Sri Lanka in 5 days: Colombo, Kandy and Ella

Five days is the hill country: Kandy's temple, tea estates at Nuwara Eliya, and the train to Ella that is the best rail journey in Asia. No coast, no Sigiriya, and an honest explanation of why adding either ruins the week.

South Asia
5 days
≈ AED 1,900 / person
The hill country and the train, without pretending five days reaches the beaches too

Researched & checked by Nitesh Parasher Last verified 29 October 2026

Before you go

Five days in Sri Lanka is the hills, and only the hills.

The island looks small and is slow. Colombo to Kandy is three hours, Kandy to Ella seven by train, Ella to the south coast four more. Adding a beach or Sigiriya to five days means two of them are spent in a car.

So this route does the thing the island is best at: Kandy, the tea country, and the train through it. The Kandy to Ella line runs seven hours through estates, tunnels and cloud forest for less than the price of a coffee, and it is the reason to come.

Seven days adds Galle and the south coast; ten adds Sigiriya and the Cultural Triangle.

Figure LKR 170,000 (≈ AED 1,878) per person. December to March.

Before you go: the admin

Entry

ETA online before arrival for most nationalities, including Indian passport holders. Quick, and the fee is modest.
Use the official government site; agents charge several times the price.
Six months’ validity.

Getting around

A car and driver for five days — roughly LKR 18,000–22,000 a day including fuel, split between you. Drivers sleep at the hotels, usually at no cost.
Take the train for Kandy to Ella and send the driver ahead with the bags. This is the whole point of the route.
Reserved seats open 30 days ahead and sell out in season. Second class reserved is the sweet spot; unreserved third is standing room with open doors.
PickMe for tuk-tuks in Colombo and Kandy.

Money

Rupees. Cards in hotels and better restaurants; cash elsewhere.

Temples

Shoulders and knees covered, shoes and hats off — enforced at the Temple of the Tooth.
No photographs with your back to a Buddha image, and cover Buddha tattoos. Both have caused real trouble for visitors.

Day by day

Day 1 — Colombo to Kandy

Land, and go straight inland. Three hours, climbing.
The Pinnawala elephant orphanage is on this road and is contentious — chained animals and a bathing spectacle. Consider skipping it; the Elephant Transit Home at Udawalawe is the better model but is not on this route.
14:00 — A spice garden at Matale if you want the stop, which is twenty minutes and genuinely informative.
16:00 — Into Kandy, and drop bags. White or light clothing for tonight, with shoulders and knees covered.
18:30 — Arrive for the 6:30pm puja at the Temple of the Tooth, when the chamber is opened and the drumming starts. It holds a tooth of the Buddha and is the most important Buddhist site in the country.
20:00 — The lake walk afterwards, which loops in an hour.

Day 2 — Kandy

08:00 — The Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya — 147 acres, an avenue of royal palms, and a Javan fig covering 1,600 square metres.
11:30 — The Temple of the Tooth again in daylight if you want the museum and the relic’s history, which the evening puja does not give you.
14:00 — The Bahirawakanda Buddha above the town for the view down over the lake and the temple roofs.
16:00 — The market hall for spices and fruit, and the craft workshops around it.
18:00 — A Kandyan dance performance in the evening, ending in fire walking.
Send the bags ahead with the driver for tomorrow, and book the train seats now if you have not — reserved seats go a month ahead.

Day 3 — The train to Nuwara Eliya

08:30 — Four hours to Nanu Oya, the first half of the famous line.
Sit on the right leaving Kandy. Unreserved second class is always available and you stand for the first hour.
13:00 — Nuwara Eliya — a hill station at 1,868m that the British built to look like Surrey and largely did. Mock-Tudor hotels, a racecourse, and genuinely cold nights.
15:00 — A tea factory — Pedro or Damro Labookellie — the full process, then a cup on a terrace above the bushes. Pedro charges a few hundred rupees; Damro is free.
17:30 — Gregory Lake at dusk, and the horses and pedalos that make it feel like an English park at the wrong altitude.
19:30 — Dinner somewhere with a fire. It drops to 10°C.

