There are 3 kind of bus transportations available
1)KSRTC
One is the state-run KSRTC bus-stand in Bejai, located towards the North of the city, but not far off from the city centre. The bus-services are run by the [www.ksrtc.in Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation]. They operate scheduled bus services to Mumbai, Bangalore, Mysore, Goa, Hubli-Dharwad and many other areas within and outside Karnataka. Services run by the Kerala State Transport and Tamil Nadu State Transport and Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation also call in Mangalore at this very bus-stand.
2)Local Buses
The other one is behind the Town Hall. It is known as the 'State Bank' stand by the locals, because of its proximity to a branch of the State Bank of India. It is the last stop for most of the private bus services to Mangalore (mostly Inter-District viz. Mangalore-Udupi and Inter-taluk buses).
3)Long Distance Buses
There is a third bus-stand (not exactly a bus-stand but an alighting point for passengers) in front of Milagres Church for long distance travel to various city of the india where most private tour and bus operators: Ideal Travels, Canara, Canara-Pinto, Vishal Travels, Anand Travels, VRL etc. have their offices. They operate buses of semi-deluxe, sleeper and Volvo types to various destinations viz. Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Thrissur, Hubli-Dharwad etc.
By Car:
Mangalore is well connected to major city’s like Goa, Mumbai, and Kerala via NH-17, to the state capital Bangalore via NH-48, and to Hyderabad via NH-13. Highways are only two-laned and very narrow, but make for extremely scenic drives as they all pass either through the Western Ghats or along the coastline. There is a lot of heavy traffic load on the highways owing to the increasing number of buses plying on these routes, as well as a lot of goods-transport trucks owing to the location of many plants and factories as well as New Mangalore Port on NH-17. So exercise caution while driving during periods of heavy traffic.
NH-48 from Sakleshpur to Mangalore,. Work is going on to convert NH-48 into a four-lane highway. Until they do this, one needs to go to Mangalore from Bangalore either through the potentially dangerous Charmadi Ghat road, or via the equally pathetic Mysore-Madikeri-Suliya route.
There are many car rental companies available.
By Plane:
Mangalore International Airport (IATA: IXE) (ICAO: VOML), at Bajpe, about 20 km from the city centre. Currently there are daily flights to Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Kochi ,Delhi and Calicut in the domestic segment and weekly/bi-weekly flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat (Oman), Doha (Qatar), Kuwait and Bahrain in the international segment. Air India, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Spice Jet, and Air India Express currently operate flights to Mangalore.
By Train:
Mangalore has 3 big railway stations.
Mangalore Central (IR station code : MAQ) is located at Hampankatta, in the heart of the city. It is a terminus and is used only by the trains which terminate at Mangalore.
Mangalore Junction (IR station code : MAJN) is situated in Kankanady, about 5 km from the city centre. Most long-distance trains and all trains not terminating at Mangalore stop at this station.
Surathkal (IR station code : SKL) is situated in Surathkal, about 18 km from the city centre. Most long-distance trains moving on the either to north or south India stop here.
Mangalore Central (IR station code : MAQ) is located at Hampankatta, in the heart of the city. It is a terminus and is used only by the trains which terminate at Mangalore.
Mangalore Junction (IR station code : MAJN) is situated in Kankanady, about 5 km from the city centre. Most long-distance trains and all trains not terminating at Mangalore stop at this station.
Surathkal (IR station code : SKL) is situated in Surathkal, about 18 km from the city centre. Most long-distance trains moving on the either to north or south India stop here.
