Airport Transfers — Colombo Airport to Anywhere

1. 1

   Before you fly

   Send us your flight number, landing time and where you are staying. We confirm the price in writing before you travel, so nothing is negotiated at the airport.

2. 2

   Arrivals

   Your driver tracks the flight and is waiting in the arrivals hall with a name board. If you are held up at immigration or your bag is late, the waiting time is already included.

3. 3

   The drive

   Straight to your hotel, or with a stop on the way if you would rather break a long transfer. Galle runs about two and a quarter hours on the expressway; Kandy and Sigiriya take over three on slower roads.

4. 4

   Arrival

   Dropped at the door of your hotel or guesthouse. If you are arriving late we will tell you in advance, so you can warn a smaller property to expect you.

Clearing the airport

Budget 45 minutes on a quiet morning and up to an hour and three quarters when several wide-bodies land together. Immigration, baggage and customs are the variable; the walk to the car park is not.

Finding your driver

We wait inside the arrivals hall with a name board, not in the car park. The flight is tracked, so a two-hour delay means the driver arrives two hours later rather than you paying for the wait.

Money and SIM cards

Both are available in the arrivals hall, and both are quicker there than anywhere you will stop later. Tell your driver if you want to do either before leaving, so the time is planned rather than improvised.

Galle — about 2 h 15

152 km, and the easiest of the three. The airport expressway to Colombo, then the Southern Expressway almost to the door. The longest distance, the shortest drive, and the one most likely to run to time.

Kandy — about 3 h 15

114 km, the shortest distance of the three. Most of it climbs through towns on A-roads, where 35 km/h is a normal average. Arriving in daylight means leaving the airport by early afternoon.

Sigiriya — about 3 h 35

146 km across the dry zone to the Cultural Triangle. The longest of the common transfers, and the one most worth breaking with a stop if you have come off a long-haul flight.

The coast and the east

The planner above also covers Wadduwa, Beruwala, Bentota, Hikkaduwa, Tangalle and Hiriketiya down the west and south coasts, and Trincomalee, Nilaveli and Arugam Bay across on the east. The east-coast runs are five hours and up, and are the ones most worth breaking overnight.

Anywhere else

The transfer is not limited to the list. Ella, Mirissa, Jaffna, Batticaloa — tell us the destination and we will time the route and quote it before you fly.

Times measured on the real roads rather than computed, and shown as a range in the planner above. They exclude stops.

After about 7 pm

A long transfer in the dark is perfectly safe and we drive it regularly, but you will see none of the country, and arriving at a small guesthouse at midnight is awkward for everyone.

The alternative

Spend the first night in Negombo, fifteen minutes from the terminal, and start the real journey after breakfast. It costs one night and buys a whole day of daylight.

If you would rather push on

We will do it, and we will tell your hotel to expect you. Say so when you book so the arrival is arranged rather than discovered.

• Driver waiting in arrivals
• Flight tracked for delays
• Fixed price agreed before you fly
• Any destination on the island

• Bandaranaike International Airport — The arrival airport for almost all international flights
• Expressways of Sri Lanka — Why some transfers are far quicker than their distance suggests
• Sri Lanka driving times and distances — Our own measurements of how long real drives take

Driving times and the route map are estimates built from OpenStreetMap road data. Feeding times and entry fees are published by third parties and change, so confirm them on the day.