Travelling from Varkala to Goa by bus or train

Lou Wilson

Has anyone travelled from Varkala to Goa by bus or train or both. I want to see the coast in slow mo. Have about 3 weeks.

steven_ber

Hello Lou and welcome to indiamike.com

3 weeks is a great amount of time, you should have fun.


Here's how to get the trains between a pair of stations........


Go to the following page.

http://www.indianrail.gov.in/src_dest_trns.html

Enter Source Station Code - VAK

Enter Destination Station Code - QLN

(To get station codes, click here.) (see below for the station codes you'll need)


Enter Class - All Class

Then click on Get It.



onto next page........to get availability.

Click on circle next to train number.

Please check Days Of Run as not all trains are daily.

Look at top left of screen.....

Enter Your Journey Date - 20 - Oct. (for example)

Enter Quota - General or Foreign Tourist Quota

Look at the top right of the screen for Classes, click on the circle next to the class you want (make sure it's on the same line as the train you want).

Then click on Get Availability
(though for short journeys you can just turn up, buy a 2nd class (unreserved) ticket and jump into the unreserved carriages, though you can't do this on the Rajdhani or Shatabdi trains)


Here are the station codes you will need. (from south to north), there are far more stations than you will use, but everytime I do a google search on any of these areas I find all sorts of places worth visiting.

VARKALA - VAK
QUILON JN - QLN (for backwater cruise)
KAYANKULAM JN - KYJ
AMBALAPUZHA - AMPA
ALLEPPEY - ALLP

ERANAKULAM JN - ERS (for Cochin)
ERANAKULAM TOWN - ERN (for Cochin)
ALWAYE - AWY
TRICHUR - TCR
SHORANUR JN - SRR

KUTTIPPURAM - KTU
TIRUR - TIR
CALICUT - CLT
BADAGARA - BDJ
TELLICHERRY - TLY

CANNANORE - CAN
KANNAPURAM - KPQ
PAYYANUR - PAY
CHARVATTUR - CHV
KANHANGAD - KZE

KASARAGOD - KGQ
KANKANADI - KNKD (mainline station for Mangalore)
SURATHKAL - SL
UDUPI - UD (a place I want to visit)
KUNDAPURA - KUDA

BHATKAL - BTKL
MURDESHWAR - MRDW
MANKI - MANK
HONNAVAR - HNA (for bus to Jog falls)
(you can get a bus from Jog falls to Gokarna)

KUMTA - KT
GOKARNA ROAD - GOK (for Gokarna, though few trains call here)
ANKOLA - ANKL
KARWAR - KAWR

CANCONA - CNO (south Goa)
MADGAON - MAO (main station in Goa)
KARMALI - KRMI (for Old Goa and Panjim)
THIVIM - THVM (for north Goan beaches)


If you research this trip well, you may think that 3 weeks is not enough time, but it's far more than most people allow, there are loads of little islands along the coast as well.

You'll need a good map, below is a link to some old maps, they are fantastically detailed, but very large maps (don't even think about opening one on a dial-up connection), click on the area you want to go to the map.

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/india/

(Jog falls is directly inland from Honavar, along the river, and is about 6 Kms to the east of Gersoppa, I enjoyed the area around the falls.)

Have fun.

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