Sri Lanka in 7 days: Colombo, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Ella and Galle

A week does the hills and the coast: tea country, the Kandy to Ella train that is the best rail journey in Asia, and two nights inside Galle's Dutch fort. Sigiriya is the thing this route leaves out, and the ten-day route is where it belongs.

South Asia
7 days
≈ AED 2,550 / person
Hill country and the south coast, with the train ride that is the point of the trip

Researched & checked by Nitesh Parasher Last verified 29 October 2026

Before you go

Seven days in Sri Lanka means choosing between the Cultural Triangle in the north and the hill country and coast in the south. This route takes the south, because the train is here.

The Kandy to Ella line is the reason. Seven hours through tea estates, tunnels and cloud forest, hanging out of an open doorway, for less than the price of a coffee. It is the best rail journey in Asia and it is the spine of this week.

What gets left out is Sigiriya — the rock fortress with the frescoes, four hours north — and that is a real loss. The ten-day route includes it.

Figure LKR 230,000 (≈ AED 2,541) per person. December to March for this coast.

Before you go: the admin

Entry

ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) online before arrival for most nationalities, including Indian passport holders. It is quick and the fee is modest.
Apply on the official government site. The search results carry agents at several times the price.
Six months’ validity.

Getting around

A car and driver for the week is the standard way and costs less than you would expect — roughly LKR 18,000–22,000 a day including fuel, split between however many of you there are. Drivers sleep at the hotels, usually free.
The one leg you do not drive is Kandy to Ella. Send the driver ahead with the bags and take the train.
Book the train’s reserved seats 30 days ahead when the window opens — second class reserved is the sweet spot. Unreserved third is standing room and open doors, which is its own experience.
Tuk-tuks for short hops; use the PickMe app in Colombo and Kandy to avoid the negotiation.

Money

Sri Lankan rupees. Cards work in hotels and better restaurants; everything else is cash.
ATMs are common in towns and thin in the hills.

Temples

Shoulders and knees covered, shoes and hats off. This is enforced at the Temple of the Tooth.
Do not photograph yourself with your back to a Buddha image. People have been deported for it. Buddha tattoos are also a genuine problem at immigration.

Day by day

Day 1 — Colombo

Most flights land at dawn. Colombo is not the reason you came, and a day here is still worth having.
10:00 — Pettah market and the Red Mosque, which is striped red and white like a candy cane — Jami Ul-Alfar, and the pattern is said to have been copied from a pomegranate.
12:30 — Gangaramaya Temple, which is a magpie’s collection of donated objects as much as a temple — cars, cameras, elephant tusks and a bo tree, all in one courtyard.
14:30 — The National Museum if the Cultural Triangle is not on your route — it holds what was taken from it, including the Kandyan regalia.
17:30 — The Galle Face Green at sunset, with the street food carts — isso vadai and kottu, eaten standing up with the sea in front of you.
Sleep early; tomorrow is a climb.

Day 2 — Up to Kandy

08:00 — Three hours inland, climbing the whole way, past the spice gardens at Matale if you want the stop.
13:00 — The Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya, 147 acres, with an avenue of royal palms and a giant Javan fig that covers 1,600 square metres on its own.
16:00 — The lake walk at dusk, which loops the whole way round in an hour.
18:30 — The Temple of the Tooth (Sri Dalada Maligawa) for the evening puja. It holds a tooth of the Buddha and is the most important Buddhist site in the country; the chamber is opened at 5:30am, 9:30am and 6:30pm and at no other time.
White or light clothing, shoulders and knees covered, shoes off — and they are strict.
20:00 — A Kandyan dance performance, which ends with fire walking, at one of the two halls near the lake.

Day 3 — Around Kandy

07:00 — The morning puja if you missed last night’s, which is the quieter of the two.
09:00 — Bahirawakanda Buddha on the hill above town, for the view down over the lake and the temple roofs.
11:00 — Udawattakele Forest Reserve behind the temple — an old royal forest, now a bird reserve, twenty minutes from the centre and almost empty.
14:00 — The Kandy market hall for spices and the fruit you have not seen before.
16:00 — A tea or gem workshop, both of which are genuine here rather than staged.
Book tomorrow’s train seats now if you have not, and send the bags ahead with the driver in the morning.

Day 4 — The train to Nuwara Eliya

08:30 — Kandy to Nanu Oya is about four hours, and it is the first half of the famous line.
Sit on the right leaving Kandy for the valley views, and stand in the doorway when the guard is not looking, which is what everyone does.
Reserved seats sell out a month ahead; 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 succeeded — mock-Tudor hotels, a racecourse, and genuinely cold nights.
15:00 — A tea factory tour — Pedro or Damro Labookellie — where you see the whole process and then drink it on a terrace above the bushes. Pedro charges; Damro does not.
17:00 — Gregory Lake, and the Hakgala Gardens if you have the hour.
19:30 — Dinner somewhere with a fire. It drops to 10°C.

