these two places is better.

There are regular bus services to Kodaikanal from Dindugal (95 km), Madurai (116 km), Tiruchirapalli (201 km), Theni (85 km), Coimbatore (171 km), Bengaluru (490 km)and Chennai (523 km). You could also drive to Kodaikanal from either of these cities or hire a cab for the same. It’s a pleasure hitting the road to Kodaikanal for as the hills draw near, you drive across a ghat section, with dense forests, streams and waterfalls.

There are local buses for getting around town. You can rent bicycles, gear-less scooters or Royal Enfield bikes from bike rentals that are near the Kodai Road Railway Station. These two wheelers could be used to explore Kodaikanal.There are no auto rickshaws in Kodaikanal, but you can hire taxis for family trips or hike along, since it’s so pleasing to walk along the shrubbery bordered hilly lanes of Kodaikanal.