Getting around Sri Lanka

Outside the four expressways, almost every road in Sri Lanka is a two-lane A-road that runs through the middle of every village it passes. There are no bypasses. The road is also a market, a bus stop, a school gate and a place where dogs sleep. Add a mountain, and the road becomes a continuous series of hairpins where nothing overtakes anything.

So the arithmetic that matters is not distance, it is average speed, and on A-roads that is 30 to 40 km/h door to door. Mapping apps consistently underestimate Sri Lankan journeys by about a third. Our times below are what a driver who does these roads every week will actually take, including one stop.

Car with a driver

The default, and what most of our travellers choose. US$55–100 a day depending on the vehicle, and that figure normally includes fuel, the driver's meals and his accommodation — drivers' quarters are a standard thing at Sri Lankan hotels, and a good hotel will not charge you for them. What you are buying is not luxury, it is the removal of every logistical decision for the length of the trip.

The downside is real and worth naming: a driver who is paid commission by shops and hotels will steer you towards them. A good one does not. Ask directly, before you book, whether commissions are taken, and ask for the answer in writing. A driver who is paid only by you has no reason to add a spice garden to your day.

Self-drive hire

From about US$30 a day for a small automatic. Legal for tourists, but you need your home licence, an International Driving Permit and a Sri Lankan recognition permit issued by the Automobile Association of Ceylon — the rental company can arrange the last one. Driving here is not dangerous so much as relentless: overtaking is assertive, buses own the road, and you will be tired.

Tuk-tuk hire

US$15–34 a day and the most fun you can have going 40 km/h. The same permit rules apply. Genuinely good for the south coast and the hills at a slow pace; genuinely bad for long transfers, because a hundred kilometres in a tuk-tuk is a five-hour day and you will arrive coated in road.

Trains

Cheap, scenic, and slow. The coastal line to Galle and Matara is excellent. The hill country line is the famous one and is partly closed for cyclone repairs — see the train guide. Reserved seats sell out thirty days out in high season.

Buses

The cheapest transport in Asia and they reach every village on the island. Red buses are government, white and private ones are faster and drive worse. Almost nothing costs more than a dollar. There is no timetable you can rely on and no luggage space to speak of. Sri Lankans use them constantly, and if you have time rather than money, so should you.

The number that surprises people is the first one. A driver costs the same whether one person or four are in the car, so for a couple it is roughly the price of two intercity taxis a day, and for a family it is cheaper than the trains once you count the transfers at either end.