The 110-kilometre journey from Colombo to Kandy is one that most visitors make at some point during a tour of Sri Lanka, and one which dramatically encapsulates the scenic contrasts between the island’s coastal lowlands and interior highlands.
Many visitors make the journey by train, a classic rail journey (sit on the right-hand side en route to Kandy for the best views) along one of south Asia’s most outstandingly engineered tracks, first opened in 1867, which weaves slowly upwards through long tunnels and along narrow ledges engineered by Victorian engineers out of solid rock, with dizzying drops below. Despite the pleasures of the train trip. however, the journey by road is in many respects more spectacular, as the main highway rolls uphill and down, before making the final, engine bursting climb up into Kandy, giving a much more immediate sense of the hills’ scale and altitude than the rail line’s carefully graded rise – although the long slog through the endless suburbs of Colombo and Kandy is an absolute drag.
There are two ways that you can reach kandy from Bandaranaike International Airport
1). Bandaranaike International Airport to Kandy (Via Nittabuwa , Kegalle , Kandy )
This is the shortest path to travel kandy.If you chose this route , there are private buses Which runs between Negambo and Kandy via katunayake.
2). Bandaranaike International Airport to Kandy (Via Colombo , Kadawatha ,Nittabuwa , Kegalle , Kandy )
If you chose 2nd route , there are private buses ( Number 01 ) Which runs between Colombo and Kandy
The Henerathgoda Botanic Gardens near Gampaha, off the Colombo–Kandy road about 30km northwest of Colombo, are where the first rubber trees planted in Asia were grown. Some original plantings dot the 37-acre gardens, together with 400 other plant varieties.
About 50km from Kandy is Cadjugama, famous for its cashew nuts. Brightly dressed sellers indicate passing motorists with nuts they’ve harvested from the surrounding forest.
Kegalle, 77km from Colombo, is the nearest town to the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage. Nearby is Utuwankandu, a rocky hill from where the 19th-century Robin Hood style highwayman, Saradiel, preyed on travellers until the British executed him.
At Kadugannawa, just after the road and railway make their most scenic climbs – with views southwest to the large Bible Rock .It is a tall pillar erected in memory of Captain Dawson, the English engineer who built the Colombo–Kandy road in 1826.
1st route – Via Nittabuwa
2nd route – From colombo
