By plane
Nearest airport is Tiruchirapalli. There are direct flights from Chennai
By bus
There are several state and private buses that ply daily from Mannargudi, Pattukkottai, Kumbakonam, Pondicherry, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Tiruchy. The journey from Bangalore and Chennai takes about 9 hours and there are over-night buses. Some buses from Madurai or Trichy arrive at Thanjavur a the new bus stand located at 3 km from the center. There you can take another bus for the center for Rs. 4, you can ask for the "old bus stand".
By Rail
Thanjavur is also reachable by train from other Indian cities. 'Thanjavur Junction' is the station to alight. There are daily trains from/to Chennai, Bangalore, Mysore, Ernakulam, Palakkad, Thrissur, Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Erode, Salem , Tirupur , Tirunelveli, Rameswaram and weekly trains to Tiruchendur, Bhubaneshwar, Varanasi , Allahabad , Jabalpur , Vijayawada , Vizianagaram and to all main cities. For train timings and on-line reservations within India visit the IRCTC's website.