Chalakudy lies on National Highway 544 and located about 47 km (23 mi) north of the city of Kochi, and 30 km (19 mi) south of Thrissur.

History says during the second Chera dynasty, people outside Kerala visited Chalakudy to learn vedas and Kalaripayattu from Chukkikulam Shala.

These people lived in the banks of Chalakudy River and this accommodation is called Kudi.

The municipality covering an area of 25.23 km2 is divided into 36 electoral wards.

Direct flights are available to New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Goa, Mangaluru, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, London, Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait, Muscat, Malé, Colombo, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Salalah, Jeddah and Riyadh.