Main means of transportation in Sri Lanka
*2024 latest version
Sri Lanka Railway
Express Bus
Sri Lanka Railways Timetable App (Google Play)
Airplane (domestic) Air Taxi
How to travel efficiently and on a budget in Sri Lanka
Chartering a chauffeured taxi for several days can be expensive, so efficient planning is required to keep travel costs down and tour Sri Lanka's World Heritage sites efficiently.
Below is a model plan in which you focus on chartering a taxi to popular areas with little public transport, such as Sigiriya Rock, Dambulla Cave Temple, Minneriya National Park Safari, and Kandy, in the first half of the trip, and then travel between cities by train for a leisurely trip to Colombo and Galle.
This plan is more cost-effective for small groups such as solo travelers, but the cost and time-efficient benefits are less pronounced for group tours of more than four people.
The big advantages of chartering a taxi to go wherever you want are that you can use your limited time efficiently and you can visit sights that you might miss if you were to walk around due to fatigue.
I would like you to decide in advance what your priorities are for your trip and what you want to see, and then decide on your means of transportation.
A model plan for visiting World Heritage sites while keeping travel costs low
Arrival at Bandaranayake International Airport - Heading towards Sigiriya
Transfer from Sigiriya Rock to Kandy city
Transfer to Colombo by train from Kandy Station. Overnight stay in a hotel in Colombo.
Travel by taxi
Travel by taxi
Railway
Transfer to Galle city by train from Colombo Fort Station.
Railway
Overnight stay in Galle city. Walking tour.
Walking tour
Travel by train from Galle Station to Colombo Fort Station. Should I go early in the morning or in the evening?
From Colombo city, take a taxi to Bandaranayake International Airport and return home.
Railway
Travel by taxi
If you arrive at Bandaranayake International Airport at night, stay at a hotel in Katunayake or Negombo near the airport for one night. (Request a hotel taxi or airport taxi for transportation.)
The next morning, we started traveling in a taxi that we had chartered in advance .
After visiting the Dambulla cave temple , in the afternoon, join a safari tour at Minneriya National Park.
Overnight stay in Sigiriya.
If possible, leave the hotel early in the morning at 6:00 and take a taxi. Sightseeing at the World Heritage Site of Sigiriya Rock (takes about 2-2.5 hours). The advantage of sightseeing early in the morning is that it is not crowded and not hot. Return to the hotel before 9:00 for breakfast and rest →
Check out of the hotel around 10:30 and leave by taxi.
We arrived in Kandy city about 3 hours from Sigiriya. We toured the city including the Temple of the Tooth Relic until the evening.
Stay overnight in Kandy. (A hotel close to the train station is best.)
After the hotel pick-up in Kandy, your taxi use will end.
Walk from the hotel in Kandy to Kandy Railway Station.
There are two early morning trains to Colombo Fort Station, but they are used by commuters and tend to be crowded.
The next train is at 10:00 in the morning, and the rest are in the afternoon. If you can catch the 10:00 train, you will arrive in Colombo around 14:00, so if you hurry, you can transfer to the 15:00 train on the same day and go to Galle Railway Station.
It is possible, but public transportation often does not operate as scheduled, so it is better to take it easy and spend the night in Colombo so you don't have to rush.
Overnight in Colombo city hotel (best near Colombo Fort station)
Walk from the hotel in Colombo to Colombo Fort Railway Station.
There are only two express trains, one in the late 2pm and one in the 3pm, so it would be most time efficient to use the morning for sightseeing in Colombo city.
If you take the express train, you will arrive at Galle Railway Station in about two and a half hours .
It would be great if the hotel was within walking distance from Galle Station, but if not, it would be better to call a short-distance taxi using a ride-hailing service such as Uber, which you should have downloaded in advance .
Stay overnight in Galle city.
The Galle Fort, a World Heritage Site, is compact in size, so you can easily walk around the museums and churches that are worth a visit. There are many cute shops on Pedlar street that you will want to visit, so it's a great place to enjoy a stroll.
We didn't rush and stayed overnight in Galle city that day.
There are only three express trains from Galle Station to Colombo Fort Station: two at around 7:00 in the morning and one at around 4:00 in the afternoon. These are the only three that can be booked in advance online (subject to change depending on the season and day of the week). For the other stations, you will need to check the timetable at the station and purchase tickets on the day.
Your plans for the day can change significantly depending on train schedules, so you'll want to think it through carefully.
Overnight stay in Colombo.
Make sure to arrive at Bandaranayake International Airport 2.5 to 3 hours before your flight. It takes about an hour by taxi from Colombo city to the airport via the expressway.
I want to work backwards to decide what time to leave Colombo city.
The thing to be careful of here is not to suddenly use a car dispatch service on the day when you are not sure if it will arrive on time. For peace of mind, make sure to make arrangements in advance, such as asking the hotel where you are staying to call a taxi for you.
Tolls on expressways are usually paid by passengers, so be prepared with cash.
Be sure to tell the driver in advance to use the expressway and to drop you off in front of the airport departure terminal.
Things to note about the above transportation methods
*Sri Lankan Railways is a government-run, so-called state-owned enterprise. Therefore, if an employee strike occurs without prior notice, all operations will be suspended.
Tickets are refunded locally, so refunds for international travelers require significant effort and time.
* The Sri Lankan Railways online reservation is a "reservation ticket" and not a real ticket. The reservation ticket can be exchanged for a real ticket at offices such as Colombo Fort and Kandy Station, and the passport number entered at the time of reservation will be checked, so be sure to enter it correctly.
