Nanning's international airport posts direct flights to Bangkok and Hanoi with China Southwest, in addition to destinations within China between Guangzhou and Kunming.

Both central bus stations handle regular and sleeper buses to all major centres in Guangxi east of Nanning, plus Haikou and many places between Guangzhou and Kunming - the newer You'ai Lu depot seems to be busiest. For more frequent departures to Baise, Daxin and other western towns, catch bus #8 out to the western bus station on Beida Lu.

Where available, you'll find trains are a much faster option than bus, with at least daily services northeast to Liuzhou, Guilin and central China; southeast to Beihai; northwest via Baise and southwestern Guizhou to Kunming; and southwest to Tuolong (Ningming) and the Vietnamese border at Pingxiang, with work under way to extend the line through to Hanoi. As the terminus of these services, it's also simple enough to obtain sleeper tickets in Nanning with a day or two's notice; there's an easy-to-read train timetable (in Chinese) on the left as you enter the ticket hall, and staff are pretty helpful, though queues here can be tiring. Note that you may be unable to reserve sleeper berths on certain services beyond Changsha and Guiyang.