Kandy to Colombo Airportby shared taxi
About 2h 55min by road (115 km)
AlsoGoing is where travellers already crossing Sri Lanka post a trip, or find one to join. Free, always.
2 trips open right now across Sri Lanka
The platform
How it works
Three taps from here to a seatHow AlsoGoing works
Find someone going your way
Search a route and see who has already booked a car, van or tuk-tuk with room to spare.
Agree in the chat
Message them, settle where and when to meet. Nobody commits before they have spoken.
Split what it costs
The same journey, divided between you. Nobody pays for empty seats.
The route
Why this route
Almost every visitor lands at Colombo Airport (CMB), at Katunayake north of the city, and many skip Colombo and head straight inland. Kandy, the hill capital built around a lake and home to the Temple of the Tooth, is the usual first stop, and the gateway to the tea country beyond it.
Your options
Getting there
No bus runs from the airport straight to Kandy: it means heading back towards Colombo and changing there, the wrong way for somebody who has just landed with luggage. And as of late September 2026 there is no train to Kandy at all: the line has been cut since Cyclone Ditwah in November 2025 and is expected to reopen in October. Most people go by road.
By taxi it's about 2h 55min (115 km). A taxi is paid for the car, not the seat, so shared between four travellers each pays a quarter. How sharing a taxi works
There's no fixed fare on AlsoGoing. What you share, if anything, is agreed between you in chat before you travel.
On the day
Where to meet
In Kandy
Kandy railway station is the simplest landmark to name. Otherwise agree a spot next to where one of you is staying.
At Colombo Airport
Meet in the arrivals hall once you are both through customs, and swap flight numbers beforehand: the later landing decides when the car can leave. The airport is at Katunayake, north of Colombo, so it is not the same meeting point as the city.
Before you go
Common questions
Can I share a taxi from Kandy to Colombo Airport?
Yes. Travellers post the trips they are taking, often in a taxi they have booked with seats left, and you ask for a seat. You agree the split between you and settle it in person. Nothing is paid through AlsoGoing.
Is there a train from Colombo Airport to Kandy?
Not as of late September 2026: the railway to Kandy has been cut since Cyclone Ditwah in November 2025 and is expected to reopen in October. Even then it would mean going back towards Colombo first, so most people who have just landed go by road.
How long does it take to drive from Kandy to Colombo Airport?
About 2h 55min by road (115 km).
Other routes
The other way
Colombo Airport → Kandy
Heading back from Colombo Airport? The same road, the other way.
Colombo ⇄ Kandy
Colombo is where almost every visitor arrives, by air or by sea.
Kandy ⇄ Ella
From Kandy the road climbs into tea country.
Ella ⇄ Arugam Bay
Arugam Bay is one of Sri Lanka's best-known surf towns, on the east coast.
Ella ⇄ Mirissa
Mirissa is one of the south coast's main beach towns, known for whale watching and its curve of sand.
Colombo Airport ⇄ Sigiriya
Sigiriya's rock fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is at the heart of what's called the Cultural Triangle, with Dambulla's cave temples and the ancient cities of Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura within reach.
Going somewhere soon?
Post the trip and let people find you, or answer someone already on the road.