Traveling by train in Sri Lanka is a must do. The most famous route is from Kandy to Ella. This journey will offer you incredible memories between tea plantations, forests, mountain views. You will experience a special atmosphere in the wagon where tourists and locals meet. Local people are really proud of their country and are pleased to see tourists admiring their beloved Sri Lanka. This journey can be full of surprises, read more !
We decided to do the journey on the other way, from Ella to Kandy as it is known for being less busy and as the high season with beautiful weather for beach time is in the North in July. We also decided to split our journey in two parts, to spend less time in the train per day and to visit Nuwara Eliya region, which is another very interesting spot in Sri Lanka.
Not afraid of waking up very early in the morning, we went for the 6.40 am train from Ella to Nanu Oya. Nanu Oya is the closest train station to Nuwara Eliya and is only 10/15 minutes drive to the colonial city. We also though that this early train would be less crowed. Actually, the train was quite busy, but we managed to book reserved seats the day before. To enjoy the most scenic views as possible it is recommanded to seat on the right of the train from Ella to Nanu Oya and on the left from Nanu Oya to Kandy (and of course the opposite if you do the journey the other way).
How to make reservations to travel by train in Sri Lanka ?
First of all, have a look to the timetable on the following link to check the train you might book : https://www.seat61.com/SriLanka.htm
Reservations on the offical railway website of Sri Lanka is possible if you have a Sri Lanka mobile number only. If you book a driver for your whole trip and the driver will follow you and transport your luggages by car while you are living the train experience, then ask the driver to book your tickets.
Reservations on the offical railway website of Sri Lanka is possible if you have a Sri Lanka mobile number only. If you book a driver for your whole trip and the driver will follow you and transport your luggages by car while you are living the train experience, then ask the driver to book your tickets.
Otherwise, you can find websites where bookings can be done from 30 days in advance, actually when reservations are allowed :
https://www.visitsrilankatours.co.uk/train-tickets-1.html or https://tourmastersrilanka.com/traintickets-sri-lanka/
However, these websites are overpricing the tickets, selling it at £11 when the real price at the counter is between 1 or 2 euros. We can say this is the price for tranquility ! I tried the second website, maybe 20 days in advance and they told me tickets were sold already, therefore, you will have to contact them 30 days in advance to make sure to have availability.
With many advises from friends and reviews on the net, we decided to buy the tickets at train stations. We were told that even if you do not get guaranteed seats with reservation, you can still buy tickets for the train and try to find a free seat, or travel on the steps of the train, with the foot outside. This is an unforgettable experience with a feeling of freedom, but a bit dangerous if you do not pay attention (my foot was hurted by something, I was wearing footwear which saved my feet.)
The advise then is to go to the counter the day before and ask for reserved seats. We managed to get seats in 3rd class from Ella to Nanu Oya as 2nd class was sold already. However, from Nanu Oya to Kandy, all seats were booked, we were told to come back before the train departure to buy tickets with ungaranteed seats. We managed to seat down sometimes during the journey. Young Sri Lankan people with reserved seats were discussing with other locals, smoking at the door and enabled us to seat at their place while they were not using it. Sri Lanka people are very kind and will pay attention that you feel well in their country. Anyway, the wagon is quite messy, people are moving all the time, stoping at different train stations, you should find a moment when you will seat down. However, the end of the journey was very busy and people were standing up.
Which class to book ?
As a European girl with European standards and considering the very low price of train tickets, my first idea was to book 1st class tickets. But I was wrong ! 1st class are under strong air conditionning and windows cannot be opened to take pictures. 1st class is also full of tourists and you might miss the interaction with locals. 2nd class is the best option as seats are more confortable and not that expensive compared to 3rd class. However, if 3rd class is the only remaining class, go for it, the journey will be ok. Anyway, you will stand up to go to the door and take pictures.
What will you see and experience ?
On this post, I will share our experience and pictures on the journey from Ella to Nanu Oya and on another one, from Nanu Oya to Kandy, that was a bit different. We left Ella with the 6.40am train, that was quite on time and this is not always the case in Sri Lanka. We started to admire the morning lights on tea plantations.
At different stops, the train is crossing little villages which are the theater of local daily lifes, as this little girl certainly going to school in uniform.
Then time to take pictures on the train. Be careful to your head outside of the train when a tunnel is arriving, I saw some tourists risking their life for few shots !
The journey continues through villages and rice fields offering green and colorful landscapes.
Let's talk now about the most epic part of the journey. Trains in Sri Lanka have the reputation to be always late or can even sometimes be cancelled. The reason is that you never know what can happen in Sri Lanka. Our train met a tree trunk on the railways that literally blocked the road. In your itinerary, I recommand to anticipate some delay to avoid being in a rush and missing some sightseeings.
What was funny was to see the immediate reaction of locals, jumping out of the train, and trying together to lift the trunk.
However, once the major part of the work was done, the trunk was still on the road as it was blocked by other trees from the forest. We missed some forces and the only solution was to move it with the power of the train.
The train did not managed to move the trunk but the driver found another solution, to run on it ! Quite surprising, especially when each wagon could have a chance to derail. After three wagons, a sri lankan man from no where arrived with a chainsaw to cut the trunk. I guess he saw the scene from its village and decided to come to help. This is how we got delivered ! Finally, the incendent, which was quite a funny attraction for us, occured two hours delay. Everybody was jumping out of the train to observe, take pictures and of course give its own advice. The disorganization was quite spectacular, especially when the driver did not have any tool onboard to solve this kind of situation.
As a European girl with European standards and considering the very low price of train tickets, my first idea was to book 1st class tickets. But I was wrong ! 1st class are under strong air conditionning and windows cannot be opened to take pictures. 1st class is also full of tourists and you might miss the interaction with locals. 2nd class is the best option as seats are more confortable and not that expensive compared to 3rd class. However, if 3rd class is the only remaining class, go for it, the journey will be ok. Anyway, you will stand up to go to the door and take pictures.
What will you see and experience ?
On this post, I will share our experience and pictures on the journey from Ella to Nanu Oya and on another one, from Nanu Oya to Kandy, that was a bit different. We left Ella with the 6.40am train, that was quite on time and this is not always the case in Sri Lanka. We started to admire the morning lights on tea plantations.
Then time to take pictures on the train. Be careful to your head outside of the train when a tunnel is arriving, I saw some tourists risking their life for few shots !
The journey continues through villages and rice fields offering green and colorful landscapes.
To finally end to Nanu Oya and other tea plantations. Weather is getting colder and colder during the journey, espcially when you approach Nuwara Eliya. I recommend to take some sweet shirts and pants for your confort.
What was funny was to see the immediate reaction of locals, jumping out of the train, and trying together to lift the trunk.
However, once the major part of the work was done, the trunk was still on the road as it was blocked by other trees from the forest. We missed some forces and the only solution was to move it with the power of the train.
The adventure in train between Nuwara Eliya and Kandy was a bit different, you will see more on the next review... :)
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