Taxi from Colombo Airport to Polonnaruwa, fixed price private transfer

The route runs E03 out of Colombo, the A6 north-east through Kurunegala to Dambulla, then east on the A11 through Habarana and on to Polonnaruwa. One hundred and ninety-five kilometres, about four hours and ten minutes. The roads are good, flat and quiet for most of the distance; this is dry-zone driving through scrub and paddy, and the only urban slowdown of any consequence is Kurunegala. It is hot, and it stays hot: Polonnaruwa is one of the warmest places on the island.

The section between Habarana and Polonnaruwa runs along the boundaries of Minneriya and Kaudulla, and elephants cross it. At dusk this is routine rather than exceptional, and it is the practical reason to plan an arrival before dark rather than after. The town itself is worth understanding before you get there, because it is two places: the old town, near the archaeological park and the great tank, and Kaduruwela, the commercial centre four kilometres east where the bus station and most of the shops are. Hotels exist in both and the difference matters if you intend to walk to the ruins. Give us the property name. The road along the bund of the Parakrama Samudra is the pleasant way in and drivers will usually take it in daylight.

Four hours of flat, good road, so this is a comfort and heat decision rather than a capability one. Air conditioning is not optional in the dry zone in the middle of the day, and for two people we would take the comfort sedan over the economy car on a journey this long. For four with luggage, the comfort sedan; for five or six, the comfort van. If your plan is the classic triangle circuit, the same vehicle and driver for two or three days covering Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya and Minneriya is both cheaper and simpler than arranging each leg separately, and it should be agreed on WhatsApp before the first day rather than negotiated afterwards. Inside the archaeological park you will want a bicycle rather than a car, and they are rented at the entrance.

There is a railway station at Polonnaruwa on the Batticaloa line, and the journey from Colombo is long, slow and infrequent, with the same fundamental problem as every other rail option here: it does not start at the airport. Buses require a change at Dambulla or Habarana and most of a day with luggage. Nobody arrives in Polonnaruwa by public transport on the day they land, and this is the clearest case on our network of a destination where the private transfer is the only realistic way in.

Leave early. Arriving in daylight matters for the elephants on the Habarana road, and it lets you see the site the same afternoon if you want to. The ruins themselves are best walked or cycled between opening and about nine in the morning, or after four: there is very little shade in the park and the middle of the day here is punishing. May to September is the dry season and the best time to visit; the north-east monsoon from November into January brings genuine rain to this side of the island, when the tank fills and the site is green, quiet and considerably cooler. Poya days bring pilgrims to the sacred sites and the park is busier.