Day 4 — The train to Ella

09:00 — Three hours, and this is the better half of the line — estates, waterfalls, and the Nine Arch Bridge.
12:30 — Into Ella, and lunch.
14:00 — Little Adam’s Peak — 45 minutes up, and the easiest great view in the country.
16:00 — The Nine Arch Bridge, stone and cement without steel, built during the First World War when the steel went to the war. Check the train times and be there for a crossing.
18:00 — Ravana Falls on the road, which is a five-minute stop.
Or Ella Rock if you want four hours of steep walking, which makes it a morning rather than an afternoon.

Day 5 — Back, and out

07:00 — Ella to Colombo is five hours by car on the southern route, or longer through the hills. Leave early and do not cut it fine for an evening flight.
If your flight is very late, stop at Ravana Cave or the Diyaluma Falls on the way down — Diyaluma is 220m and the second highest in the country, with pools at the top for anyone willing to climb.
14:00 — Into Colombo, with time for the Galle Face Green carts if the flight allows.

Costs and practicalities

Best time to visit

Sri Lanka has two monsoons, which matters here.

December–March — dry for the west and the hills, which is this route. The right months, and peak over Christmas.
April — hot, humid and largely dry between monsoons.
May–September — the southwest monsoon hits exactly these hills. The east coast is dry instead, which is a different trip.
October–November — inter-monsoon, rain possible anywhere.

Nuwara Eliya drops to 10°C at night year-round and most hotels have no heating.

Travel tips

Book train seats 30 days ahead when the window opens.
Send the luggage with the driver and travel light on the train.
Leave early on day five. Ella to Colombo is a long drive and the roads are slow.
Apply for the ETA on the official site only.
Consider skipping Pinnawala — it is on the road and it is not a sanctuary in the sense most visitors assume.
Carry a warm layer; the hills are cold and the hotels are not heated.
Leeches after rain on the hill walks. Long socks and repellent.
Cover Buddha tattoos and never pose with your back to an image.

What this trip actually costs

Two people, 4 nights, mid-range comfort, international flights excluded:

Item	Cost
Car and driver, 5 days including fuel	LKR 100,000 (≈ AED 1,105)
Hotels, 4 nights	LKR 95,000 (≈ AED 1,050)
Entries, tea factory, dance and gardens	LKR 70,000 (≈ AED 773)
Food and drink, 5 days	LKR 65,000 (≈ AED 718)
Train tickets and transfers	LKR 10,000 (≈ AED 110)
Total for two	LKR 340,000 (≈ AED 3,756)

Roughly LKR 170,000 (≈ AED 1,878) per person. The driver is the biggest line and is what keeps a five-day trip from being spent at bus stations.
Foreigner entry fees are high relative to everything else here, which is where the activities figure goes.
The train costs a few hundred rupees for the best journey of the week.
Hotel picks here are chosen on location, not on commission — always check prices and recent reviews before booking.

What to pack

A warm layer and something waterproof for the hills.
Walking shoes with grip.
Temple clothing — shoulders, knees, and shoes that come off.
Long socks and repellent for leeches after rain.
A Type D/G adapter, 230V.

FAQ

Can I add a beach to five days? Not sensibly. Ella to the south coast is four hours and back to Colombo another two. Seven days is where Galle fits.

Can I add Sigiriya? No — it is four hours north of Kandy, in the opposite direction from the train. It belongs to the ten-day route.

Is the train worth planning the trip around? Yes. It is the single best thing in the country and it is why this itinerary runs Kandy to Ella rather than any other way.

Should I visit Pinnawala? It is on the road and it is contentious — chained elephants and a bathing display for visitors. Plenty of people go and enjoy it; it is worth knowing what it is before you decide.

How cold does it get in the hills? Nuwara Eliya reaches 10°C at night all year and most hotels have no heating. People consistently underpack for this.

Prices and entry rules change, and what you need depends on your passport; last checked 29 October 2026, so confirm with the embassy or your airline before booking.