How to get from Ella to Kandy

There are 4 ways to travel the 140 kilometre (87 miles) distance from Ella to Kandy. You can choose between the bus, minivan, taxi and train. The journey takes 4 to 7 hours and the quickest way is by taxi. If you're on a budget, the cheapest option is by train with tickets starting at 4,630 LKR ($15).

The train journey from Ella to Kandy is among the most beautiful in the world, so don’t be surprised if you find yourself with a lot of competition at the train station. This is going to be a very busy journey, with both locals and tourists trying to get a seat.

This is why we highly recommend booking a train ticket online, and you have to do that at least one month before your trip. Tickets for this route sell out really fast, and you’ll want to buy them before other travel agencies do.

If you miss that deadline, you can still try to buy reserved tickets at the train station even a few days before your trip, but don’t get your hopes up.

Although more expensive than local rates, online booking is your best bet for good train seats. Tickets start at 4,630 LKR ($15) when you book via BookAway.

Trains depart from Ella Railway Station and arrive at Kandy Railway Station, both located in the city centre.

PRO TIP: This route is beautiful anywhere you look, but if you are free in choosing which side to sit, go for the left side when travelling from Ella to Kandy.

There are very few direct intercity buses operating from Ella to Kandy. The few ones are ordinary buses that often get stuck in traffic and make too many stops along the way.

For these reasons, we recommend travelling with Brown Tours for this route. They offer 1 trip from Ella to Kandy daily. They use tourist buses, so you can expect them to be air-conditioned with reclining seats, good legroom, and charging sockets.

Travel time with the tourist bus is around 5 hours and a ticket costs 5,600 LKR ($18). It’s quite expensive, but much better than standing on the train for 6 hours. You can easily reserve a bus seat through BookAway. Just click the link below.

• Departs 14:00 from Oak Ray Hotel at Passara Rd. in Ella city centre
• Arrives 19:00 at Nishantha Wood Carvings along Peradeniya Road, west of Kandy city centre

Taking a shared tourist minivan from Ella to Kandy costs about 9,400 LKR ($30.50), with the journey lasting around 5 hours, depending on traffic.

Magical Sri Lanka runs this route and makes things easy by offering free hotel pickup and drop-off — no need to stress about finding your way to busy bus or train stations.

The best part? The minivan stops at several must-see tourist spots for 5 to 20 minutes each, so you can snap some photos and enjoy the views.

Here are the highlights:

1. Ramboda Waterfalls
2. Ramboda Falls View Point
3. Tea Estate and Tea Factory
4. The famous Red Post Office in Nuwara Eliya
5. Gregory Park Lake, Nuwara Eliya
6. Ashok Vatika Hindu Temple
7. Seetha Amman Kovil Hindu Temple

Minivan options from Ella to Kandy

The taxi is the most expensive yet quickest way to reach Ella to Kandy. You can rent one via BookAway for 21,000 LKR ($68).

You also have an option to book with Uber from 10,000 LKR ($32.50), but we can’t guarantee their availability in Ella. Other options with possibly cheaper rates are PickMe and TaxiGo, although they also have very limited availability outside the capital city, Colombo.

Taxi options from Ella to Kandy