Tirunelveli's location near the bottom of the Indian peninsula makes for an unusually wide range of day trips.
Courtallam — 60 km north — is the classic excursion, particularly during the southwest monsoon.
Tiruchendur — 60 km east on the Bay of Bengal coast — is one of the six abodes of Lord Murugan, with a large temple and a wide sandy beach.
Kanyakumari — 90 km south, the southernmost tip of India — is a long but feasible day trip for the Vivekananda Rock and the Thiruvalluvar statue.
Tuticorin — 60 km east — is the historic pearl-fishing port, today an industrial city with a Portuguese-era cathedral and a clutch of older Catholic mission churches.
Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve — an hour west — offers a good half-day at Mundanthurai gate or Sengaltheri.
Padmanabhapuram Palace — 90 km southwest, just over the border in Kerala — is the most spectacular surviving wooden palace in south India, the original capital of the Travancore kings.