Sigiriya to Kandy taxi: private transfer at a fixed price

The route is simple: west from Sigiriya to the A6 at Inamaluwa, south to Dambulla, then the A9 all the way through Naula, Matale and Akurana into Kandy. Two and a quarter hours is the driving time we have measured on this road, with no stops. The Dambulla cave temple comes about twenty-five minutes into the drive and is the obvious stop; allow about an hour for the climb and the caves. Around Matale, spice gardens line the road, where a guide walks you round the plants and there is a shop at the end; half an hour is plenty. Aluvihare rock temple, just north of Matale, is a quieter alternative to Dambulla. With two stops, plan on about four hours door to door.

The A9 is a good two-lane road but not a fast one. It passes through a string of market towns, and Matale’s long main street is slow at any time of day. After Matale the road climbs gently through Akurana, and the traffic thickens as you near Kandy. The last few kilometres are the slowest: the bridge over the Mahaweli at Katugastota, then the approach to the centre. Kandy runs a one-way system around the lake and the Temple of the Tooth, so a hotel that looks five hundred metres away on the map can mean a full loop of the lake to reach its gate. Many Kandy hotels also sit up steep, narrow lanes in the hills around town; the driver gets you to the door, but that last kilometre can take ten minutes.

At two and a quarter hours on an easy road, with only gentle hills at the end, this is a light transfer and the economy sedan is fine for two or three people. The comfort sedan is the better choice with large cases or if you want room to stretch out after an early climb. Families will find the 6-seat van easier to get in and out of at each stop, and groups of seven or eight need the 8-seat van. Keep something to cover shoulders and knees in the car rather than the boot: you will need it at Dambulla, and again at the Temple of the Tooth that evening.

There is no train between Sigiriya and Kandy. Buses run along the A9 from Dambulla to Kandy all day, cheap and frequent, but you need a tuk-tuk from Sigiriya to Dambulla first and there is little space for luggage. For one or two people with backpacks and no stops in mind, the bus is a fair option. The taxi makes the difference when you want Dambulla and a spice garden on the way without carrying your bags round them, or when your Kandy hotel is up in the hills rather than near the bus stand. If you are spending several days between the cultural triangle and the hills, car hire with driver by the day can replace a run of separate transfers.

Climb the rock at opening, check out late in the morning and leave by midday. You reach Kandy between 14:30 and 16:00 depending on stops, check in, and walk to the temple for the evening puja. Leaving after 15:00 puts you into Kandy’s evening traffic, which builds on weekdays from around 16:30. During the Esala Perahera, in July or August, streets around the lake and the temple close in the evenings for the processions, and central hotels are easiest to reach before the closures; tell us where you are staying and the driver plans the arrival. Poya days bring extra temple traffic in Kandy. The north-east monsoon, roughly October to January, brings afternoon rain to both ends of the route.