The best way of getting to Tranquebar is by bus. Bus route 324 runs all the way from CMBT Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminal in Madras along the coast to Nagapattinam south of Tranquebar. The bus will make stops in Pondicherry, Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Tranquebar and Karaikal on the way to Nagapattinam, so it is perfect if you already are in one of these cities. From Madras the trip will take around 7-8 hours, from Pondicherry around 4 hours, from Karikal around 30 minutes and from Nagapattinam around one hour. The busses come in three different classes: Regular, UD ultra deluxe and AC Air Conditioning. Regular busses are bad even by Indian standards, Ultra deluxe busses are bad by western standards no A/C or reclining seats while AC busses blue and white with closed windows are really good. A trip from Madras to Nagapattinam on AC bus is less than 300 rupees, so unless you are on a really tight budget AC is the way to go.
