Taxi from Colombo Airport to Anuradhapura, fixed price private transfer

The E03 takes you out of Colombo, the A6 runs to Kurunegala, and the A28 heads north from there through Padeniya and Thalawa to Anuradhapura. One hundred and seventy-five kilometres and three and three quarter hours. After Kurunegala the traffic thins out markedly and the A28 is one of the emptier main roads in the country: straight, flat and fast, through scrub, paddy and a landscape of ancient irrigation tanks. The only consistent delay is the Kurunegala one-way system in the middle of the day.

The A28 north of Padeniya passes close to Kala Wewa and a string of tanks, and this is elephant country at dusk; the animals move between water sources and the road is in the way. Drivers slow for it as a matter of routine after late afternoon. In the sacred city itself, the rules are stricter than at any other site on the island and they catch visitors out: shoulders and knees must be covered, shoes come off well before you reach the Bodhi tree and the great stupas, and the ground between them is open sand that is scorching by mid-morning. Vehicle access within the sacred precinct is restricted, so your driver will drop you at the permitted points rather than at the monuments. The site is also enormous, far larger than Polonnaruwa, and walking between the main stupas is not realistic in the heat.

Nothing on this road demands a particular vehicle, so choose for heat and for what you do next. Air conditioning matters: this is among the hottest parts of the island and the drive is close to four hours. For two people the economy sedan is fine and the comfort sedan is a reasonable indulgence. The consideration specific to Anuradhapura is the site itself. Because the sacred city is so spread out and vehicle access is restricted in places, most visitors keep their driver for a half or full day to move between the main clusters, which is far more comfortable than the alternative and is cheaper arranged as an extension of this transfer. If that is your intention, say so on WhatsApp once you have booked rather than on the morning.

Anuradhapura is on the northern railway line and the intercity trains from Colombo Fort are genuinely decent, taking around four hours in reasonable comfort. If you were already in Colombo it would be a fair choice. From the airport it is not: you would need a transfer into the city, then a train, then a tuk-tuk at the far end, with the sacred city several kilometres from the station. Buses run frequently from Colombo and are cheap and slow. For an arrival day with luggage, the direct car is the only version with a single point of failure.

Arrive in daylight for the elephants on the A28 and because the roads around the sacred city are unlit. The dry season from May to September is the best time to be here, and it contains the one date worth planning around: Poson Poya in June, which commemorates the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka at nearby Mihintale and fills Anuradhapura with several hundred thousand pilgrims. It is extraordinary to witness and close to impossible to find a bed for, so it needs to be either the reason for your trip or the week you avoid. The north-east monsoon brings rain from November into January, when the site is green and empty.