Mirissa to Kandy taxi: private transfer at a fixed price

The driver collects you from your guesthouse or hotel in Mirissa and joins the Southern Expressway near Matara, about 20 minutes inland. The expressway runs north past Galle and inland of the west-coast resorts to Kottawa on the edge of Colombo, where the Outer Circular Expressway takes you round the city to Kadawatha. From there it is the A1 through Nittambuwa, Warakapola, Kegalle and Mawanella, and up the Kadugannawa pass to Peradeniya and into Kandy. Expect roughly two hours to reach the outskirts of Colombo and the rest of the time on the A1. A stop at Galle Fort fits naturally into the first hour, since the fort is only a few minutes from the expressway. Without stops, allow about 4 hours 45 minutes; with Galle Fort and lunch, plan on seven.

Leaving Mirissa, the A2 coast road is narrow and busy with scooters, buses and fish lorries, especially in the morning when the harbour is active. The Southern Expressway is the easy part: fenced, with a 100 km/h limit and clean service areas. The work starts after Kadawatha. The A1 is a busy two-lane trunk road, and towns like Warakapola and Kegalle slow everything down. The Kadugannawa pass is a long climb up the escarpment, with lorries crawling in low gear and few places to pass; the Dawson memorial tower marks the top. After Peradeniya, the approach to Kandy along the river and into the centre is congested from mid-afternoon, and the one-way loop around the lake is slow until about 18:30.

Pick the vehicle for the luggage you have after a beach stay, not the bag you arrived with. Two people with two large cases fit in the economy sedan, but the comfort sedan’s bigger boot and extra legroom are worth it for a day this long. Families should take the Comfort van (6 seats), and groups of seven or eight the 8-seat van. If you have a surfboard, tell us when you book, with its length, so we send a vehicle it fits inside. Note also that several Kandy hotels sit up steep, narrow lanes; give us the hotel name and we will check the access. Child seats are free on request.

The train is the scenic but slow alternative: the coastal line from Weligama or Matara to Colombo Fort, then a change to the Kandy line, which climbs the Kadugannawa escarpment through tunnels. It takes most of a day, and getting large bags on and off two crowded trains is hard work. Expressway buses run from Matara towards Colombo, but you then need a second bus to Kandy. A good middle way, if you love trains, is to take the taxi to Kandy now and save the railway for the famous hill-country stretch from Kandy towards Ella, where the views are the point.

Leave Mirissa between 07:00 and 08:00 and you reach Kandy around lunchtime, before its evening traffic. If you are going whale watching on your last morning, the boats are usually back by late morning; leaving straight after puts you in Kandy around 17:00 or 18:00, in the slowest traffic of the day, so either accept that or do the boat trip a day earlier. The south coast is at its calmest from November to April. Kandy can see heavy afternoon rain in October and November, which slows the Kadugannawa climb. Travel between 15 December and 15 January carries the 10% high-season rate, and booking more than 14 days ahead takes 5% off.