The national carrier, Malaysia Airlines flies daily into Alor Star from Kuala Lumpur either via Penang or Kota Bharu.

The North-South Expressway connects Kuala Lumpur to Bukit Kayu Hitam over a distance of 490km and to Alor Star over 450km. The drive to the latter takes about five hours.

Alor Star is the main transit point in Kedah and the central bus station is on Jalan Langgar. There are bus services to destinations south and west and to Butterworth. Buses to Butterworth leave hourly between 7.00am and 8.00pm. From here, there is also a bus service to Kuala Kedah where there is a ferry service to Langkawi.

The North-South Expressway connects Kuala Lumpur to Bukit Kayu Hitam over a distance of 490km and to Alor Star over 450km. The drive to the latter takes about five hours. The main express bus station is 2km to the north-east of the central bus station. There are express bus services which offer coach buses to the south to Ipoh, KL, Malacca, Johor Bahru and Singapore. There are also express coaches for the east coast towns of Kuantan, Kuala Terengganu and Kota Bharu. Northbound express bus services and taxis operate daily from the Puduraya Bus Terminal in Kuala Lumpur to Alor Star.

Alor Star is on the North-South rail link and KTM offers daily train services that link Alor Star with various towns along the route. The train from Butterworth to Bangkok runs through Alor Star and the border town of Padang Besar in Perlis. There is an international express to Haadyai and Bangkok which operates every afternoon and an early morning train to Haadyai. It is advisable to make bookings well in advance for all train services.