Colombo to Ella: Train, Expressway Bus or Driver

There are three ways to get from Colombo to Ella: the hill-country train, an expressway bus round the south of the hills, or a car with a driver. The train is the one everybody has seen photos of, and the slowest. The bus is the cheapest and often quicker than the train. The car is the easiest with luggage and lets you stop on the way.

One thing first: the hill-country railway was damaged by Cyclone Ditwah in November 2025 and is reopening in stages, so the through train from Colombo to Ella may not be running when you travel. The travel update at the top of this page has the current state of the line. Everything else here holds whatever the railway is doing.

The short answer

• You want the famous train ride: take the train, or at least its best part, between Nanu Oya and Ella. Book early.
• You want the simplest, cheapest trip: the expressway bus from Makumbura, on the edge of Colombo, which goes round the south of the hills and climbs to Ella from Wellawaya.
• You have luggage, children or a tight schedule: a car with a driver, door to door, with a stop or two.

By train

When the whole line is open, trains on the Main Line run from Colombo Fort to Badulla, climbing through the tea country and stopping at Nanu Oya (for Nuwara Eliya), Haputale and Ella. It is a long day in the carriage, and much of the first part, through the lowlands, is not the reason you came. The scenery that made the line famous starts in the hills and is at its best from Nanu Oya onwards, past Pattipola, the highest station on the network, and down through Haputale to Ella. Nanu Oya to Ella takes about two and a half hours.

That is why many people ride only that stretch, getting to Nanu Oya or Nuwara Eliya by road and boarding there. It also makes it easier to find seats.

Booking. Reserved seats are sold on the Sri Lanka Railways seat reservation site from 30 days before the day of travel, with every passenger’s passport number. On the hill-country trains they can go within minutes of release, so be logged in and ready. Unreserved second- and third-class tickets are sold at the station on the day; they can’t sell out, but you may stand. Our train travel guide explains the classes, the e-ticket and what to do when seats are gone, and booking yourself, using an agent or hiring a driver weighs up the alternatives.

By expressway bus

The route that surprises people goes nowhere near Kandy. Expressway buses leave from the Makumbura Multimodal Centre at Kottawa, on Colombo’s south-eastern edge, take the Southern Expressway towards Mattala, then head inland through Thanamalwila and Wellawaya and up the Ella Gap past Ravana Falls to Ella and on to Badulla.

The operator on this route, NCG Express, runs it as route EX 01. Its timetable in October 2026 showed two departures a day from Makumbura, with the bus reaching Badulla four to four and a half hours later and Ella a little before that. Check the times on the operator’s own timetable before you go, as they change.

Getting to Makumbura is easy from the airport: an air-conditioned bus runs there from the arrivals area, as our guide to arriving in Sri Lanka explains. From central Colombo, a taxi app will take you.

Two things to know. The expressway bus doesn’t pass through the hill country at all, so you trade the tea-estate views for speed. And it arrives from below, through the Ella Gap, which is a fine way to arrive in daylight.

By car with a driver

A driver gives you the choice of route as well as the stops. The main options:

• Through Ratnapura. The A4 runs east from Colombo through Avissawella and Ratnapura, the gem town, to Beragala, where the road climbs into the hills towards Haputale and Bandarawela. Belihuloya and the gem country make good stops.
• Round the south. The Southern Expressway towards Mattala and then up through Wellawaya, the same way as the bus. Quick, and it lets you add Buduruwagala, near Wellawaya, or Ravana Falls.
• Through Kandy and Nuwara Eliya. The A1 towards Kandy and then the A5 from Peradeniya through Gampola and Nuwara Eliya. The slowest road, but the one with the tea country, and the natural choice if you want to stop for a night or two.

For a benchmark, the official airport taxi counter’s fixed fare from the airport to Ella was Rs 36,030 ($109 · convert) for an air-conditioned car on 19 October 2026. Whichever route you choose, agree in writing what the price includes (fuel, the driver’s meals and room on an overnight trip, parking), and say at the start if you don’t want shopping stops. Our getting around guide covers hiring a driver. Hill roads are slow and winding, so leave early and aim to arrive before dark.

Breaking the journey

You don’t have to do it in one go, and a night on the way often makes the trip more enjoyable.

• Kandy suits anyone coming from the Cultural Triangle or wanting the Temple of the Tooth.
• Nuwara Eliya is cool, high and close to Nanu Oya station, so you can join the train for the best stretch the next morning.
• Haputale is quieter, on the railway and close to Ella.
• Ratnapura works on the A4 route if you’re interested in gems or heading for Sri Pada.

Once you’re in Ella

Ella is small, and its best walks start in town. Our 2 days in Ella plan puts them in a sensible order, and the Ella guide covers the rest. Going on afterwards? See our guide to Ella to the south coast.

Header photo: Lasitha Sandeepa Kurukula Arachchi / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Last checked 19 October 2026