Heading home and need to get from Hikkaduwa to Colombo? You don’t need to take an expensive taxi, I promise. You can catch the budget friendly train option from Hikkaduwa and head back along the coast.
What Was The Train Like?
As with all public transport in Sri Lanka, the train was absolutely rammed. We could barely get our stuff on it. James (my husband) and I got separated by a zillion Sri Lankans and tourists.
I had to sit on the floor by the toilet door and the open train door to the outside world. I got nice views. As I said in my blog on doing the famous train journey between Kandy to Nuwara Eliya or Ella, you don’t need to go on that specific train to have an authentic Sri Lankan sitting on the floor by an open train door experience. You can have this experience all over Sri Lanka (whether you want it or not)!
James was less fortunate and was squished in the bendy bit between carriages, trying to stop our bags falling between of the gaps.
How Long Does The Journey Take Between Hikkaduwa And Colombo?
The journey takes slightly over 2 hours to get to Colombo Fort station.
Cost Of Train
The train journey cost us LKR 210 ($1.19 USD) each for 2nd class, although given I had to sit on the floor we may as well have gone for 3rd class tickets, for around half the price.
Check out the train timetable.
Getting To Colombo Airport From Colombo
You need to get yourself to Pettah Bus Station, which is just across the road from Colombo Fort Train Station (at Olcott Mawatha Road – A1). There is no sign saying that this is a bus station, but its not far from the foot bridge over the road. Buses will be there during the day though.
You need to get on a smaller expressway bus, the 187. The other bus is pretty slow and stops lots and doesn’t drop you directly at the airport. The expressway bus takes about an hour and costs SLR 100 ($0.56 USD).
These buses run all day, everyday of the week and go every 15-30 minutes. Although at night they reduce to 1 a hour.
This person has written a decent blog on how to get from Colombo to the Airport, but as we didn’t take this route (we took a train, stayed in a hostel near the airport and then took a tuk tuk to the airport) I can’t say if it’s still accurate.
