Getting to Ella: The Train, the Road, and Which One to Take

Almost everyone arrives in Ella by train, and almost everyone should — but not necessarily for the whole journey.

The hill line runs Kandy to Nanu Oya to Ella to Badulla, and the section people photograph is the last one: Nanu Oya to Ella, about four hours through the highest tea estates on the island, crossing the Nine Arch Bridge on the way in. The first half, Kandy to Nanu Oya, is pleasant and unremarkable, and it takes two to three hours.

That is the whole decision. If you have time and want the full six to seven hours of it, ride from Kandy. If you would rather see Ramboda Falls, a working tea factory and Nuwara Eliya on the way, drive that half with stops and pick the train up at Nanu Oya. Most people who have done both recommend the second.

The train is slow, frequently late, and one of the best rail journeys anywhere. Treat it as the day's activity rather than as transport, and it never disappoints. Treat it as a way to get somewhere by a certain time and it will.

Reserved seats — first, second and third class — open exactly 30 days before departure. Between December and March they sell out within hours of opening. If you want a guaranteed seat you need to be organised a month ahead or book through an agent who does it for you.

Missing that window is normal and it is not a disaster. Unreserved second and third class are sold at the station on the day and are never sold out, because there is no seat limit — people stand. This is where the open doorways are, where you can sit on the steps with your legs out, and where nearly every photograph you have seen of this train was taken.

First class observation carriages are the trap. Air conditioning, sealed windows, rear-facing seats, no door access. Comfortable, and the wrong choice for a journey whose entire point is the view.

If you take unreserved, be on the platform 30 to 45 minutes early for any chance of a seat, and accept that you may stand for four hours. Most people end up saying it was better that way.

This is the practical detail that ruins the ride for people who did not plan for it.

Unreserved carriages are crowded and there is nowhere sensible to put a large suitcase. You will be standing in a doorway for hours with a bag you cannot put down, and the romance of the open door disappears very quickly.

If you have a driver, the standard and correct arrangement is that the car takes your luggage on to Ella by road while you ride with a day bag. Every driver in Sri Lanka understands this request and most will suggest it themselves.

Without a driver, the options are to travel light, to use the luggage van if the service has one, or to book a reserved seat where there is at least a rack. Guesthouses in Ella and Nanu Oya will also hold or forward bags for a fee.

One more: Nuwara Eliya has no railway station. The stop is Nanu Oya, 10 kilometres and a 20-30 minute drive from the town, and tuk-tuk fares there rise sharply the moment a train arrives.

Kandy to Ella is 140 kilometres and four to five hours. The road climbs to Nuwara Eliya then drops, and it bends continuously — take something if you are prone to motion sickness.

Colombo to Ella is about six hours and is a long day; almost nobody does it in one go and almost nobody should.

Nuwara Eliya to Ella is about two hours, and it is the shortest useful leg on the hill route.

From the south coast, Mirissa or Galle to Ella is four to five hours through Udawalawe country, which is why a safari stop on the way makes sense in either direction.

Udawalawe to Ella is two hours and pairs naturally with a morning game drive.

A car with a driver runs roughly USD 55-75 a day including fuel. For a one-way move, a guided transfer with stops costs little more than a plain transfer and turns five hours of driving into the day's sightseeing — which on this particular route, past Ramboda Falls and the tea estates, is worth doing.

Ella is the natural hinge of a Sri Lankan loop, and where you go next largely decides the shape of the trip.

South to Udawalawe and the coast is the standard continuation: a morning safari at Udawalawe, two hours on, and you are at Mirissa or Tangalle by mid-afternoon. This is the route most seven-day itineraries take.

North back to Kandy is four to five hours and is worth doing as a guided transfer with Nuwara Eliya, a tea factory and Ramboda Falls built in, rather than as a plain drive.

East to Arugam Bay is about three hours and is the right call between May and September, when the east coast is the dry side of the island and the south is not.

The train continues to Badulla, an hour further, which almost no visitors do and which is a quiet, pleasant hour if you want the line to yourself.

Whichever direction, book transport the day before. Ella is small and the good drivers are busy.