Tirunelveli is a working south Indian city rather than a tourist destination, but it has more to detain a visitor than its reputation suggests. The vast Nellaiappar–Kanthimathi temple complex at the centre is one of the great living Shiva temples of the south. Across the river, the older quarter of Palayamkottai preserves a Church of South India cathedral, an old British cantonment grid, and the original missionary colleges that once made it a centre of Tamil scholarship. The Porunai Museum, opened in 2023, is the regional showcase for the long-running archaeology at Adichanallur and Keezhadi.
Most travellers use the city as a launching pad: north to the falls and forests at Courtallam, south to Kanyakumari, west to the Western Ghats and Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, east to the temple town of Tiruchendur and the pearl-fishing coast at Tuticorin.