Kandy to Ellaby shared taxi
About 3h 52min by road (137 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
From Kandy the road climbs into tea country. Ella is a small hill town surrounded by plantations and walking trails, best known for the Nine Arch Bridge, and the base most travellers use for a day or two before heading further south or east.
Your options
Getting there
The Kandy to Ella train, one of the best-known rides in Sri Lanka, has not run from Kandy since Cyclone Ditwah in November 2025. As of late September 2026, trains through the tea country start at Nanu Oya, near Nuwara Eliya, and run on through Ella to Badulla, and officials expect the whole line back before the end of 2026. Until then, from Kandy it's the road the whole way, or the road to Nanu Oya and the train from there.
Where the Kandy to Ella train standsBy taxi it's about 3h 52min (137 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.
In Ella
Ella has no bus station. The railway station and the two main bus stops are all on the main road through town (the A23), the stops at its junction with the Passara road, so any of them is an easy place to name.
Before you go
Common questions
Can I share a taxi from Kandy to Ella?
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 the Kandy to Ella train running?
Not from Kandy, as of late September 2026. Since Cyclone Ditwah in November 2025, the train runs only from Nanu Oya, near Nuwara Eliya, through Ella to Badulla. Officials expect the whole line back before the end of 2026.
How long does it take to drive from Kandy to Ella?
About 3h 52min by road (137 km).
Other routes
The other way
Ella → Kandy
Heading back from Ella? The same road, the other way.
Colombo ⇄ Kandy
Colombo is where almost every visitor arrives, by air or by sea.
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 ⇄ Kandy
Almost every visitor lands at Colombo Airport (CMB), at Katunayake north of the city, and many skip Colombo and head straight inland.
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.