Day 5 — The train to Ella

09:00 — Nanu Oya to Ella is three hours and is the better half of the line — tea estates, waterfalls and the Nine Arch Bridge.
12:30 — Ella, a small town in a gap in the hills, which has become very popular and carries it reasonably well.
14:00 — Little Adam’s Peak — 45 minutes up, the easiest great view in the country, and you can be back down for tea.
16:00 — The Nine Arch Bridge below it, built of stone and cement without steel during the First World War when the steel went to the war instead. Check the train times and be there when one crosses.
18:00 — Ravana Falls on the road out, which is a five-minute stop.
Or the Ella Rock hike if you have the legs — four hours return and genuinely steep, which makes it a morning rather than an afternoon.

Day 6 — South to Galle

08:00 — Four hours south-west by car, down out of the hills and back into the heat.
13:00 — Galle Fort — Portuguese, then Dutch, then British, walled and intact. Stay inside the fort, not in the new town.
15:00 — The lighthouse and the Dutch Reformed Church, whose floor is paved with the gravestones of the garrison.
17:30 — The ramparts walk at sunset, all the way round, with local boys jumping off the wall into the sea at Flag Rock.
20:00 — Dinner inside the fort, which has the best restaurants on the coast.

Day 7 — The coast, then home

06:00 — Whale watching from Mirissa — blue whales, November to April, leaving at six in the morning. Choose an operator that keeps distance; the fleet has a poor reputation for crowding animals.
Out of season, skip it and take the morning on the beach instead.
11:00 — Unawatuna or Mirissa beaches, half an hour on from Galle, for the last swim.
Stilt fishermen at Koggala are now largely a paid photograph rather than a working practice. Pay or do not, but know which it is.
14:00 — Back to Colombo — two hours on the southern expressway — for the flight.

Costs and practicalities

Best time to visit

Sri Lanka has two monsoons, which is the thing to understand before booking.

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

The hills are cold. Nuwara Eliya drops to 10°C at night year-round and the hotels mostly have no heating.

Travel tips

Book train seats 30 days out when reservations open, and take the train rather than the car for Kandy to Ella.
Send your luggage ahead with the driver.
Hire a car and driver for the week. It costs less than you think and the roads make self-driving a poor idea.
Apply for the ETA on the official site only.
No photographs with your back to a Buddha, and cover Buddha tattoos — both are taken seriously.
Choose a whale operator that keeps distance, and expect a rough two hours if the sea is up.
Carry a warm layer for the hills; Nuwara Eliya is genuinely cold.
Leeches on the hill walks after rain. Socks and repellent.

What this trip actually costs

Two people, 6 nights, mid-range comfort, international flights excluded:

Item	Cost
Car and driver, 7 days including fuel	LKR 140,000 (≈ AED 1,547)
Hotels, 6 nights	LKR 130,000 (≈ AED 1,436)
Food and drink, 7 days	LKR 90,000 (≈ AED 994)
Temple entries, tea factory, whales and parks	LKR 85,000 (≈ AED 939)
Train tickets and transfers	LKR 15,000 (≈ AED 166)
Total for two	LKR 460,000 (≈ AED 5,082)

Roughly LKR 230,000 (≈ AED 2,541) per person. The driver is the biggest line and the one that makes the week work — Sri Lankan roads are slow and winding and a week of buses would cost you three days.
Entry fees for foreigners are high relative to everything else here, and that is where the activities figure goes.
The train costs almost nothing — 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 for Little Adam’s Peak and Ella Rock.
Temple clothing — shoulders and knees, and shoes that come off.
Leech socks or long socks and repellent for hill walks after rain.
Reef-safe sun cream and swimwear for the south coast.
A Type D/G adapter, 230V.

FAQ

Is seven days enough for Sri Lanka? For the hills and the south coast, yes. It is not enough to add the Cultural Triangle — Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa and Dambulla — which is what the ten-day route is for.

Is the Kandy to Ella train really worth it? Yes, and it is the single best thing on this itinerary. Seven hours, open doorways, tea estates and tunnels, for a few hundred rupees.

Do I need to book train tickets in advance? Reserved seats open 30 days ahead and sell out, particularly in season. Unreserved third class is always available and is standing room with open doors, which many people prefer anyway.

Car and driver, or self-drive? Car and driver. The roads are narrow, winding and busy, the driving culture takes acclimatisation, and the cost difference is small.

When can I see blue whales? November to April from Mirissa on the south coast. Boats leave at six and the sea can be rough. Pick an operator that keeps its distance.

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.